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Sorry, they’re the rules: my new policy for poor service

Stephen Romei

by Stephen Romei

27 Apr 05:55am

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Filed under: Business, Jetstar, Society, Stress

62 comments

Remember the Seinfeld episode where George is slugged $75 because he cancels an appointment with a physio within her arbitrarily decreed 24-hour exclusion zone? “24 hours for all cancellations … It’s our policy,’’ he’s told. When the physio subsequently cancels an appointment with George, also within 24 hours, he demands she pay him $75. “I have a policy …,’’ he tells her.

We are experienced some turbulence, please return to your seats.

A man ahead of his time, George Constanza. Who do these people think they are? And why do we meekly acquiesce to such injustices? Needless to say I have my own particular axe to grind, which I’ll get to in a minute, but more broadly this is a call to all self-respecting citizens to stand up to the sort of professional and corporate bullying that insists “their” time is valuable and our time is worthless.

While the cancellation “policy” (consider how often bastardry is cloaked in that word: refugee policy, indigenous affairs policy, tax policy, mental health policy) is the most despicable example, it’s far from the only one. How about the four-hour “window” when you want to get some service – a phone connection, say – installed or a courier package delivered?

This is what those companies are saying to you: “Your time doesn’t matter to us, so just hang around for four hours and we’ll turn up when it suits. Do not pop out for 5 minutes to get a carton of milk because if you do we will turn up right then and we won’t hang about. We’ll leave a card and then you’ll have to come out to our depot in Bourke.’’

Then there’s the interminable wait to reach any human at any business if you are quaint enough to telephone them. First you spend 20 minutes or so negotiating the various push-button menu options (longer if you mis-key the first one and switch the whole shebang to Mandarin), then you get put on hold until judgement day, or until you hang up. They count on the latter. And all the while, the twist of the knife: the soul destroying muzak blares, interrupted every few minutes by a tinny message assuring you your call is important, that you have progressed in the queue and that you will be answered by the first available customer service representative. Translation: we couldn’t give a rat’s and we will wait you out.

And so to my axe: in a word it is Jetstar, the low cost, don’t care airline.

Here’s what happened. In February I booked interstate flights for a function in June. In mid-April my circumstances changed and I realised I wouldn’t be able to make the function, so I called Jetstar to see about cancelling the flights. Plenty of notice, I thought, and I’d be happy with a flight credit if they can’t do a refund.

Well, they can’t do anything. No flight credit, no refund, no care, no responsibility, nada, nix, nothing. They magnanimously suggested they could look into rescheduling my flight times, but only on the same route, and that would cost $40 per passenger per journey.

Then an interesting thing happened. Jetstar emailed me to say their circumstances had changed and they would have to change the departure time of my flight home. So, I rang them and asked if they would be paying me $40 per passenger for that. Do I need to tell you what they said?

As the great British comedian Peter Cook would have said, it’s no way to run an airline. The first thing that goes out the window here is the business’s commonsense, swiftly following by the customer’s dignity. We should all channel our inner George Constanza and tell these people that they are not better than us, that their time is not more valuable than ours and we’re mad as hell and not going to take it any more.

As for Jetstar, well, all I can do is use the power we all have as consumers: I will never fly with them again, and I will advise the same of anyone who wants to listen. 

But more importantly here’s what I think we should do: the next time you make an appointment with a physio or a dentist or a bookmaker or a yogi or whoever, tell them you may have to cancel at short notice and you won’t be paying if you do. Tell them they can sue. Tell them you have a policy, too.

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Most commented

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215Punch on: Open thread 18/05/2012

62 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • BTS says:

      06:27am | 27/04/10

      How about Australia Post, who no longer even bother to find out if you are home to give you your parcel.  They just put the tag in the mailbox to say there is one and go down the Post Office and get it (and have the audacity to tick the box advising they could find no one home, when they never even checked).

      Reply

    • Seano says:

      08:49am | 27/04/10

      This doesn’t always happen. It depends on the contractor doing the delivering I’m guessing. But I have actually caught the bloke filling out the form when he could have just rang the bell and handed the package to me.

    • Andy says:

      10:30am | 27/04/10

      The Australia Post contractor who services the area where I live (on the rural northern fringe of Sydney) doesn’t do that, he comes to the door. Only problem is, to do this he often parks his van on Old Northern Road, one of the most dangerous roads in Sydney. and I mean ON, many is the morning where I have to take drastic action to avoid killing myself or others because this moron has decided, in the name of good service no doubt, to park his car on a blind corner in an 80 zone at a 45 degree angle blocking 60% of the only lane.

    • Scot says:

      11:09am | 27/04/10

      I find the Australian Post people in our area brilliant. If we are not home he puts the parcel in an agreed spot, and puts the delivery notice through the door mail slot confirming it is there. Five stars for service.

