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

 

[Mr H]

Never tell fibs.

Write it on your ticket BEFORE calling....

I will know for next time.

 

[ChrisMars]

I just had the most amazing call with Air France - Australian office
Answering system started with "Sorry, longer wait time than usual ...." 3 min later someone answered.
I explained I wanted to select my seat, couldn't do it online.
Because their system is phone-number aware, she immediately ask me if this was for booking "xyz", I said yes. She asked to confirm it was for Mr and Mrs ChrisMars, I said yes. She then asked if it was for the HKG-CDG leg of the booking. I said yes. She asked if I wanted 3E-3F? I said yes, how do you know all that. She laugh. 30 seconds later the seats were allocated. Call duration: 6m 4s, including waiting time.

I have no status with AF.

 

[Mr H]

I just have the most amazing call with Air France - Australian office
...

That's impressive AF.

 

[dylarr]

Day of week	Tuesday
Time of call	1820 AEDT
Number used	13 13 13
Status	Platinum
Hold time	Quoted 30-60 minutes, callback offered, was called back at the 57 minute mark
Call Centre (if known)	Auckland
Matter resolved	Yes
Details	Received notification of schedule change from QF. New flight time was undesirable so checked for alternatives in MMB. MMB did not show me my preferred replacement flight so called up to see if I could be moved over the phone. Agent who called back was very friendly and had me moved to my preferred flight with ticket reissued in under a 2 minutes.

 

[RichardMEL]

I understand the agents asking where the number is coming from and all. As we all agree the real solution is to spend money. Money QF management are seemingly unwilling to spend for their own reasons (not forgetting the recent >$1b loss announced - not intended as excuse, just a fact).

The thing is we all KNOW folks from QF read these forums. Of course long ago back in the seemingly guilded days of a more official presence on such boards, FlyerTalk etc it was fantastic, but that is long ago now. However it would be naive to think QF people (at various levels I am sure) are fully aware of this, and other threads, and the numbers being published etc.

And in a way that is good, because while I am sure they are very unhappy with this going on, the reasons why and the countless stories here (and elsewhere) will have those red flags going. I am sure they have for years (since the issues have been dire for years). I have no doubt there are internal people within QF who totally want to make things so much better. Before someone again accuses me of working for QF (lol) let me say I have zero links to QF management. I don't know anybody and nobody gives me information. I only venture this opinion based on working in MANY corporate environments where glaring issues are well known and the "lower decks" and even middle management want to sort things out and do it, but for whatever reasons just can't get any headway in improving things.

 

[RichardMEL]

I just had the most amazing call with Air France - Australian office
Answering system started with "Sorry, longer wait time than usual ...." 3 min later someone answered.
I explained I wanted to select my seat, couldn't do it online.
Because their system is phone-number aware, she immediately ask me if this was for booking "xyz", I said yes. She asked to confirm it was for Mr and Mrs ChrisMars, I said yes. She then asked if it was for the HKG-CDG leg of the booking. I said yes. She asked if I wanted 3E-3F? I said yes, how do you know all that. She laugh. 30 seconds later the seats were allocated. Call duration: 6m 4s, including waiting time.

I have no status with AF.

So this is a very impressive use of technology.

I have seen this before from a few organisations.. from my football team's membership department to other companies

The key is a really good CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System that does use the phone number as a key and can look up quickly enough that it's associated with a booking or account, and provide the appropriate information to the agent.

QF has one of course, but it's just not as advanced. For example it is not as smart, or perhaps does not offer agents all of the tools. For example when one calls you have to put in your membership# and PIN rather than an automated pick up of a incoming phone number, if linked to a booking or membership profile, to a) figure out your status and assign priority and b) then have all the information waiting for an agent to then confirm it's you and here's your booking(s) and go from there. With QF's current system they do have much of this once te number and PIN is input and you get through, but one still has to navigate a bit to make it happen so it's not as seemless. Unlike my footy club who answers with "Hi Mr MEL...." and sometimes agents can see all the PNRs so I just say "Flight to Brisbane on the 23rd..." and they are "Oh, yes I see it" or sometimes want the PNR. so it's inconsistent (no, I won't write it!!! ).

So why doesn't QF have a "smarter" system? probably cost related, or maybe technology related too (as in hooks to Amadeus and/or their QFF membership systems). They clearly have most of the building blocks there. Only QF know.

(of course none of this kind of thing works if, for example, one calls from an office phone or something not directly connected to a record the company has - obviously - so one would still have to go through all the details in that case).

the speedy answer is very good, though depending on where the cell centre is and which region(s) it handles it may well be a factor that AF probably don't have a lot of customers in our region and in our timezone calling.. maybe.

 

[ChrisMars]

the speedy answer is very good, though depending on where the cell centre is and which region(s) it handles it may well be a factor that AF probably don't have a lot of customers in our region and in our timezone calling.. maybe.

Yea, definitly this, plus local AF call center is not 24/7. No idea how it is when calling from France. Could be as bad as here for what I know.

