Qantas WORST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE EVER!

[CCQF]

I have just posted my intro thread

I hope you become an active forum member, it's always good to get an insiders POV

You should open a new intro thread, we have a small number of staff on the thread - QF, VA, TT, SQ - all welcome

 

[denysmorel]

Hi ozmille,
My daughter's passport was issued in 2008. Austman posted a link to an article from a belgian newspaper in 2011:
[h=3]400,000 Belgian passports are faulty[/h]

In a separate development it has emerged that 400,000 Belgian passports are unusable because a plastic leaf comes loose. The passports display a production fault.
The Foreign Ministry plans to replace the passports at no cost to the holder.
In recent months a number of Belgian travellers have experienced problems at border crossing across the world. The Foreign Ministry says that it is yet to receive a first claim for compensation from the holder of a faulty Belgian passport whose trip went up the spout.
​

Well, they will certainly get their first claim soon...

 

[denysmorel]

Update: my daughter received a new temporary passport in less than an hour thanks to the Belgian embassy in London.
And I called the Australian immigration office in London who told me that she can travel with her current eVisitor visa, as long as she can show her old damaged passport as well.

I hope that Qantas will accept this tonight in London...

 

[Mal Ware]

Like it was already damaged...

After investigation on the web, there is a whole series of Belgian passports which have this known manufacturer defect (transparent page can be easily accidentally removed).

Like.....no, it wasn't.

Conspiracy theories.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Like.....no, it wasn't.

Conspiracy theories.

Like....my side note that l added in my first post to this thread....

OT, l thought that all EU passports were the same in terms of quality/build etc etc, seems that they are not.

 

[Red Roo]

Hi denysmorel,

Can you PM me your QFF#, PNR and some contact details. I will have a look into it and see if anything can be done.
There are a number of missing pieces of information in this thread but the best bet is to get you on the phone again and have a look at the situation.

Cheers
Red Roo

Answer from the supervisor (selena): no way to get the tickets rebooked. Your family has to go back to Brussels and talk to they travel agent to book new tickets.

HELP!!
Does any of you know someone at Qantas who could help?

 

[denysmorel]

Hi Red Roo,
I just sent you a PM.

Update: my wife and kids are in the plane now. Next step: Singapore.

 

[denysmorel]

I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel here, and hopefully this nightmare will soon be forgotten.
Looking back at the story, I would like to share some thoughts with you:

As someone said, it is only a third party account. I was not an eye witness. And I would add that I am emotionally involved (you bet!, only thinking about my daughter crying on the phone and asking what she did wrong makes me shiver again).

But to put this in perspective, because all of you are english speakers and frequent flyers, I will add that my wife doesn't speak english, and therefore couldn't understand what people told her or fight back.
Imagine if your wife and children were flying from Australia to Paris and were left alone in Tokyo...
To make it worse, she suffers from a chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease which is heavily related to stress.

More generally, in my opinion, when you book a flight from A to B with a reputable airline, there are only 2 places where the airline can discharge itself from any responsibility towards its passengers: A and B. The fact that there are stops en route doesn't change that. What do you think? Do you agree with this?

 

[Simo]

Can we get updates on this.

 

[denysmorel]

Update: I just received a call from Qantas Customer Service offering apologies and further assistance if needed. Thank you Red Roo.

If only they would have called yesterday... Now I just hope that I will not need further assistance!

"If we don't take care of our customers, someone else will"

 

[simongr]

More generally, in my opinion, when you book a flight from A to B with a reputable airline, there are only 2 places where the airline can discharge itself from any responsibility towards its passengers: A and B. The fact that there are stops en route doesn't change that. What do you think? Do you agree with this?

In principle yes - if the passport was damaged at point A travel should have been refused. However the passenger's circumstance changed between A and B so I think it is reasonable to have denied boarding - obviously the management of that is a different matter.

 

[harvyk]

But to put this in perspective, because all of you are english speakers and frequent flyers, I will add that my wife doesn't speak english, and therefore couldn't understand what people told her or fight back.
Imagine if your wife and children were flying from Australia to Paris and were left alone in Tokyo...

That certainly wouldn't help the situation. I guess as an English speaker we're lucky enough that in most places in the world and most likely any major airport which we would transit through, there will be someone available who can speak English as well, as it's a very popular second language.

I haven't got all the facts, but the first comment you made you mentioned that the QF staff member told your wife and kids to go back to where they came from. It could have easily meant that the QF staff member wanted them to actually go and speak to a certain person who could have fixed the issue there and then on the spot, but due to language barriers it was misinterpreted, just a thought, and unfortunately the person your wife did speak to was genuinely unable to help and was unaware of the actual instruction your wife was given.

In any case, I'm glad everything is sorted and your family is on it's way over...