    • Posted Off says:

      12:44pm | 27/04/10

      AP in our area will not deliver packages of ANY size, including DVD/CD items. Anything over the standard envelope is simply retained at the Post Office for collection and the ‘missed you’ card put in the mailbox. The same large mailbox that can easily take a few magazines as well as packed CD’s and DVD’s. To the Post Office then. Well not if both of you work in the city full time. Post Office advertised as closing at “5 pm” but doors are locked to the outside at 4.40 pm. Result = $200 a year for a large PO box. Guess they won huh?

    • Russell says:

      07:42am | 27/04/10

      I have been following that policy for a while now. I tell all my friends not to use Jetstar. Every now and then I hear a new horror story about cancellations and “attitude”. The airline is always Jetstar, and they have lost another customer, and that persons wider circle of friends too…

      Reply

    • Scot says:

      11:14am | 27/04/10

      Russell, I have a way of dealing with these rude crude airlines. If they have a free phone number using a land-line not a mobile,  and if they do not answer in 5 minutes which is most of the time, or put me on hold having pressed phone buttons for 30 Q&A’s to trya and talk to a human being, I put the phone on the desk and walk away. When they finally get to my call its has cost them for my free call, and their call centre records then show exactly how bad their service is. It is also my way of saying, you can stuff your service.

    • jason says:

      07:47am | 27/04/10

      I had an experience with JetStar where they cancelled my flight from Melbourne to Sydney, and didn’t tell me until I arrived at Avalon airport the Sunday night i was flying. I was told I could either take a flight the next day (making me late for work and costing me another nights accommodation at my own expense, not to mention a taxi from Avalon to civilization), or get a refund. I opted for the refund and was told it would take 90 days. It arrived on the 90th day. My first and last experience with JetStar.

      Reply

    • Jack Thomas says:

      10:07am | 27/04/10

      There’s your first mistake, you called Avalon an airport. Surely an airport would have a control tower directing flights in, right?

      Nope, all Avalon flights are directed in by the control tower at Melbourne Airport.

      Your second mistake is looking for a low cost option then expecting the same standards and service as the higher cost ones.

      You pay less for a flight to Sydney than it costs yourself in the taxi fare back to your house. The flight has 6 or 7 staff, its a 5 million dollar plane serviced every second day, and takes an hour. Your taxi is ten years old with 4 million km’s on the clock and driven by an ex Somali war lord.

      See anything wrong with this situation?

      Everyone knows Jetstar and Tiger have very low standards and poor service, so why whinge when it actually happens?

      It’s not ironic that Tiger are not fussed about the bad PR, they were happy to be filmed for that appalling reality TV show about them. The more people understand about what they are getting, the less whining you lot do when it actually occurs.

      I bet you haven’t even seen the new move by Ryanair to install coin-operated loos in their planes?

    • KH says:

      11:40am | 27/04/10

      hehe That is precisely why ‘airline’ is not necessarily a bad advertisement for EasyJet - the dodo’s who show up late, yell at the staff, try to make claims they have no right to, don’t check things before they get there and so on, is quite astounding, and these are the people most likely to complain.  I remember when the train to Sydney from Melbourne was more cost effective, even though it takes 12 hours+.  So if you want cheap airfares, read the fine print - understand the onus is on you to show up, and even check before you leave the house/hotel (yes you, check because you can’t rely on them to just tell you) get there on time, have the correct baggage for your ticket, and so on.  I just don’t like the lack of service, so I don’t use them - I try to get the cheap tickets on Qantas….......

    • iansand says:

      08:23am | 27/04/10

      I have had Deathstar cancel flights twice.  They have put me on later flights.  Somehow, both times, the passengers from both flights nicely filled the later flight.  Never again.

      Reply

    • Scot says:

      08:38pm | 27/04/10

      KH yes, that is why I give them what I believe is a proper to answer to answer (5 minutes) and if they do not, I leave the phone on the table and walk away until they do answer it and it then a phantom call. This is the only way they can get the message. If everyone does this it will show just how bad their service is and maybe employ more people who hang up from ring no answer. The cost are then theirs. That way I am cool and dont have to get angry at anyone and use an alternate service provider.

    • KH says:

      08:31am | 27/04/10

      Oh how I hate the ‘cancellation policy’.  Especially when you know there is, with most airlines, a standby list of people who want your seat, so ultimately, the airline loses nothing if you cancel with plenty of advance notice.  In fact, if you have booked long in advance, they can sell the seat for a higher price, as the discounted fares are often only for ‘earlybirds’!

      And yes, the 4 hour ‘window’.  I once had to be home for a real estate agent who gave a ‘4 hour window’ - then didn’t show up.  When I rang her, she said she had ‘forgotten’ and could I be home again tomorrow?!  Oh sure, I’ll just take another day off work, shall I?

