Fun at Qantas check in

[banana boy]

Had a international QF ticket with domestic legs with 56kg baggage allowance on all legs. Went to check in exactly 56kg at domestic (same luggage I'd taken on the first international leg a few days earlier) and was told I'd have to pay 16kg excess baggage. Pulled out a copy of my ticket showing 56kg allowance for all legs and after a couple of phone calls it was sorted out. Ok no big deal, wasted 10 minutes and was told some nonsense but it worked out.

But here is the kicker. I had to put three boxes through oversize baggage. These already had tags and had been checked in. I went to the oversize counter and the lady said "Why haven't you paid excess baggage?". I pulled out my ticket and said they'd already been checked in. She said "I don't care what your ticket says you have to pay excess baggage and the bags shouldn't have been checked in". I am understating the aggressive and rude tone and words she used. After a few minutes of listening to her bile I decided to flag down the agent who had originally checked me in and the oversize counter lady shouted at me "YOU CAN'T LEAVE THESE BAGS HERE" - I was only walking about 10 metres. Anyway after some commotion I got the attention of the original agent and let them sort it out (another 10 minutes wasted).

Moral of the story always carry a copy of your printed ticket and QF status doesn't mean you won't face terrible customer service from QF. I wasn't in a rush, I was civil, I'd paid thousands for the ticket, being treated so rudely left a real bad taste in my mouth.

 

[Hvr]

A complaint needs to be sent it. That is a horrible way to treat anybody.

 

[RooFlyer]

A complaint needs to be sent it. That is a horrible way to treat anybody.

Agree - and see it through; ask for a response and explanation.

 

[Flying mermaid]

You really wonder why they think it’s OK to treat customers like this. I get that they probably get tired of dealing with people all day, some of whom are probably unreasonable, but if you are burnt out and can’t do it anymore, then maybe time to get a transfer to a non customer facing position, rather than taking out your temper on people

 

[33kft]

Well I have in the past advocated that QF take the longest serving (and therefore most unretrenchable) crankiest check in staff and stick them on the oversize belt instead, so I can't help but think it has at least resulted in a lower proportion of the population getting yelled at by this wonderful specimen of workplace protection and low morale

 

[Ade]

Had a international QF ticket with domestic legs with 56kg baggage allowance on all legs. Went to check in exactly 56kg at domestic (same luggage I'd taken on the first international leg a few days earlier) and was told I'd have to pay 16kg excess baggage. Pulled out a copy of my ticket showing 56kg allowance for all legs and after a couple of phone calls it was sorted out. Ok no big deal, wasted 10 minutes and was told some nonsense but it worked out.

But here is the kicker. I had to put three boxes through oversize baggage. These already had tags and had been checked in. I went to the oversize counter and the lady said "Why haven't you paid excess baggage?". I pulled out my ticket and said they'd already been checked in. She said "I don't care what your ticket says you have to pay excess baggage and the bags shouldn't have been checked in". I am understating the aggressive and rude tone and words she used. After a few minutes of listening to her bile I decided to flag down the agent who had originally checked me in and the oversize counter lady shouted at me "YOU CAN'T LEAVE THESE BAGS HERE" - I was only walking about 10 metres. Anyway after some commotion I got the attention of the original agent and let them sort it out (another 10 minutes wasted).

Moral of the story always carry a copy of your printed ticket and QF status doesn't mean you won't face terrible customer service from QF. I wasn't in a rush, I was civil, I'd paid thousands for the ticket, being treated so rudely left a real bad taste in my mouth.

Hi @banana boy, it's terrible that you'd to go through what you did with QF. Every customer (paying or non-paying) must be treated well and with respect. And you're not doing or taking anything that isn't yours.

You've got 56 kg allowance and you can claim it.

I was surprised that QF check-in staff had to make a couple of calls re your allowance. I mean if you're a QF-FF your tier dictates your baggage limits

And the oversize counter person - she needs a lesson on customer service.

I had a similar experience w/ oversize counter persons at SYD. For some reason, they are very rude and very loud. I mean, they're vocal on what they think is right, which isn't always right

When you were able to get hold of the original agent - did you get a response "Oh, they're not QF staff, they're usually rude and stuff like that". Because in my case, QF check-in lady mentioned that "I'm sorry about the oversize counter staff, they're airport staff and are usually rude"

 

[Mattg]

@banana boy, at which airport did this happen?

 

[banana boy]

Hi, It was Sydney domestic. From the above comments it seems like the staff at the oversize counter have a track record of being rude, obnoxious and wrong.

I think the confusion lay in the fact that I had a single ticket with international and domestic legs. As per the Qantas T&Cs the international allowance applies for all legs. But in the case of separate tickets it only applies on the domestic legs flown on the same day as the international flight (I didn't fly on the same day). This was the initial explanation to explain away the 40kg limit. But that mistake was handled graciously. The oversize counter lady just chanted the "gold gets two bags, gold gets two bags, gold gets two bags" mantra until I gave up on her.

I don't understand why the electronic record they had wouldn't have shown the correct allowance, it was clearly stated when I booked and clearly stated on the electronic ticket emailed to me.

 

[ferntree]

I've honestly lost count of the number of times I've encountered rudeness from Qantas staff at Sydney airport when returning from overseas, especially at the transfer desk when checking in or dropping baggage. I always try to arrange my flights to return via Melbourne if possible.

 

[Daver6]

I've honestly lost count of the number of times I've encountered rudeness from Qantas staff at Sydney airport when returning from overseas, especially at the transfer desk when checking in or dropping baggage. I always try to arrange my flights to return via Melbourne if possible.

Agree with this. Had a horrendous experience at the transfer desk recently returning from South Africa.

