Hi All,
I am the person to which this is about, and would like to set the story stright.
1. My employer purchased the first ticket, as a favour to me to save time, as I normally fly to Brisbane and drive to the Goldcoast.
2. I am a Qantas FF (Gold) and VB Velocity
3. Yes I am a transgender person
4. Yes I am overwieght, due to a hernia operation that went wrong and due to contracting golden staph, I need to wait another 2 years before it can be surgically repaired to avoid a staph re-infection
Now this is what happened...
My employer booked me a flight on Jetstar on there new service to the Gold Coast as a fsvour, as I normally drive from Brisbane, on or around the 15th January 2009
I am aware that I am a big woman (I weighs 143.5 kg)
On the 15th and twice on the 18th of January I made enquiries via the Jetstar call centre as to whether I would need to purchase an extra seat.
(I normally upgrade to Business Class with Qantas with points, should there be no seats available). I was told on the first call, I could be sat in the exit row, and when I explained that I couldn't sit there due to my size and medical problems, the call centre operator said she could “get around it” (”it” referring to the airline policy regarding seating in the exit (over the wing exits))
I sought reassurance from call centre staff about the issue on several occasions after making the initial booking and I was told each time that
"As this is a new service, it will not be full, so there is no need to buy an extra seat" but to call back 2 hours before I fly to buy excess weight allowance.
On the Saturday before the flight, I checked online and noticed the flight was getting full and I rung the call centre and was told that I had to book another seat “for other people’s comfort”. Which my partner promptly did for me.
I was more pissed at the fact while we where on hold for the supervisor, the cost went up about $60.00 and Yes I was pissed off to find out the days before my trip that I had to fork out for another ticket, which I had been told not to worry about previously.
I was livid when I logged on to the Jetstar website to check my seat allocation only to find out that they had me sitting in 2 diffent seats located in different rows. (they then did this again on my return leg, but simone from jetstar promptly fixed this up)
I did not bring this to media attention because I didn’t want to pay for two seats. For the record I was the one who brought my size to the attention of the airline in the first place. I asked them repeatedly if I was required to purchase two seats and they told me not to worry about it,
I only did as they advised.
My complaint is that Jetstar changed their tune in relation to the extra seat at the very last minute and that the two seats purchased were not together despite the second ticket being booked by a supervisor in the Jetstar call centre.
Now for the record
Simone (Media Liason) offered an apology on behalf of Jetstar in relation to this (twice... as they screwed it up again), and that I was offered a refund for the second ticket in this matter, which was gratefully received.
Thanks
Samantha Scafe
I am the person to which this is about, and would like to set the story stright.
1. My employer purchased the first ticket, as a favour to me to save time, as I normally fly to Brisbane and drive to the Goldcoast.
2. I am a Qantas FF (Gold) and VB Velocity
3. Yes I am a transgender person
4. Yes I am overwieght, due to a hernia operation that went wrong and due to contracting golden staph, I need to wait another 2 years before it can be surgically repaired to avoid a staph re-infection
Now this is what happened...
My employer booked me a flight on Jetstar on there new service to the Gold Coast as a fsvour, as I normally drive from Brisbane, on or around the 15th January 2009
I am aware that I am a big woman (I weighs 143.5 kg)
On the 15th and twice on the 18th of January I made enquiries via the Jetstar call centre as to whether I would need to purchase an extra seat.
(I normally upgrade to Business Class with Qantas with points, should there be no seats available). I was told on the first call, I could be sat in the exit row, and when I explained that I couldn't sit there due to my size and medical problems, the call centre operator said she could “get around it” (”it” referring to the airline policy regarding seating in the exit (over the wing exits))
I sought reassurance from call centre staff about the issue on several occasions after making the initial booking and I was told each time that
"As this is a new service, it will not be full, so there is no need to buy an extra seat" but to call back 2 hours before I fly to buy excess weight allowance.
On the Saturday before the flight, I checked online and noticed the flight was getting full and I rung the call centre and was told that I had to book another seat “for other people’s comfort”. Which my partner promptly did for me.
I was more pissed at the fact while we where on hold for the supervisor, the cost went up about $60.00 and Yes I was pissed off to find out the days before my trip that I had to fork out for another ticket, which I had been told not to worry about previously.
I was livid when I logged on to the Jetstar website to check my seat allocation only to find out that they had me sitting in 2 diffent seats located in different rows. (they then did this again on my return leg, but simone from jetstar promptly fixed this up)
I did not bring this to media attention because I didn’t want to pay for two seats. For the record I was the one who brought my size to the attention of the airline in the first place. I asked them repeatedly if I was required to purchase two seats and they told me not to worry about it,
I only did as they advised.
My complaint is that Jetstar changed their tune in relation to the extra seat at the very last minute and that the two seats purchased were not together despite the second ticket being booked by a supervisor in the Jetstar call centre.
Now for the record
Simone (Media Liason) offered an apology on behalf of Jetstar in relation to this (twice... as they screwed it up again), and that I was offered a refund for the second ticket in this matter, which was gratefully received.
Thanks
Samantha Scafe