I was booked on QF1553 today (18 Jul 23, 3.05pm departure) Mel to Hba in Economy. I received a text message from Qantas early yesterday morning saying that the flight had been overbooked, and it contained a link so that I could change my flight if I chose to do so. I chose not to. I can only assume everybody in Economy received the same text message. I am currently a Gold Frequent flyer member. My thinking was that being a Gold FF member, I was relatively safe from being bumped from this flight, unless of course if everybody else on the flight was Platinum or Platinum One, then I would be first to go. Anyway, to my surprise, and dismay, I received a phone call from Qantas saying that the flight had been cancelled. I said that the flight had been overbooked, not cancelled, but the guy I was speaking to again said that the flight had been cancelled, so I begrudgingly chose this mornings flight. I kept checking Flight Status on the Qantas website which showed that QF1553 was still a scheduled flight. I again checked with Qantas staff at the airport this morning and they confirmed that at that stage, QF1553 was still scheduled to go ahead. And looking at Flightradar24, QF1553 is set to land in about 10 minutes, at aprox 5pm. I submitted a complaint to the airline via their website, my main beef being that I was told that the flight was cancelled when in fact it wasn't. The airline has since credited my Frequent Flyer account with 5,000 points. My question is, has Qantas been overly generous, have I been short changed, or has Qantas responded in a fair manner. I would appreciate people's thoughts
I'd say they've been generous. They got you to your destination on the day you planned. Flight times aren't part of their contract with you. However, I sympathise with you and agree that as a Gold FF myself I would also not expect to have been bumped off the flight. The fact that they told you the flight was cancelled was an outright lie. It might not have been the phone consultants lie, as that may have been what it said on his screen. But a lie nonetheless.
Such a shame that they have resorted to lying. It's an effective tool so there is no reason for them to stop doing it. They got away with it too for the measly cost of 5,000 points which they just generated out of thin air.
Sigh another example of Qantas "The spirit of Australia".........sounds like Australia's all out of spirit, now we are just using dregs then.
I think the only airline worse than Qantas is Jetstar, but I mean, they are born of the same ilk so figures they are both probably the worst airlines in Australia
Such a shame that they have resorted to lying. It's an effective tool so there is no reason for them to stop doing it. They got away with it too for the measly cost of 5,000 points which they just generated out of thin air.
Their complaints handling process is a joke, basically a rubber stamp response, no real action and you cant ever seem to talk to a real person from an Australian call centre. Just someone who follows a script "sorry sir/maam, we cannot help you, thanks for flying qantas, see you again when we next rip you off"
Is this example showing how pathetic airline travel as become with Australia’s premier airline. Qantas think they can now lie their way through a situation.
Customer service officer lies to a passenger. Probably because they feel people are more used to excepting cancellations and think the passenger will be none the wiser. If the words overbooked were used on a call, passenger is likely to be more aggressive. Customer service officer didn’t expect the passenger to challenge this.
There is no way the customer service officer was kept in the dark, if they could move the passenger then they had the most up to date information. After all the overbooked SMS alert had already been sent to the customer.
5000 points were offered as a pacifier- low move from Qantas. Just be honest in the first place.
Maybe next time start your conversation with "Hi, your Call is being recorded for my quality assurance..."... maybe they will be more careful with what they say? lol
Thanks to all for the comments. Just to provide an update to my experience, I got talking to the lady working the entrance to the Qantas Club at Hobart Airport on Friday just gone (4 Aug 23). I shared my experience as outlined above as I felt the need to tell an actual employee of the airline rather than a computer, and she went and upgraded me to Business Class for my flight to Melbourne.
