Award booking cancelled without notice

[RichardMEL]

When it was realised that the QR issue wasn't going to be resolved quickly, the CSR suggested we book the rest of my itinerary. After flights were sourced I had the booking confirmed, tickets issued, taxes paid and points debited (2*260k). I presume that when QF went to add the QR flights to the RTW award ticket, the booking exceeded the miles allowable. QF then had to credit my account with 400k points and then use those points to purchase the QR flights.

If I understand what has happened correctly this seems like a really GOOD thing by QF and goes to making up for the pain of this whole thing. I'm impressed!

they could have said no, but seem to have made a number of real exceptions and made it happen for you by way of service recovery. Full credit due (if I read the situation correctly).

 

[Inuniform]

If I understand what has happened correctly this seems like a really GOOD thing by QF and goes to making up for the pain of this whole thing. I'm impressed!

they could have said no, but seem to have made a number of real exceptions and made it happen for you by way of service recovery. Full credit due (if I read the situation correctly).

Yes, when initially putting my itinerary together I was looking at paying a leg myself (BUD-LHR) so that the booking would come in under the required miles. Following my booking splitting, I added the BUD-LHR figuring the SYD-JRO-LHR would not be included in the RTW fare. When the QR flights were added back to the booking the RTW fare could not be made and QF stumped up the points to have the flights booked. So in the end I received a flight from BUD-LHR that I would have otherwise had to pay for. That new route also bought my taxes down by $200 pp too!

 

[Inuniform]

Ok, last bit of correspondence on this issue. After receiving my booking and having everything ticketed I decided to write an email through my direct contact at QF regarding the problems I faced. I didn't want my experience to become commonplace and I was hoping that detailing my issues in an email would help QF realise what problems they need to address from the customers perspective. These can often be futile exercises but I'm making the most of my contacts effort to respond.
Without going into too much detail I listed 3 main issues: the QR canceling booking's issue, the not notifying me of a cancellation that I didn't make and the inconsistent customer service I received. QF contacted me today and said that yes, they are having issues with QR and it was being worked on however QF still admitted fault in my case. They also mentioned that it is difficult to send out cancellation notices and they are dealt with individually and prioritised accordingly. The last bit about customer service QF apologised and stated that dealing with multiple members of staff will yield different results.
Not very satisfactory answers and there seems like some simple solutions that I tried to convey but it's hard to get a word in sometimes. In the end I was just happy to leave things the way they are. I have let QF know how I felt about this entire episode, it's up to them how they want to use that information.
I also asked if QF would let me visit the First Class Lounge in Sydney to begin my trip next year. The person I spoke to said they couldn't provide me with First Class, but seeing as though we didn't have access to the Business Lounge, they'd send me out some Business Lounge passes. Even though I'm fairly certain QR in J from SYD will give me access to the lounge, I graciously accepted the offer.

 

[Kangol]

Ok, last bit of correspondence on this issue. After receiving my booking and having everything ticketed I decided to write an email through my direct contact at QF regarding the problems I faced. I didn't want my experience to become commonplace and I was hoping that detailing my issues in an email would help QF realise what problems they need to address from the customers perspective. These can often be futile exercises but I'm making the most of my contacts effort to respond.
Without going into too much detail I listed 3 main issues: the QR canceling booking's issue, the not notifying me of a cancellation that I didn't make and the inconsistent customer service I received. QF contacted me today and said that yes, they are having issues with QR and it was being worked on however QF still admitted fault in my case. They also mentioned that it is difficult to send out cancellation notices and they are dealt with individually and prioritised accordingly. The last bit about customer service QF apologised and stated that dealing with multiple members of staff will yield different results.
Not very satisfactory answers and there seems like some simple solutions that I tried to convey but it's hard to get a word in sometimes. In the end I was just happy to leave things the way they are. I have let QF know how I felt about this entire episode, it's up to them how they want to use that information.
I also asked if QF would let me visit the First Class Lounge in Sydney to begin my trip next year. The person I spoke to said they couldn't provide me with First Class, but seeing as though we didn't have access to the Business Lounge, they'd send me out some Business Lounge passes. Even though I'm fairly certain QR in J from SYD will give me access to the lounge, I graciously accepted the offer.

How unfortunate that the service recovery was poor.

Yes, QR J will give you J lounge access, so you could keep the passes for another time (or gift as you please).