      I have a newfound respect for the call centre though - yes, being kept on hold is annoying, but I have seen this from the other side and I have sympathy now - the IVR is designed to get you through to someone who can help you.  Call centres have notoriously high turnover rates - the job isn’t the most exciting in the world, after all.  Thus, there are people with varying levels of skill answering the phones - if your problem is complex, you want someone who can fix it - there is no point going through to the newbie who can only do address changes or has to ask their supervisor!  The IVR is your friend, believe it or not.  Lets not cast aspersions on them - they have a pretty awful job, especially when they get abused, or have to calm angry people down etc, and they often get paid the least in the company.  It isn’t their fault - the fault lies way higher up the chain.  I could never do their job - most people wouldn’t want to if they could avoid it.  There is some skill involved in calming down angry people, or sounding the same on every call, whether its your first or one thousandth of the day -  I have to say I have respect.

      Reply

    • SR says:

      11:08am | 27/04/10

      Fair point re call centre staff, KH. I don’t envy them that job.

    • Lachlan says:

      01:08pm | 27/04/10

      I worked in a call centre where after numerous complaints they got rid of the IVR and put in receptionists to answer the phone. Problem was that you ended up with a queue to get through to the person who could only then transfer you through to the queue you actually wanted.

      The experiment didn’t last long. IVRs make things much shorter.

    • Darren says:

      08:42am | 27/04/10

      it is a no-frills, low coat airline - you get what you pay for!

      Reply

    • xiaoecho says:

      10:32pm | 27/04/10

      The ‘you get what you pay for’ argument is specious.  I always fly Virgin—fantastic courteous service from begining to end and all at the same price or lower than Jetstar…...if Virgin can do it so can Jetstar

    • Samantha says:

      08:50am | 27/04/10

      I’m curious Stephen, did you bother to read the fare terms and conditions when you made the booking or did you just assume you could get a refund?

      Reply

    • Confused says:

      08:55am | 27/04/10

      I find it ironic that thepunch has articles on poor airline service, yet advertises TIGER AIRWAYS at the same time.

      Reply

    • Nola says:

      09:06am | 27/04/10

      It’s a hard one. I share your sentiments about JetStar, but also Virgin, and also Tiger. Unless you’re paying multi-thousands for an international ticket most airlines just get you to sign that disclaimer when you buy your ticket that says “in all circumstances…we will be right and you will be wrong.”

      As much as I’d like to boycot them all, I’m afraid it would mean never leaving Tasmania. And we can’t have that, can we?

      At least we have those low cost carriers, remember when a Sydney to Melbourne flight cost $300, minumum? (actually I’m making that up on an assumption) Sure, they could be a lot better, but I’ve had some good experiences too, as long as I’ve played by their rules.

      Reply

    • KH says:

      09:36am | 27/04/10

      I vaguely remember one of my early office admin jobs, when you had a choice of Qantas or Ansett, and they were both around the $460 mark as a start for Mel-Syd return.

    • Craig Lambie says:

      09:07am | 27/04/10

      I have to say, you booked JetStar in the first place…. what where you thinking…
      “oh.. I will just book this $2 flight and expect to get some service”.... I mean really.  I learnt my lesson long ago when I took a flight from Sweden to Germany with RyanAir (The cheapest airline in the world) it cost me 3x the flight to get my bags onto the airline! Not happy!
      But I soon realised that the flight was next to nothing, and why should I expect any service when they are operating a public bus service.
      I have never flown JetStar, but I am sure they operate on a similar oil smelling rag.

      As to customer service.  The only ones to blame for this are…. everyone.
      If as you say, we demanded better service, we would get it.  But no, as a people we prefer to skimp and save a couple of dollars here and there and take off days of work to get a parcel delivered, and spend hours on the phone to a call centre in India to only be frustrated and annoyed when they actually do answer the phone, but don’t know the answer.

      Maybe we should make our choices based on Customer Service, not on Price.  If everyone did that, we would live in a much better place.  Good luck to that!
      http://lambiesravings.blogspot.com/

      Reply

    • Nathaniel says:

      09:22am | 27/04/10

      Earlier this year, I was booked to fly with Jetstar from Newcastle to Brisbane. I was going for over a week, so had a bag that I realised would come quite close to being over the weight limit for carry on luggage.

      I got there, just under half an hour before departure check-in closed. Whilst my bag was being weighed, I realised it came to 10.4kgs, just over their 10kg limit. I requested that I could pay a fee to upgrade to checked luggage. But I was told that the plane had already been packed.

      Thus, my only options were to: - miss my service, though check-in had not yet closed.
      - Or, leave some of my luggage behind.

