Qantas call centre in Suva, Fiji

[Mattg]

I've been informed that Qantas is now using another outsourced call centre (operated by Mindpearl) based in Suva, Fiji. It's run by the same company that operates the horrendous Cape Town call centre.

Has anyone got through to the Fiji call centre recently, and how was your experience?

 

[serfty]

AA used Fijian agents working for Mindpearl a decade ago (it was a "QLD" 07 ... number).

I booked a couple of xONEx's using them.

Generally OK but I had one who had an incorrect interpretation of the rules.

 

[Anna]

Maybe they've got a better chance of being able to keep up to date with the ever changing covid requirements involved in travelling between Australia and Fiji?

 

[levelnine]

Given Mindpearl's locations are Cape Town, Fiji & Peru, can we expect a Peru call centre to come online some time in the future?

 

[Mattg]

Given Mindpearl's locations are Cape Town, Fiji & Peru, can we expect a Peru call centre to come online some time in the future?

I hope that QF will invest in hiring and training more staff at its own call centres in Hobart and Auckland instead.

I'm guessing the outsourced Fiji call centre is a stop-gap measure to address the high call volumes, given Qantas clearly doesn't have enough of its own staff at the moment.

FWIW, I would suggest to Qantas that call volumes could also be reduced if the South African staff were trained properly, so that people didn't have to spend four hours on the phone to do something that should take 5 minutes or have to call back 5-6 times to fix something that should have been resolved on the first call.

 

[Bundy Bear]

I remember when jetBlue in the US started they used at home reservation staff, I’m surprised that is wasn’t more popular, the technology should make it easier to make it operate, although you could argue if the website worked properly for flight changes and cancellations or credits then you wouldn’t need a big reservations team.

 

[TheInsider]

Correct, don't know how long they have been going for in Suva though or if it has even started yet.

 

[Mattg]

Correct, don't know how long they have been going for in Suva though or if it has even started yet.

I believe it has been going for at least a few weeks now. Not sure exactly when it started though.

 

[dylarr]

If Qantas give the Suva agents the same level of empowerment and training that they give to their Cape Town agents, then ultimately it doesn't matter where the centre is located - the outcome will be the same.

Given QF's track record with Mindpearl Cape Town, I'm not holding out any hope. The bar is very low, however...

 

[DC3]

I’ve had quite good experiences using the AA Australian phone number (Fiji) in the past. So, if it’s the same staff, then I would expect that to be a good thing. Something else to add to the Call Centre lottery.

 

[RichardMEL]

I remember when jetBlue in the US started they used at home reservation staff, I’m surprised that is wasn’t more popular, the technology should make it easier to make it operate, although you could argue if the website worked properly for flight changes and cancellations or credits then you wouldn’t need a big reservations team.

absolutely! They had (I dunno if this is still a thing.. suspect not since B6 has gotten so big relatively) all the agents in Utah working at home - and this was around 2000 IIRC so nothing to do with pandemics or cost cutting (although for a LCC it makes perfect sense to not have to operate a central call center but have agents at home on a phone setup). A mate of mine for some time was a senior VP at B6 and had a few stories

I thought it was a genius idea at the time - way better for the agents who could stay at home and not be in a soul destroying call center, so in theory upped motivation, and reduced costs for the airline as it grew.

I ould note that I have had a couple of interactions with stated VIP team agents (QF) who definitely seemed like they were at home (I had one apologise for noise). Did not bother me, but I found that interesting too.

 

[worldholdonn]

I think I might have got them the other night. 2 hours on hold. Easy refund action as a result of 2 calls where agent provided wrong information. Said he had to escalate to a manager. They hung up. Luckily took my phone number and called back. Overall over qantas. Where did customer service go so wrong?

Probably waster 6 hours in total to get a refund from an AKL originated ticket.

 

[Jacques Vert]

I just hope this isn't the start of a plan to close HBA and NZ.

 

[Mattg]

Okay. Total time 4 hours 12 minutes. 2 out of 3 issues sorted, but created 2 more issues of an additional cancellation and an additional ticket, which I now have to watch, just in case. She did thank me for talking to her, because she was able to learn SO MUCH during the process. I wish I could charge back teaching hours...

While I don't think it's acceptable that customers have to teach the call centre staff what to do, it is refreshing to hear that the lady you spoke to was keen to listen and learn. I've never found someone with that attitude at the Cape Town call centre - normally with them it's just "no sir, that's not possible" and then they hang up on you.

 

[Melburnian1]

While I don't think it's acceptable that customers have to teach the call centre staff what to do, it is refreshing to hear that the lady you spoke to was keen to listen and learn. I've never found someone with that attitude at the Cape Town call centre - normally with them it's just "no sir, that's not possible" and then they hang up on you.

Is there any 'quick survey' by which you can 'rate' the call centre staff member at the call's end? Some companies have these.

Some callers may be vindictive and unfair in such a two or three question survey, but one would hope many more would be fair. If sufficient dissatisfaction was demonstrated, managers in Oz might realise there was a 'fix' required, especially if it concerned high yielding and/or frequent users of in this case the airline.

I appreciate if they hang up on you, no survey is possible!

 

[sudoer]

Is there any 'quick survey' by which you can 'rate' the call centre staff member

Implementing this would first require Qantas to care about customer experience.

 

[AIRwin]

Implementing this would first require Qantas to care about customer experience.

Or even a reason for Qantas to care about customer experience...

 

[clifford]

One wonders why Qantas is sticking with Mindpearl.

Is it because they are the cheapest, or does a high-ranking employee in QF have a relative or friend who runs Mindpearl or is it some other reason?

In any case does Qantas realise or care that this is helping to trash their brand? I guess Alan Joice doesn't care as long as his salary is paid...

 

[Robert Qld]

Well.. forth attempt seem to be going well until she said she had to get some info from her supervisor and of course the call was hung up on.

I am going to have to put on my 'I want to talk to your supervisor' hat when the next call back happens and go full Karen...

 

[Kendall Roy]

I'm 30mins on hold for a supervisor. Is there a method where we can request a call be transferred to AKL/HBA?

Put in a U class yield request 2.5 weeks ago and still no answer. Absolute shambles.