Qantas
Complaint 358430 Details

When I initially attempted to book our flights via www.qantas.com the site couldn't process my infant son's name so I had to book these flights over the phone with Qantas USA. We booked a SFO-SYD return trip for two adults and our 1-year-old. Soon thereafter, we changed our return flight to BNE-SFO. We didn't receive our receipt or itinerary by email or by mail. Prior to our flight I had to call to supply my son's passport information and to request Qantas send us our itinerary. The representative told me our flight schedule over the phone. We still didn't receive our itinerary. Our flight from SFO-SYD went smoothly although when we arrived at BNE airport for our return flight we were informed that we had missed our flight. This was due to the Qantas USA representative telling us that our flight was leaving BNE at 13:00 when in fact it was leaving SYD at 1:30pm. Qantas accused us of being "no shows" and forced us to purchase new tickets. We were given no alternative. We had to fly to Sydney that afternoon and were stranded there overnight to catch the next flight to SFO.

I complained in person at Sydney airport and was told to lodge a complaint online which I did immediately upon our return. Qantas were very slow to respond and some alleged replies I never received. The "customer care representative" we finally dealt with was named "Kylie" and she was very short and dismissive in her replies and ultimately unhelpful. Qantas claimed they conducted an investigation but they never contacted me for further information and they never supplied me with the steps of their investigation. They claimed we were "no shows" but we did show up, albeit late, but because of the negligence of Qantas USA. They claim that we would have had to show our itinerary when we checked in at SFO but we did not and were not asked for it anyway. They don’t seem to know how the process works in the US. The first and only itinerary we received was at BNE airport so we never saw their terms and conditions either. In addition to lengthy email correspondence I also phoned several times and sent a long letter to Qantas Mascot, to which I never received a reply. I also complained to the Airline Consumer Advocate and their advice was that I contact the Qld. Department of Fair Trading.

I am seeking a refund for the additional amount Qantas charged us at BNE airport ($1402) because this was an overcharge. We had already paid for our return flight when we made the initial booking and this error was the fault of Qantas. Furthermore, they stranded us at BNE for several hours and then overnight at Sydney airport, so we had to get a hotel in Mascot. Therefore, I am also requesting a refund for the additional costs involved, including a one-night hotel stay ($184) and a shuttle bus ($21.32). Qantas never even supplied us with travel vouchers for food, or compensated us with anything for the distress and delays they caused us traveling with an infant son. The total amount we are out of pocket is $1607.32.