Qantas BAD refund policy

[siri]

Last Saturday I have to change my flight plans and re do my travel plans and this means adding a another country,( I was flying Syd-HK-SP-Seoul, changed and add Tokyo last miniute) and Qantas cancell my ticket ( A$ 8K) and issue a new one (A$10K). Paid via Amex to both.
Bad part is 8K refund take more than a WEEK and now more than a week gone still refund is not done. LIKE TO KNOW HOW QANTAS JUSTIFY THIS SINCE ALL THE MERCHANTS THAT USE AMEX OR OTHER CARDS DO THE REFUND IMMEDIATELY.
Hope QANATAS answer this ????

This will definitely change my flying with Qanatas in future.

QFF Platinum member.

 

[Dave Noble]

As long as it arrives in your account by the time you need to pay out the $10k, does it greatly matter if it takes a week or so for the refund to be processed?

Dave

 

[siri]

It does, considering both figures are caught with the new statement.... Other is matter of policy. People who are busy travelling and working cannot track big amounts that does not need to be there in the first place.

 

[ric_melb]

Maybe you could check with Qantas as to progress with your refund, that may help to let you know where you stand now.
Don't think I would expect a refund to be immediate for an airfare, or an amount of $8000.
With Dave on this, provided refund is in your account before you have to pay the original $8000 you should not be disadvantaged financially.

 

[Commuter]

SQ took 10 weeks and approximately 10 telephone calls to make a refund. I would have been quite happy with 1 week, to be honest.

 

[bfmi]

Bad part is 8K refund take more than a WEEK and now more than a week gone still refund is not done.

Most airlines are 6-8weeks. Also don't close a card if there is a chance you might need a refund. I had a refund with CX 11 months after buying the ticket as I never used the return leg - it took 8 weeks and had to be refunded to the closed card. Then onto the bank to get hold of the refund. Argh.

Three years ago Qantas also took 6-8 weeks.

 

[one9]

This is your fault. You are the one changing flights. I think 2-3 weeks is a reasonable time period for the refund. But airlines often take longer (up to around 6 weeks).

If the flight was cancelled or something, and you needed a refund, then I would see the reasoning behind your complaint because it is not your fault.

But in this instance, you are the one changing the booking, so it is reasonable to wait a reasonable time for a refund.

 

[Yada Yada]

I agree with Siri on this one. I cannot see any reason why Qantas cannot process the refund right away. If they are making a change then why not simply process both transactions at the same time? Seems lazy to me.

Nonetheless, I agree with Dave in that if the transactions come through before payment is due then no harm done.

 

[holdenvxman]

Do a charge back

 

[Commuter]

SQ took 10 weeks and approximately 10 telephone calls to make a refund.

I've checked my card and it was not 10 weeks - it was 16 weeks.

They said that it would be 6 weeks (so it was 10 weeks over what they said).

I did pay for the new ticket right away, so basically, I lost 16 weeks' interest on my bank balance (wasn't a huge amount, but their inefficiency annoyed me).

 

[NM]

I think there are two different issues being discussed here. There is a valid reason airlines delay refunds of cancelled tickets, which is to discourage people from making dummy of "holding" bookings and then cancelling at the last minute. I have heard of people buying 2 tickets for a flight they want to take, with at least one being a fully refundable ticket. Then making sure the two (or more) seats booked are pre-allocated adjacent to each other. Then no-showing and claiming a refund on the refundable ticket and hence having a spare seat next to them. Of course this costs the airlines money and really causes havoc with their yield management systems.

Another example is someone buying a refundable ticket that would permit them lounge access. Then once in the lounge cancelling the ticket and asking for a refund.

As a result of such practices, they have imposed delayed refunds for ticket. So we can blame the system abusers for the airline's adopting such a policy.

However, when I have had to cancel a high-value ticket (such as a DONE4 or a DCIR22), even though Qantas has quoted their standard 4-6 weeks policy for the refund, it has in fact been processed in less than 2 weeks each time. But each time I was cancelling and rebooking a more expensive fare type as per the example in the OP.

I believe they should provide a method to use the cancelled ticket value as credit towards the new ticket value in such situations, thus meaning you are not left with a large transaction on your credit card for a period of time.

