Award booking cancelled without notice

[RichardMEL]

This sounds more promising from QF. Let's hope they deliver on their promises.....

 

[Inuniform]

Nice to know that they will at least action something to create a solution. How long were you waiting on the line?

They have a call back service where you ring up, go in the queue and get a call back when you're at the front of the line. It's usually an hour wait. Funnily enough, when the CSR answered this morning they said, 'premium services' or something like that which makes me think I may have had my issue upgraded?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Latest update. I called QF this morning as instructed last week. I thought the flights were confirmed online last week (it says confirmed on 'manage my booking') but looking again on checkmytrip.com it stated 'ghost segment confirmed'. I had a very friendly CSR who, although unable to deliver good news, was very helpful and put my mind at ease to some extent. The seats have not yet been reinstated but a member of staff has been tasked with finding a solution and is in contact with QR. They will also call me back once they have a result which is a big plus. We may not know the outcome for up to two more weeks but they are confident that seats will be found at or close to the dates I requested. The CSR also took down the remaining legs to be added to my itinerary so that this can be considered by QF when working on a solution.

Not the final resolution I was after but it seems that QF are being a lot more proactive than the last time I spoke to them.

Let's hope in a couple weeks that QF can still confirm seats on their own metal as a back up plan or is that something you have ruled out? (ie confirmed QF service to JNB?)

 

[Inuniform]

Let's hope in a couple weeks that QF can still confirm seats on their own metal as a back up plan or is that something you have ruled out? (ie confirmed QF service to JNB?)

I don't think it will come to that. I have had some assistance from user - MADROOSTER and as he explained, the sectors I had originally booked and ticketed, SYD - DOH - JRO are most likely to be reinstated. The second leg JRO - DOH - LHR was never ticketed and lead to the collapse of the entire booking and it will be harder to retrieve a booking that was never ticketed. Departing JRO could then become a sticking point as QR are the only OW airline operating out of that airport.

I am expecting the reinstatement of all my flights with QR, anything less will be a disappointment. Will wait and see.

 

[Mattg]

Let's hope in a couple weeks that QF can still confirm seats on their own metal as a back up plan or is that something you have ruled out? (ie confirmed QF service to JNB?)

The main problem with this is that the OP was trying to book a oneworld award, so only oneworld airlines can be used. The are no oneworld airlines flying between JNB and JRO.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The main problem with this is that the OP was trying to book a oneworld award, so only oneworld airlines can be used. The are no oneworld airlines flying between JNB and JRO.

I see. but there could be dxb-doh-jro. with QF able to confirm own metal to dxb instantly (if the ex syd leg is the issue)

 

[Inuniform]

Latest update. I called QF this morning as instructed last week. I thought the flights were confirmed online last week (it says confirmed on 'manage my booking') but looking again on checkmytrip.com it stated 'ghost segment confirmed'. I had a very friendly CSR who, although unable to deliver good news, was very helpful and put my mind at ease to some extent. The seats have not yet been reinstated but a member of staff has been tasked with finding a solution and is in contact with QR. They will also call me back once they have a result which is a big plus. We may not know the outcome for up to two more weeks but they are confident that seats will be found at or close to the dates I requested. The CSR also took down the remaining legs to be added to my itinerary so that this can be considered by QF when working on a solution.

Not the final resolution I was after but it seems that QF are being a lot more proactive than the last time I spoke to them.

Last time I posted that a solution was more than likely forthcoming in the next couple of weeks when QF would hopefully contact me with good news about reinstated flights. That two weeks passed without a call from QF and lead to me calling them up once again. The CSR I spoke to informed me that nothing seemed to have changed despite QF's best efforts to have the seats reinstated. I was told that the issue would now be upgraded to the highest priority with QR and they should have an answer in 3 days and they would call me back. Not the answer I was after but it seemed reasonable and I was again hopeful following the escalation of the issue.

Waited 5 days till today, still no call from QF and decided to call. They're promises of 'we'll call you when we have seats for you' doesn't sit very well with me based on the fact that it seems that my phone calls are the only time when we gain some ground on this issue. The CSR put me on hold to talk to a supervisor. When he returned, he informed me that it looked like QR would not be reinstating the seats. He asked me if I had any flexibility with my dates. I said I would prefer the dates I booked but would be willing to extend the departure date by 3 weeks. The CSR said he would look into the booking with preference for the original dates and then up to 3 weeks after and he would call me back in half an hour with a solution.

