Infuriated with Customer Care - Can anyone help?

[Zadok99]

Hi all,

I have a long and complicated issue with a pair of bookings that I had to cancel. These 2 bookings were for my mother and myself. They were then turned into a credit that through no fault of my own expired unused.

Qantas have made a number of errors with this process including putting the incorrect credit expiry date on voucher and showing the credit voucher for the combined value of the 2 tickets on my FF account rather than allocating a credit to both my mother and myself.

Upon complaining to Qantas, they agreed to honor my credit and I have subsequently used this credit on a trip to the national parks on the US west coast.

It is the other half of the credit that is causing me grief. A growing chain of correspondence between customer care and myself has resulted in a current status of Qantas claiming my mother has used her credit. I know this that this is not the case! She is 70 years old and has not jetted off somewhere without me knowing!

Without going into the nitty gritty, what I want to know is whether anyone is aware of any avenue of reviewing/appealling a decision by Customer Care?

I am 100% convinced that they are incorrect and can see no way out of the situation other than to grin and bear it or seek legal redress. Given the relatively small amount involved ($1300.00) the latter option seems like overkill.

Either way I am incredibly frustrated and annoyed with Qantas. I have flown with Qantas a substantial amount over the years. I have been platinum since that FF tier was created and was gold for a long time before that. I have been lifetime gold for a while now and have generally been satisfied. My previous high good-will towards the Qantas brand is however rapidly heading towards zero!

Sorry if this sounds excessively whiney but I do not know where to go from here. I am disinclined to let this rest as Qantas are just wrong and are doing my mother and I an injustice.

If anyone is really interested I can provide more details of the issue but that's not really the point. What I need is a way forward and there are no smarter people for that than the regular posters here.

Many thanks,

Zadok99

 

[FL360]

I agree with you, last year around the Beijing Olympics I have heard that they will not issue visas unless you have bought flights and accomodation.
But I am going to China for a day from HK, however I still need a visa. So I booked a fully flexible, fully refundable tickets from QF and used it to get my visa, after that I need to get the full refund, so I call QF customer service and I get the cheque back about 3-4 weeks later.

After a while I realise that the cancel button on your booking page actually gives you credit for the full refund amount for use withint 12 mths ! :shock:Because I "bought" the tickets with the intention of getting a full refund, so I have paid about 3-4k ...

That was a close call ! Unless you dig through QF's T&C there is no way you would think Fully refundable is not exactly means FULL CASH REFUND. :shock::shock:

 

[docjames]

Welcome to the forums.

Perhaps you could detail

- has this all been done by telephone and/or email, or has it been done in writing also.

- have you only dealt with call centre staff, call centre manager or other.


It may help make things clearer re: next step.

 

[Dave Noble]

I got lost over exactly what happened

It sounds like a cancellation of a ticket that does not allow a refund but offered use as credit towards a future purchase which is valid for a maximum period

It then sounds like this period elapsed and so the credit was lost; with that aspect I cannot see how it is not the OPs fault if the credit went unused

If the credit expired, I cannot see what valid legal claim could be made against Qantas

The most confusing bit to me is that the OP has said that it is expired and also that QF say that it has been used. Could it be that the point at which it expires, it shows as being used?

FF status is of no relevence in this issue

Dave

 

[docjames]

Dave my reading was:

- refund credited to single account (instead of across two)
- when "fixed" to split across the two accounts, there was an incorrect epiry period
- this was then rectified
- the OP used his credit
- his mother's account had the credit marked as "used" when in fact it wasnt.

It's unclear if this was in fact then (properly ie. 12 month) expired.



Could the OP please provide more details so we can try and offer some advice.

 

[Dave Noble]

Can you provide clear description of what events happened and when since it is very hard to follow

Dave

 

[serfty]

Such credits are valid for 12 months from the date of the original ticketing, not the date of the departure of the first flight.

I had a credit for a purchase made in mid-March this year for travel in November. I had to cancel this November travel and will need to use this credit for travel before the expiry date in March - not November.

 

[david870mdg]

Maybe the small claims tribunal at VCAT?
I believe this was raised in an earlier thread re refunds from airlines.

