Not happy Jetstar!

[proskyneo]

Just tried to book flights for my cousin using Jetstar's Price Beat Guarantee.

Note:
a) After hours, your call gets shafted to Malaysia
b) Malaysian operators are given different information
c) After hours, there are no managers/supervisors there
d) After hours, the official Price Beat Guarantee number (1300 369 516) is diverted to a Japanese answering message which hangs up on you after you can't understand it's message - call the normal Jetstar number

The operator told me in no uncertain terms that he was unable to price beat (PB) my Tiger fare Sydney to Melbourne return (25/09/10 and 03/10/10) by giving me a Jetsaver Light fare (hand-carry only) without charging me $15 (or $20 - can't remember) extra on pain of possible termination of employment.

Original reason given: Tiger only allows 7kg hand-carry.

First thoughts:
a) didn't an airline just recently announce they were going to charge an obscene amount for carry-on baggage as well? (Spirit Air I believe..)
b) for Australian domestic flights, Tiger has increased their carry-on limit to 2 pieces up to 10kg with no single piece more than 7kg.

Told him (b). He then informed me that he had raised this specific issue with his supervisor and told me that he had recently processed a passenger with a Jetsaver Light fare and forgot to add the $15 (or $20) surcharge. Because of this he was reprimanded, nearly fired and he had to call back the passenger AND they still had to pay this extra surcharge and also why he would not process this PB booking. He also mentioned that the T&C's on the Jetstar website which has NO mention of any specific carry-on limit for comparable fare is incorrect as of 1st July - which incidentally was the exact date when it was updated to extend the Guarantee which was scheduled to end on 30th June.

Jetstar Price Beat Guarantee

"Availability - The comparable Jetstar fare must also be available at the same time. If the lower fare is comparable to JetSaver Light, you will only be able to purchase a JetSaver Light fare (carry-on baggage only) under this promotion."

Second thoughts:
a) I made a PB booking yesterday for myself using the Australian call centre and have already received the e-ticket itineraries.
b) Why are the 2 call centres given different information?
c) Not happy Jan.. I mean Jetstar.

After a 35 minute (including 23 minutes on hold) phone call, the outcome was simply a callback request from someone in Customer Relations who can issue waivers and is higher than himself within 5-7 working days and no PB booking for my cousin.

Have taken a screen shot of Tiger's fares in case they do not honour the sale fares (which are 100% price beatable under this guarantee) after the sale has ended.

Still a bit fired up after this long phone call! Quite frustrated. Just searched AFF and wasn't much about this particular guarantee which I use quite frequently to my great advantage. Just wondering what everyone else thinks of this situation or if anyone else has any other problems or recommendations..

At the moment I intend to call the Australian Call Centre in the morning - make the PB booking first and then escalate the matter further because this is the 2nd time it has happened to my cousin. The first time he called up the Australian Call Centre after paying the extra surcharge and they refunded the extra surcharge on the spot.

He's quite young haha and I have slightly more experience with PB bookings than himself.

Rant over:!:

 

[Ewok]

I've flown 16 airlines this year, and none are even close to JetStar's incompetence!!!

 

[JeniSkunk]

Have taken a screen shot of Tiger's fares in case they do not honour the sale fares (which are 100% price beatable under this guarantee) after the sale has ended.

Rant over:!:

You missed some screen shots.
The ones of the relevant pages on the Jetstar site.
Without having the screen shots from both airline sites, it gives the call centre droids at Jetstar, room to evade the necessity to fully honour the publicly advertised claim by Jetstar.

Jenifur Charne

 

[Dave Noble]

Wouldn't it have been easier and less effort to have just booked the cheaper fare ?

How much cheaper was the Jetstar fare to spend so much time on it?

Dave

 

[markis10]

Thanks for reinforcing my belief that its better to shop on things other than price when it comes to airlines, my time is valuable and so is my sanity.

And as I was typing this a JQ price beat ad came on TV LOL.

 

[kamchatsky]

Why not just fly Tiger instead? It would have been a lot easier. Afterall, Tiger and Jet* are pretty much on par these days. You get sh*fted either way if something goes wrong :mrgreen:

 

[pauly7]

Without having the screen shots from both airline sites, it gives the call centre droids at Jetstar

Jenifur Charne

There is no need to be demeaning to the staff, especially since in this case they were following what they had been told was company policy - to preserve their own job.

