Qantas ruined our rewards booking 2 weeks before flying

[DrGear]

I know this isn't the most helpful, but there is a lot of award space from Sydney (I assume that's where you are?) to Hong Kong in the coming weeks. Worst case, can you get them to book you on that and then organise yourself HKG-TPE-TYO?

Oh I’ve tried that only to be told that they can’t do that. Then I got told that they can refund the points but that would take time.

Now here’s something that’s just made my blood boil.


I called up China Airlines to get some clarification and see if there’s someone I could speak to regarding the request that was sent through to reacquire the seat. Qantas never contacted them and never put her on the waitlist for seats or even actually rebooked them when they said they got her into economy.

I am furious. How on earth is this company so completely inept, so almost malicious in its incompetence? Neither the left hand nor the right hand knows what they’re doing and what I’ve planned for 5 years is at stake now.

Seriously, ive been told now 3 times that the booking and everything was fine. Then I was told that the replacement booking was fine and they got her onto the seat. Then I was told that they had contacted CI to get things sorted only to now find out that they hadn’t don’t any of that.

Yet every person I speak to, every email I send, every social media account I ping I get nothing. Years of planning, down the drain.

 

[drron]

OK Time to tell them you are going to take legal action to get all the money back that you have lost on hotels etc. There are threads on here that give advice as to how. They really don't want to go down that path as it will cost them real money with their own legal fees.

 

[RichardMEL]

There truly is no excuse for all of this. None.

I'm so sorry youve been put through all of this which would never have been an ussue if their training, tools and processes were far better to begin with.

I'm out of thoughts or advice but just best wishes for some kind of resolution that is acceptable.

This is the kind of thing the "leadership" team should be fully aware of - not just the initial screw up, but the endless fails from all your followups.

My very best wishes to you both.

 

[DrGear]

OK Time to tell them you are going to take legal action to get all the money back that you have lost on hotels etc. There are threads on here that give advice as to how. They really don't want to go down that path as it will cost them real money with their own legal fees.

Told them I was seeking legal remedy, just kept repeating the line about giving us a refund. That doesn’t solve the issue.

We need proper legislation in this country like they do in others so that airlines can’t just get away with this. Why should I suffer because they gutted the company and made it a trash heap?

Post automatically merged: Mar 4, 2024

There truly is no excuse for all of this. None.

I'm so sorry youve been put through all of this which would never have been an ussue if their training, tools and processes were far better to begin with.

I'm out of thoughts or advice but just best wishes for some kind of resolution that is acceptable.

This is the kind of thing the "leadership" team should be fully aware of - not just the initial screw up, but the endless fails from all your followups.

My very best wishes to you both.

Thanks, even if I could get through to leadership I’m pretty sure they’ll just roll their eyes and hand wave me away because I’m just a pauper and they want nothing to do with anyone that won’t make them immediate cash.

It’s disheartening to say the least and there are no consumer protections at all.

 

[I love to travel]

Told them I was seeking legal remedy, just kept repeating the line about giving us a refund. That doesn’t solve the issue.

We need proper legislation in this country like they do in others so that airlines can’t just get away with this. Why should I suffer because they gutted the company and made it a trash heap?

Post automatically merged: Mar 4, 2024

Thanks, even if I could get through to leadership I’m pretty sure they’ll just roll their eyes and hand wave me away because I’m just a pauper and they want nothing to do with anyone that won’t make them immediate cash.

It’s disheartening to say the least and there are no consumer protections at all

email A Current Affair.and say urgent and date of travel in the subject line.

 

[RichardMEL]

Sadly QF protected themselves by tge notion tgat if they can't find suitable flights they can refund. Legally it probably is enough does it pass the oub test? Of course not - specially when it is their errorcthat started all this mess and common sense says they should make ut right - even if that means opening seats on their own meral ir revenue on others.

I suspect half the problem us that you're being forced to deal with offshore agents with both poor training and tools and zero authority to do squat, but you can't get to those who possibly could.