I waited an hour and a half and then had work to do and missed the returned call. A message was left to say that QF would continue to work on a solution to my problem and call me back when they've found seats for me.

I have since looked at checkmytrip.com and can see that there is now a booking from SYD-ADL-DOH-JRO. I get that this is a viable alternative to get me to my destination but I am bitterly disappointed that I will miss out on things that I had originally booked like flying QR's A380, no international lounge access at either SYD or ADL and an extended journey time of nearly 6 hours. What can I do though? I feel like QF will back me into a corner here and force me to book the alternative offered. This whole episode has been extremely stressful and terribly disappointing considering I have done nothing wrong while booking this award ticket and QF have not been very proactive in finding a satisfying solution.

I will be sure to update again in the near future, hopefully.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

qantas could confirm you on their own metal SYD-DXB right away, the. connect QR to doh and jro. wouldn't get you to QR a380, but you'll have lounges.

 

[RichardMEL]

Really, really poor. You shouldn't have had to keep chasing this.

Red Roo come on guys, QF is dropping the ball here in a number of ways. Even if it's QR causing the trouble this is started MONTHS ago with a confirmed booking from QF. I think the OP has shown a hell of a lot of patience. Very disappointing to read this saga.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

The QR A350 is wonderful if its any consolation

 

[Kangol]

If it gets to the point where they can't do anything with QR, try to push for them (QF) booking you in a revenue fare class for the cancelled legs

 

[SydneySwan]

If it gets to the point where they can't do anything with QR, try to push for them (QF) booking you in a revenue fare class for the cancelled legs

Yes I think that would be a good solution. QF recently announced a huge profit and this would actually demonstrate that for once QF could actually put the customer first.

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

While QR seem to take the unticketed inventory back, it's really QF's fault for taking an age to issue an award ticket.

 

[RichardMEL]

While QR seem to take the unticketed inventory back, it's really QF's fault for taking an age to issue an award ticket.

Agree.

this issue has been a prime example of CS failure after CS failure. All good intentions yes, and I do not point blame at individual CS (res) agents but the facts appear to be that:

1. Customer books a legitimate award booking via QF which is confirmed - customer pays points, taxes etc and believes they have a firm booking
2. (no fault of customer) QF does not ticket; QR autocancels their sectors
3 (no fault of customer) QF drops ball by not resolving proactively in customer's favour
4 (no fault of customer) QF continues to drop customer service ball by

- multiple times suggesting customer call them back at varying intervals to check on the issue. why? this is QF's issue. They provided a supposedly confirmed booking to the customer.. why does the customer have to chase up an issue that is QF's responsibility to resole?
- on the odd occasion they promise to call back they don't, with one exception I can read from the OP's ongoing posts (and unfortunately he missed that call)

4. QF conceede the issue, but then want the customer to be flexible to change. I understand it's an award flight and this inventory is severely limited, but for heaven's sake QF you *issued a confirmed booking on the dates and flights the customer wanted* QR did not change the flights so it's not an involuntary schedule change.. this is a stuff up between QF and QR. Why should the customer suddenly be forced to change or accept a new routing that they do not prefer?

I understand individual res agents are doing their best to find solutions, which is great (eg: SYD-ADL-DOH...) but I do not see why at pojnt 2 this was not put to the QF oneworld desk/liason to sort out with QR. If QR won't budge on inventory because they were only following their own ticketing policies (fair enough) then it's for QF to resolve, even if it costs them - either to find inventory on SYD-DXB-DOH... or other outcome acceptable to the customer (who, again, has done nothing wrong here except be *very* patient and played the continue "call back in x days/weeks" game).