Becky1
Becky1
Jetstar Airways - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 04 May 2018
Total posts 33
I was booked on QF1553 today (18 Jul 23, 3.05pm departure) Mel to Hba in Economy. I received a text message from Qantas early yesterday morning saying that the flight had been overbooked, and it contained a link so that I could change my flight if I chose to do so. I chose not to. I can only assume everybody in Economy received the same text message. I am currently a Gold Frequent flyer member. My thinking was that being a Gold FF member, I was relatively safe from being bumped from this flight, unless of course if everybody else on the flight was Platinum or Platinum One, then I would be first to go. Anyway, to my surprise, and dismay, I received a phone call from Qantas saying that the flight had been cancelled. I said that the flight had been overbooked, not cancelled, but the guy I was speaking to again said that the flight had been cancelled, so I begrudgingly chose this mornings flight. I kept checking Flight Status on the Qantas website which showed that QF1553 was still a scheduled flight. I again checked with Qantas staff at the airport this morning and they confirmed that at that stage, QF1553 was still scheduled to go ahead. And looking at Flightradar24, QF1553 is set to land in about 10 minutes, at aprox 5pm. I submitted a complaint to the airline via their website, my main beef being that I was told that the flight was cancelled when in fact it wasn't. The airline has since credited my Frequent Flyer account with 5,000 points. My question is, has Qantas been overly generous, have I been short changed, or has Qantas responded in a fair manner. I would appreciate people's thoughts
hakkinen5
hakkinen5
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 20 Aug 2014
Total posts 207
I'd say they've been generous. They got you to your destination on the day you planned. Flight times aren't part of their contract with you. However, I sympathise with you and agree that as a Gold FF myself I would also not expect to have been bumped off the flight. The fact that they told you the flight was cancelled was an outright lie. It might not have been the phone consultants lie, as that may have been what it said on his screen. But a lie nonetheless.
Ryan K
Ryan K
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 30 May 2013
Total posts 161
It sounds to me that Qantas lied and bumped you from the flight. Going by what you've outlined, this flight wasn't cancelled. Shame on Qantas.
dm12
dm12
Member since 08 Feb 2018
Total posts 211
Hakkinen5 works for Qantas??
That ‘times aren’t part of the contract’ rubbish is just a lame excuse IMO
anonymous
anonymous
Member since 24 Dec 2013
Total posts 159
Such a shame that they have resorted to lying. It's an effective tool so there is no reason for them to stop doing it. They got away with it too for the measly cost of 5,000 points which they just generated out of thin air.
tommygun
tommygun
Delta Air Lines - SkyMiles
Member since 16 Oct 2017
Total posts 291
Another reason to fly Rex.
Ryan K
Ryan K
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 30 May 2013
Total posts 161
Originally Posted by tommygun
Another reason to fly Rex.
dm12
dm12
Member since 08 Feb 2018
Total posts 211
Originally Posted by Ryan K
Originally Posted by tommygun
Another reason to fly Rex.
RedWood
RedWood
Member since 04 Sep 2019
Total posts 38
Originally Posted by tommygun
Another reason to fly Rex.
RedWood
RedWood
Member since 04 Sep 2019
Total posts 38
Sigh another example of Qantas "The spirit of Australia".........sounds like Australia's all out of spirit, now we are just using dregs then.
I think the only airline worse than Qantas is Jetstar, but I mean, they are born of the same ilk so figures they are both probably the worst airlines in Australia
RedWood
RedWood
Member since 04 Sep 2019
Total posts 38
Originally Posted by anonymous
Such a shame that they have resorted to lying. It's an effective tool so there is no reason for them to stop doing it. They got away with it too for the measly cost of 5,000 points which they just generated out of thin air.
tommygun
tommygun
Delta Air Lines - SkyMiles
Member since 16 Oct 2017
Total posts 291
Rex MEL-HBA from 17 August.
Jase_GC
Jase_GC
Virgin Australia - Platinum
Member since 21 Mar 2021
Total posts 2
Is this example showing how pathetic airline travel as become with Australia’s premier airline. Qantas think they can now lie their way through a situation.
Customer service officer lies to a passenger. Probably because they feel people are more used to excepting cancellations and think the passenger will be none the wiser. If the words overbooked were used on a call, passenger is likely to be more aggressive. Customer service officer didn’t expect the passenger to challenge this.
There is no way the customer service officer was kept in the dark, if they could move the passenger then they had the most up to date information. After all the overbooked SMS alert had already been sent to the customer.
5000 points were offered as a pacifier- low move from Qantas. Just be honest in the first place.
highflyer
highflyer
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 10 Apr 2012
Total posts 186
Maybe next time start your conversation with "Hi, your Call is being recorded for my quality assurance..."... maybe they will be more careful with what they say? lol
Becky1
Becky1
Jetstar Airways - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 04 May 2018
Total posts 33
Thanks to all for the comments. Just to provide an update to my experience, I got talking to the lady working the entrance to the Qantas Club at Hobart Airport on Friday just gone (4 Aug 23). I shared my experience as outlined above as I felt the need to tell an actual employee of the airline rather than a computer, and she went and upgraded me to Business Class for my flight to Melbourne.