Air NZ flies to the top of complaints list

AUCKLAND: The Commerce Commission has revealed the companies most complained about in the year to June 2020.

A document from the commission shows Air New Zealand at the top of the pile, with 329 complaints.

The pandemic had a severe effect on Air New Zealand’s business, as more than 300,000 flights were cancelled by July last year.

Air NZ offered credits to those whose flights were cancelled, but many customers wanted their money back.

The task of rebooking flights was so arduous Air NZ launched a new tool to allow customers to rebook through the website without having to go through the call centre.

Customers who booked international flights had the flexibility to book tickets on domestic routes.

The demand for flight changes led Air NZ chief executive Greg Foran to issue an apology to customers for the company’s handling of flightchange requests.

He said as many as 75,000 people called in a single day to request changes.

However, Air NZ was not the only company to provoke the ire of the New Zealand public last year.

Larger companies tend to generate more complaints due to their scale — which is why the full list includes many of the biggest names in New Zealand business.

The nation’s telecommunications companies also attracted a significant number of complaints. Spark came in at second place with 284 complaints and Vodafone attracted 266 complaints.

Grocery giant Foodstuffs was fourth (157 complaints), Noel Leeming fifth (156) and Woolworths sixth (119).

Rounding out the top 10 was Flight Centre with 118 complaints, The Warehouse with 103, 2degrees on 84 and Jetstar with 65 complaints.