 

[JohnPhelan]

Ah, the missing piece of the puzzle was that the lady did not speak English. Therefore she could not understand everything that the QF ground staff were telling her. Did she ask them to get a translator?

At any rate, all appears to be on track now.

Like simongr, I agree that QF did the right thing in not allowing the family to travel because of the problem with the security device in the passport. The fault is not the airline's, and it's not the passenger's. It's really just one of those things that happens in travel. (If anyone is at fault, it's the manufacturer of the Belgian passports).

It would have been good if QF had sourced a translator at the airport, then any miscommunication and confusion may have been avoided.

 

[denysmorel]

Hi harvyk,

The difference between someone willing to help and someone telling you to go to hell is not a question of language, it is a question of attitude. I am sure I can make the difference between the two, even in Chinese...

I will surely know more when I will be able to speak to my wife face to face. My wife might not speak English, but I do, and I know what I heard on the phone from the staff members in Heathrow (British Airways, because suddenly no one from Qantas was available to talk to me):
he told me that they would have to take care of themselves, buying a new ticket to Brussels and again a new one to Sydney and that Qantas would not help. They would do nothing. Just nothing.

It is only when I argued and pointed out that they could not just drop a whole family in a foreign country at 10 pm on a Sunday (not mentioning the fact that they could not speak the language) without any further assistance that he found a hotel and booked them on a return flight to Brussels the next day (not for free, and not the first flight by far).

Believe me, I spent enough time on the phone arguing and complaining (although always respectfully) to know that Qantas was definitely NOT helpful.

And this "we will do nothing" attitude persisted in all my contacts with Qantas in Australia until I finally reached the manager on duty (Anni) who was very helpful.

"Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong." ​

Donald Porter, V.P. British Airways

 

[JohnPhelan]

Further new information, now - the discussions at LHR were with BA staff, not QF.

denysmorel, it certainly appears that the whole way the matter was handled, by both BA and QF, could have been better. But please don't keep overlooking the fact that it is the passenger's responsibility to ensure that their passport is in a condition that will be accepted by immigration authorities. That is not the airline's responsibility. I think BA was quite generous in organising a hotel for your family, as it was not BA/QF that were responsible for the situation.

No doubt the BA and QF staff were pointing out to your wife that it is the passenger's responsibility to have all travel documents correct, and that the airline is not liable if the documents are not.

You certainly did the right thing in going "up the chain" at QF until you got someone with the authority to make the right decision. Yes, it was no doubt a nervous couple of hours, but it all turned out OK in the end, which is the main thing.

As I said in an earlier post, this incident is just one of those things that happen when you travel - no one's fault, apart from the manufacturer of the defective Belgian passports.

 

[simongr]

denysmorel, it certainly appears that the whole way the matter was handled, by both BA and QF, could have been better. But please don't keep overlooking the fact that it is the passenger's responsibility to ensure that their passport is in a condition that will be accepted by immigration authorities. That is not the airline's responsibility. I think BA was quite generous in organising a hotel for your family, as it was not BA/QF that were responsible for the situation.

One could argue that as it was a QF/BA staffer that ripped the page from the passport making it unusable that QF/BA were responsible for the issue.

 

[Danger]

Hi denysmorel,

Can you PM me your QFF#, PNR and some contact details. I will have a look into it and see if anything can be done.
There are a number of missing pieces of information in this thread but the best bet is to get you on the phone again and have a look at the situation.

Cheers
Red Roo

Fantastic. Thank you for your offering assistance.

 

[Moody]

One could argue that as it was a QF/BA staffer that ripped the page from the passport making it unusable that QF/BA were responsible for the issue.

You could further argue that as this was a WELL KNOWN ISSUE with a batch of Belgian passports, that QF/BA staff should have been aware of this AND given the customer (who was travelling with children) a whole lot more support. Quality of service should not be inversely proportional to the vulnerability and needs of the client.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

You could further argue that as this was a WELL KNOWN ISSUE with a batch of Belgian passports, that QF/BA staff should have been aware of this AND...

People living in Belgium would/might have known about it too....

 

[zachary.august]

Unfortunate situation to say the least. Just to understand what happened:

1) Wife + 3 Kids board BA (QF Marketed) flight to LHR no problem there
2) Wife + 3 Kids cleared through departure passport control no problems
3) Wife + 3 Kids arrive at boarding gate, QF staffer pulls page out of passport, fails to render assistance (or your wife not understanding the language and therefore not recognising this)
4) Family stranded
5) BA Helps

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't the language of Belgium French or Flemish? I'm sure someone who spoke French would've been around. It is a very sad situation and in your place I would've been tense but for future reference none of this was truly QF's fault especially if it is a design flaw.