That the escalation team haven't responded yet is also very troubling given you're within two weeks now. We've just seen from the other recent thread that they are doing things so.. my fingers are crossed.

Not that multiple emails and followups SHOUKD be required....

 

[DrGear]

Sadly QF protected themselves by tge notion tgat if they can't find suitable flights they can refund. Legally it probably is enough does it pass the oub test? Of course not - specially when it is their errorcthat started all this mess and common sense says they should make ut right - even if that means opening seats on their own meral ir revenue on others.

I suspect half the problem us that you're being forced to deal with offshore agents with both poor training and tools and zero authority to do squat, but you can't get to those who possibly could.

That the escalation team haven't responded yet is also very troubling given you're within two weeks now. We've just seen from the other recent thread that they are doing things so.. my fingers are crossed.

Not that multiple emails and followups SHOUKD be required....

Yeah, just my luck when I went to every length I could to ensure this didn’t happen and it still did anyway. I’ve sent escalations 3 emails and gotten 2 confirmation of receipt emails and no further contact beyond that. I put in all the details and used others tips to ensure it gets checked but no luck.

 

[tdimdad]

OK Time to tell them you are going to take legal action to get all the money back that you have lost on hotels etc. There are threads on here that give advice as to how. They really don't want to go down that path as it will cost them real money with their own legal fees.

This situation is beyond frustrating! It's also laughable that a customer should ever need to think of legal avenues against a company in things which ought to be bread and butter for the company and a part of routine operations.

If I was in a similar bind, I would re-forward the original email to the rewards team but change the subject line to something like 'URGENT - Rebook by Tue 5th Mar 12 pm - Legal action to be taken otherwise'. In the email body a simple statement that on Tue afternoon (AEDT) you will action an alternate plan and will include any lost or incurred costs in a case to be raised against QF. Perhaps, including the CCO as a recipient might (with 0.001% probability) nudge it ahead faster.

This buys time to line up the ducks so you can strike in the afternoon and get you two to Tokyo. Focus on the Plan B and C at this point, ready to execute the alternate bookings tomorrow at 1 pm and collect the material for follow-on action when you can.

 

[DrGear]

This situation is beyond frustrating! It's also laughable that a customer should ever need to think of legal avenues against a company in things which ought to be bread and butter for the company and a part of routine operations.

If I was in a similar bind, I would re-forward the original email to the rewards team but change the subject line to something like 'URGENT - Rebook by Tue 5th Mar 12 pm - Legal action to be taken otherwise'. In the email body a simple statement that on Tue afternoon (AEDT) you will action an alternate plan and will include any lost or incurred costs in a case to be raised against QF. Perhaps, including the CCO as a recipient might (with 0.001% probability) nudge it ahead faster.

This buys time to line up the ducks so you can strike in the afternoon and get you two to Tokyo. Focus on the Plan B and C at this point, ready to execute the alternate bookings tomorrow at 1 pm and collect the material for follow-on action when you can.

I’ve already sent 2 follow up emails to them with bold urgent notation in the subject, two auto replies but not one for the third. I’m already trying to find plans b through j but the reality is I don’t have many options as I have no spare cash for the expensive flights this close to departure and they currently have 309k of my points tied up so I can’t even book her the lone Qantas J that flies out the day before that shows up as available.

They have really screwed me. I trust them so little that if I did go for the refund, I don’t trust they’d get me the points quick enough to secure the booking for her and we’d end up with 300k points just sitting there unusable.

 

[DrGear]

Ok my frustration has now grown immeasurably. There is one J class seat on Qantas leaving Sydney on the 21/3 which would work well for us. Means I’ll be in Taiwan by myself but that’s ok, the main thing is getting her to Japan on the 22/3.

The issue is they have 300k of my points and I only have 47k points in my account and the flight would be 82k. I’m terrified of trying to get them to refund the points immediately so I could get that flight because of how much of a nightmare it’s all been.

My kingdom for an extra 40k points so I can get this flight and get the 300k back.