 

[Mal]

Maybe the small claims tribunal at VCAT?
I believe this was raised in an earlier thread re refunds from airlines.

Yeah, or the local state based small claims court if more applicable.

Registered letter to Alan Joyce (CEO) About Qantas - Newsroom - Media Releases

He won't actually look at it, but someone from his executive support team will.

They would be my methods 'of last resort' though...

 

[Zadok99]

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies.

I don't think the actual details are important but I'll try to explain more clearly without writing a novel.

I really wanted to just give an overview and seek advice on how to proceed.

DocJames was pretty much right. He wrote:

"- refund credited to single account (instead of across two)
- when "fixed" to split across the two accounts, there was an incorrect epiry period
- this was then rectified
- the OP used his credit
- his mother's account had the credit marked as "used" when in fact it wasnt"

The credits were however split correctly over the two accounts. It was the credit voucher creation process that incorrectly put a single credit voucher for the total amount on my account and none on my mothers. Additionally, it popped an incorrect expiry date on the voucher.

I didn't discover these errors until I went to use it some 50 weeks later. I was advised that I only had half the expected amount and that it had expired even though it was before the date on the voucher.

Qantas initially did not believe me that these errors had occurred and I have had to prove to them that the voucher was incorrect. They initially responded that it was impossible for this situation to have arisen and completely refuted that an incorrect voucher ever existed. (The incorrect date on the voucher had passed whilst customer care was investigating removing the online evidence and leaving me with only a printed copy.)

After investigating for a considerable length of time, Qantas have admitted, in writing, that these two errors (incorrect date and one voucher instead of two) occurred and that those system errors have been corrected.

I have used my credit which they honoured. They acknowledged the confusion was caused through their own system errors.

The trouble was when my mother went to use her credit they claim it has already been used. This is not correct and is the subject of the ongoing dispute with Customer Care.

I apologise for the confusion in my original post. I was incandescent with rage when I wrote it and rewrote and rewrote it. I should probably have removed all references to the facts as they are not really important. I know I am correct. The issue for me is my lack of progress with customer care and no apparent way to resolve the issue without resorting to legal action.

If anyone really, really, really wants all the details, I can provide a copy of all the written correspondence.

Regards,

Zadok99

 

[Dave Noble]

I didn't discover these errors until I went to use it some 50 weeks later. I was advised that I only had half the expected amount and that it had expired even though it was before the date on the voucher

This seems a key issue. In most cases I am aware of, the credit is valid for 12 months from the date when the original ticket was issued ( and not 12 months from the date of cancellation )

If you made the booking 2 weeks or more prior to cancelling the booking, then 50 weeks after that date and the voucher will have expired

e.g. taking rules from a current SYD-LAX fare

• 
  This fare may be used as credit towards the payment of any higher fare from the
  point of origin, provided the new fare conditions are met. A reissue fee of A$200 per person applies. If the new fare is cancelled the original fare cancellation conditions will apply. This credit must be used within 12 months of the originals tickets date of issue.

If the date you tried to use the credit was within 12 months of the ticket issue date, then obviously this would be irrelevent

Dave

 

[Lucky_man]

I should probably have removed all references to the facts as they are not really important. I know I am correct.

This is possibley the biggest barrier to any progress and the basis of nearly all wars. If this is really your view I'd go straight to court but do not expecta sympathetic bench.

 

[medhead]

This seems a key issue. In most cases I am aware of, the credit is valid for 12 months from the date when the original ticket was issued ( and not 12 months from the date of cancellation )

If you made the booking 2 weeks or more prior to cancelling the booking, then 50 weeks after that date and the voucher will have expired

If the date you tried to use the credit was within 12 months of the ticket issue date, then obviously this would be irrelevent

Dave

The way I read it is that the date on the voucher was incorrect. That is the issued voucher had a date that was longer than 12 months after the ticket issue date.

The fact that the OP has been given a voucher with the wrong date on it is the key issue. Why did QF issue a voucher that didn't conform to their rules?

NB: I have had a similar thing with a QF voucher that was issued as an apology. I used some of it and was re-issued with a voucher having an expiry date 12 months from the re-issue date, instead of the expiry date on the original voucher.