      The latter, was of no option as I got public transport to the airport and didn’t fancy the idea of rumaging through my belongings to see what I could bare to throw out.

      So, the Jetstar lady offered to book me on the next available service (4 hours later) at the fee of a “$70 missed service fee” - which as already mentioned, I had not missed.

      The woman then had the nerve to boast about how she was generously “waivering the checked luggage fee of $80” and stared imposingly at me until I said “thank you”.

      I did the same flights a few weeks later and chose to fly with Virgin. I saw the same lady again working, who looked and me and smiled smugly.

      I’m sure she remembered me. Or maybe not.

      I guess their customers aren’t very important to them and I was just seen as an easy opportunity to make another few dollars for the airline.

      Reply

    • Catherine says:

      10:31am | 27/04/10

      Take a handbag (or manbag) or a coat.  They don’t weigh them, and you’ll be suprised how much you can fit in pockets. [NB: I always travel handluggage only, and I actually wish airlines would enforce handluggage rules more than they do.  Pack less, follow the airline guidelines, don’t buy a bag that won’t fit down the ailse/in an overhead locker, and remember they do have stores at your destination].

      On another note, last year, I cancelled a doctor’s appointment with around 18 hours notice.  I was told I would have to pay a $50 cancellation fee.  I refused.  Seriously, how would they enforce it anyway? In the case of your airline tickets you signed a contract, but a lot of times it’s just businesses trying it on because most consumers don’t know their rights.

    • Melissa says:

      11:04am | 27/04/10

      Really though your sitatuion isn’t their fault. The rules clearly state everywhere that the maximum for carry on luggage is 10kg. Not 10.1 kg, not 10.3 kg. Yeah sure it’s only 400 grams, but if they make an exception for one person, they’d have everyone wanting exceptions. And like you said, you were given the option of removing the 400 grams from your luggage and would have been allowed to do that at no extra cost. Also, if you had of arrived at the airport 1 hour prior to departure time like they reccommend, you probably would have been able to check your luggage for the extra fee.
      So really not much the airline could have done for you in this situation, you pretty much could have avoided the whole thing by being mroe diligent. (if you know you’re going away for over a week you’re probably going to need mroe than checked luggage..?)

    • Jack Thomas says:

      04:58pm | 27/04/10

      As far as I know, cargo in the hold makes up about 80% of a plane’s revenue. Businesses flying high-value / low-volume goods like seafood or vegetables interstate and internationally is obviously a good revenue source. Obviously these businesses need firm commitment on times of delivery from the airline.

      A plane is loaded with cargo, then balanced with passengers’ luggage as they check in, and that data input into the flight control systems (ie. thrust & fuel required to lift that weight).

      As passengers check in, obviously the airline has already committed to carrying the cargo, so the passengers’ luggage needs to fit within the stated limits on their ticket. There is also the added variable of whether the passengers will actually show.

      By you rolling up overweight means they effectively need to remove cargo, or hope that some other passenger will not show or their luggage be underweight.

      Obviously this balancing act goes on for the whole check in time, you just missed the point at which there is a chance another passenger’s luggage will cover for you by being under weight. Checking in halfway through the check in time is probably your safest bet, too early and they may be too cautious.

      I suspect you paid less for your ticket too, stating you agreed to only have carry-on?

      The simple way around this is to read your ticket then weigh your luggage. Another simple way is to be there more than a few minutes before take off.

      If you are thinking the ground crew remembered you, I doubt it. Most Jetstar and Qantas ground staff don’t have the battery life in their lilttle brain that lasts that long. Qantas staff on the other hand, they have memories nearly as old as them.

    • Try to keep up says:

      12:51pm | 03/05/10

      It is possible to go away for more than a week and have less than 10kgs luggage.  My husband and I have just come back from 17 days O/S and my husbands luggage weighed 9.5kgs (mine was slightly more than that).  The part about no check in luggage I can’t come to grips with these days is what do you do with the items you can’t take as carry on (liquids greater than 100ml, scissors etc).

    • Sarah says:

      09:26am | 27/04/10

      It’s a budget airline and the cancellation policies are clearly stated in the terms & conditions, I suggest you read before you buy. I thought this sort of information was common knowledge… you get what you pay for. If you want fantastic service DON’T FLY BUDGET!

      Reply

    • Scot says:

      08:44pm | 27/04/10

      Sarah, And the sad thing is Qantas is no better.

    • chas_in_aus says:

      09:48am | 27/04/10

      Love the new tagline that your article has suggested: ‘Jetstar, the low care airline’. 

      I’ve faced similar situtations of unexplained cancellation from all 3 Aussie carriers plus domestic carriers in the UK and USA (recently even after completing the baggage check process).  The highest frequency had been on the SYD-MEL route with JQ.

