Flight downgraded, travel voucher promised in writing, have not recieved

In short my flight was downgraded, a travel voucher promised in writing and after numerous phone calls and faxes, it has not been received. Wish to find others that were in the same situation as me that day.

I was booked on Jetstar flight JQ944 on Thursday 10th November 2011. I initially booked the flight in September and did not pay the extra $4.00 to book a seat. I did not check in online for the flight beforehand as I do not have easy access to a printer to print the boarding pass. Also as a single traveller I was not entirely concerned where I sat on the plane.

I arrived at the airport at 5am on the 10th and was told by the lady at the head of the queue for the Jetstar counters that I need to go stand in another separate line near the service desk. When I was called to the counter I was told that the flight had been downgraded and that there was no space for me as I did not have a seat already allocated to me. I would be put on a Qantas flight and be compensated by Jetstar. She finally told me go and stand in the queue for the service desk where I would be given further information. Here I meet another 3 passengers in the same circumstances as myself.

Whilst in the service desk queue, a Jetstar employee said that they were up-grading the flight again. We cheered and were once more hustled to the original line. We were momentarily forgotten it seemed as a rush for another flight near closing was prioritized. It was now approximately 5.30am and I knew I was not going to make that 6am flight. We once again learnt that the flight was down-graded.

Finally we were remembered and were informed that we were going to have to go on a Qantas flight leaving Melbourne around 7am, with a 5hour stop-over in Brisbane, and finally arriving in Cairns approximately 3.30pm. There were about 8 people standing with me.

A Jetstar employee approached me and asked if I was a solo traveller, I replied that I was and she referred me to yet another queue. I was told I secured the last seat on a direct Qantas flight from Melbourne to Cairns leaving at approximately 8am. Meanwhile Jetstar gave me a Communication Letter with instructions on how to redeem my $300AUD Jetstar Voucher and a $10 food voucher to be used at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport Terminal.

I left the Jetstar area to check in with Qantas. I took another half an hour to complete this task as Jetstar was delayed in sending the list of passengers name to Qantas. I am aware of this because I returned to the Jetstar counters to enquire as to why the checking in process was taking so long. Finally I was checked in to Qantas flight QF702. I successfully managed to use the $10 food voucher in the Food Court.

I finally arrived in Cairns and a week later attempted to redeem the voucher as per the instructions on the letter on the Jetstar website. However, an error occurred so I rang the number as per stated on the webpage. I spoke to a lady who experienced the same error when she tried to assist me. She spoke to her supervisors I believe whilst I was on hold and said she had processed my claim. I needed to wait 3-5days but then should have expected to hear some correspondence.

I rang a few days later and spoke to another Jetstar representative and was told that the claim was processed and I needed to wait the 3-5days.

Approximately a week later I rang again and was told the claim had still be submitted but the processing time was actually 7-9 days for the claim. The second last time I rang was Friday the 2nd December and the lady I spoke to said I should have received the voucher via email no later than Monday the 5th December. I rang on Tuesday the 6th December as I had still received no correspondence.

The gentleman I spoke to told me that I was recorded as a no-show for the Jetstar flight, that they do reward vouchers for more than $150AUD and generally no claim had be submitted. I was on hold for 15mintues to learn this! Hence I was told to write a cover letter and along with the original correspondence from Jetatar – fax to the company and then wait another 15days to learn of my claims fate.

Needless to say I have not heard anything despite ringing 3 more times! The last guy I spoke to said I wasn't deserving of the voucher as I suffered an upgrade going on a Qantas flight. I just want what was promised to me!!