QF v SIA customer service

[drron]

And if you have a soft sided bag may be no evidence externally but mayhem internally-after 3 QF flights 5 days ago.

 

[Happy Dude]

VA smashed in the wheels and bottom side of my golf travel bag. I didn't notice till I took out the clubs five days later. Tough luck, I was told. It had been used just twice and both times with VA. Fortunately the retailer took it back.

I now do a good inspection when getting bags of the belt. And I should unpack sooner too.

Pretty poor form by QF in this case but that's the way of the world these days.

 

[dajop]

VA smashed in the wheels and bottom side of my golf travel bag. I didn't notice till I took out the clubs five days later. Tough luck, I was told. It had been used just twice and both times with VA.

As far as I understand, most airlines will not cover damage to external wheels, zips, handles etc.

 

[Forg]

Are the people handling the baggage airline employees or airport employees?

 

[Happy Dude]

As far as I understand, most airlines will not cover damage to external wheels, zips, handles etc.

What else is there left to cover?

I have had a bag replaced by QF when a wheel was ripped off. VA would have covered but didn't because I notified them too late. The wheels still worked but had been smashed up into the bag, damaging the hard plastic housing.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Are the people handling the baggage airline employees or airport employees?

usually either airline employees or employees of a ground handling agent.

 

[Pushka]

Qantas covered our handle they managed to pull off.

 

[jase05]

Having regularly seen both freight and luggage loaded/unloaded the only surprise to me is that more stuff isn’t damaged.

 

[OZDUCK]

Having regularly seen both freight and luggage loaded/unloaded the only surprise to me is that more stuff isn’t damaged.

Yes, a few years hanging around freight terminals and airport aprons give you an idea of the amount of care involved - and it usually isn't much

 

[RobJamesau]

I've had 4 baggage issue experiences with Qantas over the years, all rectified satisfactorily. For the one domestic situation (admittedly a long time ago) a case repaired after coming out on the carousel as if it had been dropped from a 10 story building, case picked up from hotel and repaired - no great urgency as was on a holiday. On an international flight from HK to Sydney (I think in 2011), seemed as though someone had bought a calligraphy set and the ink leaked in the hold, didn't realise until customs asked me why my had was all black, reported to Qantas at the airport, they collected bag from hotel that day and it was replaced the next day. International flight from Melbourne to HK (early 2016), case was cracked, sent photos and matter was resolved in a couple of days with a refund for the price of the case deposited to my bank account. About the same time my daughter had an issue flying from Canada to Melbourne, case cracked at base around wheels, reported, taken to shop in Melbourne and a replacement given. All matters were resolved pretty quickly without a great deal of hassle (in the HK case it wasn't reported at the airport, just over the phone and with follow up photos emailed) - appreciate that things may have changed over the last 2 years but there is always a natural tendency to report the negative and keep quiet on the positive, maybe it's luck of the draw in some respects.
On a non-Qantas experience, my sister-in-law had an issue with a damaged bag on flying into HK on Cathay, they replaced her bag at the airport straight after the flight. Although a friend had a new Rimowa case damaged on a Cathay flight and she was never given the time of day!
Non of my matters required a great deal of persistence, as mentioned, maybe luck of the draw, but I agree with another poster that often the tendency is to deny everything first, so in such cases if you are in the right and can prove it then don't take no for an answer.

 

[blaz]

It is a legal issue...unless you inform the airline at the airport after receiving the damaged bag, how can you prove it wasn't damaged after the event. Having said that, Qantas should have responded. The truth is though, that the minute they respond, apart from using the legal defence within the fine print, disallowing the compensation infers that they don't believe the story. Which is worse for Qantas...poor public relations regarding response ,or poor public relations regarding trust in their clients...or is it better just to suck it up ?

 

[johnhab]

I had a somewhat similar experience with Qantas a couple of years ago on a BNE-SYD flight. During my hasty pre-security emptying of pockets I shoved my keys in the front pocket of my suitcase which was then booked through. Stupid in retrospect! On collecting luggage in SYD, I noticed the front pocket zip was open, thought that was strange as I was sure I'd closed it, but was in a rush to meet a friend and it was only later in the hotel I realised my keys weren't there.
I contacted Qantas immediately, though wasn't actually able to speak with a human. Left messages on their system as well as emailing. Never heard a thing. Even if they hadn't offered compensation, it would have been reassuring to be contacted by somebody to say they would investigate, but no doubt the people who worked in that area have all been made redundant.

 

[Flying mermaid]

The possible culprit for both could be the baggage handlers in SIN. I suspect they are not employed by QF

who cares? The responsibility rests with the carrier - it is up to them to sort out any issues with their contracted supplier. Should be invisible to the customer. The only thing that matters is how they handle any complaint....

 

[linustan]

If they even treat business class passenger like this, can you imagine how they would treat economy class passengers?
This is what happened to me a few years ago:
When I brought the damaged luggage to the Qantas luggage counter at Sydney airport after the flight, without even inspecting my suitcase, the staff told me: "Not our fault, because your suitcase is cheap with poor quality..." I would never expect any customer service from Qantas ever since. But only expect it to bring me from A to B safely and on time. That is all!