It may be ok to assume that it will be refunded before the payment due date on the credit card, but what it this extra amount put the passenger over their credit limit and hence they could not purchase the new ticket or pay other bills?

 

[Mal]

I've only had 2 refunds from Qantas.

1 direct from Qantas (ticket booked through QF website) and 1 booked through a third party, but charged and refunded by Qantas directly.

Both turned up suprisingly fast (less than a week for both IIRC, but not entirely sure). Both were domestic J/D class fares.

I think Qantas can process these refunds quickly when they want. As for what the secret is to make things happen quickly, that I am not sure of.

BTW, I'd be very hesitant to start a charge back process for this kind of issue. Your CC company is liable to be a little annoyed that you have no real reason for the chargeback (Qantas has said that they'll refund the money) except you're trying to use the Chargeback as leverage to get a refund faster. That really isn't the purpose of a chargeback...

 

[Dave Noble]

Do a charge back

Disputing a charge is designed for charges that should not have been made. if the charge is a legitimate charge then there should be no dispute unless the company is refusing to refund where due. When starting a dispute they should 1st determine whether you have contacted the company in the 1st instance. Given that !F had said that they will refund, I doubt very much that they would initiate process at this point

Disputing a charge does not remove the debt, it starts a dispute process where the CC company determines whether the charge was valid. I see no point to this at this time. If the new charge was 1 week ago, then there should be ample time for QF to refund the other ticket before the new AMEX fee needs to be paid

Dave

 

[Dave Noble]

.

It may be ok to assume that it will be refunded before the payment due date on the credit card, but what it this extra amount put the passenger over their credit limit and hence they could not purchase the new ticket or pay other bills?

This is an issue to consider before making such a change and is where the benefit of changeable tickets comes in.

Dave

 

[thadocta]

I agree with Siri on this one. I cannot see any reason why Qantas cannot process the refund right away. If they are making a change then why not simply process both transactions at the same time? Seems lazy to me.

My thoughts are that QF are very quick to process the charge (thereby giving them use of my money, which I will be paying interest on) but very slow to provide the refund (thereby giving them use of my money, which I am paying interest on). They seem to want to hold on to my funds for as long as possible - whch is understandable. (sure, my funds aren't all tha great, but combine it with everyone elses funds, and t becomes a substantial amount).

But in the meantime, we are all paying interest on those funds (if using a credit card), which is interest we shouldn't have to pay.

Dave

 

[Dave Noble]

But in the meantime, we are all paying interest on those funds (if using a credit card), which is interest we shouldn't have to pay.

Dave

Depending on the card, you shouldn't be. Assuming you have a normal revolving credit card which has an interest free period ( i.e. that interest is only charged on the amount outstanding after the due date ) or on a charge card, then the person should incur no interest charges since the refund should be there by the time payment of the new charge is due. It has only been a week. If using one of the cards where interest is charged from date of purchase, yeah , would be paying interest.

Dave

 

[markis10]

I wonder why you dont have the option of using the refund as a credit towards the new fare with only the difference being charged to your CC, this certainly seems the case for more restricted tickets. If you have paid for a fare on a credit card with a limit, the time to process the refund could be a problem in terms of available credit, interest issues not withstanding.

 

[SeatBackForward]

I wonder why you dont have the option of using the refund as a credit towards the new fare with only the difference being charged to your CC, this certainly seems the case for more restricted tickets. If you have paid for a fare on a credit card with a limit, the time to process the refund could be a problem in terms of available credit, interest issues not withstanding.

Agreed. That's what I would've tried to negotiate with the person handling the cancellation. To settle on the fare difference. That way its out of my hands and the onus is on Qantas' internal accounts to sort it out.

 

[Dave Noble]

Agreed. That's what I would've tried to negotiate with the person handling the cancellation. To settle on the fare difference. That way its out of my hands and the onus is on Qantas' internal accounts to sort it out.

It depends on the fare rules. This was a cancellation and a rebooking; if the fare rules don't specify that the fare value can be used to another ticket ( in the way that QF domestic rules do ), then it needs to be cancelled and refunded ( minus any cancellation fees if appropriate ) and a new ticket purchased

Dave

 

[NM]

But in the meantime, we are all paying interest on those funds (if using a credit card), which is interest we shouldn't have to pay.

Dave

Pay interest on a credit card? Never!