Was the Distance between BKK & KUL being Deliberately misstated by QFF? [Now Fixed by QFF]

[Tonkatough]

I let this go for a week or so with the intention of going to the ACA, then today received a call from a Sydney number QFF rep with a Philippine accent. It took 16 minutes to establish that the only position QFF were willing to take was that my claims were invalid because they dated back to before 12 months ago, which is the same as the response I received in email number 2 of 5 of the chain. So I asked the representative if she would prefer me to speak to her manager or that I go to ACA. She replied was that she would speak to her manager and I would receive a call. No call received, so it's off to ACA I go. Will report back on how I go.

Here is the reply from Qantas to ACA:

Dear ACA

Qantas Loyalty have advised they do not do retrospective adjustments unless there was an error and the examples Mr ** has provided were correctly managed.

For any number of reasons and in consultation with our partners terms and conditions change however Mr **'s account has not been updated in error.

Regards Qantas

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Here is the reply from Qantas to ACA:

Dear ACA

Qantas Loyalty have advised they do not do retrospective adjustments unless there was an error and the examples Mr ** has provided were correctly managed.

For any number of reasons and in consultation with our partners terms and conditions change however Mr **'s account has not been updated in error.

Regards Qantas

aaarrrggh

Dear ACA

Thank you for your interest in this matter. I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss this matter with you directly to fully explain the nature of the error, and how the Qantas response is inconsistent with the nature of the error.

Regards

Concerned Flyer

and

Dear Consumer Affairs / ACCC

I am writing to outline a possible - although potentially unintentional - breach of consumer law by Qantas with regards to the operation of their Frequent Flyer Program.

The terms and conditions of the program state that members will be awarded points and status credits in accordance with the distance flown between two cities.

Until 2018 Qantas misleadingly represented the actual distance between the cities of Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. This misrepresentation was to the disbenefit of customers, and the benefit of the airline.

While Qantas amended their system with the correct distance in 2018, they are refusing to backdate claims to have the correct points and status credits awarded for those passengers who had previously traveled these segments.

Regards

Concerned Flyer

 

[Tonkatough]

Here is the reply from Qantas to ACA:

Dear ACA

Qantas Loyalty have advised they do not do retrospective adjustments unless there was an error and the examples Mr ** has provided were correctly managed.

For any number of reasons and in consultation with our partners terms and conditions change however Mr **'s account has not been updated in error.

Regards Qantas

Here is the latest response from QFF to ACA:

Dear ACA
The attached itineraries are for 2017 and 2016 and are not eligible. Mr ** can speak directly to
Loyalty however ACA cannot pursue due to the timeline being longer than 12 months.
Regards Qantas

Considering that 5 emails to QFF, 2 phone calls from QFF, 2 letters to ACA have not made progress, what would you suggest is the next step?

 

[JohnK]

Why are people pursuing claims outside of 12 months? Lifetime tallies?

 

[Danger]

Why are people pursuing claims outside of 12 months? Lifetime tallies?

I'm not involved but if it was me I'd do it on principle.

 

[woodborer]

Here is the latest response from QFF to ACA:

Dear ACA
The attached itineraries are for 2017 and 2016 and are not eligible. Mr ** can speak directly to
Loyalty however ACA cannot pursue due to the timeline being longer than 12 months.
Regards Qantas

Considering that 5 emails to QFF, 2 phone calls from QFF, 2 letters to ACA have not made progress, what would you suggest is the next step?

The ACA does have a time limitation of 12 months, so you would need other avenues outside the ACA.

 

[Tonkatough]

The ACA does have a time limitation of 12 months, so you would need other avenues outside the ACA.

Thanks - what would the best avenue(s) be?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

And this is what is partly annoying about the whole thing - the 12 month 'limitation' could easily be resolved by declaring the date of the incident that on which QF corrected their system - not the date the flight was taken. That the ACA can't work that out is probably because they don't actually understand the issue. That Qantas won't offer that is disappointing.

 

[Vic]

And this is what is partly annoying about the whole thing - the 12 month 'limitation' could easily be resolved by declaring the date of the incident that on which QF corrected their system - not the date the flight was taken. That the ACA can't work that out is probably because they don't actually understand the issue. That Qantas won't offer that is disappointing.

Is there a specific date when Qantas updated the miles? Or is July 2018 good enough?

 

[Kangol]

I think this is probably the best thread to ask - it's been reported that QF use TPM, however do GCM (gcmap.com) use the same method that QF use to calculate distances? The FAQ is quite technical and does not help in this regard.

Now that Mileage Monkey is no longer, I've had to use GCM to calculate distances and that has given me an itinerary of 35,001 miles

 

[Tonkatough]

Since the ACA is limited to 12 months, does anyone have any suggestions on alternate avenues?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Since the ACA is limited to 12 months, does anyone have any suggestions on alternate avenues?

(a) ask the ACA to reconsider as this issue has not past the 12 month limitation (July 2018), (b) escalate to a manager at Qantas. It seems clear front-line staff aren't necessarily across the implications of this.

(b) seems more practical at this stage, but you could do both at the same time.

 

[Tonkatough]

(a) ask the ACA to reconsider as this issue has not past the 12 month limitation (July 2018), (b) escalate to a manager at Qantas. It seems clear front-line staff aren't necessarily across the implications of this.

(b) seems more practical at this stage, but you could do both at the same time.

ThanksMEL_Traveller. I think it is not so much the QANTAS 12 month limitation (which has been established in this thread to not apply) but ACA's limitation of being limited to deal with claims within the last 12 months.