Payment didn't go through but got a booking reference!

[jh001]

A few days ago I tried to book some reward seats but the page crashed just after I entered PayPal credentials, before finalising payment. I tried to rebook but the seats were no longer available. Today I checked the Qantas app and it showed a booking! No payment or points were taken.

I called Qantas support to find out what's going on. The person who answered had no idea and said I should wait because "it takes up to 3 days for PayPal to go through". Given that (a) previous payments have gone through immediately and (b) I never actually "approved/finalised" the payment (and PayPal does not show any pending transactions) I highly doubt this will happen. I offered to pay for the tickets using a CC but she refused to take another payment.

Anybody else been in situation? I'm almost certain the booking is going to be cancelled due to non-payment, and I will lose those seats.

 

[Mickey Mouse]

Is the flight on QF or a partner?

 

[jpp42]

I would HUACA (hang up and call again) - you need to complete the payment, or as you say, the flights will not be ticketed and the seats lost. You don't need to mention it was Paypal - just call and say you need to make payment for a booking.

 

[jh001]

Is the flight on QF or a partner?

QF flights

 

[kpro]

The PNR is created before payment, and ticketed once payment is made. As jpp42 has stated, you need to call up to complete payment and have the itinerary ticketed.

 

[jh001]

I would HUACA (hang up and call again) - you need to complete the payment, or as you say, the flights will not be ticketed and the seats lost. You don't need to mention it was Paypal - just call and say you need to make payment for a booking.

It did that first up when they answered, they said I can't pay because there is already a PayPal payment pending. I might see if they can somehow cancel the PP payment and change to CC

 

[Mickey Mouse]

If they can actually see a pending payment, it might be okay, however, as advised above, it wont hurt to keep calling.
Being on an actual QF flight helps... as they should be able to work things around if there is a problem - if it was another airline via Qantas all bets are off!

BTW: I booked reward (domestic) flights a while back, and while it didn't crash, got the PNR, but the payment stayed as pending for about a week, then didn't get processed, then about a month later the points got taken and the payment.

 

[kpro]

here is already a PayPal payment pending.

Log on to your PayPal account and check if there is a transaction pending or confirmed. If there isn't a transaction there, then I'd expect the payment needs to be re-made.

 

[elanshin]

A few days ago I tried to book some reward seats but the page crashed just after I entered PayPal credentials, before finalising payment. I tried to rebook but the seats were no longer available. Today I checked the Qantas app and it showed a booking! No payment or points were taken.

I called Qantas support to find out what's going on. The person who answered had no idea and said I should wait because "it takes up to 3 days for PayPal to go through". Given that (a) previous payments have gone through immediately and (b) I never actually "approved/finalised" the payment (and PayPal does not show any pending transactions) I highly doubt this will happen. I offered to pay for the tickets using a CC but she refused to take another payment.

Anybody else been in situation? I'm almost certain the booking is going to be cancelled due to non-payment, and I will lose those seats.

The reality of the situation (as a merchant that receives payments) is that from Qantas' point of view, they really can't do much as its on the payment gateway (paypal)'s system, your bank and Qantas' own IT integrations.

The last thing a business want to do is take an overpayment now while its all unresolved then have to deal with refunds.

It did that first up when they answered, they said I can't pay because there is already a PayPal payment pending. I might see if they can somehow cancel the PP payment and change to CC

In theory doable, but you'd need someone higher up that has access to their PayPal details and this part is one that is unlikely to be the case when you call their call centre. I'd be very worried if the rank and file customer service agents have authority to access and authorize PayPal changes from a security perspective.

Sucks in your circumstances though.

 

[encryptededdy]

Presumably the PayPal pending payment will time out at some point, and then you can call to get it fixed.

Was your booking QF-operated? There's probably less risk of you losing your seats in that instance.

 

[Artnits23]

Did you get an e-ticket and number starting with 081? If you have that then it is ticketed and payment has gone thru. It appearing in the app doesn’t mean it is ticketed.

 

[Mr H]

This does suggest that PayPal may not be a great way of paying for QF tix.

 

[jh001]

Just a follow up ... firstly, thanks to all who offered suggestions. After several unsuccessful attempts going through the 13 13 13 number, I managed to get hold of somebody through Facebook messenger who seemed to know what he's doing, problem was solved in 5 minutes. Why is it so friggin hard to get competent people??

This does suggest that PayPal may not be a great way of paying for QF tix.

The same could have happened with other payment methods. I was just unfortunate timing with the website crashing ...

 

[Excusemesir]

Just a follow up ... firstly, thanks to all who offered suggestions. After several unsuccessful attempts going through the 13 13 13 number, I managed to get hold of somebody through Facebook messenger who seemed to know what he's doing, problem was solved in 5 minutes. Why is it so friggin hard to get competent people??



The same could have happened with other payment methods. I was just unfortunate timing with the website crashing ...

Hey I know it's a long shot, but I'm in a very similar situation as you, received error when passing reward seats through PayPal but booking received with no ticket. What exactly did they do when you contacted them via Facebook messenger?
I've contacted them via 131313 and they said it takes 10 business days and I'm currently on day 7 but I'm getting anxious and just want it resolved.

 

[DC3]

I managed to get hold of somebody through Facebook messenger who seemed to know what he's doing, problem was solved in 5 minutes. Why is it so friggin hard to get competent people??

Ah, talking to the wrong person initially?

 

[Excusemesir]

I'm sure there will be others facing the same situation in the future so just a quick update.

I contacted Qantas via Facebook messenger and they had a look and confirmed PayPal had not been received (whatever they means). They left a note in the booking and ask me to contact their reservations team via phone. By this point I was already talking to reservations team on the phone and I had basically asked them to change payment method to debit card as PayPal was taking too long.

They had to do some checks in the background but they did change it and my card has been debited. They mentioned the ticket is now in the queue? to be released and to expect it in 48 hours, though it might take longer.

Couple of things to add, they were going to charge me the full price and not the points + pay which would've been close to 3x the price which I brought up with them. This was one of the things they had check and fix in the background before I gave them my card details.

My QFF points still haven't been deducted but they mentioned this would happen when I receive my tickets.

 

[opusman]

Perhaps foolishly, yesterday I made a paypal booking (cash, not points) which has yet to ticket. Did I make a dreadful error?