 

[tm.smile]

How unfortunate that the service recovery was poor.

Yes, QR J will give you J lounge access, so you could keep the passes for another time (or gift as you please).

In light of the outcome, I wouldn't be describing the service recovery as poor. Not perfect and time wise could have been done quicker, but when dealing with a third party, they somewhat have their hands tied considering pweekes basically wanted the original seats. QF could have well just rebooked it however which way they wanted as it is well within their conditions of carriage to do so.

QF have acknowledged and taken ownership of the fault, cancellation notices may not always be easily created depending on IT compatabilities and dealing with different front line staff is going to wield different results no matter how thorough a training is.

 

[RichardMEL]

I think the QF service recovery was poor for many weeks but they have come through in the end.

1. Escalation to manager to get them to push at QR rather than CSR's just putting SSR's into bookings yielded results
2. They did add those extra points to push through your (above MPM) RTW booking - which they didn't have to do but clearly made a reasonable exception and came to the party - I think that was very very good
3. At one point they were offering options involving non partner airlines like Kenya Airways and KLM - that would be real $$$ to QF to offer - while far from perfect or desireable I think it showed they were willing to do more to try to make up for what happened to make it right than they really had to.

This all took way way WAY too long and could have been resolved much soonr of course but I would also say that a very small part of this is that the OP (pweekes/b]) was almost TOO compliant with the requests to "just call back in 1 week/2weeks/3 weeks") and this is partly why it went on so long. I imagine if you had contacted them more frequently to push it along this *may* have worked better. They did try and make it smoother by assigning the one CSR to your case, but then s/he went on leave for 2 weeks yet did not hand over. It's like the intent was there, but not a lot of care.

If it were me I probably would have broken feedback into 2 parts:

- thank you for resolving the issue in the end and getting me back my seats and making the extra points available to push through the RTW award *I* wanted. Great

- suggestions:
- rectify the slow ticketing issue so that QR or any other partner's autocancels wouldn't be an issue. The problem is NOT with QR as they have a set policy, but QF's back end processes falling over IMHO. (and yes, they owned this as their fault from the start which was very good)
- onus on QF to be proactive and not just give the "call back in x days/weeks" answer (which to me reflects the idea they probably put a SSR into the PNR hoping QR would release the seats again, and it not happening). I would feel after a week or 2 to escalate to a CSR/team to own it(which they did) but to then be proactive and contact the pax with regular updates, not the old "call back sometime" stuff - that's what got you talking to 15 different CSR's in the first place


If they fixed the first issue, the rest is not relevant, and if they implemented the 2nd then the time taken to resolve this probably would have been halved or less.

Again pweekes was super patient, and probably did himself a slight disservice in being so(no offence intended there but I think most people would have "cracked it" much earlier and pushed a lot harder for QF to get their act together. We're all different personalities of course and you did absolutely what you were comfortable with and I have no issue with this, but waiting all that time potentially cost you losing the whole thing). Sometimes you have to be that squeaky wheel...

all in all though you got a pretty good result. Sorry they couldn't find it to stump up a F lounge pass but you may find a friendly AFFer on the day who can guest you in anyway

my thoughts as an observer only and again I am not trying to be too critical.

 

[mannej]

Whilst I think the final resolution should be the expected outcome the time taken wasn't great. Offering a J-Lounge pass is taking the Mick a little considering that they have offered F-Lounge access previously as a compensation mechanism.

 

[RichardMEL]

Whilst I think the final resolution should be the expected outcome the time taken wasn't great. Offering a J-Lounge pass is taking the Mick a little considering that they have offered F-Lounge access previously as a compensation mechanism.

It could well have been something Customer Care can't do anymore by policy or that particular agent didn't know or want to.

I commend the OP for asking the question - if you don't ask you don't have the chance to get it and it is far from an unreasonable request too in my view

It is also a concern that the agent seemed to think that a ticket in QR J would not get one into the QF J lounge - they need some more training. I suspect they were trying to do a nice thing but in the end it's irrelevant.

However the passes can hopefully be used on other trips

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It is also a concern that the agent seemed to think that a ticket in QR J would not get one into the QF J lounge - they need some more training. I suspect they were trying to do a nice thing but in the end it's irrelevant.

as I may have mentioned before... airline reservation staff are usually excellent... at fares and ticketing. Anything else... seating, visas, baggage, lounge access... leave that to the experts (AFF or similar )

 

[RichardMEL]

I agree but we're not talking nuances like the CX SFO lounge or trying to get into an EK lounge on a QF codeshare on NF flight. Pax in Business Class .....

but I digress

 

[bam71]

Have just booked TXL to DPS via DOH J for 12 Dec. Will see how long it takes to get ticketed.....or cancelled :shock:

 

[bam71]

Less than 10 mins after booking - E-ticket has arrived.....

