Qantas Call Centre Long Wait Times

My understanding (from unofficial sources) is that there is a pool of priority phone numbers that airport staff give to passengers which rotates every few weeks.

I will attempt to publish the currently active number(s) in this post:

1300 304 318
1300 659 161
1300 025 396
1300 659 116

1300 024 715
1300 025 390
1300 659 115
1300 659 134
1300 659 502

 

[AstroBBoy]

Day of week	Tuesday 10th May
Time of call	7:04am AEST
Number used	1300 659 116
Status	Bronze
Hold time	2 mins
Call Centre (if known)	Off shore
Matter resolved	100% NOT
Details	Explained I am still waiting on ticketing and its been a week now and I am worried I will lose these reward seats. Because it's not "imminent" nothing she can do but request it again. I said I know its not her fault but I need to speak to a supervisor, she put me on hold and came back saying I could call the customer help number: 131313 HAHAHHAHA. She then claimed the supervisors could not actually come to their desks so I couldn't speak to one and that I should call back. FFS.

Day of week	Tuesday 10th May
Time of call	7:21am AEST
Number used	1300 659 116
Status	Bronze
Hold time	2 mins
Call Centre (if known)	Off shore
Matter resolved	YES!
Details	Tamby tells me she is now filling out a different form requesting the tickets and she will personally call me tomorrow. I chuckled and told her how many times Qantas staff have told me they would call me back and that I have never received one. I couldn't believe it when 10 hours later I did receive my ticketed email. Tamby did something that many others were unable to do. She's my new favourite person.

 

[levelnine]

So sounds like I am stuck phoning restrained or untrained staff every 24 hours until a miracle happens and I get one that knows what they are doing?

I'd just keep calling until you get someone who is willing to call ticketing on your behalf. If the hold time is short, it is worth the effort.

 

[Deleted member 26544]

Day of week	Tuesday 10 May
Time of call	05:50 AEST
Number used	13 13 13
Status	Bronze
Hold time	Less than 1 minute
Call Centre (if known)	Fiji (?)
Matter resolved	Not yet
Details	Called to change the date and flight number for the last sector in a 4 sector award booking. Agent could see the flight I wanted and has added it to the reservation but couldn’t calculate if there would be a difference in points. Is waiting to call an AU based team at/after 07:00 AEST and has promised to call me back once she has spoken to the team. Given all I have read here, I don’t have much hope.

Day of week	Tuesday 10 May
Time of call	08:25 AEST
Number used	13 13 13
Status	Bronze
Hold time	10 minutes
Call Centre (if known)	Fiji (?)
Matter resolved	Yes
Details	Called again as the trip is in a few weeks and want to make sure it is ticketed so I don’t lose the flights. It’s a destination that’s not easy to get to (Lord Howe Island). Agent has placed me on hold a number of times (>4) to speak to a presumably AU based team. It has been sent for ticketing and I should receive an email within 24-72 hours. Total call duration: 46 minutes Update: eTicket has been received and flights are correct.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

$$$

Lowest price offered wins Q's business it seems. Price not quality wins the day.

Its the same in nearly all industries.
Cleaning (outsourced, Aust based though), others, phone companies, banking, etc, 99.99% are overseas based.
((OT, maybe wait and see what Rex does, if they have only Aust based call centre ops)).

 

[encryptededdy]

phone companies

Not overseas at Australia's largest telco (anymore)!

Telstra is bringing call centres back to Australia

9now.nine.com.au

 

[RAM]

Its the same in nearly all industries.
Cleaning (outsourced, Aust based though), others, phone companies, banking, etc, 99.99% are overseas based.
((OT, maybe wait and see what Rex does, if they have only Aust based call centre ops)).

CBA & AAMI seem to be using Aust-based call centres as a competitive advantage.

Now if only a certain airline would pay attention...

 

[MARTINE]

CBA & AAMI seem to be using Aust-based call centres as a competitive advantage.

Now if only a certain airline would pay attention...

red energy who give you QF points to use them!

 

[RAM]

Imagine that, an airline is facing criticism due to long wait times for people calling customer service.

Then the airlines publicly apologises that its IT systems are not up to it, especially in dealing with flight credit & another payment method (or methods).

They then announce that they will nearly double the staffing of their call centres, all in their home country.

