I'm very annoyed with Jetstar for changing the flight itinerary for SIN-MACAU sector, I've planned my holiday half a year ago as i'll be attending my cousin's wedding solemnization on the 9 Jun 2010. Yesterday i received email from Jetstar informing me the changes in the flight itinerary, the 10pm flight on 8 Jun no longer operate & i'm put on the 9 Jun 1.35pm flight! There is no flight on 8 Jun itself & i could either take the 7 Jun 1.35pm flight or the 9 Jun tat was alloted to me. I told the CS i need to be in Macau on the 9th morning so i asked if i could change the flight sector from Sin-Hongkong on the 8th morning & i'll pay the price difference..The CS who handled my call is a very rude ,impatient & unhelpful lady, she told me no changes of sector is allowed! I told her is not tat i've make the booking & changed my mind, it Jetstar who causes the inconvenient to me by changing the flight itinerary, i can't take leave on the 7 Jun & i could only fly on 8 Jun then the CS replied that i shouldn't book my flight so early! I'm very pissed with this sentence as Jetstar open the sale booking & how can the staff passed such remark that i shdn't book early? I told them i want a refund in that case as my holiday plan was spoilt & i'll need to book other airlines but she only allowed me to refund on the SIN-MACAU sector but not the entire trip. I'm fine with the arrangement as i could still do my own booking for the SIN-HK on 8 Jun, thereafter i'll make my own ferry arrangement to Macau.I've make 3 booking in all for my family of 9, I told her to do the refund for the rest of the booking too, she was very impatient & even passed the remark that i'm very troublesome! I do not know do Jetstar really have the teleconversation recording and could hear how the CS talk to their passengers! She wanted to impose a S$30 charges on the refund, i asked her why is that so? then she tried to make things difficult for me,asking me to ask my family members to call in themselves for the refund even though all the booking & payment were under my name, saying the other 2 books i'm not the travelling passengers i can't do the refund of their behalf. I told her i want to speak to someone who has a higher authority but she said no one is around, all the CS are of the same rank as her & would give me the same reply. I asked for her name, she simply say SUSAN, w/o even dare to tell me her surname. I asked again for her surname & she spell K U S A..I presume her name is Susan Kusa? Thereafter she started to tone down abit & not as rude as earlier, she said she'll do the refund for all the 9 passengers & advised me to call in a week later to provide the bank details for the funds to be remit to my account. After reading all the feedback in this website, i don't know will my refund take ages to come, shall keep my finger crossed.
I jus wonder will any of the Jetstar management look into this website & resolve our problems? I'm searching thru Jetstar website to look for email that i could write to but i couldn't find. I very much want to bring the attention to their top management how the CS being rude & unfriendly. Is this how LCC airline provide the poor quality staff? Perhaps writing to the forum to make public awareness will resolve our problems.
Don't book your flight so early - Commented by the Customer Service staff
International
Singapore-Singapore
Macau-Macau
Comments
I've watched this site for
I've watched this site for more than 6 months - ever since I was told by a Jetstar employee "stay here all day and nothing will happen, pay more money and something will happen".. Jetstar's website had a design flaw which meant I ended up visiting 5 locations just to pay for the ticket. I thought Jetstar would be interested in finding out about the website design flaw and how difficult it was to give them money. I wrote two letters to the CEO of Jetstar in Australia and posted a complaint on this website- weeks later I received a phone call, that person told me I would be contacted when the problem had been fixed.. that was perhaps 5-6 months ago and I don't expect to ever hear from them. I suspect Jetstar regularly break consumer laws, but for such little money very few people make complaints through legal channels. Jetstar make money out of behaving badly. Have a problem with a Jetstar booking and then you find out how expensive it is dealing with this company. I suggest in the future you spend your money with another more reliable airline- it's cheaper in the long run. This is my opinion.
Why didn't you just use your
Why didn't you just use your booking reference number and change it through the Jetstar website. You wouldv'e been able to select the most convenient flight for you without speaking to anyone. Easy done, Easy fixed.
I'm an observer on this - so
I'm an observer on this - so in that capacity I offer thanks to 'Anonymous' for the suggestion, and please accept my apologies if something has changed on the Jetstar website as I've not booked a ticket with them for about 8+ months- (I now book all flights with other airlines) but on the dozens of times I did book with Jetstar, and on the numerous occasions I'd get the email advising of a flight change.. the only option on the link for the email was to 'accept' the changes otherwise contact the call centre. So on an 'online sense' there was only one option- to 'accept' - (pretty much making the word 'choose' redundant). If what you say is true- surely Jetstar would have the capacity to provide an alternate link to rebook the ticket as opposed to being forced to accept the change online or call by telephone?? I'm interested in your response.. or is this some secret solution to the problem?
