It looks like you would rather swim to Japan than fly Jetstar
Never try to change your booking..
Submitted by Fiona
Sat, 12/03/2011 - 21:42
My partner and I booked a flight from Sydney to Melbourne over the phone.something I will never do again..however we finally got sorted only to find that my partners name was spelt wrong . This was fixed quiclkly . Then a circumstance occured that meant we had to change our flight date. According to the Fare Rules included in the flight comfirmation it clearly states that changes can be made . Now all we wanted to do was change the date by one month.. same flight No ,same destination and same time. We found like so many others it seems that a $50 EACH non-refundable charge is applicable . There is absolutely NO mention of the amount of this charge and I guess like others we assuned that it may be like the $6 booking fee maybe a bit more.. but $50 is outrageous. I have been fobbed off and kept waiting on the phone for hours (not an exagerration ), the staff have parrotted the response that is basically pay it or loose the booking! Even asking to speak to a Supervisor made no difference the called seemed to time out. I will never fly with Jetstar again . I will strongly advise my friends and family not to fly with them either.
On the other hand we had a much better experience wiyh Qantas. We had booked a flight with them to come back. They were really great and gave us a credit that lasts for up to 12 months.
- Australia-Sydney - Australia-Melbourne - Tullamarine
- 3770 reads
Fiona, you are ridiculous. You book a frigging budget airline and expect the world. Of course you have a better experience at Qantas, they are full service for f#*ks sakes. Jetstar is very simple - pay for what you want and take it. You don't want it anymore, pay to change the date. There is no credit system like Qantas.
In response to your second criticism... Name me any airline who you have booked over the phone with and had them (without you asking) advise you of change fee amounts whilst booking a flight. They will tell you it is not refundable and changes can be made for a change fee and fare difference. Unless you ask, they don't have to tell you EVERYTHING. If they did, the phone call would never end. Similarly when you book online, the fare rules do not tell you the price of the change fee. However if you took 2 seconds to search the website you would find this:
http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/fare-types.aspx
Which lists the current fees at the bottom.
Virgin Blue (as an example) also hide their change fees on their website:
http://www.virginblue.com.au/Personal/Bookings/Feessurcharges/
They too do not list the fees in their fare rules. You will also note their change fees are higher that Jetstars, They also DON'T allow you to cancel their Go Fare, and they charge $55 to cancel their Blue Saver fare.
Wake up to the world of low cost carriers. Book Qantas and experience their old, tired, grumpy arrogant cabin crew.
stop defending these bloody idiots, jetstar your going down down down
bronco whilst there are ignorant budget airline travelers around like Fiona, I will continue to defend them because I actually don't think they are that bad. I've never had an issue because I understand the terms and conditions and how it all works. I don't book on them and expect the same privileges as Qantas or Virgin. And I love her comment that a $50 change fee is outrageous. Well go and fly Virgin where the fee is higher or Tiger where the fee is the same.
@ Ben - A year ago i would have agreed with you. BUT if you have a problem with Jetstar through no fault of your own - the company is basically unable and unwilling to do anything of assistance. The whole system is programmed to blame the customer and shirk all responsibility. Sometimes it is Jetstar that stuffs the customer around- and in my experience on those occasions you get precious little.. other than some reference number saying you'll get a response in 15+ working days (which is 3 weeks or more), and eventually to receive a phone call 2-3 months later basically asking questions about everything you explained in the letter of complaint in the first place. Whilst Jetstar are cheap.. they are also nasty.. why can't Australians have a cheap airline that is also good? Find your Jetstar flight delayed again? Wait months for a refund and decide to buy an expensive last minute ticket with an alternate airline. Virgin are also cheap.. How come there's no Don't Fly Virgin website? Air Asia are often cheaper than Jetstar on Asian journeys- How come there's no Don't Fly AirAsia website? How come the functionality in AirAsia's website is far superior to Jetstar's? Do we need some third world country to teach us about customer service and technology? Until Jetstar management and staff accept that there are problems, none of the issues will be resolved. In the mean time - choose another airline. I pity some poor overseas visitors whose first Australian experiences are with Jetstar.
HA! So Ben works for Jetstar.. OBVIOUSLY.. either that or has a vested interest in the company. "Ben" does not know ANYTHING about Customer Service. I hate that people like him exist.
Actually, Jetstar (and "Ben") continue what you're doing so that you become another airline that goes down and make way to others who know how to run a business morally.
Jetstar Hater, I don't work for Jetstar. I work for another airline however have flown them plenty and know people who work for them.
