14 March 2023 Jetstar Flight JQ295
I just want to share a very sad and humiliating experience with JETSTAR Airline. Me and my partner with our 1 year old baby was in JQ295 flight coming from Auckland to Queenstown. We always get Jetstar ever since (before baby) but it was always a smooth and easy peasy flight. But this time, we flew with a baby for the first time.
IM SO SORRY IF I’M GOING TO USE SOME RACIAL TERMS TO ADDRESS THE STAFF BECAUSE I DIDN’T GET THEIR NAMES. Don’t call me racist because im a coloured skin too!
We arrived like 7am to checked in our 1 big luggage, got our boarding passes and went to security with no problem, it was normal. Then we waited in Gate 23. So 30 minutes before we board, this islander lady came up to us and asked (WITH NO “EXCUSE ME”) “Do you have a bag for your baby stroller?” My husband said “No sorry” and she just started to act very RUDELY and told us off in front of other passengers and everyone’s looking at us. She said “no you can’t take that stroller on board, you need to put it in a stroller bag or a rubbish bag” so my husband again answered her very calmly “where can we get a rubbish bag? Can you help us please” and she answered “we don’t have a rubbish bag here! Otherwise go back to check in that stroller” and she was yelling to another staff’s name and said “CAN YOU TALK TO THEM, I DONT WANT TO DEAL WITH THIS STROLLER PROBLEM”. Oh my God, everyone’s looking at us at that time i just want to get over with it. So the Indian lady / staff that was talking to us and was no help too she said the same thing so we went back to the custom / security pass area to ask some rubbish bag. These securities were friendly and helpful, this lady i don’t know her nationality but she seems caucasian, she was the only person that was nice to us. She said “hun you should’ve checked that in or have a bag for your stroller to bring that with you on board, but i think the lady that helped you checked in your luggage was new and didn’t mention about the stroller so im so sorry about that”
I ALMOST CRIED WHEN SHE SAID THAT, THAT THIS WHOLE THING IS THEIR FAULT! Because in the very first place, when we checked in our luggage, the lady in front desk didn’t ask us to just take our baby with us and leave the bloody stroller and needed to be checked in. So we went through the security with our stroller and still they didn’t say anything.
So we ended up again in our boarding area (gate 23) and this caucasian lady told the indian lady to take me back to check in the stroller, went there and it was too late no ones there, they’ve already closed and took all the luggages. So we go through pass security again to go back to our gate. I AM TELLING YOU, I WAS SOOOOOO STRESSED AT THIS TIME.
We were in our gate and told me that they will manually check in the stroller but this bloody stroller will be on the NEXT FLIGHT at 1:45pm. You know what okay fine do whatever you want with the stroller because this time i dont care with that thing anymore. But when this new lady assisted us with weighing and taking my details, this same RUDE ISLANDER STAFF talked to the lady “tell them that, that stroller will not be in this flight!” she acted like i don’t understand her or i don’t speak english. LIKE I CAN HEAR YOU WOMAN! YOU CAN JUST TALK TO ME AND TELL ME STRAIGHT UP MY FACE.
Overall experience was very humiliating and very disappointing. I WORK IN RETAIL AS A STORE MANAGER so i know how customer service works and I am so proud of myself that I was just very calm in the whole drama. But these people, man i don’t know what they’re going through with their personal lives (ESPECIALLY THAT ISLANDER LADY) but they don’t know how to handle situations like that.
Now, if you are a PARENT you will understand how stressful to travel with a baby and end up with a situation like that.
Until now, we don’t know what happened with our stressful stroller. Because they never called us like they said “airline staff will call you when it arrives to Queenstown”
Hopefully this will reach to whoever managing JETSTAR and remind your staff what customer service is.