Well said Phil,the email
Well said Phil,the email notification does not hv any option for us 2 reject the changes,it's by default 2 accept or call the call centre.even if we are allow to make changes online i would think Jetstar will definitely impose some fee.
I'm utterly disappointed with Jetstar.
You would have to accept the
You would have to accept the change to start with and then you would have to make a change online through their website. I'm not sure what the design flaw you experienced was? To make the change you do have to pay a flat rate fee of 40 dollars however. Its unfortunate but if your in a situation where you cant get leave on specific dates such as the author couldn't it would be much easier. In the end it still works out to be less expensive than full price airlines. I fly regularly on Australian domestic and have little knowledge of their services throughout Aisa but this is what I would do.
@ Anonymous. It would be $40
@ Anonymous. It would be $40 for the change and the difference for the price of the new ticket- which is likely more expensive. All this customer would want Jetstar to do is to honour the original booking and/or booking price- and at least deal with the customer enquiries with a modicum of respect- much like most other airlines do. So the flaw in the Jetstar website is an glaring one- and it proves that these systems are never tested properly in the wild (obviously not tested at all). In Vietnam you can elect to have prices displayed in USD$ or VND- at the end of the process you can choose to pay by credit card or pay cash at a Post Office or Techcom Bank branch.. the only problem is that the Post Office doesn't accept USD$ and they don't know what rate to convert to VND. Of course as a customer you can unwittingly select USD$ then go to pay at the PO and find the transaction impossible to process. I attended one Post Office, Two Jetstar counters and Two Techcom Branches- in the end the problem was resolved because I gave the Techcom branch a phone number for Jetstar. None of these agents even had a Jetstar contact number to deal with problems. To make things worse Jetstar still charge $12 fee WHEN YOU PAY CASH! And when I tried to pay for the ticket at the Jetstar counter they wanted to charge an additional $12 - making the fee for paying cash US$24. OK this is a small amount of money - but it is extortionate and surely unjustifiable. This was the last ticket I ever booked with Jetstar and I'd purchased hundreds of Jetstar seats prior to this experience and easily a hundred seats with other airlines since. The other problem is that Jetstar flights are simply unreliable in Vietnam- delays are very common and Vietnam Airlines charge only a few dollars more for full service with a much better record for flights being on-time... Jetstar's poor service in Vietnam makes me embarrassed as an Australian living in the country.
Really? In Australia all
Really?
In Australia all transactions are done by either credit/debit card. All the Jetstar service and flight crew have had a wealth of knowledge and there aren't an outstanding amount of delays. I've flown with Tiger Airlines the Australian version and Jetstar are much better. Overall I have never had a major complaint with Jetstar
@ Anonymous - Keep flying
@ Anonymous - Keep flying with them and encounter a problem- then see what happens. You will receive an email with a complaint number advising that a response will be offered in 15+ working days.. (yes you get a response in NO LESS than THREE calendar weeks). Of course they're fine when everything goes right (same with oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico) .. but when things go wrong - like a flight is cancelled or delayed..and you miss a connection - see what happens then. And then there are the lies and misinformation - the Jetstar Australia call centre once offered me a $50 voucher over a long-overdue refund - then when you ring back later with the problem still unresolved the next person tells you there is no $50 voucher and that the previous person was incorrect. And when a problem occurs (after a flight is cancelled or delayed) what you find is you have to buy an expensive last minute ticket with an alternate airline, spring for a hotel, or a days drinks and meals sitting around in some mind-numbing airport cafeteria.. after all this you figure it's better (ultimately cheaper and more reliable) to pay a little extra and fly with Virgin, or Air Asia, or Vietnam Airlines in the first place. And finally - you have to ask the question: "How come there is a 'Don't Fly Jetstar' website in the first place?.. How come there's no website named 'Don't Fly Tiger' or 'Don't Fly AirAsia'?"...
In Australia Jetstar has
In Australia Jetstar has copped a beating from the get go because it was the second no frills airline that replaced Ansett. Virgin Blue escaped most of the media beatings because they are an offset of an already established group of airlines. Perhaps your bad experience with Jetstar is simply because it is an Australian airline in unfamiliar territory much like Tiger is in Australia. In Australia Jetstar are mostly on time with the lowest flight cancellation rate in Australia. Tiger Airlines litterally has a delay on about 85% of their flights(I fly them regularly too). If you don't believe me look at the Melbourne flight info for Tiger. My first preference would be Virgin Blue however they are a bit more expensive and as a budget traveller Jetstar gets you to your destination on time with a hassle free flight which I believe is better value for money.