 

[DAC1]

If you accept a refund you can insist on them refunding the points immediately (the cash component might take longer). To get the points back, they will need to escalate it to the frequent flyer team and they may transfer you to that team, but as long as you insist they will do it. They did it for me last year.

You might be better off waiting to speak to them again until tomorrow as you’ll need to reach them while the frequent flyer team is online (and from memory that is not 24/7).

 

[Guvner]

The wait for points refund is a bit strange. When I’ve requested refunds for missing points (2 or 3 incidents over the years) it’s typically been done whilst I’m on the call. In fact the agent has told me they’ve processed it there and then and I’ve refreshed my screen and the points are in the account immediately. Monetary refunds are where I’ve had issues normally. On one occasion the agent refunded the points twice whilst I was on the phone and when I told her she was so apologetic, even though it would have been in my favour had I said nothing. I’m sure it would have been detected at some point down the track

 

[Seat0B]

Legally it probably is enough does it pass the oub test?

But is it enough legally? If you got a faulty toaster you have the right to repair, replace or refund at your discretion, not the seller’s discretion.

 

[RichardMEL]

But is it enough legally? If you got a faulty toaster you have the right to repair, replace or refund at your discretion, not the seller’s discretion.

Well I don't know. I only watch Law & Order. It would be interesting to see it challenged in court I guess.. though would hate the situation (like this one) to result in testing it legally of course.

 

[drron]

But is it enough legally? If you got a faulty toaster you have the right to repair, replace or refund at your discretion, not the seller’s discretion.

Though in this case the faulty product has caused a flow on of other economic losses.
Just as if a faulty toaster causes your house to burn down the maker can be in the frame.

 

[wxxnxs]

If you are waiting for your refund of your points to sort out the urgent issue right now, I think you should just try it, and most of the time refund QFF points is almost instant or no later than 24 hours. I think you have tried most of ways to get the mess resolved, but so far nothing is happening. So I guess no worse in trying that.

 

[ellen10]

I feel so sorry for your awful situation, best wishes for a suitable outcome.

 

[DrGear]

Ok, so update time.

The call center staff of course never called me back because why would they do that. In the mean time I emailed and called every avenue I could and came up empty handed. In amongst this I lodged a complaint through their atrocious system so I could get a reference number to do the aviation consumer advocate, not that they're exactly of any use.

I received a phone call yesterday morning from a staff member in NZ who was lovely and shocked at the whole situation. She found my form submission and put it to the top of her list to see if a resolution could be done. I explained to her that this whole thing was beyond difficult and I just want to get onto those flights. I even said that if my fiancee has to go on a different flight, then so be it. We just need to be in Japan on the 22/3. She said she wouldn't accept it if that was her and her partner and will do all she can to get us flying together.

I brought up the option I put forward to the other operators of just getting us onto a Qantas flight, and if it's too hard to get us on those dates to Taipei then Tokyo, we would gladly skip the Taipei leg as the accomodation I booked there is still refundable. She was completely on board with that and I said is it possible to do Sydney to Tokyo on Qantas on the 18th or potentially the evening before and she checked and said she would do all she could to make it happen.

So she went in to bat for us and I could see the tentative booking under both our references for the 17th via Qantas. Unfortunately she's called up this afternoon to say that management didn't greenlight conversion of those seats to redemptions so she's gonna try getting us on a flight on the 18th. When she called her demeanour was far more dour than when she called yesterday and that is never a good sign.

So for a brief moment it looked like this whole saga had wrapped up, only to still be on tenterhooks awaiting management to authorise the redemptions and get us there.

Now to continue the wait an send out more emails and see if there's any attention to be gained from anyone up top who may be able to give the green light.

 

[RichardMEL]

I am also truly shocked the escalation team seemingly hasn't even reached out.

This is truly one of their worse "efforts" and we've seen some doozies on here.

This is their failure yet somehow the notion to make it right for the customer seems to have gone missing internally.

 

[TomVexille]

Appalling