 

[oz_mark]

If you have gone as far as you can with Jetstar, lodge a complaint with the relevant consumer body in your state.

Comparable Fare - Another airline's fare which has less than 20kg checked baggage allowance or excludes checked baggage allowance is comparable to an available JetSaver Light fare from Jetstar. Another airline's fare which includes at least 20kg checked baggage allowance is comparable to an available JetSaver fare from Jetstar. If the other airline's fare is unclear the comparison cannot be used in this promotion.

If they state this is wrong, then they are obliged to fix it.

 

[proskyneo]

Wouldn't it have been easier and less effort to have just booked the cheaper fare ?

How much cheaper was the Jetstar fare to spend so much time on it?

Dave

The Jetsaver light fares off the website were more than double the Tiger fares, so quite a significant saving there if you want to travel Jetstar.

It would definitely be easier to simply book with Tiger, but I'm fairly Tiger-phobic and sometimes I do need to be somewhere at a certain time. Jetstar has more flight services and if they change their schedule, they will allow you to switch to one before or after. I've heard Tiger has changed flights from morning to night time and that can leave people with few good options.

I admit, I'm also a little peeved at the difference between Malaysian and Australian call centre information. That and also this being the second time it's happened to my cousin made me want to follow it up a bit more.

Why not just fly Tiger instead? It would have been a lot easier. Afterall, Tiger and Jet* are pretty much on par these days. You get sh*fted either way if something goes wrong :mrgreen:

Like I said, I'm pretty Tiger-phobic and my cousin is as well. For him it doesn't really matter if everything goes alright, but I myself am a QP member, so flying Jetstar for fares that are less than $30 (The Lounge single entry price) is actually quite funny. So I guess I have some loyalty to Qantas, or their club anyway - and it IS still actually cheaper than Tiger using their Price Beat Guarantee. Oh and whenever I OLCI, I frequently select seats 1D or 1F for free.

There is no need to be demeaning to the staff, especially since in this case they were following what they had been told was company policy - to preserve their own job.

Pauly7 is quite correct. I wasn't happy about it, but we still managed to talk civilly and blame management! It's always management's fault..

If you have gone as far as you can with Jetstar, lodge a complaint with the relevant consumer body in your state.



If they state this is wrong, then they are obliged to fix it.

Thanks oz_mark I'll definitely keep that in mind

 

[moa999]

Very different to my experience earlier in the year.

I have previously had no trouble getting Jetstar to price match Tiger on SYD-MEL routes. Even got a price match to JQ35.

Call centre operator was extremely courteous and friendly and said that they are forever doing matches against Tiger.

 

[ric_melb]

My angle on this is if you really don't want to fly Tiger, and want to fly Jetstar, just pay the Jetstar fare.
Also if you ring after hours, and get diverted to the Malaysian call centre, realise they may not be well informed about Australian conditions, and ring Jetstar during normal working hours and speak to someone in Australia.
And if they really want to charge you $15 extra, is it really worth arguing about, taking all this time to argue and post on this board?

 

[oz_mark]

Also if you ring after hours, and get diverted to the Malaysian call centre, realise they may not be well informed about Australian conditions, and ring Jetstar during normal working hours and speak to someone in Australia.

If they are acting as the call centre for Jetstar, then:
1) the call centre operators must know (and have appropriate training) in the products and procedures of Jetstar
2) Jetstar must ensure that their contracted centre is providing timely and accurate information.

 

[TheInsider]

JQ dont care about their call centres, if they did they wouldn't be outsourced and offshored to Salmat - Salesforce in Carlton and Malaysia.

 

[proskyneo]

My angle on this is if you really don't want to fly Tiger, and want to fly Jetstar, just pay the Jetstar fare.
Also if you ring after hours, and get diverted to the Malaysian call centre, realise they may not be well informed about Australian conditions, and ring Jetstar during normal working hours and speak to someone in Australia.
And if they really want to charge you $15 extra, is it really worth arguing about, taking all this time to argue and post on this board?

Fair enough ric_melb but I second what oz_mark says about Jetstar procedures and staff contracted or otherwise.

If Jetstar are going to provide a promotion which is a key selling point of their services to certain consumers, i.e. me, then I expect them to deliver on their promotion. I shouldn't have to pay an additional fee because I've booked at a different time or through a different call centre. There should be consistency across the board.

