My wife and I were scheduled to depart from Sydney to Cairns on JQ15 at 8am on Sunday 27th April 2011. We checked the internet the night before and all was well. We arrived at the international terminal at 5am. The electric noticeboard said our flight would be departing on time but there were no Jetstar staff at the desk. Some staff appeared at 6am only to inform us that our flight had been cancelled 24 hours earlier and that all passengers had been notified. Our travel agent later confirmed that they had not been notified and this was confirmed by Jetstar staff.
We were then told that we had been rebooked on a 6am flight from domestic. We had already missed this flight .We were then told that the next flight was at 3:30pm, a wait of 9 hours. We were dressed in light clothing for Cairns and the terminal was freezing. We requested that we be accommodated in their lounge during this period. They refused. Their staff were rude and refused to accept any blame or responsibility for our predicament.
We then caught a taxi to the domestic terminal and paid an additional $500 for a 9:15am flight to Cairns.
We have tried in vain to call Jetstar customer care. We are told there is no direct line and they promise to ring back but do not. They have hung up on me mid conversation numerous times, pretending it is a dropout.
This is the worst company, let alone mexcuse for an airline, that I have ever had to deal with and I urge anyone not to travel with them unless they want to experience similar problems.
I will be taking action through the consumer affairs tribunal or the ombudsman to try toobtaint an appropriate refund.
No notification of cancelled flight
Domestic
Australia-Sydney
Australia-Cairns
Comments
@ John - I posted this reply
@ John - I posted this reply on another complaint - but it seems a fitting reply for this one also.
Jetstar make huge profits from this type of bad behaviour.
Sydney Morning herald Feb 17, 2011 "Qantas profit soars..."
They attract suckers by advertising cheap ticket prices (not always cheap but sometimes they are), then they offer sub-standard service and reschedule/cancel at will to generate healthy profits.
Jetstar are the bankers of the airline industry..
Never book with them again and spread the word..
John - there is NO Jetstar
John - there is NO Jetstar lounge in Sydney. That would be why they couldn't accommodate you in it...
It is actually your travel agents responsibility to inform you if they enter their details into the booking and not yours.
I'm not saying I don't empathize with the predicament you were faced with, but legally they did their part by informing your agent. I wouldn't get your hopes up for claiming any expenses back, other than your original airfare. And best of luck with the ombudsman as there is none.
Jetstar know the rules, and
Jetstar know the rules, and their lawyers have crafted the T&C's so they win every time- despicable in a clever, cheating sort of way. Tell your friends and don't fly with them.
Danna- Thanks for your
Danna- Thanks for your comment. The point was that Jetstar did NOT contact my travel agent and therefore did not do their part.
They were entirely responsible for our predicament!!!!!
There is a way of holding
There is a way of holding Jetstar to account. I have contacted the Department of Fair Trading. They said they have had a large number of complaints about Jetstar (more than they would normally expect)rnyem and are happy to look into our complaint.
Danna; I'm actually a travel
Danna; I'm actually a travel agent and I can assure you this has happened a few times with my clients. They do not give any notification of any changes and then the client/agent rings and they refuse to take responsibility. Agents have to enter the passengers mobile number into the booking, but Jetstar refuse to notify the client themselves.
Finally, Jetstar don't pay travel agents commission, even if they did give me notification of cancelled flights (which they don't), so why do they 'ask' travel agents to take responsibility?
Virgin Blue and Qantas have been able to contact clients directly, but for some reason Jetstar can't? Give me a break!