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

 

[Must...Fly!]

he wrote the number down wrong

Can't blame the agent for that given the terrible quality of the phone calls to Cape Town. Blame Qantas management again.

 

[Rebus]

Day of week	Thursday
Time of call	1530AEST
Number used	General number 13 13 13
Status	Gold
Hold time	45 minutes
Call Centre (if known)	Based on the accent of the operator I presume it was Cape Town
Matter resolved	Hopefully
Details	I made a change to an existing booking in October which resulted in a flight credit being generated. The flight credit is not showing in my account, nor can it be viewed via 'Use Flight Credit' or 'Manage Booking'. The operator put me on hold 3 times but was finally able to advise that the person who changed the original booking had not administered the flight credit correctly. She advised that she would apply to have this correct and that I should receive confirmation within 10 working days. Separately I asked her to confirm the refund amount if I was to cancel the entire booking (points plus pay - yes, I know, a bad choice in the first place) but after putting me on hold again she was unable to obtain this information.

 

[yld200]

Day of week	Friday
Time of call	0836 AEST
Number used	1300 659 115
Status	Gold
Hold time	2 minutes
Call Centre (if known)	sounded like RSA
Matter resolved	No
Details	I booked an Economy award flight on EK in Y yesterday but it was cancelled but my credit card still had a charge so I called. The agent made up some cough about it being a codeshare flight which is why it didn't work so I asked her to re-book it. She went thru the process and said it was done. I received a ticket but the flight was ticketed for 28 November, not 28 Feb. The QF and EK manage booking portals show it on the 28th - I'm confused. She said she would be following up with the ticketing team and calling me back.

 

[kingzac]

After marathon call yesterday my changed reward flights were booked but not ticketed as there was a system error, told I'd get a call back, didn't.

1 hour callback today on 131313, got through to Fiji. Agent said yep no worries those are sent through for ticketing, you'll get it in 24 hours. Call done in 8 mins. I trust this exactly 0% because there was no pricing and seemed to just magically be done with no other questions. Didn't even get survey at the end.

Surely at this point the amount of returned calls, long calls, help desk requests etc. all end up costing more than just having competent Aus based teams?
I've spent countless hours on calls adjusting classic rewards after changes and have had so many problems. The one time I got through to Hobart it was done in 20 minutes. Are these call centres really 10 times cheaper?

 

[Familyman1]

I used the recommended number on the first post on 8 Feb and it worked a treat (Thank you so much to the poster). Straight through to the Premium Call Centre and a complicated booking was completed successfully and it was ticketed quickly. Now Finnair have changed a flight and I have had no success with these numbers. The currently recommended number (1300 659 115) goes quickly to a call centre that is dedicated to assist with problems associated with changes made by airlines - so that was exactly what I need. The problem was that it was not an office based in Australia (probably Cape Town) and they were unable to see the award seat availability I could see on the Qantas web site. I said to leave the booking how it was. I tried the number again this morning and it again went to South Africa so I hung up. I'll keep an eye on this thread to see if the recommended phone number changes in the near future so I can make the changes I require.

 

[Scr77]

I used the recommended number on the first post on 8 Feb and it worked a treat (Thank you so much to the poster). Straight through to the Premium Call Centre and a complicated booking was completed successfully and it was ticketed quickly. Now Finnair have changed a flight and I have had no success with these numbers. The currently recommended number (1300 659 115) goes quickly to a call centre that is dedicated to assist with problems associated with changes made by airlines - so that was exactly what I need. The problem was that it was not an office based in Australia (probably Cape Town) and they were unable to see the award seat availability I could see on the Qantas web site. I said to leave the booking how it was. I tried the number again this morning and it again went to South Africa so I hung up. I'll keep an eye on this thread to see if the recommended phone number changes in the near future so I can make the changes I require.

1300 659 xx_ looks to be a pattern. Let us know how far you get before finding the Hobart call Centre!

 

[CorporateFlyerMEL]

Rang to cancel a cash ticket within 24 hours of it being issued so asked for a full refund under the cancel for any reason policy. Call centre Cape Town (very poor line, very noisy in the background), started to read the fare rules (red e-deal), I said cancel any reason was part of the fly flexible policy. Still would not do it, wanted to know where I read it on the website, said I didn't have access to website at that point - so ended up putting into flight credit and I have sent an email off to the FF service centre to try and get it refunded...

 

[dylarr]

Rang to cancel a cash ticket within 24 hours of it being issued so asked for a full refund under the cancel for any reason policy. Call centre Cape Town (very poor line, very noisy in the background), started to read the fare rules (red e-deal), I said cancel any reason was part of the fly flexible policy. Still would not do it, wanted to know where I read it on the website, said I didn't have access to website at that point - so ended up putting into flight credit and I have sent an email off to the FF service centre to try and get it refunded...

This is interesting - as the Cancel For Any Reason page states that the cancellation must be done online via MMB. Are you saying that when you went to MMB within the 24 hr period and pressed cancel, you weren't offered a refund and instead provided with a flight credit? If so, sounds like it's going to be fun trying to utilise this policy going forward!