 

[davidj]

Now don't make any changes!

 

[Inuniform]

Less than 10 mins after booking - E-ticket has arrived.....

Part of writing to QF, following the reinstatement of my original tickets, was to highlight the ongoing problems between QF award booking's with QR. I am hoping that my experience has prompted a new ticketing turnaround with QF that will make these issues a thing of the past. You've had a good outcome though I'd still be inclined to cross my fingers when booking a QR award flight.

 

[bam71]

I actually expected a bit of a run around in getting it ticketed. Imagine my surprise when the ticket arrived. Maybe they fixed it ????

 

[BriarFlyer]

When I booked a Qf award on QR a couple of months back, it ticketed right away. When I changed the date, the re-issue did not. That seems to be where the problems are happening.

 

[RichardMEL]

When I booked a Qf award on QR a couple of months back, it ticketed right away. When I changed the date, the re-issue did not. That seems to be where the problems are happening.

I actually think you've identified a common theme with QF issues.

It suddenly occurs to me that the most times things get sent to what I call the "Far Queue" a.k.a. manual processing queue is based on a change.

- like the above situation - modifying an existing booking/change

AND

in the case of vouchers, where often they can go straight to the Queue... the booking one makes with a voucher is technically a *change* to the existing PNR

ie: PNR is created when voucher is purchased, when you book specific flights etc it's then modified

now, whatever causes some, but not all, to have issues and go to the manual processing queue... that's the million $ question.... and one that QF need to figure out.

of course this is just me thinking aloud and putting 1+1 together.. it may have zero basis in reality

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Just caught wind of this thread and the issue relating to Award seat cancellation.

Wow, what an absolute palava to deal with and I'm pleased that the OP finally got a favourable resolution.

This thread highlights how imperative it is to constantly monitor for bookings to be ticketed correctly.

 

[Inuniform]

While my original issue was quite the debacle, QF eventually offered the support that was required. Following the reinstatement of my QR seats and the completion of my itinerary, I have changed carriers on 2 legs of my journey. The first was from LHR - JFK and changed from BA to AA and the second was YVR to SGN changed from JL to CX on the new A350. My situation allowed me to send an email to my QF contact after I had found seats. The seats were saved and the CSR called me to confirm and to make payment of any fees. The first change from BA to AA had the 'change fee' waived as I had stated I wanted AA from the beginning, although I am sure this was at the discretion of the CSR. The second booking incurred the 'change fee', however I was more than happy to pay it as the change in aircraft was a significant upgrade (angled lie flat to fully lie flat on the new A350 and a shorter route with more lounge time). I was also sent out two lounge passes that were promised and a month later I was inexplicably sent out two more. Unfortunately, the passes are in our names and I am not sure I will even use them as I won't require them for our RTW trip.

So, although my original issue was poorly handled, QF has gone a long way to appeasing a very frustrated customer. I certainly won't be put off booking another OW RTW ticket in the future. When i do, I will do so with a greater understanding of how the process works, some of the pitfalls to look out for and with the help of the AFF community of course.

Just caught wind of this thread and the issue relating to Award seat cancellation.

Wow, what an absolute palava to deal with and I'm pleased that the OP finally got a favourable resolution.

This thread highlights how imperative it is to constantly monitor for bookings to be ticketed correctly.

 

[fairbasa]

It's good (well, expected I guess) that they've so far been able to reinstate everyone's seats, but it really shouldn't happen in the first place. The average person won't expect to have to monitor their booking nor understand what 'ticketing' is. Can't believe the grief this must cause QF in chasing down lost seats.

Obviously there's a system/procedural issue between them and their oneworld partners when they do a ticket exchange, but you'd at least expect all their staff are aware of the issue. I can deal with it when I politely ask to the staff to ticket the booking ASAP due to QR/CX being in my itinerary and they are already aware of the issue, I can't stand it when I politely ask and I'm told "don't worry, there's no such thing as seats falling off a booking..it will be ticketed when it's ticketed...just be patient."