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

 

[N860CR]

To followup on mine… despite a kiwi agent telling me she’d actioned the refund yet again, still nothing has been done. I did email frequent flyer (it was in regards to a points refund) and got an email today suggesting I call “qantas airlines” (isn’t it qantas airways) on 131313 24/7.

Points refund has been outstanding since October. The company is an absolute joke.

 

[TheInsider]

To followup on mine… despite a kiwi agent telling me she’d actioned the refund yet again, still nothing has been done. I did email frequent flyer (it was in regards to a points refund) and got an email today suggesting I call “qantas airlines” (isn’t it qantas airways) on 131313 24/7.

Points refund has been outstanding since October. The company is an absolute joke.

It's actually just Qantas, but really why does that matter?

 

[TheInsider]

https://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/tdtwrv

 

[dylarr]

https://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/tdtwrv

I love the top comment on that post. "3 hours is very unusual. Normally 5to 6"

 

[RooFlyer]

.. on account of a comparison.
I called another large airline in Australia

Name and enthuse them!

 

[Bolt]

I (QF WP) had a poor experience recently. Aside from difficulties of getting through, it's the rudeness that really gets me. I was looking to go somewhere for a holiday over Easter, and hoping to use some of my 1 million frequent flyer points. I asked about why there were no business reward seats for Bangkok anywhere in their schedule in the whole year. I asked is it possible that they could open up some reward booking availability during Easter? Even economy? She said, hah, you must be new to the platinum membership. Clearly you don't know how it works. I feel that was really rude in a professional way if you know what I mean. What is she saying, that I'm dumb or something? I felt her attitude was condescending.

 

[ChrisMars]

I (QF WP) had a poor experience recently. Aside from difficulties of getting through, it's the rudeness that really gets me. I was looking to go somewhere for a holiday over Easter, and hoping to use some of my 1 million frequent flyer points. I asked about why there were no business reward seats for Bangkok anywhere in their schedule in the whole year. I asked is it possible that they could open up some reward booking availability during Easter? Even economy? She said, hah, you must be new to the platinum membership. Clearly you don't know how it works. I feel that was really rude in a professional way if you know what I mean. What is she saying, that I'm dumb or something? I felt her attitude was condescending.

Did she explain how it works? I have several years of WP and I didnt see what is the issue with your request.

Dont worry too much about condescending feelings imo, this can happen everywhere to anyone. More important is if you reached some resolution, i.e. got some of your desired seats released.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Hopefully not a silly question but thought I'd ask for future reference: does calling a QF international number (i.e. United Kingdom or USA) change the length of the hold time or expertise of the agent on the other end of the line?

-RooFlyer88

 

[encryptededdy]

Hopefully not a silly question but thought I'd ask for future reference: does calling a QF international number (i.e. United Kingdom or USA) change the length of the hold time or expertise of the agent on the other end of the line?

-RooFlyer88

I'm not sure but I've heard that sometimes the foreign language lines may have shorter hold times. I've been tempted to call the Chinese line a few times.

 

[CMA222]

It's actually just Qantas, but really why does that matter?

It is actually Qantas Airways Limited and it does not seem unreasonable to expect the employee/contractor to know who they work for.

 

[AVV]

No, but it can certainly cost them money

Yes and I expect 4 hours wait. A.Joyce just does not care . Time for a change with a person of experience. He just expects loyalty. I try to always be nice and understand. I now choose Jetstar when possible especially to S.E ASIA. I BUY THE MOST FLEXIBLE and get great service as JQ took over many QF flights

 

[Bolt]

Dont worry too much about condescending feelings imo, this can happen everywhere to anyone. More important is if you reached some resolution, i.e. got some of your desired seats released.

I hear what you're saying, and agree it makes logical sense. If only we could suspend emotion, I'd push that button. My paradigm is that I don't treat customer service representitives with disrespect, and I expect the same in return. That didn't occur, and thus my disappointment and irritation. I'm not saying that I'm consumed by it. I was mildly bothered by it at the time. I've since let it go. My intention here is simply to share the current state of customer service in QANTAS call centres.

In any case, I was trying to achieve an outcome to book classic reward availability. It's something that I've previously been able to do over the phone once before, but not this time. So, I was sure that I knew what I was talking about. I had realistic expectations that it may or may not be possible. I was unable to achieve that goal.

Hope that clarifies it.

 

[Jacques Vert]

What strikes me in this is the comment that agents are expected to handle about 60 calls per day. If that's a KPI then it certainly explains why they would hang up on people. If the operator suspects that the call might take a bit of time to resolve, it would be in their interest to just hang up and move on to the next call in order to hit the KPI.

As per my post #864:

Call me cynical if you wish but I think the "hang-ups" and "dropouts" would have more to do with meeting some form of KPI about how long an agent takes to complete an enquiry/call or how many calls are handled per hour.

 

[N860CR]

It's actually just Qantas, but really why does that matter?

