A tale of 2 airlines: Jet* drop the ball...again

[Sqwark2000]

From NZ herald site: Jetstar apologises for 'inhumane' request over refund - National - NZ Herald News (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10709830)

Compare that service to that of AirNZ who has done just about anything to assist CHCH residents cope with the Earthquake.

S2K

[Pamelah Andersen]

Jetstar absolutely disgraceful.

Bow your head in shame.

[RENURPP]

Maybe not a tale of two airlines. It's Jetstar culture v the real world. Jetstar is a disease.
After getting a call from the Herald yesterday, Jetstar quickly resolved the matter.

Heard tonight that QF1809 on the ground at Paraburdoo learned of one of the ramp staff whose parents had lost everything in the Christchurch earthquake. The hat was passed around flight and cabin crew and a big swadge of 50s was given in an envelope when she went up to give the final load sheet for her to take to NZ next week.
Well done guys and girls
Note. It was the crew not management that forked out the $$$$$, and they were not QF crew, although QF crew may have done the same in the same situation.

[Artificial Horizon]

So hang on, Jetstar were offering flexible fares i.e. were allowing unlimited changes to enable people like this to change dates anytime within the next three months for travel up until the end of the year. When someone expects an airline to refund a fare that was bought on the basis on no refunds is it not reasonable to ask for evidence of the hardship?? We have already seen from the 'scroates' that are looting and conning that some people will use the earthquake as a means of defrauding.

As an aside when a very close friend recently had to attend a last minute funeral and flew with Air New Zealand, the compassionate fare was only provided once a death certificate was provided as 'proof'. And lets not forget if this lady had adequate travel insurance it would have covered the lost airfares.

Edited to Add:

By the way I think Air New Zealand were brilliant with their $50 airfares and extra flights during this disaster.

[RENURPP]

AH,
The fact that some one up the Jetstar chain diverted from policy and reversed the decision sort of indicates the policy was harsh to start with don't you think?

[Taildragger67]

As an aside when a very close friend recently had to attend a last minute funeral and flew with Air New Zealand, the compassionate fare was only provided once a death certificate was provided as 'proof'. And lets not forget if this lady had adequate travel insurance it would have covered the lost airfares.

Isn't that SOP with numerous carriers when presented with a compassionate request? Then again, it seems a bit illogical as a formal death cert may not be issued straight away.

[Artificial Horizon]

Taildragger,

You have to pay the full fare upfront and once you can obtain a copy of the death certificate you can apply for a refund of the applicable amount.

The policy is not harsh in my opinion, when you book the tickets you have the choice of paying extra to get a fully flexible and refundable ticket. If you don't you run the risk of losing your money if something crops up and you don't want to travel anymore. To mitigate this you normally purchase travel insurance. Granted the earthquake was an extraordinary event... let's not forget though that she could have changed dates on her flights with no penalty (very unlike Jetstar) with the flexible ticketing introduced in response, when she demanded a refund they also said they would do this even though not required if she could provide evidence to substantiate her claims. As always someone in Jetstar's call centre could have always handled this better, and it should never have reached media stage, some common sense should have been applied with regard to earthquake effected people. I am just saying that in the normal run of things you can't expect an airline to refund a non-refundable ticket just becuase you can't travel anymore.

[Jack Ranga]

Mate, refunds are given in all types of businesses when policy says otherwise. It's about being decent in business. You wont stay in it for long if you treat people like sh!t.

Thing is with Jetstar is there are enough punters that will cop their crap in return for a cheap fare. They know this and don't give a rats.

It wont work forever though.

There are many ways that a business can generate good publicity (word of mouth in particular) and quite cheaply, this would have been one way.

[galdian]

AH - agree with your very fair and dispassionate view.

However I do believe that extra-ordinary events should demand pro-active response from management; it should have been obvious that the rest of the day (and days after) the earthquake would be less than "normal" ...except to pornstar management.