 

[ferntree]

Agree with this. Had a horrendous experience at the transfer desk recently returning from South Africa.

Yeah, and it doesn't help when your incoming flight arrived late (like many others and you have a tight connection (because the transfer buses most of the day run only every 20 minutes) and the Q staff are left with the job of "triaging" the long line of waiting passengers.

 

[surfersimon]

I have had exactly the opposite experience with the oversize luggage people.
My bag, which is usually not oversize, was determined at the self serve drop bag to now be oversized....no big deal it was on my way to security anyway. I get to the oversize baggage counter where a young lady is dealing with a family with three car seats and babies who are running later for their flight and don't understand why they need to hurry to the gate. She even warned the man that the three car seats may not make it on their flight but would be on the next one so don't leave until they arrive at the destination. This again didn't seem to worry the man but then his English as not that great.
The poor Qantas lady kept apologising to me as she had to get the car seats onto the conveyor belt and away and for the flight. She could not have been more helpful to me and the other passenger and was very polite when dealing with me and the other passenger.
In these situations I often think of the almost 3,000 people who died in the World Trade Centre who would love to be standing in line waiting but they did not have a choice.
I agree rudeness is unforgiveable however the best revenge is be sickly sweet in return and it infuriates them

 

[Daver6]

Yeah, and it doesn't help when your incoming flight arrived late (like many others and you have a tight connection (because the transfer buses most of the day run only every 20 minutes) and the Q staff are left with the job of "triaging" the long line of waiting passengers.

My experience was incoming flight late, meant we were put on the following flight as missed the original connection. We had upgraded to J on points for the domestic sector. QF app showed us in J on the new flight. Handed boarding passes at the re-check desk which showed Y. No mention of the downgrade. When queried I was informed J was full (fair enough, I don't expect someone else to be kicked out of J for me) yet the app showed us in J with specified seats. Asked about compensation and was rudely told there is none. Bad luck. To make matters worse, we were lumped in the middle of 4 seats when both a simialr bulkhead option was available as well as several pairs of two for window and aisle (travelling with MrsDaver6). What a fantastic experience...not.

 

[33kft]

I have had the same experience as you @Daver6 however at the time it occurred to me that I had 2 options. Option 1 was to take the next scheduled flight out in Y, stuck in a middle seat (which I did because I wanted to get home) or Option 2 was to ask for the same class on the next flight on that route. There's no way there would be regular free capacity in premium seats especially on the B737s flying domestically. That said, QFd probably spend an inordinate amount of time juggling around passengers late for connections due to QFi delays, and you may just be lucky enough to pick up some other delayed pax's J seats.

Not excusing things and I think they really could explain it better to pax, but the question they ask should really be do you want to get home now, in Y earning ORC or later in J? For many they would want the latter but for some, such as those late for an event, about to get stung parking penalty rates or who had just had enough flying for one day (me), it could be the former.

 

[Daver6]

In my case they eventually said I could fly J the next day and the airline would put me up for the night. So essentially they were willing to spend $500+ rather than just crediting me back the points I was charged for the upgrade to J. The issue was just with the re-check desk. Called QF later and no issue getting the points back. In fact they couldn't understand why the check-in staff couldn't have just told me this instead of denying there would be any reimbursement/compensation for the downgrade.

 

[ronone69]

Had a international QF ticket with domestic legs with 56kg baggage allowance on all legs. Went to check in exactly 56kg at domestic (same luggage I'd taken on the first international leg a few days earlier) and was told I'd have to pay 16kg excess baggage. Pulled out a copy of my ticket showing 56kg allowance for all legs and after a couple of phone calls it was sorted out. Ok no big deal, wasted 10 minutes and was told some nonsense but it worked out.

But here is the kicker. I had to put three boxes through oversize baggage. These already had tags and had been checked in. I went to the oversize counter and the lady said "Why haven't you paid excess baggage?". I pulled out my ticket and said they'd already been checked in. She said "I don't care what your ticket says you have to pay excess baggage and the bags shouldn't have been checked in". I am understating the aggressive and rude tone and words she used. After a few minutes of listening to her bile I decided to flag down the agent who had originally checked me in and the oversize counter lady shouted at me "YOU CAN'T LEAVE THESE BAGS HERE" - I was only walking about 10 metres. Anyway after some commotion I got the attention of the original agent and let them sort it out (another 10 minutes wasted).

Moral of the story always carry a copy of your printed ticket and QF status doesn't mean you won't face terrible customer service from QF. I wasn't in a rush, I was civil, I'd paid thousands for the ticket, being treated so rudely left a real bad taste in my mouth.

Just fly BA. They can teach anyone what bad customer service is

 

[DC3]

...In these situations I often think of the almost 3,000 people who died in the World Trade Centre who would love to be standing in line waiting but they did not have a choice ...

I’ve been to the WTC site, both before and after, but not quite up with what this post means, regarding Qantas check-in?

 

[opusman]

I’ve been to the WTC site, both before and after, but not quite up with what this post means, regarding Qantas check-in?

I think it means, don't sweat the small stuff.

 

[DC3]

I think it means, don't sweat the small stuff.

Maybe that’s it. Thanks.

Anyway, I agree with some others about the bad customer service at check-in. So bad at SYD domestic counter for International luggage that I made my first ever complaint, in writing. No doubt there are some excellent staff, but a pathetic experience at that counter certainly puts a downer on the start of the holiday. Maybe that counter is the end of the line for hopeless staff.

 

[ramboflyer]

Hmm... flying HBA-SYD-DXB-BCN in 3 weeks on connecting flights. Sounds like it might be an advantage checking in from a non international departure origin. Shouldn't be any issues with luggage over 40kg but might be coming home!