I'm a pretty loyal QF customer (duh P1) and usually I see and receive very good service on the ground and in the air, but stuff like this boils my blood because what *should* have happened is that QF, upon finding out that QR canceled the sectors due to QF's lax ticketing procedures should have jumped in and proactively resolved this without bothering the customer - at the very least without making them keep coming back for updates (essentially "well if the PNR is updated with notes/changes we'l know so yeah just call back and get a res agent to check it"). Yes, alliances are tricky and all this, but this has gone from a technical issue of the QF ticketing/QR cancel policy issue to a customer relations meltdown that if you ask me is far worse than the original issue.

it's this kind of stuff that makes customers like the OP take their business and loyalty elsewhere because the attempts at service recovery to this point seem bloody feeble. Most of us accept that Stuff Happens, it's how a company respond to this and make it right that can often be just as important. For example just last week I had a tight connection due to AA delay, got off plane in MEL and a F host was there, informed me my bag didn't make it, they were on top of it and it would probably come in on X flight, and had reference numbers and paperwork ready to give to me and within 10 minutes I was assured the bag was on X flight and would get to me later that day, and it so happened. That's when things work out - the bag missed it - that's a fAAil - service recovery was brilliant with everything so smooth that I was out of MEL in 10 minutes all organised - happy result/happy customer. The experiences documented here by the OP are the exact opposite in nature and it's a poor look and no doubt folks reading this other than the OP would think twice about dealing with QF in similar circumstances if this is how they respond to an issue that is, in no way, the customer's fault.

Please QF. step up. resolve this now and YOu liase with the OP not make him call back endlessly.

*jumps off soap box*

 

[Inuniform]

...

Please QF. step up. resolve this now and YOu liase with the OP not make him call back endlessly.

*jumps off soap box*

Thanks for taking an interest and expressing some of the frustration I'm feeling. I'm new to the award redemption process but thought I had researched enough to confidently secure myself flights, routes and carriers at the dates I was after. How wrong I was! The cynic in me says that QF prioritise their customer service issues by order of status and my lowly NB doesn't really cut it. Makes business sense but it's hardly fair or reasonable and I'm glad that someone of your status has seen it fit to stand up for the little guy!

Having said all of that, I have just finished talking to a QF CSR to get a clearer understanding of where we are heading with this in the anticipation of negotiating alternative flight arrangements. Prior to calling, I had written down all of my correspondence with the various CSR's in a timeline and the various issues I had with the resolution of my ticketing problem. Unfortunately I was talking to a very nice CSR from Premium Services and I found it really hard to get angry and upset. Like most calls recently, I am put on hold while the CSR reads through my file. The CSR returned and said she would call me back as she needed to consult with a superior who had been dealing with the issue. I was called back a couple hours later and although tickets had not been issued, the CSR was supremely confident that they would be issued in the near future. They were awaiting confirmation from QR but were quite adamant that a result would be forthcoming. She was so confident that we 'tentatively' booked another one of my legs (JFK-YVR).

I still have no tickets but I have been appeased to a certain degree. QF will call me when things are sorted. I asked for a timeframe, 'could be a few days, could be a couple of weeks'. The issues around timeframes is simply blamed on time zones and different work weeks. I am almost passed being angry and wanting immediate answers, all I can manage now is to just hope everything works out.

I will be sure to post once I receive a call back from QF. Thanks again for the suggestions, assistance and the shared frustration.

 

[RichardMEL]

... I am almost passed being angry and wanting immediate answers, all I can manage now is to just hope everything works out.

I will be sure to post once I receive a call back from QF. Thanks again for the suggestions, assistance and the shared frustration.

Thanks for the update.

Here's my view. I agree individual CSR's are doing their best and as I wrote in my mini-rant above (sorry!) I don't direct ire at them - most of them are so very helpful and lovely I totally understand where you are coming from. In effect "don't shoot the messenger" type deal.

what gets up my goat at this point reading your update is that the CSR tells you there's a supervisor working on your issue.. why does that supervisor not liase directly with you? why do you have to keep calling on this? and more to the point I'd hope if this was my situation that said person working on my issue would kep me updated on a regular basis, not a vague "maybe few days, maybe few weeks" thing.. I mean with how stupid this has become surely it's not hard to touch base with you even if it's to say no update yet but we're pushing with QR on this. Wouldn't that reassure you that you're not just being forgotten or awaiting on a update from a nameless soul at QR in your PNR?

