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

 

[jrfsp]

Have just about given up on Qantas, they are definitely far below Jetstar and Virgin as to answering phone calls. I am amazed that little Jetstar leaves big brother Qantas for dead in their call centres. Long overdue for them to lift their game.

Most of the time dont even need to ring JQ, everything sorted over live chat with minimal waiting.

 

[CMA222]

Queston: If you did not have status (life or current) of a high level would you continue to use Q if your QFF point balance was 3/10ths of nothing given the massive decline in Q customer service levels for all but on the plane?

Easy answer for me - no

QF rely on the golden handcuffs of higher status levels (plus the difficulty and/or complexity to use points) and the lack of a serious alternative of a domestic airline that is part of a real alliance program (OneWorld), to lock in the "loyal" suckers customers. If there was an alliance member airline that could compete with QF domestically there would be a rush to that alternative and QF know it. They know that to build OneWorld status people must fly with them so why actually supply a quality product or telephone service. The fact that OneStar is now providing a better customer experience and phone service says it all in my view. If I have friends/family coming to Oz from OS I currently tell them to use SQ because of the current call centre hassles with QF.

 

[Mr H]

If I have friends/family coming to Oz from OS I currently tell them to use SQ because of the current call centre hassles with QF.

Friends coming from overseas are unlikely to have to deal with a call centre but if they do, they are unlikely to find SQ much better than QF.

 

[CMA222]

Friends coming from overseas are unlikely to have to deal with a call centre but if they do, they are unlikely to find SQ much better than QF.

You clearly do not know the difficulties people overseas are having with QF. Best not to comment on matters just for the sake of commenting. SQ is miles better than the QF experience !

EXCLUSIVE - Deplorable: A Look Into Qantas' Shocking Customer Service - AviationSource

 

[Mr H]

You clearly do not know the difficulties people overseas are having with QF. Best not to comment on matters just for the sake of commenting. SQ is miles better than the QF experience !

EXCLUSIVE - Deplorable: A Look Into Qantas' Shocking Customer Service - AviationSource

This is the AFF thread on SQ call centres. Best not to snipe just for the sake of sniping.

Best way to contact SQ these days

I've had a reward flight cancelled mid December (Air NZ to Wellington) but Singapore Airlines have yet to contact me despite it saying they will when I go into manage my booking. I've heard they are hard to contact at the moment, tried the chatbot but it always says they are busy. Anyone with...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[Melburnian1]

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.

If I (incorrectly?) assume that they're on duty (not counting a lunch break) for eight hours, that gives an operator eight minutes to answer each call, with no allowance for toilet breaks.

I've always found airline call centre staff take ages to resolve simpler problems. The serfty notation of '4.5 minutes' above seems very fast, and may I suggest, unusual.

So I've difficulty in comprehending that '60 calls', Daverb, is an achievable KPI.

 

[Daver6]

WP called 2:10pm Perth time and selected to make a new points booking. Advised hold time is 30-60 minutes and offered call back. Two hours later and still no call back.

 

[flyingfan]

+1 who is WP rang late weekday afternoon and was hold for an hour.

 

[CMA222]

This is the AFF thread on SQ call centres. Best not to snipe just for the sake of sniping.

It is actually a tread (see the title) about the difficulties of contacting QF (not SQ) which is equally applicable to local and international passengers, as evidenced by the link provided, which was picked up and repeated on other international FF sites.

 

[levelnine]

Two hours later and still no call back.

I'm now 5 hours without a call back. Presumably not going to get one, I think.

 

[serfty]

The serfty notation of '4.5 minutes' above seems very fast, and may I suggest, unusual.

Hey, I am on a roll - immediately went out and purchased a powerball ticket!

Seriously, I was shocked when I checked the call timer on my 'phone to see 270 odd seconds.

 

[Mumanddad]

Managed to save 10 hours on our flights to London, and saved a few points. The call centre was terrific as I couldn't change the flights online even though I could see them. 1hr 4mins this afternoon including the conversation.

 

[Mr H]

It is actually a tread (see the title) about the difficulties of contacting QF (not SQ) which is equally applicable to local and international passengers, as evidenced by the link provided, which was picked up and repeated on other international FF sites.

The title of the thread I linked to is "Best way to contact SQ these days" and is about the difficulties of contacting SQ (not QF) which is equally applicable to local and international passengers.

Happy to accept your apology for being so rude.

 

[DC3]

Managed to save 10 hours on our flights to London, and saved a few points. The call centre was terrific as I couldn't change the flights online even though I could see them. 1hr 4mins this afternoon including the conversation.

Good to hear. Sounds much better than some of your recent experiences with the Call Centre/QF website searches.

 

[Mumanddad]

Good to hear. Sounds much better than some of your recent experiences with the Call Centre/QF website searches.

We're retired and can find the time to sit for hours on the phone and spend even longer trawling through various flights on the web page. I don't know how everyone who works can get the time to do it all, especially if you don't have status like us.

 

[Mr H]

We're retired and can find the time to sit for hours on the phone and spend even longer trawling through various flights on the web page. I don't know how everyone who works can get the time to do it all, especially if you don't have status like us.

Like others, I leave my phone on speaker and carry on working/watching TV until it is answered. As for trawling through flights, I guess you either enjoy it or hate it. I love searching for fantasy itineraries.

 

[sudoer]

I don't know how everyone who works can get the time to do it all, especially if you don't have status like us.

Google's new Hold For Me feature has been a godsend ...

 

[sd95au]

First thing in the morning seems to be best. I got a call back but of course it was when I had to use the toilet! Waited 2 hours on hold after that (noon AEDT), had to call back for something else later (3pm AEDT) and never received a call back.

 

[exLXCXFF]

May I ask for some advice please?

I have a cash booking via Qantas (on QF flight#) on Emirates. We have 3 people on this ticket.

1) We need to change the date for going back (incl a stop over now iN DXB);
2) One passenger will fly out of SYD at a different date now than the other two.

Given feedback above, would you agree that:
a) I cancel the old ticket for 3 pax completely; and
b) make two separate new bookings; and
c) don’t bother to go through the call centre to try to get these changes done?

Also, if I get a credit voucher for the overall booking, can I use that voucher for the two separate new bookings? Neither of them will be more expensive than the old booking but actually less of course. Is that a problem?

If anyone is interested, here is a data point from this morning (around 0805am SYD time):

Called 1300 025 390 and got through in 56 minutes, lovely lady with Australian accent. I quickly outlined my 3 problems (issue 1: 15 hours outbound leg shift caused by Emirates IT glitch, see Emirates forum [she knew exactly what I was taking about]; issue 2: add stop over in Dubai; issue 3: split booking). She then advised me in which order we are going to address these issues. It took less than 10 minutes and I had new tickets in my inbox that were all correct, Qantas App also refreshed.

If I hadn't to wait 56 minutes, I would give Qantas Customer Service 5 out of 5 stars, due to the waiting timing, it's 4 out of 5 stars - I am actually super satisfied with Qantas' handling of this situation.

 

[DC3]

… lovely lady with Australian accent …

Good result. I will put my money on Hobart.

7.00am -11.00pm AEDT, 7 days as I recall.