"Stay here all day and nothing will happen, pay more money and something will happen”

In May I booked some tickets on-line and (stupidly) to avoid the US$12 Visa-card booking fee I elected to pay at the (Vietnam) post office, what I discovered was that Jetstar still charge $12 for paying cash, and that this system is completely flawed when the customer elects to display prices in USD$.

May 19 I attended the post office and was told that as the printed voucher from Jetstar quoted US Dollars they were unable to accept payment. I could pay in VND but none of the Post Office staff knew how to do this or how to contact Jetstar. As we were flying with Jetstar on a different booking the following day I thought I’d sort it out at Danang airport.

May 20 I attended the Jetstar counter at Danang Airport. I explained to the counter staff Ms Tran Thi Phuong that we wished to pay for the booking and showed her the printed voucher. She went on to explain that if Jetstar accepted the payment there would be an additional $24 fee. I explained that I wouldn’t pay any additional fee, that I’d already attended the Post Office to pay and that Jetstar’s system didn’t work and that she should contact her manager to tell of the problem and advise what could be done. She refused. I increasingly became agitated and began arguing and yelling but the staff member refused to call her manager or call head office, or in fact do anything. She then ignored me and began serving other customers, which made me ‘see red ‘and whilst I was arguing loudly the other male Jetstar staff member came over to ask me to stop being angry. I explained the situation and he returned to his desk and did nothing.

Eventually Ms Tran Thi Phuong said to my wife in Vietnamese “stay here all day and nothing will happen, pay more money and something will happen”. As we were going to Saigon that afternoon we decided to take things up with Jetstar in Saigon Airport.

A few hours later I attended the Jetstar desk in Saigon to be advised that the booking had by then expired. I explained to the girl the trouble I’d had paying for the voucher and she contacted Jetstar by phone. I explained to the Jetstar operator what had happened and that person reinstated the booking for an additional 24 hours and advised that I could pay the next day at any TECHCOM bank. It seemed ridiculous that I have to leave a Jetstar counter to go and find some bank to pay for the booking but I agreed.

May 21 I attend TECHCOM bank branch at 148 Nguyen Cong Tru to be told that they also cannot accept US Dollars as payment. They also had no phone number or information about Jetstar in order to make contact or get instructions. They suggested we go to the larger Techcom branch at Pasteur St.

May 21 I attended what was to be the fifth attempt to pay the Jetstar voucher at the large Techcom Bank branch at 24 Pasteur St, Saigon. They also advised that they were unable to accept US Dollars (as quoted on the Jetstar voucher) unless we used the bank’s facilities to change USD$ into VND. They had no phone numbers for Jetstar to obtain any help or instructions and eventually I located a phone number for Jetstar and asked them to call. We then paid for the voucher in VND.

Jetstar’s procedure for quoting USD$ on the website and the option to pay at Vietnam Post office & Techcom Branches is flawed and simply does not work. If the customer selects USD$ the voucher format must be changed to also display the equivalent amount in VND. Obviously none of these systems were implemented well or tested in the wild, and none of the Post Offices/ Techcom bank branches I attended even had a phone number for Jetstar. Jetstar will be my last choice for flying anywhere from now on.