      As this was mostly business related travel & inconvenienced our clients and put off our prospects, my company has now agreed that we will no longer book on JQ.

      On a separate note, perhaps the ‘George response’ could start a new consumer movement, I’ll certainly be asking any airline for ‘my penalty fee’ whenever they cancel flights on me in future.

      Enjoyed the article.

      Reply

    • Jolanda says:

      09:52am | 27/04/10

      The ticket that you bought was not refundable that is why it was so cheap.  If you had of bought the refundable one it would have cost you more but you would have been able to cancel and get your money back.  You got what you paid for.  To then whinge about it is wrong.

      Education – Keeping them Honest
      http://jolandachallita.typepad.com/

      Reply

    • Dean Felton says:

      09:56am | 27/04/10

      Jetstar.  Bad enough.  But Tiger - appalling.  Never, never, never, NEVER fly with them.  In fact, don’t even THINK of flying with them.  You will regret it.

      Reply

    • jess says:

      10:18am | 27/04/10

      Samantha and Sarah, you miss the point saying Stephen should have checked the too-tiny-to-read print at the bottom of the ticket. The point is about customer service. So what if it’s a budget airline. Does that preclude good customer service?  It’s like gift vouchers with expiry dates. You pay cash to buy a gift voucher so how can it expire? Is my cash out of date?

      Reply

    • Samantha says:

      02:13pm | 27/04/10

      No I didn’t miss the point.  You just don’t buy an airline ticket without reading the fare terms, which are clearly readable in normal size font on your screen before you complete the purchase.  Some fares are not refundable, some don’t allow date changes etc etc.  You can’t assume they are all the same.  If he didn’t read the terms and conditions, that’s his fault.  Doesn’t make it bad customer service.

    • Bitten says:

      10:28am | 27/04/10

      Classic Costanza!

      Reply

    • SR says:

      03:35pm | 27/04/10

      Bitten, yes, it’s Costanza of course. I sloppily typed Constanza in my original piece. Apologies.

    • SR says:

      11:07am | 27/04/10

      Thanks Jess, you make the point re the fine print that I would have, but you do so far more elegantly. I probably would have said something like, The fine print can go root my boot (with due acknowledgement to former senator Bill O’Chee).  Customer service is about NOT sticking to the fine print. It’s about treating people properly.  As for the idea that if you fly a low cost airline you should expect crap service, have our expectations really sunk that low? It’s thinking like that that let’s them get away with it.

      Reply

    • Matt says:

      11:18am | 27/04/10

      Stephen - your article neglects to mention where you were flying to.  Was it a destination serviced only by Jetstar or was it serviced by Qantas as well who have a range of fares with different flexibility options? Did you have a choice?

      Or should we just regulate Jetstar, Tiger and Virgin out of existence and you and Tracey Spicer can drive to Perth or wherever it is you are going.

      Reply

    • SR says:

      11:40am | 27/04/10

      Matt, you make a valid point. I did have a choice and I chose poorly. I chose Jestar not for price reasons but because its flight schedule worked best for me (until they changed it, that is). I’m not suggesting Jetstar or any other airline be regulated out of existence. I’m saying I think they should set their sights higher when it comes to customer service. I’m suggesting that cheap doesn’t have to mean nasty. To have no option but doing your dough when you want to cancel a flight 10 weeks out seems unfair to me. As someone else has said here, I very much doubt Jetstar would be unable to resell my seats.

    • dancan says:

      11:30am | 27/04/10

      I’ve got a good one involving an airline, virgin airlines. 

      I booked a flight 10 days in advance, did it all online myself but when I checked the itinerary I noticed I had accidently booked the return flight a day early.  So I logged into the virgin website and changed the booking myself for the right day.  And what did I get? $30 change of booking fee! (or around there I can’t remember the exact amount now).  I get charged for making a date change over two weeks in advance, that I did myself without and interaction with an operator or anything that may validate charging a fee.  When I emailed to complain I was given the standard line of “that’s our policy”. 

      Even when you do something yourself nowadays you get charged for it.

      Reply

    • karl says:

      12:25pm | 27/04/10

      Airlines can do whatever they please.  We all know that when we get a deadpan response that is far from satisfactory at check-in, be it extra cost, inability to do something, or whatever, we are unable to get angry as security will be called.  And if we do we will also end up on YouTube as a crazed maniac at the airport.  Never mind the airline has lost your baggage, charged you an additional $300, put you on a later flight….....

