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

 

[skflyer]

So according to this posted to Twitter today by Qantas call times have decreased from 129 minutes in March 22 to 7 minutes in August 22




View attachment 291728

46min on hold to speak to Platinum One!!! Not sure where qantas is getting there stats from

 

[Raider82]

How are people getting through to Hobart or Auckland? I'm WP but get the other centres every time. I also get told there is an error whenever I put my FF number in.

I've been trying to ring as Qantas has zeroed my flight from SYD to LAX in 3 weeks but they haven't notified me of any changes. Trying to get in early so I can hopefully nominate an alternative flight.

 

[sudoer]

I also get told there is an error whenever I put my FF number in.

I think you've just answered your own question. What does the error say? Try dial through to the FF team (not reservations) and ask them to look at your account?

 

[Raider82]

'We are having technical difficulties'. Seems like just me then, thought it was a more widespread issue.

 

[RooFlyer]

How are people getting through to Hobart or Auckland? I'm WP but get the other centres every time. I also get told there is an error whenever I put my FF number in.

I've been trying to ring as Qantas has zeroed my flight from SYD to LAX in 3 weeks but they haven't notified me of any changes. Trying to get in early so I can hopefully nominate an alternative flight.

Welcome to AFF @Raider82 . As a Plat, getting Hobart is a bit of a cough shoot at the moment, and has been for some time. Best chance is to call as soon as it opens - either 7:00 or 7:30am AEST.

'We are having technical difficulties'. Seems like just me then, thought it was a more widespread issue.

Yes, I've had that message a couple of times. First time it didn't ask me for my pin and I had a 5 min wait and then got Fiji, second time I got the message I was asked for my PIN and got straight through to Hobart (I don't think giving the PIN or not made a difference to getting Hobart).

Another example of Qantas being consistently inconsistent.

 

[Raider82]

Thanks for the welcome and for the advice!

 

[Ade]

Best chance is to call as soon as it opens - either 7:00 or 7:30am AEST.

This is true ... I have been having good luck lately getting HBA. I call around the 0800-0830 CBR time mark ...

46min on hold to speak to Platinum One!!!

I also get told there is an error whenever I put my FF number in.

OMG! 46 mins a WP1 is simply unacceptable ... Do you think the FF number issue could be causing this?

 

[Ade]

because they can't

Agreed, might be access related issues. So get a supervisor to do it

don't know how

Fine, learn how to do it ... And if the customer tells you that it can be done, you don't have to take the customer's word, but there is a chance that the customer is correct and has had more experience with tickets cancelling on them and have got this fixed over the phone ... This is a classic area where just "job-training" won't do the trick. Customer service is always trying to go above & beyond for the customer - something that is not being taken into consideration off late, in any industry, sadly !!

don't want to.

This is unacceptable. It is in fact in the company's best interest to have such employees shown the door. In one of my many lines of work, if anyone in my team "didn't want to do the right thing", they will have a very different (difficult) conversation with me.

Post automatically merged: Sep 7, 2022

I would suggest SOME agents have more "power".

This is so true. Not just HBA, but some agents in CPT have also been considerate when handling cancellations and sometimes going above & beyond to have the issues fixed. Just hope this SOME agents' good quality rub off on to others.

 

[Port Power]

Day of week	Wednesday 07 Sep 2022
Time of call	1210 Perth time / 1410 AEST
Number used	13 12 11 (entered FF number and PIN)
Status	Platinum
Hold time	<1 min
Call Centre (if known)	HBA
Matter resolved	Yes
Details	I have a booking in March next year PER-AKL-PER via Melbourne in J. Originally the return MEL-PER leg was on QF9, meaning I could use the First Class lounge on this flight as well. (Melbourne J lounge just doesn't do it food-wise for someone with coeliac disease). I received a flight change notice some time ago, leaving AKL 2 hours later (which meant no QF9) and a MEL-PER flight three hours later. This meant arriving in PER at 9:00pm local time but midnight on the body clock and having to drive myself home. I kept my eye on flight movements and rang today to change back to QF9 and leave AKL at 10:05am. The extremely helpful Mike did this manually as that combination of flights did not come up on an AKL-PER search. He commented that of course there would be no fare or fees change because Qantas had changed the flights so he would just zero them out. All done in about 6 minutes and new e-ticket on its way. I thanked Mike for his help and provided him a 5-5-1 rating post call.

Edit: E-ticket arrived 10 minutes later.

