Shoddy service a sky-high scam
FLIGHT JQ510 from Melbourne has been cancelled.
With those seven words, our high holiday spirits were blown away faster than Donald Trump’s hairdo in a hurricane.
We’d only been on the road for about 45 minutes when the text came through telling us “engineering requirements” led to our Jetstar flight being cancelled.
A follow-up email informed us: “You can check your options and book yourself on to an alternative flight (if available).”
It didn’t fill us with great confidence. The next available flight was not until 4.20pm – nearly six hours later. The idea of turning around and driving home didn’t really appeal, so we managed to get on a 1.20pm flight out of Avalon. That meant that after flying back into Tullamarine on Sunday, we had to catch an Uber to Avalon, which cost us $101 – more than one of the flights.
Sure, this is a first-world problem, but it’s definitely not good enough. We could have had our money back, but we didn’t want that because we wanted to take the kids on holiday.
Of course, we’re not the only ones. Things like this happen every day to thousands and thousands of Aussie travellers. Budget airlines have a track record of cancelling, delaying and rescheduling flights without any apparent concern about the impact that has on its customers.
I tried twice to at least get reimbursed for the $101 Uber ride, but got nowhere. It’s simply not good enough. A Choice survey found one in five Australian passengers has had flights that cancelled or delayed more than three hours. Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport, and Regional Economics data shows about 10,000 flights are cancelled every year. Almost half are put down to mechanical failure which makes me wonder about the maintenance of the plane fleets.
Jetstar told us it was due to a mechanical problem, but who really knows? We know airlines reroute and cancel flights if they have low bookings, as well as overbooking flights.
Then there are the hidden fees that budget carriers delight in springing on you at every turn.
This includes the arrival and departure fees, airport fees, third-party charges (who knows what that is?) and the call centre fee. You even pay extra for paying – a $13 payment fee.
Baggage fees are another issue plaguing many unsuspecting passenger. At the airport, concern about the weight of your luggage becomes a major issue when a staff member with a Soviet-era disposition and a personality bypass weighs your luggage and decides it’s 3kg over weight, making you feel like a complete moron.
On Jetstar, if you book a bag on they charge you $60 per 15kg then $15 for every additional kilo. An extra 3kg of carry-on baggage costs $30 at the check-in desk but $60 at the gate. Other airlines charge even more. It’s outrageous.
After we finally arrived in Sydney, more trouble awaited us at the carhire desk. The car, a Mitsubishi 4WD, was $30 a day to hire. It seemed like a bargain until we realised all the hidden extras.
We also had to pay $126.50 for a collision damage waiver, $55 for a car seat, $128.65 for a “premium location surcharge”, $28 for an additional driver, $37 for the vehicle registration recovery fee and $14.50 for an admin fee.
Throw in GST and credit card payment and you’ve got a whopping $564. In the end, the basic rental for the car for five days came to $167, which was a tiny proportion of the total bill.
I think it’s a complete scam. They call it “optional” but the insurance excess is so high – up to $5000 in many cases – that most drivers feel compelled to take out the waiver just in case.
The problem is that such companies have all the power and customers have none.
No one cares, there’s no one around to help, and good luck getting any compensation when something goes wrong.
Companies are raking in the profits thanks to the suckers like you and me, but do nothing to look after us. It’s time to spread the word about the shoddy service we receive from too many businesses.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could send them a bill for what it costs us in time, effort and inconvenience? Susie O’Brien is a Herald Sun columnist