However at least if you were able to convert it to a flight credit within the 24 hr period you should hopefully have no issues arguing the point in order to get a full refund.

One thing to note and to avoid any confusion is that Cancel For Any Reason is not a part of the Fly Flexible policy (which is COVID-specific and for a limited period). It's a brand new policy that will be ongoing.

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/manage-booking/cancel-for-any-reason.html

 

[sqrt()]

Rang to cancel a cash ticket within 24 hours of it being issued so asked for a full refund under the cancel for any reason policy. Call centre Cape Town (very poor line, very noisy in the background), started to read the fare rules (red e-deal), I said cancel any reason was part of the fly flexible policy. Still would not do it, wanted to know where I read it on the website, said I didn't have access to website at that point - so ended up putting into flight credit and I have sent an email off to the FF service centre to try and get it refunded...

Re: trying to get refunds as opposed to credits, is there a reason people aren't doing chargebacks on their credit cards when QF make it so difficult?

Happy for someone to let me know I'm being silly...

 

[Captain Halliday]

Re: trying to get refunds as opposed to credits, is there a reason people aren't doing chargebacks on their credit cards when QF make it so difficult?

Happy for someone to let me know I'm being silly...

In my experience the charge back process can take many weeks.

Even though waiting eight weeks for a refund is total bs, it’s easier than a charge back and takes about the same time.

If the refund doesn’t appear by day 56 (eight weeks), I will immediately pull the trigger on a charge back.

But this whole farce has made me wonder just how many charge backs it would take for one of the credit providers to turn the screws on Qantas to speed things up.

 

[sqrt()]

In my experience the charge back process can take many weeks.

Even though waiting eight weeks for a refund is total bs, it’s easier than a charge back and takes about the same time.

If the refund doesn’t appear by day 56 (eight weeks), I will immediately pull the trigger on a charge back.

But this whole farce has made me wonder just how many charge backs it would take for one of the credit providers to turn the screws on Qantas to speed things up.

Fair, chargebacks with big 4 would might take a lot longer than amex too...

 

[Melburnian1]

A friend who had booked he and others on a midmorning LST - SYD nonstop received an email stating it had been cancelled.

He and others were transferred to the early morning flight departing LST at about 0635. The email claimed that the midmoning flight had got the flick.

However, upon checking, my friend foundthe midmorning flight (while operating under a different flight number) had been 'replaced' by a Q400 instead of a B717.

So he rang the call centre to point this out. Eventually after one staff member had not been helpful, he found another who was better.

After well in excess of half an hour on the phone, as some passengers had paid an extra fee that needed refunding, and this could only occur manually, the call centre staffer said he'd transfer the rest of the bookings back to the midmoning flight without my friend needing to remain hanging on.

So here we have a situation that the software has falsely assumed a 'cancelled' flight when all along it was merely replaced by a turboprop with fewer seats. It'd led to a QFd call agent being tied up for an inordinate amount of time, which in turn annoys others waiting in a more slowly moving queue than ought be the case.

 

[Port Power]

A friend who had booked he and others on a midmorning LST - SYD nonstop received an email stating it had been cancelled.

He and others were transferred to the early morning flight departing LST at about 0635. The email claimed that the midmoning flight had got the flick.

However, upon checking, my friend foundthe midmorning flight (while operating under a different flight number) had been 'replaced' by a Q400 instead of a B717.

So he rang the call centre to point this out. Eventually after one staff member had not been helpful, he found another who was better.

After well in excess of half an hour on the phone, as some passengers had paid an extra fee that needed refunding, and this could only occur manually, the call centre staffer said he'd transfer the rest of the bookings back to the midmoning flight without my friend needing to remain hanging on.

So here we have a situation that the software has falsely assumed a 'cancelled' flight when all along it was merely replaced by a turboprop with fewer seats. It'd led to a QFd call agent being tied up for an inordinate amount of time, which in turn annoys others waiting in a more slowly moving queue than ought be the case.

I was in the same situation. Email received advising 10:15am LST-MEL flight cancelled and I was moved to 6:30am flight. I wouldn’t even be in LST at that time! Here’s where WP proves its worth. I rang standard number and was answered within minutes. Australian agent saw that a 10:15am flight was still operating but with a different flight number, and put me on it. She wondered why that wasn’t done in the first place. All done and completed in a matter of minutes. E-ticket in my inbox almost immediately.

 

[Dantine]

Long time member, but been dormant for a while. Thanks for saving my bacon, hopefully. Multiple calls and hour long waits to Cape Town had led to nowhere but today's call gave me cause for optimism. Let's hope for a better result this time. Qantas customer service used to be great but that has all gone down the toilet.

Day of week	Monday
Time of call	1200AEST
Number used	1300659115
Status	Gold
Hold time	About 3 minutes
Call Centre (if known)	Maybe Fiji
Matter resolved	Hopefully
Details	Points booking to Tokyo return, changed dates from mixed JQ/QF booking to straight-up QF61/62 online, itinerary has not ticketed after 6 weeks which was apparently preventing me from securing bassinet reservations. She pushed some buttons and cleared my previous seat selection and said it had to go to IT team to fix. Secondary issue with obtaining a letter for travel insurance. Got stuck at Norfolk Island for 5 days longer than planned due to fog and then cyclone. The letter supplied at the gate only excused the cyclone delay of 2 days and didn't reflect the other 3 days of fog delay. No resolution, advised to submit request via email/website.