@ Anonymous - Sorry - Jetstar
@ Anonymous - Sorry - Jetstar get a beating because their staff are sometimes rude and their rules are sometimes unfair. Media beatings? We wish.. if there were media beatings there would be no need for this website. If you have a problem with Jetstar all you get is an email promising a response in 15+ working days. This is their policy and practice. Customers regularly report on this website that call centre staff hang up on them. It's not a media beat-up. It's dissatisfied customers. Want to change your booking and add a checkin bag on a Jetstar booking? You can't do it - the website doesn't allow it. Could they do it? Yes Will they do it? No- because they want to gouge customers when they turn up at checkin with even a few extra kilos. It's good for the bottom line. Like I said - I've booked HUNDREDS of Jetstar seats, but the last time I booked was when I had trouble paying cash for a ticket.. at the airport I tried to explain to the Jetstar staff but they wanted to charge me a $24 fee for paying cash. I'm gonna repeat that - US$24 for paying cash.. how is this justifiable? I repeatedly asked the staff if I could talk to a manager (about the faulty website and the payment system) and they outright refused.. then uttered the words (in Vietnamese) "stand here all day and nothing will happen- pay more money and something will happen". Unfamiliar territory? this isn't some record exec starting up some new budget airline.. Jetstar's parent company is Qantas.. they have a wealth of experience in the room next door. OK Jetstar have delays in Vietnam and these could well be the result of politics.. basically Vietnam Airlines and the authorities are probably doing to Jetstar what Qantas did to Compass in the 80's and what BA did to Virgin in the UK. Your idea originally submitted in this complaint was to pay extra to change the flight to a suitable time.. and you justify this that it's still cheaper than the competition.. our idea is that Jetstar should honour the original deal (price and date/time) or offer an equivalent suitable alternative at no extra cost.. why should Jetstar profit (collecting new booking fees from customers) from cancelling flights? And what if you pay extra for the second booking and THAT booking gets cancelled? Do you just keep paying? BTW there are plenty of complaints on this website about Jetstar's Australian service, and perhaps Tiger's service is terrible - but as yet there's no website dedicated to this . Actually none of this is my problem - I no longer fly with Jetstar..
@ Anonymous Actually my
@ Anonymous Actually my wife owns two retail stores in Vietnam. I could just imagine her explaining to customers that there's a $24 fee for paying cash for their goods.. Imagine going to Myer and the girl says paying cash? that'll be an extra $24. Or for a Happy meal at McDonalds (also a budget business) - Happy meal $5 - paying cash? That's an extra $2. Where in the world other than Jetstar do customers get a fee for paying cash?
Read all the Australian
Read all the Australian Jetstar stories and see how many of them are from disorganized people who have arrived at their gate or not checked in on time, or people who have a problem with Jetstars policies which are industry standards and you will find the same deal as long as you fly a budget airline. All the other stories are just people who have had one bad experience out of a thousand like yourself. This is unfortunate but as a business you cant please everyone. Im sure their are people who won't go back to your wifes businesses. Does this mean she's running a real sham? Of couse not, you simply cant please everyone. Like I had already said people just in general a bitter against Jetstar because they came in and replaced Ansett which was a much loved Australian airline. This is something you won't be able to appreciate as much. I can assure you that if you booked a flight with any other airline at the airport they to would charge you a similar fee. They will most likely cover it up as an administration fee but this is still the same and is simply to encourage people to book online so the airline doesnt need to employ booking agents which means more money spent on the consumer.
Sorry Anonymous- what you
Sorry Anonymous- what you have written is utter rubbish.. I am an organised person and I've wasted countless hours over Jetstar and I've had enough- hence I now waste my hours watching this website. I fly with AirAsia regularly and find them to be everything that Jetstar isn't. You can log on and change baggage options, in fact you can select various size bags for each passenger on the ticket- something you also cannot do on the Jetstar website. I suspect that Qantas management know consumer and aviation laws so well.. they have designed a business model which appears cheap.. but in fact delivers high revenue, and walks a fine line with regard to these laws. If Jetstar is so reputable- how is it that Jetstar pilots are apparently discontent? The ticket prices advertised on the Jetstar website are not the final price you pay- in fact charging a fee for paying cash makes it impossible to actually buy a ticket for that advertised price- this is a scam. In my wife's stores- every item has a price displayed- difficult to describe this practice in any was as a scam. Also I'm fairly sure you 'Anonymous' actually work for Jetstar and that's the reason you are defending them. Even if what you say is true.. even if charging these fees are industry standards- that doesn't make them right.. just because excessive bank fees are industry standard- doesn't make them right, and recently we have seen legal action over these, similarly the ATO disallowed students to claim education expenses, this to the ATO was an industry standard- and now it's been changed in the law courts. What is lacking is credible management - what we are seeing is apparent trickery. This customer wanted Jetstar to 'honour' the original ticket he/she purchased. From the instances listed on this website it appears that Jetstar has little concept of the word 'honour'. This is my opinion.
