Qantas Making Customers Wait till 24 Hours Prior to Their Flight to Get Refund

witsa on 16/07/2021 - 09:54

I got a flight coming up and due to the Covid border closures, I will no longer be able to go.

Qantas has also cancelled my flight and offered an alternative which requires me to wait 8 hours in another city. I've been reading on the condition, and it seems I'm eligible for either a travel credit or a refund. I can just get a travel credit directly from their website but if I want a refund, I'll need to wait till 24 hours before my flight departure and ring up to cancel. It would also take 8 weeks to get my money back.

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/support/contact-us.html#tell-us…

I can get at the start of Covid when they didn't have the IT mechanisms in place to issue mass refunds why the 24 hours thing would be in place. But we're 18 months in - if they really didn't want people clogging up their help desk asking for a refund, they had plenty of time to make an online solution. Covid is no longer a viable excuse for crappy customer service. And to be honest, this sounds to me just a blatant way to funnel affected customers into a travel voucher.

Is that really a fair way to operate? I have to wait till the last minute to cancel my flight and then I could be on the phone for hours just to get a refund. Is there any ACCC regulation protecting consumers from companies who make it unreasonably difficult to obtain a refund?

Travel Airfare

Related Stores

Qantas
Qantas

Comments

  • wallet72 on 16/07/2021 - 10:02
    +3

    Is there law around how long a refund should take? I feel like 8 weeks is stupid, but if there's no rule against it then I doubt they will change.

  • capslock on 16/07/2021 - 10:11
    +3

    It is just the way Qantas operates. Most people tend to just accept it. Despite treating its customers poorly Qantas seems to manage to keep its reputation as a premium and Australia's best airline so they get away with doing what they do. Nothing will change unless large numbers of Qantas customers start flying Virgin and Rex.

    • pharkurnell on 16/07/2021 - 10:59
      +1

      Qantas seems to manage to keep its reputation as a premium and Australia's best airline so they get away with doing what they do.

      Well IMWO they are better than Jetstar and Virgin… there isnt much else left.

  • rambutann on 16/07/2021 - 10:22
    +3

    I actually sent Qantas a physical letter the other day because i was so mad about their refunds at the moment. I tried calling them multiple times but after spending hours on the phone I decided to give up.

    I booked a rewards flight - im personally okay with waiting 8 weeks for the taxes to be refunded, but im not okay with waiting 8 weeks for points to be refunded.

    • witsa on 16/07/2021 - 10:25

      i'd like to make a complaint with the ACCC but i can't find any legislation on being actually unable to get a refund

    • kerfuffle on 16/07/2021 - 10:30

      I booked a rewards flight - im personally okay with waiting 8 weeks for the taxes to be refunded, but im not okay with waiting 8 weeks for points to be refunded.

      That's shit. Virgin refunded points and taxes immediately when I cancelled my Business Reward Sydney to Adelaide flight that I had booked for the 29th on Wednesday.

    • Love a bargain on 16/07/2021 - 13:44

      From my experience, points get credited back to my account pretty quickly - whereas the refund of taxes require another follow up phone call after the 8 weeks was up.

  • GG57 on 16/07/2021 - 11:10
    +1

    I don't think Qantas will change as they don't have a need to change. People who book with Qantas should be aware of these policies, and make a decision based on that (along with the positives that they also assess to exist).

    If people don't like those policies, they will book with the alternative airlines.

    TBH, until there is widespread COVID vaccinations across the country, all flight bookings are at risk until take off.

  • Lunarboogie on 16/07/2021 - 11:36
    -3

    Sorry bro but suck it up. If waiting 8-weeks is the worse thing that's going to happen to you in the midst of this global pandemic, then you're doing alright. Yes it's not perfect but nor are a lot of things right now. Don't sweat the small stuff.

    • witsa on 16/07/2021 - 12:09
      +3

      umm no

      yes we've been incredibly lucky so far in terms of covid and I'm grateful. That's neither here nor there - it doesn't mean you just accept any shit that's dished out to you, it also doesn't mean companies can just act however they want to.

      Thousands of dollars worth of tickets may not mean anything to you, but it does mean something to me.

      I just want a refund as per the terms and conditions I agreed to. Qantas is making me jump through hoops to get it - that's pretty shitty of them. Nothing wrong with calling them out on it.

      • yellowfever on 16/07/2021 - 12:34
        -7

        We are in a pandemic sunshine. Delays, unfairness, frustration and the like, is all part of the pandemic.

        • witsa on 16/07/2021 - 13:23
          +4

          there is a pandemic, but this isn't about the pandemic.

          Like I said, if this happened 18 months ago - it would be understandable. Big global unprecedented disaster.

          We're now 18 months in. This isn't the first border closure. Companies can't keep blaming the pandemic for their shitty customer service. There is simply no reason for Qantas not to implement a reasonable process for this other than that they just don't want to.

