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

 

[DC3]

… This is what I love about Amex. I've never had push back or been asked for proof like that

Yes, that’s my experience, also. Amex will reverse the transaction straight away, before referring anything to the merchant.

 

[Scr77]

@TheInsider Any thoughts on why its so damn hard to get eTickets reissued after flights are cancelled or changed? It takes multiple requests over months. Every time you're told eTicket will arrive in 24-48hrs but never does.

 

[Port Power]

No Qantas didn't cancel the flights, I did. It was 2 international flights for myself and partner and it was the fees and charges on those flights. I got the tix with frequent flyer points and was charges around $1200 for fees and charges. I cancelled the tickets online and used manage my booking to cancel the flights. I then waited a number of weeks maybe around 4 or 5 weeks for the ff points when they weren't refunded i called qantas. They then refunded my frequent flyer points but i forgot to ask about the fees and charges. This was back in Oct 21. Over the last couple of weeks i have tried to contact them to get my fees and charges refunded because i believe if it fees and charges they should be refunded and not put in credit. I have checked my qantas account and i have no credit there for these cancelled FF flights

Post automatically merged: Jan 26, 2022

Yep, if i could get a written promise from qantas would i be calling the bank ??!!!

Thanks for the history. Yes, definitely you should have had those fees and taxes refunded. Refund absolutely, not credit note. I have cancelled reward bookings and received the points back very quickly and the refunds after many weeks. But did indeed receive back to credit card.

There was something in emails from QF a long way back about that stated if you cancelled a reward flight you would receive points and fees back. I doubt it could be found now, though, unfortunately. I have never read anything that related to booking paid for with points though. Sorry this has been so hard for you. A competent call centre staff member can easily see the history of the booking and sort easily. Keep trying! (And use the 1300 number!)

However, like aikman said above, there are many reports of refunds only coming through at 3 months after calling at least three times, if not repeatedly. I was in the same situation after QF cancelled flights to Japan now that I think of it. It took three months for the refund and a few calls.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Something sounds very wrong here, @whole-lotta-moxie . Absolutely you can cancel award flights without penalty and get your points and taxes/fees back.

I have cancelled reward bookings and received the points back very quickly and the refunds after many weeks

Similarly I cancelled three separate QF award bookings recently and received the points almost immediately and each taxes/fees refund almost exactly a month later. The last only a couple days ago. Much better than previous debacles and epic delays.

OTOH it took eight months to resolve a booking that was mixed award-revenue flights. But yhat was a attempt to convert to a voucher. Again all QF.

Just wondering if international is an issue where domestic isn't, or if there is a separate queue/process for legacy debacles, or if there is anothef airline involved, or if WP get prioritised now...

 

[TheInsider]

@TheInsider Any thoughts on why its so damn hard to get eTickets reissued after flights are cancelled or changed? It takes multiple requests over months. Every time you're told eTicket will arrive in 24-48hrs but never does.

Ultimately it comes down to pay scales and job definitions.
Technically all the agents 'could' issue the ticket on the spot. But the process is to send it off to an automatic droid and if it's been set up properly then it gets issued. If there is an error, then gets sent to another queue for manual intervention.
The call centre staff (this is for Australian based) is that if you issue tickets then they have to pay you on a higher pay scale. That's the simple explanation of it.

 

[Scr77]

Ultimately it comes down to pay scales and job definitions.
Technically all the agents 'could' issue the ticket on the spot. But the process is to send it off to an automatic droid and if it's been set up properly then it gets issued. If there is an error, then gets sent to another queue for manual intervention.
The call centre staff (this is for Australian based) is that if you issue tickets then they have to pay you on a higher pay scale. That's the simple explanation of it.

Does the “process” automatically work at some point before flight or will I be calling the shortcut number above in the final week? Spent another 1hr50min on phone with agent (not hold time) and Ticket still not issued.

 

[Robert Qld]

I called three times today and it was a mess. I guess it was my fault for calling on a public holiday. I was trying to be sneaky and not have long wait queues! LOL

I have an interesting case where Qantas took over my $450 credit from AMEX (I cancelled a flight with AMEX due to Covid - but before the cancellation flowed over to QF, QF upgraded my flight (yay?) so when I rang up QF, they cancelled everything and said I'll need to call them to use the credit - something AMEX has confirmed has happened).

But explaining that... do they even have access to past notes and history? My Amex support person said she'll chase it up tomorrow... but maybe I should blame myself for allowing my status to slip away from WP hahaha...

Post automatically merged: Jan 26, 2022

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 knew at least two different people when I lived in Utah circa 2004 working from home in a call centre capacity for DL, so it wasn't just the LCCs!

