The Monty Python Check-in Sketch

Last week my family & I (2 adults & 2 children) were flying back from New Zealand. On check in with Jetstar we were told our checked baggage was 9 kg over weight but our hand luggage was 12 kg under weight. Now any reasonable person with the capacity for common sense and rational thought would think: 9 – 12 = 3 kg under total weight, that's fine. However, we were not dealing with a rational Jetstar employee capable of common sense or rational thinking.
So there, at the check-in desk, with 2 young children to look after, we were asked us to re-pack our bags & take 9 kgs out of one set of bags and re-pack it into another set of bags (all going on the same plane!). If we did not comply Jetstar would charge us $225 for excess baggage. No amount of pleading or reasoning would defer this absurdity. So out came shoes, sleeping bags, bags of dirty washing etc... When asked why we were doing this she could only shrug and say "It's the rules". At one stage she said if we couldn't fit it all into our hand luggage we would have to buy another bag! When pressed on the nonsensical nature of this messy, time consuming & absurd operation she said "If you don't like it - take it up with Jetstar". And so with the very real threat of $225 extra we complied with this farcial process and walked away with loads of stuff we did not really with to be carrying which just added to the hassle of passing through security. At one point I look up from the chaos and see this Jetstar employee smiling at us and realised this woman was actually enjoying this bastardisation of random customers. I have registered a complaint with Jetstar but as yet have heard nothing.