 

[tatzcon]

Just thought I would share my customer service experience with qantas and Singapore airlines.
Feb 16 2018 I flew ADL-MEL-SIN business class with qantas .
Once I landed in Singapore and collected my bag, I noticed 2 of the wheels were smashed off and my case cracked . It was around 2300 so I just got in a cab and to my room. Took photos and and sent a email to qantas. Got the standard generic email back saying the would reply within 15 days . To this day I’ve not heard a response. Nothing . Two days ago I tried ringing up and I was on hold three seperate times for 45 minutes so I gave up .
Obviously while I was in Singapore I bought a new suitcase to come home with . Flew home Singapore airlines, when we landed and my bag came out, I couldn’t believe it my brand new bag that was 3 days old was smashed !
First time I’ve ever had damaged suitcase let alone two in one trip within a week ! I emailed Singapore airlines and Took photos that night at home after landing. The very next day Singapore airlines rang me to apologise and said to take my suitcase to a luggage shop in Adelaide for inspection . I did that and within a week (February)a brand new suitcase was delivered to my door ! I was blown away with the customer service. And I’m still waiting to hear back from qantas!

The service you received was very different to what I experienced last July. We flew from Shanghai to Brisbane transiting in Singapore. Due to the usual bad weather in Shanghai we missed our transfer but were put onto the next flight. The hostess very apologetically told me that I would have to sit away from my husband and sons in an exit seat. How lucky was I, I thought, most people have to pay extra to get these seats. Ten minutes after sitting down a senior hostess approached me and informed me that the entertainment equipment in my seat was not functioning but the pilot would try to reboot the system after take off. In the mine time she offered me some magazines. Several hours later after having heard nothing more I asked a hostess if I could be moved but was told that there were no other seats. Later on, a senior hostess came and got my details but still got no satisfaction on moving or fixing the problem. An hour or two before landing they came and gave me a cheque for 75 Singapore dollars to spend in the dutyfree shop as compensation. I looked through the magazine and after selecting goods to twice this value I attempted to call a hostess. After quite a long wait someone attended to me but promptly returned and told me that the pilot was closing the Duty free shop due to turbulent weather. So much for compensation. If I wanted to use the voucher I would have to wait until i fly on another Singapore airlines flight...not much chance of that happening now. So it goes to show that it really depends on who handles your complaint and I really don't think this shows any better service of Singapore over Qantas.

 

[sudoer]

I've had my Samsonite Cosmolite lose a wheel on three different QF/JQ flights.

Twice on my return to Sydney domestic, and once on my return to Melbourne intl. I've always gone straight to the baggage desk and they've filed a report without fuss. I then take the bag to the repairer in Sydney (Custom Luggage on Sussex) and pick it up a week later - luckily I haven't needed to actually use the bag during that time.

All the repair shop requires is the QF case number and they charge the repairs back to QF directly - the process was exactly the same for both QF and JQ.

 

[henleybeach]

Different airlines obviously have different polices and I’m fine with that . The point I was making , one airline contacted me 24 hours after I reported it and the other didn’t respond for six weeks and only after I contacted them on FB. ( update - they replied to my message on FB asking for FF number and said they would escalate it and get back to me ASAP, that was April 8th and haven’t heard as of yet )
I fully understand after checking their website and it does say that I need to report it at the airport but for qantas to not even respond and even “say sorry about your luggage but as per T&Cs we can’t offer compensation” , personally I think was a little poor customer service.

 

[kpro]

I think this is another example of poor/slow responsiveness to written complaints to Qantas - which has been proven time and time again to be something that Qantas handles poorly.

As mentioned on another thread, I had a similar experience earlier this month. On a similar flight to Singapore with QF and landing at 10:30pm, my case was badly damaged (huge dent in the corner). However, I immediately went to see the contracted ground staff to report the damage - a process which took 15 mins. My luggage was collected from my hotel and a new one delivered in two days.

 

[AllanZ]

Just thought I would share my customer service experience with qantas and Singapore airlines.
Feb 16 2018 I flew ADL-MEL-SIN business class with qantas .
Once I landed in Singapore and collected my bag, I noticed 2 of the wheels were smashed off and my case cracked . It was around 2300 so I just got in a cab and to my room. Took photos and and sent a email to qantas. Got the standard generic email back saying the would reply within 15 days . To this day I’ve not heard a response. Nothing . Two days ago I tried ringing up and I was on hold three seperate times for 45 minutes so I gave up .
Obviously while I was in Singapore I bought a new suitcase to come home with . Flew home Singapore airlines, when we landed and my bag came out, I couldn’t believe it my brand new bag that was 3 days old was smashed !
First time I’ve ever had damaged suitcase let alone two in one trip within a week ! I emailed Singapore airlines and Took photos that night at home after landing. The very next day Singapore airlines rang me to apologise and said to take my suitcase to a luggage shop in Adelaide for inspection . I did that and within a week (February)a brand new suitcase was delivered to my door ! I was blown away with the customer service. And I’m still waiting to hear back from qantas!

Couldn’t have agreed more on Qantas service, my suitcase top handle was knocked off compmeted when I arrived at Melbourne, however I picked up the suitcase Using the side handle. And never noticed the damage until I got home. When I send the photos to Qantas, they wanted me to produce the purchasing receipt of the suitcase as part of the claim process! Who would keep such receipt for two years, especially for Remowa brand, they don’t need receipt to do any repair. I had to give up on Qantas. Fortunately, remowa fixed my case within one day via Hunter in Melbourne. While I’m Qantas Platium member, I never happy with Qantas service on the ground. Too much likto Telstra. Cold and heartless!

 

[higheden]

Nowadays I usually try the regular channels first i.e customer service, if that does not produce a desired outcome or even a response I immediately go to their FB page and make contact that way. The outcome is virtually immediate. In fact I find this a far more effective way of getting something done, than through the traditional approach.
I do find QANTAS more problematic than the other airlines we generally fly on - hence our recent divorce after 40+ years.