      Reply

    • Anita says:

      01:13pm | 27/04/10

      As someone who spends a good part of each day on hold to various banks (for my job) I agree heartily with what you are saying. At the end of some weeks I am about ready to climb the clocktower with a you-know-what and take aim at the general population. However, I have also worked as a receptionist in a medical practice and I think a cancellation policy is fair enough - within reason. Because if a patient called up just before their appointment and cancelled it meant a lost hour of wages. Not every medical practioner is rolling in cash, in spite of appearances. Most of the time patients are well aware of the cancellation policy and it was not actually enforced once the whole time I was there. I think it just enourages people to have slightly better manners. If you cancel because you can’t avoid it then fair enough but if you cancel because you can’t be bothered to show up then that’s just rude and dismissive - not only to the practitioner but to any other patient who was unable to get an appointment.

      Reply

    • Scott Glennon says:

      02:18pm | 27/04/10

      Here’s a good story relating to Jetstars terms and conditions. Somehow I think they are a tad unfair, really there should be a requirement for large organisations to work with the human condition. I’ve never read the terms and conditions until I need something more then the service I’ve been offered, I’d bet most do the same. http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2009/04/john-sheahan-je.html

      Reply

    • Jules says:

      03:01pm | 27/04/10

      Honestly, there should never be surprises about budget airlines and what they will do to customers. I’ve traveled on a budget airline twice: once on RyanAir, requiring a nearly 2 hour bus trip between connecting airports which came as a complete surprise; and once on Tiger, where due to a mistake that was my own fault, I ended up paying exactly double the cost of the original ticket. My fault, I paid .. but I will never again risk traveling on a budget airline, as there’s no fall-back position and with my schedule, I’m not willing to risk it . So they kept to their rules, but they have lost a potentially lucrative customer forever. I think the phrase is, ‘Burn and churn’.

      I live in Singapore, where the arbitrary rules about customer ‘servce’ drive me crazy. 2 recent examples: at an almost empty cafe where the staff outnumbered the patrons by around 4 to 1, when we called a waitress over to place our order, we were told by her that the rule was,  we had to place our order at the counter. Not pay for it there (we were allowed to pay at the table), but just place it. Apparently the staff, otherwise doing nothing, couldn’t bend the rules and all 6 of them so stood round in this empty restaurant watching as we walked over to place the order! Rules are rules.

      Another recent example: my friend tried on a shirt in a small boutique and was in the process of paying for it when another shirt, discounted, caught her eye. She picked it up and headed for the changing room to try it on in the otherwise empty shop - only to be told by the shop assistant that she was ‘not allowed’ to try on items that were on sale. So she didn’t buy it - or, in fact, the first shirt she’d planned on - and the store was behind on 2 sales. But hey - the rules were kept, and that’s the most important thing, as we all know.

      Reply

    • KH says:

      03:25pm | 27/04/10

      Ha ha!  I’ve done that - some surly shop assistant has ended up with no sale after I just walked out.  The fact is that Australia is damn expensive to get out of - people will keep going to JetStar and its ilk, because they can’t afford to fly a great airline like Singapore Airlines, which is, as we all should know, THE BEST AIRLINE EVER…........... grin

    • Jules says:

      03:53pm | 27/04/10

      KH - you’re so right; and I’m so lucky to be able to choose to fly them! But Michael in his comment below is also right.The budget airlines don’t pretend to be anything other than inflexible and looking to make money any way they can. So if you have a choice (I do), then don’t choose them. It’s like paying for insurance, I guess. I pay the extra $$$ because I don’t like surprises, cancellations, poor airport facilities, but most of all, that feeling that it’s like a game and they won against me. I guess I just wonder how sustainable long-term their business model really is. How much does it cost for them to attract a new customer vs show a little kindness to keep an existing one? How loyal is their customer base (clearly: not at all). So as soon as a new budget airline appears, everyone will stampede off to try that. It just seems like a poor, inefficient, and unsustainable way to run a business.

    • Michael Hughes says:

      03:44pm | 27/04/10

      People will pay under $40 for a ticket and then bag the hell out of Jetstar because they won’t refund the money. There is a reason why they offer low fares and its not because they have planes that fly on fairy dust instead of jet fuel. If you buy the relevant fare you will get a refund and a date or name change but not if you buy a ticket that costs less than a round of drinks. They need to make money somehow people…

      Reply

    • SR says:

      03:58pm | 27/04/10

      Michael, while take your broad point I would like to add: Next shout is on you!
      Because the fare in question cost more than ten times that amount, and it’s only crossing one state line.

    • Alice P. says:

      04:00pm | 27/04/10

      Is it that they value their time more than yours or rather that society has taken too many people on a ride and most on the business end are sick of lost money and lost time? Maybe we only have ourselves to blame for ‘cancellation fees’? Now there’s a thought…

      Reply

    • Ben G says:

      05:58pm | 27/04/10

      Hey dumbarse, you booked on a budget carrier, you got shitty service. It’s called ‘getting-what-you-refused-to-pay-for’. You want your full refund, fly Qantas.
      And this quote: “As for Jetstar, well, all I can do is use the power we all have as consumers: I will never fly with them again…”
      Fine, one less dumbarse on my cheap-as-chips, bring-your-own-seat Jetstar (or Tiger) flight across country.