Can I also add- that US$24
Can I also add- that US$24 may seem like a small amount of money- but it is actually 1 weeks salary for an average Vietnamese salary earner.. think about it..
phil, anonymous is obviously
phil, anonymous is obviously a jetstar dancing clown / employee. your opinion is correct, and i'm sure anyone watching this site would agree. what you said is spot on: this is nothing but simple, side-show carnival trickery. the argument that this "would happen with any other airline" does not make it right. yeah ok, it might happen with other budget arlines. but it is happening with jetstar, isnt it.
"the bigger kids are doing it, so why cant i do it?", this seems to be the rationale of jetstar and this is a crystal clear reflection of the legitimacy of their authority to do what they please to the budget concious consumer.
Word.
I don't work for Jetstar
I don't work for Jetstar however I fly them regularly and have never had a bingle with the call centre nor have I been delayed. As for Jetstar pilots being discontent? I'm laughing! There pilots are the best in the industry for a smooth flight and ensuring that you get from gate to gate on time. I am a pilot so I would know. I'm not arguing that all the extra fees are right, my arguement is your blaming Jetstar alone for things that range across every airline. This very fact shows that you and all the other muppets out there are ok with other airlines charging this but are bitter towards Jetstar. Even though Qantas own Jetstar they have very little to do with the running of the airline so don't say Qantas did this and that. By the way Travis you start sentences and names with capital letters. Just something I learn't in grade 3.
(No subject)
Insert grammar nazi image here
Don't work for Jetstar
Don't work for Jetstar .......... bollocks.... not a dancing clown Phil and Ass Clown.
Yes Faithful Jetstar employee
Yes Faithful Jetstar employee you are correct that their policies reflect the same standards as other no frills carriers, but the key difference is that other no frills and Point to Point carries are proud to have a young fleet, proud to have a 95% plus on time record, proud to have young dynamic staff, Jetstar has none of this, and the fact they are consistanlty late and make people miss their connections and don't take responsibility because they are a point to point carrier is crap... they should at least offer some form of service guarantee but they don't and they wont. I think this site is testament to how bad they actually are.
@ Anonymous - I'm sorry but
@ Anonymous - I'm sorry but you are ill informed and illogical in your reasoning. I didn't make comment against the skill of Jetstar pilots- I mentioned that they are apparently discontent. I base this on the following articles and others I have read:
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/jetstar-pilots-warn-of-goslow-2...
also
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/fasten-your-seatbelts-20101119-...
and
http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/up-up-and-aw...
As far as blaming Jetstar alone? Yes you are right- I fly with many airlines but i'm picking on Jetstar! Are we in pre-school? What i have been arguing is that Jetstar policies are sometimes unfair to the consumer - resulting in better profits for the company. (Imagine that) If other companies do this it is also wrong- but what I am also arguing is that since I've been flying with other companies I don't experience the problems I have experienced with Jetstar. Qantas is the parent of Jetstar - and if Qantas can enjoy the revenue, and sell the Jetstar tickets when you search for Qantas tickets on the Qantas website - they can also take responsibility for their delinquent child.
There is no point debating if you keep arguing that something doesn't exist simply because YOU haven't experienced it. Also I believe the absence of a website named "Don't Fly Virgin" is because either that airline experiences less problems, or they have a better way of dealing with problems when they arise. Personally I've never had a problem with the numerous Virgin & Air Asia flights I've enjoyed- I've had several problems with Jetstar and have endured their employees rude behaviour.
I AM an English teacher...
I AM an English teacher... it' s 'learnt' .... not 'learn't - by the way, how are things in Melbourne?
On any day about 1000 Jetstar
On any day about 1000 Jetstar flights take off. Yesterday two people were upset enough to complain on this website, the day before one person and so on. If you estimate an average of 130 people per flight thats 2 out of 130,000 people who had a significant issue. This shows that it is not only I that doesn't have problems with Jetstar. Is this not enough evidence to show that this is a select group of bitter people on this website?
You say if other companies do this it is wrong, let me name a few. Air Aisa, Virgin and Tiger are just 3 companies which have similar policies in place to raise revenue. However you say that you haven't had the same problems with Air Aisa that you have had with Jetstar. Like Jetstar, Air Aisa is not perfect and you will eventually have a bingle with them. In other words were not in pre-school however I do have valid point that you single out Jetstar.
Sigh - Anonymous- Please if
Sigh - Anonymous- Please if you have nothing new to say - then don't say anything.
@Anonymous. Yes, you
@Anonymous. Yes, you certainly do have a valid point; so does everyone who posts on ths site.
You are trying to equate Air Asia, Virgin and Tiger with jetstar? Laughable. This site is called dontflyJETSTAR is it not?
Those other airlines are irrelevant. If we have a problem with them we will psot them on the appropriate website, but, oh that's right, they dont have websites like this...
Take your head out, boy.