 

[Pete98765432]

Day of week	Wednesday 07 Sep 2022
Time of call	1327 AEST
Number used	13 12 11 (entered FF number and PIN)
Status	Platinum
Hold time	<1 min
Call Centre (if known)	Unknown but sounded overseas. Answered by Qantas Premium
Matter resolved	No
Details	I have a booking in December CBR - MEL - PER. The Perth leg is on QF9. I received a notification that the CBR - MEL leg had been cancelled and the replacement suggested gave a very short connection time in Melbourne. The change flight options in the app did not include any that maintained QF9. I called to see if the CBR - MEL leg could be changed to an earlier flight. I was told there were no seats available on the earlier flight. The only seats available were on the 6am flight. (As much as I'm looking forward to the Melbourne F lounge, 11 hours is a bit too long). I asked that no changes be made and I would try closer to the travel date. I waited for the survey but it never came.

 

[Pete98765432]

Day of week	Wednesday 07 Sep 2022
Time of call	1334 AEST
Number used	13 12 11 (entered FF number and PIN)
Status	Platinum
Hold time	<1 min
Call Centre (if known)	HBA
Matter resolved	Yes
Details	Further to the above post. I called back and this time answered by Kate in HBA. She suggested the flight that I'd previously been told was not available. Change made and new e-ticket arrived a few minutes later. I gave Kate a 5-5-1 rating.

 

[Port Power]

Day of week	Wednesday 07 Sep 2022
Time of call	1334 AEST
Number used	13 12 11 (entered FF number and PIN)
Status	Platinum
Hold time	<1 min
Call Centre (if known)	HBA
Matter resolved	Yes
Details	Further to the above post. I called back and this time answered by Kate in HBA. She suggested the flight that I'd previously been told was not available. Change made and new e-ticket arrived a few minutes later. I gave Kate a 5-5-1 rating.

Oh, the difference HBA makes!

 

[ellen10]

Day of week	Thursday 08 Sep 2022
Time of call	10.50am AEST
Number used	13 13 13 (entered FF number and PIN)
Status	Bronze
Hold time	50mins
Call Centre (if known)	Manilla
Matter resolved	No
Details	Whilst checking my FF account and bookings I noticed that one of my seat selections for our flight from Auckland to Sydney had an error message. We were flying in economy, but I had paid and selected exit rows. We now had just standard economy seats in some random row. At first I couldn't work out what was had happened, but then I looked at the seat map and realised that the type of plane had been substituted. Our chosen seats no longer existed as there were not that many rows on the substituted plane. No email notification from Qantas about the plane change. So I tried to change the seats to the available exit row, but I could not change my partners, it always came up with an error. So I rang Qantas and finally got to speak to Christine from Manilla, she was very pleasant and easy to understand. She took a while to understand what I was saying and then tried her best to select the new seats. She kept on telling me to hold the line and do not hang up, as she put me on hold and tried to sort it out. She then told me she would contact someone to help sort it out. Whilst doing this she asked me for my phone number, incase we got cut off. This went on for 45 mins, but no fix. She then said she would talk to someone, when available, and call me back this afternoon. She did in fact call me back at about 4.30 and said if she changed the seats I would have to pay $77 for operator assist and $30 x 2 for the seat selections. I did say that I had already paid for these seats but she said I would have to claim through customer care for a refund. She said I could refresh the screen and try and change the seats online (which didn't work) she said the website was having problems and I questioned why I should have to pay for the assistance fee. She said that I could try tomorrow and meanwhile fill in a customer care form stating the problems and for them to fix it. She guided me where to locate the form and said she would wait until I completed the form (I said it may take a while for me to complete it, she said no problem as it was the end of her shift and she would wait (which was nice of her) And also she had made notes on my file about all that had transpired so that customer care could see what had transpired. She said someone would contact me tomorrow and if I wasn't available she would chase it up and ring me on Monday morning at 9am. I'm not sure how this will be sorted, but I was impressed with Christine and her attempts to sort this out, she was very pleasant spoke clearly didn't rush anything and rang me back when she said she would.

 

[Plutonus]

Does anyone know the magic words to make a reward seat redemption on a flight within the UK to/from LHR, on British Airways in business class, happen? I have tried HUACA multiple times to no avail. I have no status.

In past years, pre-COVID, I'd have to lodge a 'feedback form' each time for it to finally reach someone to know how to do it. I have tried emailing QFF for weeks on end to no avail.