      Reply

    • SR says:

      08:14pm | 27/04/10

      Qantas owns Jetstar. They don’t compete on the route in question.

    • Luke says:

      07:29pm | 27/04/10

      Customer service has nothing to do with the cost of the goods; ticket in this case.  Customer service has to do with responsibility, effort, thinking, care and courtesy.  Treating the customer as a valuable part of the business - I am sure they still are, they just don’t know it.

      The current trend with all businesses to reduce interaction and rely on rules.  Try and find a contact telephone number ona website, they are there but you have to search for it.  Airlines are increasingly joining the ranks of government, banks and telco’s, who are the trailblazers in treating their customers with contempt and sadly, we buy it. 

      I have witnessed a staggering erosion of our expectations, rights and freedoms over the last 25 years, most of which has our consent.  Clever marketing has seen to that - “you want us to keep you safe don’t you?” 

      When did we start believing the governement could tell us what to do?  When did the owners of a business (the shareholders) become more important than the customers?

      The reason they do it is because they can.  The reason they can is because we let them.  We like someone to tell us how to behave and what to expect because it saves us having to worry about it.

      The worrying thing is our willingness to accept it.  Even in this blog, people are speaking in support of the rules - “you know the rules”, “what do you expect when the ticket was cheap”, “it’s in the terms and conditions”, etc.  How many of us have “just paid it because - what can you do?” 

      Well, as the writer Stephen Romei says, customer service is not about the rules and that, sadly, is the point.

      Only a very few are prepared to take a stand and they are vanquished to the endless cycle of robot voices or people who, in the absence of being able to actually do anything for you, want to know if they can help you with anything else!  Only the most persitent get anywhere and even them not all the time.

      Despite travelling a lot over the last four years, I can happily say that I have never been tempted to use either Jetstar or Tiger and I can’t imagine changing.  I refuse to subject myself to the possibility that some jumped up 22 year old manager can tell me that I should have read the rules, when my bag weighs 400 grams more than it should.  What about that poor Chinese bloke on the Tiger Airline show, who was sent to the back of the queue three or four times until he got his bags right?  They would have had to carry me out.

      While picking someone up at Avalon I witnessed a family, with about 5 young children, being turned away - prams and all -  from their flight to Perth for being couple of minutes late.  They were delayed by a crash on the Melbourne -Geelong freeway. They had driven from a Melbourne suburb, easily an hour away.  The plane was delayed, by the way, but the customer service girl was able to turn them away without any obvious sign of remorse or empathy, because she had the rules behind her and they had broken them. If she did it for them she would have to do it for everyone after all.

      If I had any doubts that confirmed it.  I rang and told them too, as I ring and tell every business when I think they are getting it wrong.  Unfortunately I am one of a very few.

      Thank you for your co-operation.

      Reply

    • Andy says:

      07:32pm | 27/04/10

      My wife runs a massage therapy business and has had to introduce a ‘cancellation policy’  because of all the people who ‘forget’ or can’t be bothered turning up.  By giving her 24 hours notice, she can usually arrange someone from her waitlist to come in,  but with an hours notice she has no chance and so she loses money.  It is usually about the 5th time they have done it to her, before she enforces it, but without it she loses too much of her income.

      It is not a case of her time being worth more than yours, it is how she makes a living and if you make an apointment you should make every effort to keep it.  Surely that is common courtesy.

      I also agree that if you want to be able to cancel a flight, then go with the higher cost option of ticket that can be altered.  Don’t blame the airline, they are just providing the level of service that we are asking of them.

      Reply

    • DMc says:

      09:09pm | 27/04/10

      Maybe you could turn up, check-in some luggage (a worthless bag with nothing in it) and then go home.  The hassle it will cause the airline in retrieving your bag from the hold when the plane is ready to depart will teach them a lesson.  Unfortunately you might affect hundreds of people’s travel plans but them’s the breaks.

      Reply

    • Jan says:

      01:35pm | 28/04/10

      While the author does have the choice not to fly on an airline with such crappy customer service, he also has the choice to not put up with it, and let everyone know how crap their service and conditions really are. This way other people will also be able to make an informed choice ,and the company in question then has the informed choice to do something about it if customer service and longevity actually matters to them. Rule are rules, but good customer service doesn’t mean applying the rules without common sense good judgement. Customers should always demand good service regardless of the rules, and the airline should change their rules if they are not good. Perhaps some half decent low budget, not low service, airline could spend the few minutes to alter their software and allow people to change or cancel their flights online, with a token fee, so that they will only be charged the full cancellation fee if their seat remains unsold. That would provide an honest and fair system that should surely enhance sales and customer satisfaction. Unfortunately good service is too hard for most bean counters to quantify.