I think it is worth arguing about $15, as the fares I've booked in the past generally range from as low as $20 to $50. $15 is a fairly large proportion of that fare and could make some fares more expensive than the Jetstar fares in some instances. It also seems like giving them the extra $15 is also like throwing money at the problem. Works in the short-term, but it's going to keep happening and I'd not like other people to get ripped off either - it's as bad as theft in my opinion, because they are not entitled to it.

FWIW, I find posting on this board fun, so definitely worth it

 

[Justinf]

I had a experience with JQ yesterday flying back from Launceston to Melbourne. I was put on seat 27C and my 10-year-old daughter was across the aisle on 27D. No real big deal I suppose, but I did enquire at check in as to whether they could put us sitting together (not an unreasonable expectation in my opinion). Was told that the flight was 100% full and the checkin attendant could move us.
So be it.
But upon taking our seats the very last rown only had one person in it. The 2nd-last row only had one person in it.
For such a short 45-min flight I didn't worry about it, but it was obvious the check-in attendant simply couldn't be bothered looking.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

I had a experience with JQ yesterday flying back from Launceston to Melbourne. I was put on seat 27C and my 10-year-old daughter was across the aisle on 27D. No real big deal I suppose, but I did enquire at check in as to whether they could put us sitting together (not an unreasonable expectation in my opinion). Was told that the flight was 100% full and the checkin attendant could move us.
So be it.
But upon taking our seats the very last rown only had one person in it. The 2nd-last row only had one person in it.
For such a short 45-min flight I didn't worry about it, but it was obvious the check-in attendant simply couldn't be bothered looking.

You could avoid this by doing online check-in

 

[Justinf]

I did OLCI, Dazz, but then after I did it, I realised where we were sitting and with the boarding passes printed out, it was too late to do anything about until we got to the airport. Partly my fault, but it would have been easy for the check-in staff member to change us.

 

[MelUser]

A few observations:

(1) Anyone who chooses to fly Tiger deserves everything that comes their way - ie we know what that airline is capable of.

(2) Is it really worth all the stress to try and save a few dollars haggling with an overseas call centre? Whilst I may be tempted to chase something, the minute I get an overseas call centre I reassess whether it is going to be worth the effort.

(3) Jetstar checkin staff - the staff are rewarded/KPIed/whatevered on the number of people they check in per hour. Therefore it is not in their interest to find you better seating. I flew Jetstar to Hamilton Island - only sensilble option from MEL and check in staff (in response to being asked about seating) told me that I had chosen the seats (not true - I hadn't touched the reservation) and on this basis they were reluctant change them. After firmer (but polite) pushing on my part they agree to change seating assignment but were not pleased in responding to my request.

 

[ike]

Just like to say that I have booked four return flights on JQ PB -2 times OOL to SYD and twice to MEL, all were price beaten with no problem. I will say that it was always a aussie call centre. Just remember you have to be flexiable with your dates and times.

 

[Quentin]

From Darwin, since Qantas removed all full service aircraft, we have no other choice when traveling north than Jetstar. I have had the privilege of holding jobs over my career that taken me around the globe, and I can honestly say this airline is doing as best it can to achieve the status of Worst Customer Service.

They recently stranded me in Singapore by closing the check-in early. I arrived the stated 1 hour before flight time to find a completely empty desk. The young bloke doing excess baggage informed me"No Jetstar go early; always go early".

I thought I call their emergency number which surely would be included in the 6 pages of paperwork I get as my 'ticket'. Hmm, no numbers - not just a missing emergency number - no phone numbers listed for any of their offices anywhere in the world!

To shorten this story, it took me another 45 minutes to track down a live body from Jetstar who informed me it was my fault. I got on the flight the next day, $200 poorer for a another night in Singapore. When I got home I wrote to Jetstar which resulted in a call from a very junior operator and a - I kid you not -20 paragraph email of which the first 2 paras were mildly apologetic for my experience, the rest went on to explain Jetstar's check-in policy and essentially state that I was at fault.

And this is only one of my experiences with them. Every day in our newspaper there is a litany of complaints ranging from service to canceled flights and so on.

As I say, ex Darwin we have no choice. We are even devoid of Star Class seats as apparently our aircraft are run by Jetstar Asia. Many of us now choose the more laborious task of flying south for 3 to 4 hours to over fly Darwin in order to fly with a half decent airline.