Appalling (to Q & AJ) behaviour by an airline, especially as time on hold seems to have been up to a horrific 2 hours! Why didn't they blame those pesky passengers?

Is this a dream? No.

It is Air NZ.

Air New Zealand Hires Call Center Staff To Beat Backlogs

Air New Zealand is boosting its call center numbers as the airline faces criticism over long delays and substandard online self service tools.

simpleflying.com

"The online self-service tools aren't built to manage some of the complexity that we now see as we're getting through the pandemic and out the other side. For example, if there is another carrier involved or if the customer wants to add additional forms of payment, that's where it becomes a little bit trickier, and they would need to call," says Air New Zealand's Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty.

Chalk and cheese.

 

[CMA222]

It is Air NZ.

Wow an airline that is prepared to be honest with their Customers. A lesson for QF in achieving respect rather than hostility. Now to see if AirNZ poach the NZ based QF CC staff !!

 

[encryptededdy]

Agent stated at some point the booking got messed up by Qantas changing my flights 3 times over the past month. They said they'd fix it, and would send it off to ticketing. I asked for it to ticket immediately given my travel was in less than 4 days, but agent declined and said she must put it in the queue.

This eventually ticketed after ~25 hours!
Even better though, Qantas cancelled my flights again (yes, 3 days out of departure) after the tickets had issued. In this case, they changed my connecting flights to a direct one. Not looking forward to trying to get original routing credit on this one after 4 changes...

Anyway, this caused yet another e-ticket to be issued, and upon opening the PDF I was shocked to see this...

Sadly it's a small refund, but what a weird IT glitch.

 

[AstroBBoy]

Even better though, Qantas cancelled my flights again (yes, 3 days out of departure) after the tickets had issued.

This scares the cough out of me. I have reward flights next month to Europe and have already have a bunch of changes/cancellations.
What happens if they cancel my flights a few days before I fly? Am I totally screwed?

 

[Scr77]

This scares the cough out of me. I have reward flights next month to Europe and have already have a bunch of changes/cancellations.
What happens if they cancel my flights a few days before I fly? Am I totally screwed?

If the flights are on Qantas, they will reaccommodate you. It will require you to push the issue. If it’s on partner airlines (where Qantas doesn’t fly) you may be in trouble.

 

[AstroBBoy]

If the flights are on Qantas, they will reaccommodate you. It will require you to push the issue. If it’s on partner airlines (where Qantas doesn’t fly) you may be in trouble.

Qantas with connecting Emirates flight. Fingers crossed.

 

[aidan059]

Have been disconnected 3 times in a row after a wait time of 1.5 hours each time. The music just randomly cuts and the call drops. Nevermind a long wait time but I now don't even have an option to bloody wait ages to get through!

 

[Scr77]

Have been disconnected 3 times in a row after a wait time of 1.5 hours each time. The music just randomly cuts and the call drops. Nevermind a long wait time but I now don't even have an option to bloody wait ages to get through!

I feel your pain. Just remember this when you book your next flights.

 

[Viper6]

Are people still getting through to Australian based agents? I've had to call Qantas twice in the past week, first call was Fiji, second was Cape Town. Is there a time of day when you are more likely to reach Australian based staff?

 

[Scr77]

Are people still getting through to Australian based agents? I've had to call Qantas twice in the past week, first call was Fiji, second was Cape Town. Is there a time of day when you are more likely to reach Australian based staff?

Its been months since I’ve got a local agent. I think only those with status have a chance of getting an agent with a clue.

 

[gidxg03]

Its been months since I’ve got a local agent. I think only those with status have a chance of getting an agent with a clue.

I’ve had to call so many times in the past few weeks and it’s always an offshore agent (I’m bronze).

 

[LinaLee]

I’ve had to call so many times in the past few weeks and it’s always an offshore agent (I’m bronze).

My last two calls were also not Oz based agents. The latest was two nights ago but was answered in less than 15 minutes though (platinum) at 10ish at night to sort out another flight being changed for the second time. Correct itinerary in my booking page but no eticket email yet . Should I be worried?

 

[encryptededdy]

Correct itinerary in my booking page but no eticket email yet . Should I be worried?

Recently I've observed 24h~ waits before my call centre initiated flight changes get ticketed :/