How do I make a complaint and get my points all back?!

[becinsydney09]

Hello

I had the worst flight experience on Sunday night with Qantas flying from Brisbane to Sydney - where a 1 and half hour flight turned into a 3 and a half hour flight.....with my 7 month old baby!

How do I complain to them about this and request for my points back as I paid using points and pay system...

Any help would be great..

Thank you
Rebecca

 

[notzac]

How do I complain to them about this and request for my points back as I paid using points and pay system...

Hi,

Given that QF did get you and your baby from point A to point B, I very much doubt that you stand to get any/all of the points back. Delays are unfortunate, but they happen to everyone (and Murphy's Law of Travel dictates that a delay will occur when it's least convenient for it to do so).

What caused the delay?

 

[markis10]

Hello

I had the worst flight experience on Sunday night with Qantas flying from Brisbane to Sydney - where a 1 and half hour flight turned into a 3 and a half hour flight.....with my 7 month old baby!

How do I complain to them about this and request for my points back as I paid using points and pay system...

Any help would be great..

Thank you
Rebecca

Rebecca

What was terrible about your flight apart from delays, which both Sydney and Brisbane had on Sunday, there is not liability on an airline for compensation for delays in Australia, most travel insurance companies wont even look at a claim unless its been a significant delay such as an overnight one, so I doubt you would have any chance to get your money back. You could however provide online feedback as to how your experience might have been better with the way you were handled and communication, at the end of the day the airlines cannot do much about events outside of their control. If your 3 and a half hour flight was spent mostly in circles, then thats not the airline issue and they dont like it either, they are typically burning 8 tonnes of fuel each hour!

 

[Craigie]

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience.

Don't know if i can help any but would love to know what was the outcome of this thread?
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....rogram/help-need-upgrade-hnl-syd-24635-4.html

 

[gilby08]

Hello

I had the worst flight experience on Sunday night with Qantas flying from Brisbane to Sydney - where a 1 and half hour flight turned into a 3 and a half hour flight.....with my 7 month old baby!

How do I complain to them about this and request for my points back as I paid using points and pay system...

You wont get any points back at all, they got you from A-B and that's what you 'paid' for. And really why does it matter if you have a baby with you.
Once again what happened?

 

[oz_mark]

The only flight I can see that had such a lengthy delay on Sunday was QF545 - which departed 1 1/4 hours late and landed 1 1/2 hours late (well 88 minutes late).

Unfortunately, delays such as this do happen, but if you feel Qantas could have done more, then you should provide that feedback to them. However, I think it unlikely that you will get a refund - as has been pointed out they got you to where they were taking you.

 

[medhead]

It sounds like a bad experience. You can send in a complaint using the website feedback form.

I guess, as others have alluded, your complaint should focus on things that qantas can change. So if your flight was delayed because of the weather or other factors beyond the control of qantas, it is probably unreasonable to expect qantas to do much. On the other hand, if the staff were rude or unhelpful or didn't keep you informed. Then that is something that qantas can do something about.

Anyway it be good to know a few more details.

 

[simongr]

You wont get any points back at all, they got you from A-B and that's what you 'paid' for.

Completely agree.

And really who cares if you have a baby with you, it's your choice to have kids, and your choice to travel with them.

Completely disagree, pretty argumentative and unnecessary inflammatory comment.

 

[gilby08]

Completely disagree, pretty argumentative and unnecessary inflammatory comment.

Well why does it really matter if the OP has a baby? It should make absolutly no difference.

 

[medhead]

Well why does it really matter if the OP has a baby? It should make absolutly no difference.

Actually it makes a lot of difference. For a start babies have different needs and haven't yet learnt self control. So the parent has to do things to cope with the needs of the child. The way that an FA responds to the parent and the child in this situation can make a world of difference. Unfortunately it is not clear what made the flight so bad. But that could be one thing for a start. Despite your theoretical views in reality there are many differences that aren't necessarily apparent to other pax.

The other point is your comment comes across as people who "choose" to have babies are not allowed to travel. Or if they do "choose" to travel then they are not allowed to be comfortable.

 

[Travel Guru]

And really why does it matter if you have a baby with you.

Ouch...tone it down.

TG

 

[Joshua]

Completely disagree, pretty argumentative and unnecessary inflammatory comment.

At least not very tactful, but you can't just throw your child in as the only evidence why you should get *all* of your points back. No doubt an upset child didn't help the situation - QF545 I'm guessing. Landed ~90 mins late and frustrating when 2-3 later flights depart before you.

Could always ask the lounge staff to move one of the other flights otherwise it's just part and parcel of air travel. That is presuming you have some form of status, if you don't well you're dreaming for a refund, let alone much more than an automatic reply.

To answer the question, you can provide feedback on their site: Help - Feedback

Again it's nothing unusual and can't see how they contributed to making the experience terrible. If it was a safety thing then surely arriving with baby all in one piece takes priority? That's harsh but compensation culture is an equally cruel cancer.

Please elaborate, why was the experience so negative? People on here can no doubt provide positive suggestions to mitigate any future delays.

 

[gilby08]

The other point is your comment comes across as people who "choose" to have babies are not allowed to travel. Or if they do "choose" to travel then they are not allowed to be comfortable.

