Jetstar to busy talking to check us in.

Christmas morning we got to the Airport to find about 800+ people lined up to be checked in and 4 check in counters open, We waited as long as possible inline before realising that we would miss the flight so with 5 minutes to spare we ran to the front of the line and informed the consultant at the self serve area who informed us to run to the service desk and they would check us in as we still had 2 minutes, when we get to the counter the service staff are standing there talking to eachother and i cleared my throat after a minute and said I have to fly at 6:40am to Newcastle only to have the lady say that flight closed a minute ago! I explained I only have onboard nothing to check in and she said sorry to late! Then told me I can go on the next flight for $80 each to update the tickets, I said ok and paid then when she hands me the tickets I find out that it is not the next flight but 2 flights and 5 hours later! For this terrible service me and my partner missed out on the first Christmas with all my family in 5 years! I will not be flying Jetstar ever again and am so disapointed with them.

Domestic
Australia-Melbourne - Tullamarine
Australia-Newcastle

Comments

Are you aware you couldv'e

Are you aware you couldv'e made it a lot easier by checking in online as early as two days earlier? That way you can print off your boarding passes or pick them up at your departure gate.

Assuming Jetstars computer

Assuming Jetstars computer system is working Anonymous! Same thing has happened to me Stevie with Jetstar, I feel your pain. Don't ever fly with them again.

Their computer system is as

Their computer system is as good as anybodies. If your organized you shouldn't miss a flight.

The problem isn't with the

The problem isn't with the systems it is with the terrible customer service staff who don't understand what customer service is and the more I fly with them the more I realize this! I had to fly with qantas a few weeks ago because I had to fly a day earlier then originally planned and the staff couldn't be more friendly, I know jetstar is qantas no frills airline bit do we have to deal with no frills staff

I can't say much about their

I can't say much about their service because I've always experienced excellent customer service. Perhaps I'm lucky. Just pointing out you could have made things much easier for yourself by checking in online.

To Anonymous: Off course

To Anonymous: Off course you've only "experienced excellent service" with Jetstar. I too would expect "excellent service" if I'm being paid to monitor and post positive & defensive posts on their behalf on sites such as this. Maybe you should use a name such as 'Jetstar Staff' rather than 'Anonymous'. The fact that you think that you can fool people into believing that you're just a regular customer posting your own personal experiences is an indication of this Airline's arrogance and the disrespect it has to its customers. Here's one to take to your managers: instead of wasting money on people like you, how about they invest it in customer service training for their staff!

Your so ignorant and one

Your so ignorant and one minded that you can't accept the fact that some people do like Jetstar. If you think that to like Jetstar you have to work for them your wrong. So which airline is paying you to constantly monitor and critisize the Jetstar. That is all the time I have to waste on muppets like you.

Well Telstra pay me

Well Telstra pay me

No sweetie, I'm not ignorant

No sweetie, I'm not ignorant nor one-minded. I just find it difficult to believe that someone would have such a pathetic & worthless life to spend their time defending a company without getting some type of benefit for it. But then again, I don't run into many bogans like you in my life so I forget that you really do exist. My apologies! That's all the time I have for muppets like you xx

@ Katie. Word! These

@ Katie.
Word! These "anonymous" posters are so obviously jetstar employess. You have to think these KFC rejects must be somewhat dissatisfied with their "life" at jetstar to check such a website.
and @ Anonymous, Quantas are paying me to monitor this site. What do you think of that, boy?

You cannot complain about the

You cannot complain about the service....there isn't any!!
We arrived from Tasmania and on emerging from the lift into the departure area ,we thought there must have been a disaster in Melbourne and the population was trying to escape. The queue to check in was the full length of the terminal. I am 80+ and my wife 83+and we had two kids of 12 and 11 and 4 pieces of luggage. Getting to the front at last we were told we were too early to check in and to go and get a snack and come back later!! The "customer service" desk was manned by two females who were both on the phones ...... Probably booking a ticket to a play or cinema, so laid back was the conversation. My comments to the staff at the check in later got us into the worst seats on the tired old airbus 320...yes at the back in seats that don't recline next to the loo. And who is going to pay $8 for a doubtful looking sandwich?? Sorry but I will pay extra to get service in the future with an overseas based airline rather than perpetuate the myth that Qantas and its cheap sister are good for Australians.They don't even talk to each other. Qantas from Tassie but you can't book your bags through to Perth on Jetstar...that's a different airline!!
What tosh in 2011. Disgusted.

