Woe are the Low Service Carriers
Thread Starter
Woe are the Low Service Carriers
I am a regular traveler, and yes, I did previously work for the airlines - not just one of them - rather across a career a few of them. I have see the good and resigned from the bad.
Tonight all I wanted was to travel tomorrow from SYD to OOL. This is how it goes.
1. QF won't take me to OOL except via BNE & un-necessarily 2 sectors.
2. Jetstar will but I simply will not fly Jetstar
3. That leaves Virgin or road
I had flown VB in it's early days SYD - ADL, and thought that although I had received a good price, I was reminded of that at every turn, and further I disliked the virgin antics, so for future flights I decided to travel Qantas, which by that time as an added bonus had begun competing on prices with VB.
Now, with this in mind, and hearing that VB had been making an attempt at getting business travelers to fly with them, and also knowing that the vast majority of VB maintenance is still done in Australia, I chose to fly to OOL direct on VB rather than via BNE on QF & EAA, as time is important.
$109.00 - BARGAIN. Less than half the price I had expected. I booked it and as suggested proceeded to check in via the web. At this point a printer was needed so I proceeded from the media room to the computer room where the printer is working currently. Followed the prompts and was seated in the WRONG SEAT.
The web site offered me a phone number to call to change the error, and after a long period of silence I was greeted by a man with an American accent. An over seas call centre !!!!!!!!!!
Now - please let me say that I do not normally frequent suppliers who utilise over seas call centres as much as I do not want to frequent suppliers who utilise over seas engineering. For me it's all about supporting a local product, with local customer service and understanding.
Not withstanding this, I explained the situation re the booking and gee whiz to my surprise the operator couldn't help me in spite of the web site directing me to call him. He told me there was nothing he could do and to see the airport staff in the AM.
A clear cut case of you get what you pay for. The irony is that I was (and remain) willing to pay more than two times more for a product that simply doesn't mess me around.
The problem is that there is no other option - it's either low cost carrier or low cost carrier, and I simply don't want that.
Jetstar is no competition to VB for business travellers, so VB in the face of no competition from QF -- why not lift the bar out of the gutter - please
Tonight all I wanted was to travel tomorrow from SYD to OOL. This is how it goes.
1. QF won't take me to OOL except via BNE & un-necessarily 2 sectors.
2. Jetstar will but I simply will not fly Jetstar
3. That leaves Virgin or road
I had flown VB in it's early days SYD - ADL, and thought that although I had received a good price, I was reminded of that at every turn, and further I disliked the virgin antics, so for future flights I decided to travel Qantas, which by that time as an added bonus had begun competing on prices with VB.
Now, with this in mind, and hearing that VB had been making an attempt at getting business travelers to fly with them, and also knowing that the vast majority of VB maintenance is still done in Australia, I chose to fly to OOL direct on VB rather than via BNE on QF & EAA, as time is important.
$109.00 - BARGAIN. Less than half the price I had expected. I booked it and as suggested proceeded to check in via the web. At this point a printer was needed so I proceeded from the media room to the computer room where the printer is working currently. Followed the prompts and was seated in the WRONG SEAT.
The web site offered me a phone number to call to change the error, and after a long period of silence I was greeted by a man with an American accent. An over seas call centre !!!!!!!!!!
Now - please let me say that I do not normally frequent suppliers who utilise over seas call centres as much as I do not want to frequent suppliers who utilise over seas engineering. For me it's all about supporting a local product, with local customer service and understanding.
Not withstanding this, I explained the situation re the booking and gee whiz to my surprise the operator couldn't help me in spite of the web site directing me to call him. He told me there was nothing he could do and to see the airport staff in the AM.
A clear cut case of you get what you pay for. The irony is that I was (and remain) willing to pay more than two times more for a product that simply doesn't mess me around.
The problem is that there is no other option - it's either low cost carrier or low cost carrier, and I simply don't want that.
Jetstar is no competition to VB for business travellers, so VB in the face of no competition from QF -- why not lift the bar out of the gutter - please
Thread Starter
Hi Clint - thanks for the heads up. I was of the misunderstanding that I couldn't get to OOL on QF and booked before I checked the truth out.
I have cancelled my VB flight in favor of a QF one, and much to my surprise the lovely lady at the Virgin Blue off shore call centre with the American accent who was I must say very polite indeed, offered me a 12 month credit for the cancellation of my flight.
The QF ticket was $139.00
I am so thinking that it's not likely that I will be using that credit !!!!!
I have cancelled my VB flight in favor of a QF one, and much to my surprise the lovely lady at the Virgin Blue off shore call centre with the American accent who was I must say very polite indeed, offered me a 12 month credit for the cancellation of my flight.
The QF ticket was $139.00
I am so thinking that it's not likely that I will be using that credit !!!!!
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As far as I am aware, VB Does not have an american call centre. We do (unfortunately 
) have one in the Phillipines, which is supposed to be purely an overflow backup for when the Brisbane call centre gets swamped.
Unless there is a separate IT Call Centre for the web-check in?
Either way, I agree - keep it in Australia please
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...8/s1447393.htm
) have one in the Phillipines, which is supposed to be purely an overflow backup for when the Brisbane call centre gets swamped. Unless there is a separate IT Call Centre for the web-check in?
Either way, I agree - keep it in Australia please
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...8/s1447393.htm
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So, you are too good for Jetstar, Virgin operates at gutter level and you can't even log on to the Qantas site to find a flight between two major cities.
I pity the Qantas cabin crew that have to put up with you today.
I pity the Qantas cabin crew that have to put up with you today.
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And guess what else artmark? That lovely lady at the call centre may have forgotten to mention that changing your ticket will cost you 45 of the best!Your 109 is now worth 64!
Last edited by qfcabin; 5th Jun 2007 at 23:44. Reason: poor maths