If the contractor doesn’t even know the name of the company they’re working for, it suggests they probably aren’t going to be particularly well versed in their role.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Yes and I expect 4 hours wait. A.Joyce just does not care . Time for a change with a person of experience. He just expects loyalty. I try to always be nice and understand. I now choose Jetstar when possible especially to S.E ASIA. I BUY THE MOST FLEXIBLE and get great service as JQ took over many QF flights

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you here. They do care about loyalty, which is why they extended status for members for so long, whilst most airlines offered at most a one year extension on status. You are quite right that things like customer service and the quality of the onboard product has deteriorated, but I would make the argument that this is because Qantas has relegated itself to being just a small regional carrier due to COVID. Whereas most airlines in the world were still offering international service, QF shutdown everything aside from the most essential of domestic services during COVID. Obviously if you are a business like QF and face something like that you'll want to cut off all the fat in your org including customer service to survive, especially if the government hasn't provided you with any financial support to stay afloat. So the real question us elites have is when QF will return to being an international carrier, will it be this year? Next year?

I hear what you're saying, and agree it makes logical sense. If only we could suspend emotion, I'd push that button. My paradigm is that I don't treat customer service representitives with disrespect, and I expect the same in return. That didn't occur, and thus my disappointment and irritation. I'm not saying that I'm consumed by it. I was mildly bothered by it at the time. I've since let it go. My intention here is simply to share the current state of customer service in QANTAS call centres.

In any case, I was trying to achieve an outcome to book classic reward availability. It's something that I've previously been able to do over the phone once before, but not this time. So, I was sure that I knew what I was talking about. I had realistic expectations that it may or may not be possible. I was unable to achieve that goal.

Hope that clarifies it.

Completely agree on your approach to customer service. Attitude plays a huge role in the quality of service you get from these agents. If you are a prick they'll only do the bare minimum, if you treat them with respect, are patient and don't act like a know it all, chances are you'll get better service. As an aside, a largely overlooked consideration is who to engage during IRROPs. I know a lot of people would intuitively want to plead to the gate agent to get things fixed (and they certainly can assist there) but in my experience these folks are the most stressed people in the whole airport with all the flights they need to get out. I've found that the customer service desk or lounge provide significantly better service, especially the elite queue.

If the contractor doesn’t even know the name of the company they’re working for, it suggests they probably aren’t going to be particularly well versed in their role.

Are these agents contractors for Qantas (i.e. they service multiple companies and QF is just one of them)? If so, then that would be fairly disappointing since they are unlikely to know the ins and outs of res system nor understand the airline or alliance wide policies for elites. So far, most of my phone calls to airlines have been to United or Air Canada and both appear to have people working for them. In other words I can use the lingo and get what I want (e.g. GG-BUYUP for UA). In particular, I can recall one call I had to fix a flight I had to SIN with UA where the agent had a mid-Western accent (i.e. Minnesota?), and whilst she was clearing that up for me we chatted for a bit, turns out her Dad went to the same Uni as I.

-RooFlyer88

 

[clifford]

So far, most of my phone calls to airlines have been to United or Air Canada and both appear to have people working for them. In other words I can use the lingo and get what I want (e.g. GG-BUYUP for UA). In particular, I can recall one call I had to fix a flight I had to SIN with UA where the agent had a mid-Western accent (i.e. Minnesota?), and whilst she was clearing that up for me we chatted for a bit, turns out her Dad went to the same Uni as I.

Yes, that's all fine, but it's not how things are here in Australia.

In the US, UA has call centres within the USA, so they know what you are talking about. In Oz, that's often not the case.

And if you were wondering, I'm a lifetime Plat with UA (2MM).

 

[Daver6]

I just called as a WP to make a new booking with points. Went through the menu system and informed its a wait time for one to two hours. Got me thinking, what if I want to spend cash. Hung up and called again but selected a paid booking not using points. Informed the wait time is one to two hours as well.

If I was a QF shareholder I'd be livid. They're making it this difficult to spend money with QF. That is absolutely insane!

 

[N860CR]

So just finished lunch and saw this walking back to the hotel. Tempted to stick my head in and see if it’s just a whole lot of people sitting with their feet on the desk.

 

[dylarr]

View attachment 273410

So just finished lunch and saw this walking back to the hotel. Tempted to stick my head in and see if it’s just a whole lot of people sitting with their feet on the desk.

Ahh, Mindpearl CPT. The epicentre of our pain and frustration.

I'd love to see what the hell they are actually doing in that building when they put you on hold for 30+ minutes when you ask them to do something really simple like change the date of a Classic Flight Reward.

 

[N860CR]

Ahh, Mindpearl CPT. The epicentre of our pain and frustration.

I'd love to see what the hell they are actually doing in that building when they put you on hold for 30+ minutes when you ask them to do something really simple like change the date of a Classic Flight Reward.

It’s in a great spot, so wouldn’t surprise me if they’re taking extremely long lunches. That said, based on what qantas no doubt pays, that’s probably not on the radar