 

[N860CR]

Day of week	Thursday 08 Sep 2022
Time of call	10.50am AEST
Number used	13 13 13 (entered FF number and PIN)
Status	Bronze
Hold time	50mins
Call Centre (if known)	Manilla
Matter resolved	No
Details	Whilst checking my FF account and bookings I noticed that one of my seat selections for our flight from Auckland to Sydney had an error message. We were flying in economy, but I had paid and selected exit rows. We now had just standard economy seats in some random row. At first I couldn't work out what was had happened, but then I looked at the seat map and realised that the type of plane had been substituted. Our chosen seats no longer existed as there were not that many rows on the substituted plane. No email notification from Qantas about the plane change. So I tried to change the seats to the available exit row, but I could not change my partners, it always came up with an error. So I rang Qantas and finally got to speak to Christine from Manilla, she was very pleasant and easy to understand. She took a while to understand what I was saying and then tried her best to select the new seats. She kept on telling me to hold the line and do not hang up, as she put me on hold and tried to sort it out. She then told me she would contact someone to help sort it out. Whilst doing this she asked me for my phone number, incase we got cut off. This went on for 45 mins, but no fix. She then said she would talk to someone, when available, and call me back this afternoon. She did in fact call me back at about 4.30 and said if she changed the seats I would have to pay $77 for operator assist and $30 x 2 for the seat selections. I did say that I had already paid for these seats but she said I would have to claim through customer care for a refund. She said I could refresh the screen and try and change the seats online (which didn't work) she said the website was having problems and I questioned why I should have to pay for the assistance fee. She said that I could try tomorrow and meanwhile fill in a customer care form stating the problems and for them to fix it. She guided me where to locate the form and said she would wait until I completed the form (I said it may take a while for me to complete it, she said no problem as it was the end of her shift and she would wait (which was nice of her) And also she had made notes on my file about all that had transpired so that customer care could see what had transpired. She said someone would contact me tomorrow and if I wasn't available she would chase it up and ring me on Monday morning at 9am. I'm not sure how this will be sorted, but I was impressed with Christine and her attempts to sort this out, she was very pleasant spoke clearly didn't rush anything and rang me back when she said she would.

For what it’s worth, I submitted a customer care form in October and still haven’t had a response. I hope you’re flight isn’t anytime soon.

 

[Scr77]

Does anyone know the magic words to make a reward seat redemption on a flight within the UK to/from LHR, on British Airways in business class, happen? I have tried HUACA multiple times to no avail. I have no status.

In past years, pre-COVID, I'd have to lodge a 'feedback form' each time for it to finally reach someone to know how to do it. I have tried emailing QFF for weeks on end to no avail.

I thought you could book BA online to avoid calling?

 

[Michaael]

I take it the list above is up to date for phone numbers? Took me 30min to get through to Manila today and was told we will call you back..... 3hrs later, crickets.

All I wanted was to cancel my outbound from Australia flight and keep my return flight back to Australia.

How I wish I got auckland or hobart.......

 

[dylarr]

Day of week	Thu 15 Sep 2022
Time of call	4:06 PM
Number used	13 13 13
Status	Platinum
Hold time	10 mins
Call Centre (if known)	Hobart
Matter resolved	Yes
Details	Flight tomorrow was cancelled. It was from a regional port, so limited alternative options. Asked if I could re-route from another nearby airport. No problems at all - within a couple of minutes the booking had updated with the new routing. Agent had some issues setting it up for ticketing because the return flight I had originally booked had a 35 minute D-D connection, and the MCT has obviously changed to 40 mins since then. She popped me on a quick hold to get somebody from ticketing to ticket it with the 35 minute connection, which I received before the call ended. Very happy with the service and outcome.

 

[encryptededdy]

Hmm. Called up on Sunday to get a sector changed for a booking for Friday, got Fiji on the phone. They said they put the change through, and it reflected in my MMB, but it hasn't ticketed 2 days later.

I suspect they messed something up since this is a domestic mixed-class and mixed-payment booking (2x Classic Reward legs + 1x Cash leg, 2x Economy + 1x Business)

Anyway, got on the phone with Hobart today and after 20 minutes on and off hold, they can't make the system issue the ticket, and has sent it through to the ticketing team along with instructions as to what to do. Fingers crossed I get a ticket in the next 24 hours.

 

[Le Clair]

Hmm. Called up on Sunday to get a sector changed for a booking for Friday, got Fiji on the phone. They said they put the change through, and it reflected in my MMB, but it hasn't ticketed 2 days later.

I suspect they messed something up since this is a domestic mixed-class and mixed-payment booking (2x Classic Reward legs + 1x Cash leg, 2x Economy + 1x Business)

Anyway, got on the phone with Hobart today and after 20 minutes on and off hold, they can't make the system issue the ticket, and has sent it through to the ticketing team along with instructions as to what to do. Fingers crossed I get a ticket in the next 24 hours.

Keep us updated.