          They can easily implement a feature to request a refund online, right next to the button where you can accept travel credit for your cancelled flight. They don't want to because they want to make it unreasonably difficult for you to get a refund.

          • ESEMCE on 16/07/2021 - 14:50
            +1

            @witsa: This 100%

          • CheapskateQueen on 16/07/2021 - 20:24
            +1

            @witsa: look I agree with you.

            covid is no longer a valid excuse for shitty customer service. June 2020 fine. July 2021, nope F off. so I'm with you, they're definitely encouraging travel vouchers over refunds. but I don't think there's anything that requires them to provide an instant refund.

            • witsa on 17/07/2021 - 10:11

              @CheapskateQueen: im happy to wait 8 weeks, im not happy that they're literally making people spend hours on the phone to request said refund.

  • Lunarboogie on 16/07/2021 - 12:20
    -4

    You knew the rules when you booked. QF didn't change the goal posts. Yet you still grumble when the pre-existing rules are applied to you. I can't see why you think this is pretty shitty behaviour from Qantas? They're a business, not a charity there to serve you.

    • witsa on 16/07/2021 - 12:33

      Yes the rules were and are that I'm eligible for a refund. Where does it say in the terms and conditions that in order to do that you must wait several hours to contact them in the event of cancellation and that I have to do it within 24 hours prior to my flight?

      Are you seriously suggesting that a company purposefully making it difficult for a customer to exercise their right to a refund isn't acting shitty?

    • ESEMCE on 16/07/2021 - 12:45
      +12

      QANTAS cancelled the flight… not the customer.
      The default should be a a refund, not a flight credit.

      I challenge the comment that "they're not a charity", the amount of government handout they're getting, far exceeds that of any charity.

    • Icecold5000 on 17/07/2021 - 11:57

      They’re not even a competently operated business so their behaviour is typical of one which has a captive market. I’ve travelled Qantas internationally twice. First time they left my luggage in Sydney. As I had to catch another flight home a few days later an needed to buy new clothes. Second time they ran out of food. Moral of the story is I will always travel Singapore Airlines now where they respect their customers instead of ripping them off. Having flown AirAsia over 30 times I have never had my luggage lost and or my meal go missing. Qantas are a rubbish business run by ripoff merchants and fools.

  • wittyusername on 16/07/2021 - 14:03
    +3

    Hi OP, I had something very similar. Booked PER - CBR direct, they decided to make it PER-BNE-CBR and it took an extra 7 hour or so.

    I didn't read anything about a 24h pre flight cancellation.

    I called them up and their wait time was 1 - 2 hours, I selected the callback option.

    They called me back about an hour later and readily agreed to the refund.

    Not sure if it's because I'm gold status, but it was pretty easy. Refund will take up to 8 weeks though!

    Agree - the whole pandemic excuse faded about 8 months into the pandemic, we've been dealing with it for almost 2 years, they've had plenty of time to get shit sorted!

    • witsa on 16/07/2021 - 16:44

      Really? Ok I didn't get the callback option. When I called up, they told me it would be a 2 hour wait so i just hung up.

      But I'll try again and stay on a little longer and see if I get offered an option to call back. Not as convenient as a web option but that solution would be acceptable.

      • ESEMCE on 17/07/2021 - 09:24
        +1

        He's Gold Status… so gets callback perks.
        If you're a pleb, don't even bother calling in regular hours.
        Call early (pre-7am) on a weekend. You'll still wait 30+ minutes, but better than 5+ hours on hold.

        • witsa on 17/07/2021 - 09:32

          Yeah can confirm. No callback option.

          Can't believe this is actually legal

          • Lastchancetosee on 17/07/2021 - 11:37
            +1

            @witsa: Sadly, Qantas have been operating like this for years. Terrible wait times if you want to speak to someone, and dodgy cancellation insurance.

            A couple of years ago, I had taken out full cancellation insurance and had to cancel because I had an ear infection and couldn't fly. Got sick certificates etc, and initially the refused to pay up. It took several phone calls and emails for them to finally pay.

            Last year they cancelled a return flight and it was the same hassle.

            Another option is to actually go to the airport to talk to someone, but with lockdown, it's not usually an option.

            Good luck.

  • Seraphin7 on 16/07/2021 - 17:52
    +1

    I've always found it amusingly ironic that the Japanese refer to it as CUNTAS.

  • kanad on 16/07/2021 - 17:58
    +2

    Join the choice campaign for travel rights

    https://action.choice.com.au/page/85927/petition/1?campaign=…

  • OzHunterNSW on 18/07/2021 - 10:20

    Why are you with them…. they rorted everyone by Govt handouts, then sacked the majority of their staff, now up the airfare.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join