 

[TheInsider]

I called three times today and it was a mess. I guess it was my fault for calling on a public holiday. I was trying to be sneaky and not have long wait queues! LOL

I have an interesting case where Qantas took over my $450 credit from AMEX (I cancelled a flight with AMEX due to Covid - but before the cancellation flowed over to QF, QF upgraded my flight (yay?) so when I rang up QF, they cancelled everything and said I'll need to call them to use the credit - something AMEX has confirmed has happened).

But explaining that... do they even have access to past notes and history? My Amex support person said she'll chase it up tomorrow... but maybe I should blame myself for allowing my status to slip away from WP hahaha...

Post automatically merged: Jan 26, 2022

I knew at least two different people when I lived in Utah circa 2004 working from home in a call centre capacity for DL, so it wasn't just the LCCs!

Travel agent bookings are always going to have be through a travel agent unfortunately.

 

[Robert Qld]

I was told directly by the Qantas person on the phone when I cancelled this ticket in July last year it now has to be redeemed through them now, because they messed up in upgrading the cancelled flights (I have no idea why the cancellation wasn't instantaneous, but it wasn't) and AMEX has confirmed the credit no longer sits with them.

In the process of refunding me my points, they had to bring over the monetary side as well,.

 

[DC3]

I was told directly by the Qantas person on the phone when I cancelled this ticket in July last year it now has to be redeemed through them now, because they messed up in upgrading the cancelled flights (I have no idea why the cancellation wasn't instantaneous, but it wasn't) and AMEX has confirmed the credit no longer sits with them.

In the process of refunding me my points, they had to bring over the monetary side as well,.

I called three times today and it was a mess. I guess it was my fault for calling on a public holiday. I was trying to be sneaky and not have long wait queues! LOL

I have an interesting case where Qantas took over my $450 credit from AMEX (I cancelled a flight with AMEX due to Covid - but before the cancellation flowed over to QF, QF upgraded my flight (yay?) so when I rang up QF, they cancelled everything and said I'll need to call them to use the credit - something AMEX has confirmed has happened).

But explaining that... do they even have access to past notes and history? My Amex support person said she'll chase it up tomorrow...

So, your phoned the new QF Call Centre in Fiji three times today? And they were unable to resolve it.

 

[Robert Qld]

The first person was just genuinely clueless
The second person hung up on me
The third person left me on hold for 40 minutes when she said she was going to 'quickly talk to her manager' (I was working on other stuff, so I was able to have the phone on speaker next to me... I also spent that time drafting a complaint letter).

 

[Port Power]

Does the “process” automatically work at some point before flight or will I be calling the shortcut number above in the final week? Spent another 1hr50min on phone with agent (not hold time) and Ticket still not issued.

I’ve had a few changes where I did not receive the promised updated e-ticket. However the updated booking details were in “manage my booking” almost immediately, and I chose my seat and ultimately boarded the revised flight. I don’t bother chasing up e-tickets any more. Note these are simple domestic flights.

 

[MsAnne]

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?

On with them right now. Only took 50 minutes to answer. Still working on my issues FOR THE PAST THREE HOURS!!! Not done yet. Only one out of three issues sorted so far. So much for saving them up.

 

[MsAnne]

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...

 

[dylarr]

The "do not call us" banner has been removed from the Qantas website now. Had been accustomed to the yellow banner being a fixture of the site for a while now.

 

[Mattg]

The "do not call us" banner has been removed from the Qantas website now. Had been accustomed to the yellow banner being a fixture of the site for a while now.

Perhaps the new call centre in Suva has helped to alleviate wait times.

 

[MARTINE]

Perhaps the new call centre in Suva has helped to alleviate wait times.

Do you need two Campbells soup cans and a length of string to call?

 

[PineappleSkip]

A glass of kava in advance of calling might ease the mind

 

[Jacques Vert]

At least Finnair has the decency to apologise:

Hello JV,

I am Ole Orvér, Finnair chief commercial officer, and I am writing to you to apologise for the heavy congestion in our customer service channels during the past couple of months. You may have had to wait a long time to get through to our customer service agents, and also our online Manage Booking service has not worked as it should have due to technical issues. I am sorry about that and all the inconvenience and frustration it may have caused you.....

 

[MARTINE]

At least Finnair has the decency to apologise:

Hello JV,

I am Ole Orvér, Finnair chief commercial officer, and I am writing to you to apologise for the heavy congestion in our customer service channels during the past couple of months. You may have had to wait a long time to get through to our customer service agents, and also our online Manage Booking service has not worked as it should have due to technical issues. I am sorry about that and all the inconvenience and frustration it may have caused you.....

I kept thinking there was going to be a pay-off .. and here is a voucher for xx_ or credit xx_.. still a good effort at least - even if likely bot generated … at least he avoided ‘your call is important to us blah blah blah…..