I love Tasmania! I want to

I love Tasmania! I want to move there. Fortunately Jetstar keep on increasing flights to Tassie so I can visit more often!!

Anonymous, people get on here

Anonymous, people get on here to air their grievances. They don't loiter around on sites making glowing comments about this shoddy airline defending it. If on the other hand, you are a happy and satisfied customer...you should be working for them instead of wasting your life like a rattle snake coiled up in a corner ready to strike anyone with an adverse comment. I put it to you you are Jetstar staff. That being the case, get to work and go about making your passenger's lives hell like the rest of your counterparts.

Michael Yabsley, people come

Michael Yabsley, people come on here to express their opinion of Jetstar. They don't loiter around sites like this critisising anybody who had a good experience with Jetstar simply because their too retarded to work their way around an airport themselves. If on the other hand you are too retarded to find your way around an airport you should be working for ACA whinging about unimportant, insignifcant problems. I put it to you that you barrack for Collingwood. That being the case go and inject some revenue into the local pub whilst you opinions much like your teeth fade away.

On the 30th July at Melbourne

On the 30th July at Melbourne airport, having arrived at the airport at 8am (well before the check-in deadline) for flight JQ211 to Auckland, for which we paid $611.88, we were stunned to find a very long queue that was moving at a very slow rate. It transpired that six of Jetstar's nine check-in staff had called in sick and had not turned up to work, leaving only 3 staff on duty.

The flight before ours was already delayed, and the more senior staff has resorted to shouting out to passengers on this flight to pick them out of the queue and get them checked in. Although this was the most obvious course of action, it delayed check in for those travelling on our flight to Auckland.

By the time we got near the front of the queue, people had also started to queue for the subsequent flight to Singapore, and therefore the same tactic was adopted for our Auckland flight. However, on this occasion, rather than picking people out in the order in which they were queueing, it was a completely random process, with many latecomers being allowed to bypass the queue completely and push in. My wife and I - who were at that point in the first row of the queue, were unlucky enough to be nearer the back of the "selected" queue.

By this time it was nearing the actual boarding time of the flight. When we attempted to check-in, we were told by Gillian, a very obtrusive member of Jetstar's staff that we would not be allowed to do so because we had not booked a return flight from New Zealand. As UK residents, we had no idea we had to do this, BUT having checked Jetstar's Terms and Conditions before booking, they contained no such information, nor did their website provide any such warning on pop-up windows before booking. In fact, having since investigated, there is still much confusion over this issue, to the point where there are now forums dedicated to it.

As it was, I was informed that we would still be allowed to check in if I booked a return flight there and then. With Flight Centre not yet open, I was forced to stand there making a rushed booking on my phone (incurring significant data roaming charges from my UK mobile network provider in the process), in a last minute attempt to make it onto the flight, as Gillian told us that this would be sufficient to allow us to check in. When I had done so, however, she insisted that she would need a printed version. Was it not obvious that I would not be able to print the booking, given that I made it on my phone, right in front of her?!

When I explained this, she said that she would ask the sales desk whether they would allow me to show the booking on the screen of my laptop, which I happened to have with me. After another wait, she returned to say that the laptop would have been acceptable, but that we would be too late to board the flight in any case! We were then ushered to the sales desk, where we were sarcastically told that we would not be able to travel until the following day, and would have to pay a transfer fee to do so. No refund was offered.

Having already booked a full itinerary in New Zealand, including a rental car and our first night's accommodation, this was not an option, so we booked ourselves onto a later flight with Pacific Blue, and after waiting at the airport for 10 hours, we finally boarded and arrived in Auckland at midnight, exhausted.

I wrote a letter of complaint to Jetstar on 3rd August, but this was not even acknowledged until 7th August, when they promised to respond within 15 working days. Having still not responded by the time of our return to the UK on 6th September, I sent a further brief email asking for an update. This was acknowledged, but it is now 22nd September and I am still yet to receive a response.

I am a frequent visitor to Australia. I have a lot of family there, and have done two nationwide tours. Indeed, we spent $14,000 on this trip, not including our flights to and from the UK. I love your wonderful country, but this has left a bad taste in the mouth.

It seems to me that we did everything possible to meet our obligations and board the flight, but in having two thirds of their staff off work, picking people out of the queue at random, a lack of information on their website, and not responding to our correspondence, they have failed to meet theirs.