themaiz
Member
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2009
- Posts
- 165
- Qantas
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- Gold
So I'm an idiot. I left my headset case in the seat pocket on a WLG/SYD flight, and only realised two hours later when I got home. I found the Qantas process to be utterly opaque, and I'm wondering if anyone here can help or suggest technique to retrieve the item.
The real issue here is that the QF process has nothing to do with customer service or resolution.
Bear in mind that I know the flight, the registration number of the plane (ok, that's just geeky), the seat number, and where the plane went (straight back to WLG). So it would have been quickly and efficiently cleaned.
Arrival day: after I get home and realise the case is missing, and why (several minutes of expletives on my part) I start chasing down a reporting process. Any reporting process. The QF website has no pointers to international lost property - only domestic. The domestic number takes a message, and tells you they won't call back unless they find something. I lodged a claim on the phone. I expect to not hear back, and that expectation has, so far, been met.
Day+1: I actually go to SYD T1 and try to find a lost property office. Signs point to level 3. Find a lovely person behind a thick window who points out that I walked past QF lost property on the way up, and anything lost on a plane is airline responsibility. Back down to level 1. Find the lost property office, which has a sign indicating office hours of 0600-2000. It's closed, and probably has been for two years... no sign of life. Wander back up the other end of the terminal to report to Mr SYD Lost Property what I'd found, and there's another QF baggage office near the central escalators. And there's nobody there either. There is a 1-300 number on the window.
Leave T1 having experienced a bit of the back office, found a picture of the airport from maybe 1970, but no closer to resolution. Bonus: now I know how to use the 420 bus to avoid obscene parking charges at SYD, and brutal get-off charges on the train.
Day+2: call the 1-300 number. Unbelievably, it lands me at the premium helpdesk (not lost property... there's a surprise!), and I'm talking to someone in the Hobart call centre - a first in over a year. He's very helpful, very apologetic, and puts me on hold while he calls T1 QF lost property. After three cycles of that, he comes back and apologises again (very, very polite) and gives me some direct numbers that I can try.
Later in the afternoon I try the two numbers. They ring for a while, then abruptly disconnect with no progress.
Day+3: realise I should have asked here, which is bound to get more attention than QF. Call the numbers again. First number rings for 30 seconds, and then "we regret that the number you have dialled is temporarily out of service". Call the second number, and the same thing happens. Is an out-of-service message better than a rude disconnection? Jury is out.
So. Any suggestions? I can replace the items easily (if expensively) but I can't replace my faith that there would be a QF business process for an event which must occur thousands of times a day. I've concluded that lost property is a lost cause. What the cleaners do with lost property is one unanswered question, and if their part of the process is complex then it's in their interests to throw stuff out rather than report it. That would be adequately supported by an invisible followup system.
The real issue here is that the QF process has nothing to do with customer service or resolution.
Bear in mind that I know the flight, the registration number of the plane (ok, that's just geeky), the seat number, and where the plane went (straight back to WLG). So it would have been quickly and efficiently cleaned.
Arrival day: after I get home and realise the case is missing, and why (several minutes of expletives on my part) I start chasing down a reporting process. Any reporting process. The QF website has no pointers to international lost property - only domestic. The domestic number takes a message, and tells you they won't call back unless they find something. I lodged a claim on the phone. I expect to not hear back, and that expectation has, so far, been met.
Day+1: I actually go to SYD T1 and try to find a lost property office. Signs point to level 3. Find a lovely person behind a thick window who points out that I walked past QF lost property on the way up, and anything lost on a plane is airline responsibility. Back down to level 1. Find the lost property office, which has a sign indicating office hours of 0600-2000. It's closed, and probably has been for two years... no sign of life. Wander back up the other end of the terminal to report to Mr SYD Lost Property what I'd found, and there's another QF baggage office near the central escalators. And there's nobody there either. There is a 1-300 number on the window.
Leave T1 having experienced a bit of the back office, found a picture of the airport from maybe 1970, but no closer to resolution. Bonus: now I know how to use the 420 bus to avoid obscene parking charges at SYD, and brutal get-off charges on the train.
Day+2: call the 1-300 number. Unbelievably, it lands me at the premium helpdesk (not lost property... there's a surprise!), and I'm talking to someone in the Hobart call centre - a first in over a year. He's very helpful, very apologetic, and puts me on hold while he calls T1 QF lost property. After three cycles of that, he comes back and apologises again (very, very polite) and gives me some direct numbers that I can try.
Later in the afternoon I try the two numbers. They ring for a while, then abruptly disconnect with no progress.
Day+3: realise I should have asked here, which is bound to get more attention than QF. Call the numbers again. First number rings for 30 seconds, and then "we regret that the number you have dialled is temporarily out of service". Call the second number, and the same thing happens. Is an out-of-service message better than a rude disconnection? Jury is out.
So. Any suggestions? I can replace the items easily (if expensively) but I can't replace my faith that there would be a QF business process for an event which must occur thousands of times a day. I've concluded that lost property is a lost cause. What the cleaners do with lost property is one unanswered question, and if their part of the process is complex then it's in their interests to throw stuff out rather than report it. That would be adequately supported by an invisible followup system.