I feel you did your research just fine and you booked with confidence and received a confirmed booking. It's QF's ticketing lapse that caused all this.

moral of the story for many push QF to ticket it same day! If no ticket receipt arrives within an hour of booking a QR (or even other) flight then call and request it be pushed through not just left in the manual far queue....

I'm sorry you're going through all of this and I hope when you DO fly it's a fantastic trip when hopefully this stress is behind you!!!

(btw status is only part of it. I've had a booking in the far queue for over a month not processed but my situation is different and I'm not concerned at this point)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

pweeks, if you want an immediate solution you have it... Qantas can confirm your flights immediately on their a380 to Dubai, and you have the connecting flights on Qatar to JRO already on hold.

if you really want to wait for the Qatar flights from Australia they may never come. QR is under no obligation to release award inventory for you, otherwise they could have done so already... it's a simple 5 minute exercise.

 

[RichardMEL]

pweeks, if you want an immediate solution you have it... Qantas can confirm your flights immediately on their a380 to Dubai, and you have the connecting flights on Qatar to JRO already on hold.

if you really want to wait for the Qatar flights from Australia they may never come. QR is under no obligation to release award inventory for you, otherwise they could have done so already... it's a simple 5 minute exercise.

I did not recall reading that QF had offered SYD-DXB-DOH .... on the date in question.

Of course pweeks clearly would like the QR 380 experience he booked and paid (points) for and which QF confirmed at the time.....

 

[Flying mermaid]

The staff are lovely - on the planes, on the ground, on the phones. Everytime I have an issue, I always end up feeling warm and fuzzy and thinking "aren't they so nice". Unfortunately there are huge cracks in follow through. I have lost track of the number of times I have been assured an issue would be fixed for the future, or something would be done and it just isn't. A few months ago a phone agent spoke to her supervisor and came back and said he was taking "ownership" and would ensure a certain thing was done - it wasn't.....

Just really tired of it. And don't even get me started on this ticketing stuff - not just awards either. Two weeks ago I booked a J revenue fare from LAX for my son. Stuffed up the middle name, so immediately phoned and requested it to be fixed - still waiting for the reticketing to happen. The flight isn't until next year, so it is at the back of the queue, but I would just like to mentally tick off that it is done. Have a change to an award flight as well, that is now 2 months and hasn't been reticketed. No wonder Qantas is making so much money - clearly are not running anywhere near enough staff to keep ticketing under control

 

[Inuniform]

Thanks for the update.

Here's my view. I agree individual CSR's are doing their best and as I wrote in my mini-rant above (sorry!) I don't direct ire at them - most of them are so very helpful and lovely I totally understand where you are coming from. In effect "don't shoot the messenger" type deal.

what gets up my goat at this point reading your update is that the CSR tells you there's a supervisor working on your issue.. why does that supervisor not liase directly with you? why do you have to keep calling on this? and more to the point I'd hope if this was my situation that said person working on my issue would kep me updated on a regular basis, not a vague "maybe few days, maybe few weeks" thing.. I mean with how stupid this has become surely it's not hard to touch base with you even if it's to say no update yet but we're pushing with QR on this. Wouldn't that reassure you that you're not just being forgotten or awaiting on a update from a nameless soul at QR in your PNR?

I feel you did your research just fine and you booked with confidence and received a confirmed booking. It's QF's ticketing lapse that caused all this.

moral of the story for many push QF to ticket it same day! If no ticket receipt arrives within an hour of booking a QR (or even other) flight then call and request it be pushed through not just left in the manual far queue....

I'm sorry you're going through all of this and I hope when you DO fly it's a fantastic trip when hopefully this stress is behind you!!!

(btw status is only part of it. I've had a booking in the far queue for over a month not processed but my situation is different and I'm not concerned at this point)

It is hard, to know where to direct my frustration as you clearly understand. I can only guess that if communication was opened up that QF would be bombarded with aggrieved customers. If they throw up a few hurdles; call centre only, long wait times and no email correspondence, then they're creating a barrier to complain and more than likely reducing the amount of complaints. Lets not forget that it's cheaper too, something that seems to take precedence over good service!