Date change, charged more than entire trip!!!

Hi guys,

Really disappointed, angry and gutted, will definitely be the last time we use Jetstar.

My husband tried to surprise me with our first trip away as a couple in June to celebrate my birthday and our honeymoon 18 months after the fact. So this was a really big deal to us. He booked flights from Napier to Auckland, New Zealand and back last night and after he paid for it all realized he'd booked the trip home on the wrong day. His mistake, no dispute there. He rang straight away to correct it. He was not told about any charges that would be made. It was only a minor correction to a domestic flight that wasn't for months and that would take a few clicks of a mouse to adjust. I had done it myself with AirNZ and was no problem. But when checked this morning, we have been charged an extra $236 to change date for a trip that for two people return only cost $200 to start with!!! Absolutely stunned!! Our trip has now cost us more than double the original price.

We rang two times to get an explanation, were told tough. If we cancelled the flights we would not get a cent of the now $440 back, would not refund the change or do anything to help because we were lucky our flights were cheap. Our fault, which it is, and i'd pay a small few which was in line with the work it takes to correct it, understandable even if the trip was this week, but there is no way that being charged more to change a date then the whole trip is acceptable. This is a huge money making scam for them and I am sure 1000's of hard working kiwis have had this happen to them. After posting on Facebook to Jetstar and receiving the response from them that I expected,, have realized how common this is and it is not ok.

I understand there would be a fee of some sort but how on earth can a few clicks of a mouse for a trip that isn't for months be justified with that kind of fee.

I am absolutely disgusted that Jetstar think this is acceptable, it is a huge money making scam for them. I'm sure this has happened to a lot of people with bookings on line, and imagine by advertising cheap flights, gain their money back this way to average out the revenue they make, clever for them really but absolutely disgusting way to rip people off and can get away with it because it is ultimately the customers fault.

I'd like a full refund and to use Air New Zealand but as we have now paid double what we could afford and Jetstar have us by the balls we don't have an option.

Very unhappy.

Thanks for taking the time to read this,

Ginny

Domestic
New Zealand-Auckland
New Zealand-Auckland

Comments

I would never normally

I would never normally consider writing such a public complaint BUT jetstar is such an unprofessional and mercenary airline I have to share this so others re-consider travelling with them: DON'T DO IT!! I flew jetstar from Sydney to Phuket and they lost my bag for 3 days out of a 6 day activity based holiday so being without my belongings meant I could not participate in the sport and ruined half of my holiday (let alone the cost spent on it.) During this time I received no phone call from jetstar giving me any kind of reassurance on what they were doing instead I called the one number I could find (a general info number in the phillipines,) each time having to repeat the same story. On the third day i called them to say I thought they had put the wrong luggage tag on my bag and to check their lost and found in Denpasar, Bali and yes it had gone there. If I had not called them then I genuinely think they would still be "looking" for my bag. I therefore sent them my phone bill expecting some compensation for the calls made but no apparently I should have called from the hotel! Urrm actually that wasn't possible as I was on an activity based holiday and didn't have the luxury of a hotel phone!! Absolutely disgusted hat they do not think it is reasonable to compensate for a customer who had to sort out this dreadful situation rather than jetstar who DID NOT make ONE CALL to me. Even a token to meet in the middle would be a sensible gesture but no not even that and no-one from their "management" team has reached out to proved a valid reason. I hope this makes you think twice before booking a flight with them to avoid a similar situation. Kirstin