Pornstar management were content to sit, do nothing, allow the call centers (wherever they may be, staffed by whomever they may be) to deal with the sh*t...until their lack of management became a media issue and all of a sudden...someone, at some level, does something (btw that's called re-active, not pro-active, personally believe pro-active better maybe that's just me).

If management is a reflection of it's leadership then god help pornstar.

Cheers
galdian

[Artificial Horizon]

Guys, I agree in this case, Jetstar should have not let this get to the 'media' stage, common sense should have prevailed. Trust me after dealing with Jetstar management regularly over the past couple of years 'common sense' is lacking :O

[slamer.]

Jetstar in the gun again over refunds


http://media.nzherald.co.nz/webcontent/image/jpg/201110/SCCZEN_040211NZHSMSWIM3_220x147.JPG (http://www.pprune.org/#)

Shelly Fatialofa and Mikayla McNabb were to fly into Christchurch for a swimming event.

Budget airline Jetstar has been forced to back down after refusing to refund a group of teenagers for flights to a cancelled swimming competition in Christchurch.
The South Auckland group spent months fundraising for the national swimming meeting, to have been held in the quake-stricken city's QEII Leisure Centre from March 16.
But the swimmers, aged 13 to 15, spent yesterday battling to get their hard-earned money back.
The case is one of several complaints received by the Weekend Herald about Jetstar since the February 22 quake.
Most are from passengers upset that airline staff have been trying to charge people needing to change their travel plans.
Jetstar has said it is waiving such fees because of the earthquake, and is offering those who need to change their flights vouchers to use within 12 months.
But Teresa McNabb, mother of 13-year-old Mikayla McNabb, said she had been struggling to get answers from the airline since learning the NZ Division 2 swimming competition had been postponed until further notice.

Mrs McNabb said the 12 students held a social and sold raffle tickets, raising $2933, to pay for their trip.
They had been training five evenings a week after school and at 5.30am three days a week.
Mrs McNabb said the airline was not being compassionate because its policy was unsuitable for the children - and they had only one week to raise money for an alternative meet being held in Rotorua, a city to which Jetstar does not fly.
"We would like to get a refund because that would pay for us to get to Rotorua," she said.
"I understand that Jetstar is a big corporate and they don't want to lose the money, but to me it's a bit of a compassionate thing.
"If Jetstar flew to Rotorua, I'd gladly fly there and I'd shut up."
Yesterday, the airline told the Weekend Herald it was dealing with cases on an individual basis and would handle the matter "offline ... not through the media".
But last night, a Jetstar representative called Mrs McNabb and said the airline would refund the money.
This week, Jetstar apologised for a "miscommunication" after telling Christchurch woman Gillian Smith she would have to provide photographic proof, signed by authorities, to show her home was damaged in the earthquake before
her return flights to Australia could be refunded. The airline has resolved the matter.
Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway yesterday apologised to customers who felt they had not received the proper treatment, and asked them to keep trying its contact centre if they were having problems.

[27/09]

Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway yesterday apologised to customers who felt they had not received the proper treatment, and asked them to keep trying its contact centre if they were having problems.

So how many times do they have to call the centre to get things sorted?

What sort of advice is this for a spokesman to be giving?

[RENURPP]

What sort of advice is this for a spokesman to be giving
Jetstar service!

[Mstr Caution]

Jetstar service !!

More like lip service to the JQ 10 point Customer Guarantee
1. Your safety is our highest priority
2. We commit to provide the lowest fares with our 'Price Beat Guarantee'*
3. Our team are always here to help, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
4. We'll let you know your choices if your flight is changed before you travel
5. We'll keep you updated and provide options if things don't go to plan on the day
6. You will get what you paid for
7. You can have confidence in how quickly we will respond to an issue
8. You can have confidence in how quickly we will refund your money#
9. We share your passion for protecting our environment
10. We commit to the privacy of your personal information

[dodgybrothers]

apology airlines. Surely the staff must get sick of saying sorry!!

[Dragun]

The sooner the travelling public and anyone planning on working for this mob distances themselves from the disease, the better. What a joke.