Actually I have worked in customer service and people like you are PAINFUL. You're perception of poor customer service is defined by the following:
Ask for something to be done for you. Get told no it's against policy (ie. it doesn't go your way). Because you don't get what you want, it's automatically poor customer service. Well guess what. Budget carriers don't make money by always doing exactly what you want. When they don't make money, ticket prices rise. I'm sorry you got charged extra to change your flight that you made an error on. Now that you know Jetstar's policy, change airlines. Get over it and move on.
How many times do we have to drill it though the thick Jet Star loving skulls of people like Ben:
JUST BECAUSE ONE FLYS A BUDGET AIRLINE DOES NOT JUSTIFY PISS POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE!!
Tattoo that to your wide forehead.
Travis like I said, peoples perception of customer service revolves around whether they get what they want. Fiona regards it as poor customer service because shes not happy she has to pay a $50 change fee (which is might add is pretty standard across all Australian airlines) and is unhappy that no one would waive it for her. Sorry but I don't regard this as poor customer service. I regard this as your typical ill informed customer who expects the world for a few peanuts.
If Jetstar always gave in to peoples demands, sure everyone would be happy and would think the customer service is great. Meanwhile they lose on revenue and pass the costs on to the customers.
If you don;t like it, choose another airline.
Yes STUPID Ben who works for Jetstar!!! Tattoo this on your head.. GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE INVOLVES EMPATHY AND KNOWING HOW TO USE POLICIES AS PER THE SITUATION TO KEEP YOUR CLIENTELE WHICH IN TURN KEEPS YOU IN BUSINESS!!!
The scenario is... I asked for something.. they said an amount 500% more than the original ticket price.. I asked to MEET HALFWAY. I don't even want to meet halfway and pay a cent! So NO, I wasn't ASKING FOR WHAT I WANTED, I was asking for a middle ground because an extra $340 for Sydney to Avalon is WAY TOO MUCH!!! So you are a numbskull just like the rest of your LOW IQ'ed Jetstar Colleagues who do not have ANY BUSINESS SENSE whatsoever. And don't forget, your selective stupid brain is forgetting the fact that I finally agreed to buy $340 outside of my will but GEORGE the heartless arsehole said they had JUST closed the counter for a last flight that was an hour delayed!!! This is after no irate exchange, or heated argument. So stick that up your arse along with the big stick that you've already got stuck up there. People like you make me sick!!!
And you know what? I REGRET not having had a heated argument and giving everyone at that counter a piece of my mind.. But what the heck, I was busy trying to get tickets after over an hour ON THE PHONE to Jetstar Customer Service line in Manila.
People are on to you. You will go out of business soon.
Customer Service.. Answer the phone with a polite and happy tone, if face to face with a smile to the Customer and make sure you understand what the customer is asking for , try your best to accommodate the customer as best as you can in a friendly and engaging manner. Never forget that old adage that the customer is always right. If their request is not able to be fulfilled for whatever reason, explain the problem to them in a happy and friendly tone , perhaps even suggesting some other alternatives. Close the conversation in a positive manner apologising to them if no solution was found and thank them for the call or visit.
Jetstar Hater, I will tell you one final time. I DO NOT WORK FOR JETSTAR. No wonder the staff got the shits with you. You can't get messages through your skull. I actually agree with your comment about using policies as per the situation. However this is not how the budget airline industry makes money. The cheaper the airline, the more hard ass they are with fees and sticking to policy. Have you every tried negotiating with Tiger Airways? I have and it gets you no where.
Very mature comment about the stick up my ass. All I will say is people like you don't make me sick, but shouldn't be allowed to fly a low cost carrier.
while i understand the pain fliying with cheap carriers during delayed/cancellation flights but this post is definitely caused from lack of understanding fare rules
I think if i was working for Jetstar and picked up a call from Jetstarhater...damn!! how do you tell an impolite imbecile politely that you can't do what he asks for because of the fare rules and the fact we dont have JETSTAR CHARITY written on our foreheads...please dont fly with jetstar, go fly virgin blue and politely bugger off and enjoy your life...but face it...your cheap enough to fly jetstar instead of paying a higher fare...so deal with it buddy boy!!
I think if i was working for Jetstar and picked up a call from Jetstarhater...damn!! how do you tell an impolite imbecile politely that you can't do what he asks for because of the fare rules and the fact we dont have JETSTAR CHARITY written on our foreheads...please dont fly with jetstar, go fly virgin blue and politely bugger off and enjoy your life...but face it...your cheap enough to fly jetstar instead of paying a higher fare...so deal with it buddy boy!!