The point i was trying to make was alot of parents with infants travelling expect everything to be done for them. As an example, coming off an international flight from SIN, there was a mother and 1 infant and one child, they had 4 bags and 2 prams between them. They were whinging and complaining the whole time when getting their bags that 'no staff member would help them pick up their bags, push their trolly and help with their children'. Why should this be an airline responsibility?


Single adult travellers have to do it by themselves, they generally don't whinge and complain if they have a high amount of luggage and an airline staff member wont help them.

Yes, help the disabled, UM's, etc etc, but really blaming the airline for *something* then adding the point of 'i have a 7mth old' is not a valid reason for a complaint.

Also based on previous threads the OP has made this is not the first time they are 'concerned' about a QF flight with an Infant. The OP was prepared to purcahse a QP membership just to have a BSCT on a flight from SYD-HNL. Now the OP knew that a BSCT is not guaranteed, yet still booked and confirmed the ticket, but as time got closer the OP decided it was getting to close to call and basically wanted a guaranteed BSCT seat. I'm sure many other mother's or parents wouldn't complain or go to such lengths to get a bassinet when they well know that it is not guaranteed when purchasing the ticket.



edit: Puts on flame resistant suit! So much for opinions 'ey!
Or should i just delete all my posts and make everyone happy...

 

[simongr]

edit: Puts on flame resistant suit! So much for opinions 'ey!

Opinions are fine - lack of tact - not so much.

Travelling with children is different and harder than travelling alone and the airlines don't make it that much easier. I guess people do choose to have kids and then choose to travel - but so do people with other challenges.

Can we assume that your parents never travelled with you as a child?

 

[gilby08]

Can we assume that your parents never travelled with you as a child?

Yes they did (and is the reason today why i love flying so much), but they didn't expect the airline to help out and (OT) had an appropiate amount of luggage. If something went wrong they wouldn't point out that they had a young kid!

 

[medhead]

edit: Puts on flame resistant suit! So much for opinions 'ey!
Or should i just delete all my posts and make everyone happy...

Couple of things, your first post didn't express any of the stuff you've just mentioned.

The OP hasn't given any details of the issues involved. So you seem to be making some big assumptions and projecting other experiences onto the OP. I travel with children and I lugged excessive suitcases on and off trains all over Europe but it would be wrong to project my checked luggage situation onto my carry on luggage situation.

In another case My wife had an FA nurse our first child at 7 months while she had her meal. The FA didn't have to do that but they did to make life easier. Then again this was in J.

I would really like to hear about the problems experienced from the OP.

As for the bassinet thing I'm not sure of the issue. While not guaranteed i can't see anything wrong with trying to swing the balance in ones favor. I thought that was one of the objectives of AFF. What is the difference between trying improve the chance of a bassinet or asking of advice on which flight offers the best upgrade chance. Not much IMO.

Ohh and opinion is always welcome. I'm highly opinionated myself.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Couple of things, your first post didn't express any of the stuff you've just mentioned.

The OP hasn't given any details of the issues involved. So you seem to be making some big assumptions and projecting other experiences onto the OP. I travel with children and I lugged excessive suitcases on and off trains all over Europe but it would be wrong to project my checked luggage situation onto my carry on luggage situation.

In another case My wife had an FA nurse our first child at 7 months while she had her meal. The FA didn't have to do that but they did to make life easier. Then again this was in J.

I would really like to hear about the problems experienced from the OP.

As for the bassinet thing I'm not sure of the issue. While not guaranteed i can't see anything wrong with trying to swing the balance in ones favor. I thought that was one of the objectives of AFF. What is the difference between trying improve the chance of a bassinet or asking of advice on which flight offers the best upgrade chance. Not much IMO.

Ohh and opinion is always welcome. I'm highly opinionated myself.

Going slightly OT I think the issue here is that the OP has previously asked and received help from the forum in trying to secure a bassinet seat. Nothing wrong with that , except she did not post any follow up outcome from the help received. Is this a written ( or unwritten ) rule of AFF?

 

[medhead]

Going slightly OT I think the issue here is that the OP has previously asked and received help from the forum in trying to secure a bassinet seat. Nothing wrong with that , except she did not post any follow up outcome from the help received. Is this a written ( or unwritten ) rule of AFF?

Fair point and Gilby08 also made some fair points. Apologies for not mentioning that before.

I did read a bit of the bassinet thread but lost interest as I couldn't help and don't seeing a need for a bassinet in my future.
Follow up is always welcome.

Perhaps I'm prepared to cut some slack because everyone here was extremely indulgent of the rubbish I pulled when I first joined AFF. Yes I am a slow learner.

 

[mannej]

Bec, unfortunately if the only problem you have faced is a delay, then Qantas will definitely not refund you any points. The T&C's of the contract you agree to will state that the arrival and departure times do not form part of the contract. It is all a part of traveling!

Delays happen for a number of reasons, and I have a feeling that (if you were on QF545) the reason for your delay is that you were unlucky enough to cop an ex-BA ZX 767

 

[Alanslegal]

I had the worst flight experience on Sunday night with Qantas flying from Brisbane to Sydney - where a 1 and half hour flight turned into a 3 and a half hour flight.....with my 7 month old baby!

I'm reading this as the baby is a significant contributory factor in this being your worst flight ever. As a few posters mentioned, traveling with babies or young children makes things seem more difficult / stressful than it is, and with the unexpected delays it just compounded the stress levels.