 

[sudoer]

Day of week	Monday
Time of call	2130 AEDT
Number used	13 12 11
Status	Platinum
Hold time	Quoted 30-60 minutes, no callback, actual wait time 75 minutes
Call Centre (if known)	Hobart I think
Matter resolved	No
Details	Needed to book a somewhat obscure classic award on JTA (JAL subsidiary) for SO and a family member travelling within Japan later this month - Qantas can book these but they have never shown up in the booking engine. Got through to a rep who was friendly and sounded knowledgeable. She looked up the appropriate booking class, confirmed availability, started entering names but got an error about the booking class after entering the first passenger's name. She asked to put me on hold while she checked a few more things, then came back five minutes later and explained the availability was there, the booking class was definitely the right one, and there were no other issues she could see. She'd need to put me on hold again while she called someone to look into it. After another 10 minutes, the hold music stops and I hear dead air for a few seconds, then get put through to the customer satisfaction survey.... guess I'm trying again tomorrow morning.

Tried to book this again today:

Day of week	Tuesday
Time of call	1330 AEDT
Number used	13 12 11
Status	Platinum
Hold time	Quoted less than 15 minutes, answered 23 minutes
Call Centre (if known)	Hobart
Matter resolved	Too early to tell
Details	Rep ran into same issue with the reservations system not allowing the booking to be processed despite compliance with all rules. He put me on hold for 10-15 minutes to check with supervisor and came back to say three different people verified he was doing everything correctly, and that it would need to be escalated as a technical fault. He advised a 48 hour turnaround and I can see a PNR attached to QFF account. He gave me his name and advised he had a week of leave booked from today, but that I could call on Friday to check on the status if I didn't want to wait until next week. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but I hope this results in being able to booking awards on NU again...

Also later in the day:

Day of week	Tuesday
Time of call	1730 AEDT
Number used	13 12 11
Status	Platinum
Hold time	Quoted less than 15 minutes, callback offered and used, called after 52 minutes
Call Centre (if known)	Hobart or Auckland, unsure
Matter resolved	Yes
Details	Called to request U seats on SYD-AKL and reuse a recently cancelled SYD-HND PNR to avoid a lengthy refund. Bot said yes, call done in 12 min, e-ticket received less than one hour later and prorated points also back in QFF account.

 

[ozgod]

Used the priority number, got a fantastic agent who sorted me very easily and courteously. At the end she asked me where I had got the number because it was supposed to be an emergency number. She was v unhappy that people had discovered it and said it would be changed.

Most times I call customer service numbers I always try to be extra nice to the operators because it's not their fault their company sucks or the wait is long (plus I don't want to be hung up on after waiting 3 hours on hold), but I would have struggled to control my temper had this been said to me, whether my problem had been solved or not.

What other company requires you to resort to your own measures to find alternative numbers on the internet because they a) don't answer the phone when you call their main line; b) won't respond on email or Twitter to requests for contact; and most importantly c) don't let you change booking details online? Even something you'd think would be simple, such as changing a single leg flight from SYD-LAX or SYD-DFW online from one day to another - same fare class - cannot be done online.

Do they think we enjoy scrounging around for priority numbers just to change our flights? If they answered their phone like a normal company would within a reasonable amount of time then there would be no need for anyone to call priority numbers that they had to go and find themselves! Unbelievable.

If they want us to stop resorting to our own measures and bothering their emergency number (and some of us do call for emergencies, like being unable to contact them 3 days in a row and now it's the day before the flight and we need to reschedule it) then either answer the damn phone or let us change our booking details online like we used to be able to and that most airlines allow you to do. Then they will never hear from us and everyone's happy!

 

[encryptededdy]

A friend had a Qantas booking from Germany to New Zealand, and they wanted to move one of the flights. Unfortunately, as per usual for QF, the website did not allow them to change their flights online. I assume this is because it was a multi-city booking (or maybe because it included a BA leg?).

Anyway, they've tried calling Qantas Germany (both English and German) multiple times over the past few days and had to wait >1 hour on hold each time and had given up each time (no callback option).

Since they didn't have international calling, I helped them set up a call with 1300 025 390 (just conferenced it in). Wait time was ~30 minutes on a Sunday evening, answered by either Hobart or Auckland (sounded like Auckland?), rebooking complete in under 10 minutes.

Day of week	Sunday
Time of call	2100 AEDT
Number used	1300 025 390
Status	None
Hold time	~30 minutes, no callback
Call Centre (if known)	Hobart or Auckland
Matter resolved	Yes
Details	Changing international itinerary that could not be changed online.

Update: It's been 48h and my friend's flight changes still haven't ticketed. No new E-Ticket email, MMB change/cancel buttons still say pending, card not charged. MMB does show the new flights though, so they did get put in, just still not processed.

Should we call again now? Give it a bit longer? The flight is in early April. What a pain.