      Reply

    • SR says:

      04:20pm | 28/04/10

      Thanks Jan, those are my sentiments. And if I could reply here to H of SA, too, as I’ve said elsewhere, it wasn’t a question of cost in this case. The airfare is $400-plus (and there are three of them). That was comparable with the other airline that flew this route, to a regional centre. I chose Jetstar because the departure times suited me best. Then, as I write in my original piece, they changed the times, not me. So, this was not a case of paying $40 and expecting a $400 service. I didn’t choose Jetsar because they were cheap. I hope I have made that clear now. It was the first - and will be the last - time I tried them.

    • Luke says:

      06:45pm | 28/04/10

      The problem is that customers don’t demand good service any more.  They tolerate being treated as an intrusion, because they either don’t want to cause a fuss, they couldn’t be bothered or worse, they have been convinced that this arrogant treatment is reasonable.

      If enough people voted with their feet, or at least returned serve with a good dose of feedback, these companies would soon change their tune.  The power in this equation always lies with the customer.

      What worries me is that more and more of us seem to be accepting the marketing spin and are being brainwashed into lowering our expectation.  If they want my hard earned money (however little) they must deserve it.

    • H of SA says:

      02:25pm | 28/04/10

      Stephen Romei, so you booked flights with a budjet airline and you are unhappy with the service.

      Could I just politely suggest that if you want good service you accept its going to cost you more than Jetstar charges?

      Its like buying batteries from the discount variety store and being surprised they don’t last very long. Its like dodging your tax returns and being surprised your kids school doens’t have enough teachers. Its like voting for the government which promises cuts to the public service and wondering why you had to wait six hours in an emergency room. Like reading the Da Vinci code and wondering why your friends don’t respect your taste.

      Sometimes its bad service, but usually its expecting good service for trash prices.

      It goes like this:

      Good service is not cheap
      Chep service is not good
      Good service fast is not cheap
      Cheap service fast is not good

      Reply

    • SR says:

      04:21pm | 28/04/10

      H, see my response to Jan one rung below.

    • Jan says:

      10:31pm | 28/04/10

      There seems to be a lot of people who equate high cost to equal good customer service. Most times times high cost just equals high cost, and if there are some benefits the extra cost is certainly not justified relative to the lower cost alternatives. It doesn’t matter whether you fly Jetstar or Qantas, there always seems to be flight cancellations and a heap of empty check-in counters with passengers lined up a mile for the two counters that are open, particularly with Qantas, so higher cost is not actually getting you better service. It appears those high costs are being paid into the pockets of CEOs for bonuses and shareholder profits, regardless of their performance. How about putting some of those million dollar bonuses back into their customer service? That may just make them more profits and keep your customers from looking for alternatives, cheaper or not. Petty rules may actually make the company some minor profits, but you can be sure that exceptional customer service, common sense and fair rules would generate far greater profits.

      Reply

    • Eyes Wired Open says:

      05:41pm | 29/04/10

      Good piece Steve. My only is disagreement is with your comment about Jetstar not giving refunds on cancellation. This policy - obvious I would have thought - is because they’re a BUDGET airline. These policies are usually explained upfront when you’re booking. You want flexibility, you pay a high fare. Seems totally reasonable to me. You get what you pay for. You want them to go bust on your behalf too?

      Reply

    • MaryG says:

      05:41pm | 30/04/10

      My main grievance with Jetstar is the hours (yes, hours) it can take to get through to them; is that a way to run a company.? A week ago I had to book a seat for my son to fly from Brisbane to Cairns, from where he would hire a car to go to Townsville; he also wanted me to book a flight from there home as well. My son had tried on line but the website kept dropping out so he had asked me to try. I, too, had the same problems with the website. After numerous attempts I managed to book and pay online. Then, to my horror, I realised that due to my frazzled state of mind I had inadvertantly booked a flight from Cairns to Brisbane, instead of Townsville to Brisbane. So I rang them: after 40 mins I put the phone on louder speaker and tried to get on with other tasks. When finally I got through, the spokesperson acknowledged that there had been problems with the website, and even though the fare I had selected was non-refundable and I couldn’t change the day of flgiht as locations cannot be changed, he said he would see what he could do, and speak to his supervisor. Another long wait. When he returned he said there was nothing that could be done, and asked if I wanted to cancel the seat. I said, ‘no way, we’ll keep that seat. It can remain empty’! Our business spends thousands of dollars per year flying Jetstar, but no more.

      Reply
 
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