 

[Danger]

Re: trying to get refunds as opposed to credits, is there a reason people aren't doing chargebacks on their credit cards when QF make it so difficult?

Happy for someone to let me know I'm being silly...

I've done two chargebacks with Amex against Qantas. Both amounts were credited back to my account within 48 hours. I'll take my money and Amex can deal with Qantas.

 

[MMT3011]

Financially, QF is in a difficult position becoming more serious by the day so one hopes you receive your refund.

Companies in some other sectors wouldn't get away with the sort of stonewalling airlines (not just QF) excel at when it comes to refunds. Perhaps you need to take it to a state civil and administrative tribunal, although those of which I'm aware have increased filing fees, presumably as a disincentive for frivolous complaints.

Thank you I was thinking about that, I will look into it. My refund is $1,083. It's a lot of money to me and I am peeved about the time it's taking. I lodged my 4th online complaint last Friday and have decided to do one every week for my record trail. They can't say I didn't follow up and advise....

 

[MMT3011]

No, it's not this big conspiracy that all their staff are in on. It's all manual adjustments. cough systems.

I can believe that. After working at one of the big 4 banks and having to navigate multiple systems to lodge queries, process requests and do refunds. Your comment is spot on.

 

[MMT3011]

These staff members who are customer facing have some nerve to get shirty with customers. What other company requires customers to have to resort to finding alternative means of communicating with them because the first thing you hear when you call their normal number is "please don't call us"? They don't answer the phone, they don't respond on Twitter or email, so what are customers to do but try to find help on the internet? Disgraceful.

Unfortunately you still have to be nice to them because they may hang up on you and waste your opportunity to speak to an actual person, no matter how rude they may be. Thankfully nobody got shirty with me on where I got the priority number that @Scr77 gave me that's now pinned on this thread otherwise I might have lost it. And I try to be nice to customer service staff no matter how long I've waited, because it's (usually) not their fault their company's service infrastructure sucks - unless they are rude and make me feel like I'm inconveniencing them by calling.

Thankfully the guy I got after my 2nd call of the day using @Scr77 number was actually very helpful and it was obvious he cared enough to make the effort, and he promised to call me back if the call dropped out (it didn't). This was in contrast to the first guy who answered the phone which had gone to the 13 13 13 number where I waited 2 hours, ended up with someone who didn't even bother to introduce themselves and then put me on hold where I was disconnected after 20 mins >.<

This is true. It's not the staff member's fault but I definitely agree, the company's service infrastructure does suck and needs a major overhaul.

 

[bussyboy]

Day of week	Wednesday
Time of call	1348 AEDT
Number used	131313 (yeah!)
Status	Bronze
Hold time	142 minutes
Call Centre (if known)	Unknown
Matter resolved	1 of 2
Details	The operator was friendly, calm, and seemed helpful enough, though perhaps too inexperienced to chat and do her work at the same time Issue 1: try to change reward flights to First class: SYD-SIN-SYD in April, calendar shows availability, but had stopped being an option to book, so I took the BA16/15 flights a few weeks ago in J, thought I'd try to change it through call centre... Outbound ​ Inbound ​ The operator tried a few things, put me on hold to consult with someone I think, and eventually suggested a glitch in what I was seeing. I gave up the enquiry after 10 minutes or so explaining what I had seen when I booked, and was seeing now. [FIRST WORLD ISSUE] ___ Issue 2: previous booking with cancelled flight was changed to flight credit, requested this changed to a refund - she quickly confirmed the flight was cancelled, agreed to refund, and put in the request - hope to see the money back in 6-8 weeks like the rest of us :| [RESOLVED]

 

[redwoodw]

Day of week	Wednesday
Time of call	1348 AEDT
Number used	131313 (yeah!)
Status	Bronze
Hold time	142 minutes
Call Centre (if known)	Unknown
Matter resolved	1 of 2
Details	The operator was friendly, calm, and seemed helpful enough, though perhaps too inexperienced to chat and do her work at the same time Issue 1: try to change reward flights to First class: SYD-SIN-SYD in April, calendar shows availability, but had stopped being an option to book, so I took the BA16/15 flights a few weeks ago in J, thought I'd try to change it through call centre... Outbound View attachment 271693​ Inbound View attachment 271694​ The operator tried a few things, put me on hold to consult with someone I think, and eventually suggested a glitch in what I was seeing. I gave up the enquiry after 10 minutes or so explaining what I had seen when I booked, and was seeing now. [FIRST WORLD ISSUE] ___ Issue 2: previous booking with cancelled flight was changed to flight credit, requested this changed to a refund - she quickly confirmed the flight was cancelled, agreed to refund, and put in the request - hope to see the money back in 6-8 weeks like the rest of us :| [RESOLVED]

You're probably better off giving the change booking function a try in MMB.