 

[wandering_fred]

Classic reward flight 27 Feb cancelled on line 13 Feb. No confirmation email
Disappeared from online and a new (different geographic segment 21 Feb) reward flight booked on line
Old PNR still appeared in the QF app MMB a few days later causing app to fail. Did not reappear subsequently.
New flight taken and correctly allowed status rollover 01 Mar.
emailed frequent_flyer etc on 01 Mar requesting return of points and entry of tax refund in queue.
Still no reply other than acknowledgement.

When will a follow up email or call be appropriate to avoid excessive wandering
Fred

 

[N860CR]

Called the 1300 number listed about 3 weeks ago to chase up a points refund from October. Got through to someone in Cape Town who said the refund hadn’t been “done properly” and queued it for a manual refund.

As expected, no result.

Called tonight on the 390 number and spoke with someone in Auckland. Cape Town agent had done nothing apparently. Did a bit of pushing and seems they manually processed the taxes refund, however that hadn’t been received. Agent tried to blame Amex. In the next breath they said the points refund hadn’t been requested so who honestly knows. I think I caught her at a weak moment as she said things in Cape Town we’re done “differently”, however she backtracked on that pretty quickly. Felt sorry for the girl a bit, but it was just excuse excuse excuse.

I did enquire as to why my complaint to customer care had not been addressed, and she said “customer care would take over six months to respond, if at all”.

Apparently the refund has been manually queued again. Standard answer… “call us back if it’s not done”.

Should point out that the call disconnected at about 1hr 20 but she did call back.

 

[BriarFlyer]

emailed frequent_flyer etc on 01 Mar requesting return of points and entry of tax refund in queue.

I had a good result with this last month; refund of pts and taxes received promptly. But last week I tried again for a classic reward flight (international) cancelled 3/1, no sign of points or taxes refund after 2 months. Received an acknowledgement of receipt of email and then, 4 days later, a generic response telling me to call 131313 "so we can best help you as quickly as possible."

Hope you receive experience #1 rather than experience #2.

 

[DC3]

Update: It's been 48h and my friend's flight changes still haven't ticketed. No new E-Ticket email, MMB change/cancel buttons still say pending, card not charged. MMB does show the new flights though, so they did get put in, just still not processed.

No e-ticket = no confirmed booking. Don’t rely on what is in MMB, as it’s not a ticketing confirmation.

My e-ticket delays are usually due to errors/incompetence in processing.

 

[wandering_fred]

I had a good result with this last month; refund of pts and taxes received promptly. But last week I tried again for a classic reward flight (international) cancelled 3/1, no sign of points or taxes refund after 2 months. Received an acknowledgement of receipt of email and then, 4 days later, a generic response telling me to call 131313 "so we can best help you as quickly as possible."

Hope you receive experience #1 rather than experience #2.

It was #2
More wandering
Fred

 

[N860CR]

Has anyone used the Airline Consumer Advocate of late? My understanding is that qantas pay for the service when a complaint is made so, given customer care is currently MIA, would a bombardment of complaints perhaps lead to some change?

 

[Sutty]

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 025 390 (confirmed to be active on 4 March 2022)
1300 024 715
1300 659 115
1300 659 134
1300 659 502
1300 304 318

Absolutly briliant
Thank you Mike
altough still have issues : have points booking business Class wish to get specific Qantas direct flight Singapore to Melbourne QF36. But will not put on as there are no points bookings : the fact that I have had the booking for 2 years and have had to change re Covid irrelevant to Qantas
disappointed
mike

 

[ronlon]

Dear N860CR (and others) , if you are chasing a points/taxes refund best to call frequent flyer services on the 131313 call menu not the priority number . Priority number can route you to any call centre. While frequent flyer services don't deal with reservations they are very helpful in fast tracking points refund.
Ronaldo

 

[Zanzara]

Dear N860CR (and others) , if you are chasing a points/taxes refund best to call frequent flyer services on the 131313 call menu not the priority number . Priority number can route you to any call centre. While frequent flyer services don't deal with reservations they are very helpful in fast tracking points refund.
Ronaldo

I rang the priority line after repeated calls to the 131313 number to resolve a refund issue resulted in zilch. The priority line staff member was extremely competent and confident. Although she was on hold for quite a whilst to the ‘refund department’ she never managed to get through. However, she did say that she would action the issue and she did. Within 24 hrs the refund was done.

 

[encryptededdy]

Absolutly briliant
Thank you Mike
altough still have issues : have points booking business Class wish to get specific Qantas direct flight Singapore to Melbourne QF36. But will not put on as there are no points bookings : the fact that I have had the booking for 2 years and have had to change re Covid irrelevant to Qantas
disappointed
mike

Yeah this sucks, but there's no way they will open up Classic Award space for you just because you held a cancelled booking a while ago. Maybe if it was the same date, but otherwise no.

Post automatically merged: Mar 9, 2022

Should we call again now

Called Priority Line again, all fixed. First agent didn't process it correctly since it was a booking from the Frankfurt office, and it requires a special process and therefore the card payment didn't go through.

Wait time was ~30 mins at 1pm AEDT.

I did call 13 12 11 first, but the agent insisted it would be processed if I kept waiting a few more days.... evidently not if it had actually failed to charge the card.