Airline Customer Advocate
15 reviews
My wife and I were recently impacted by the Air Canada flight attendant strike which impacted the second leg of our Qantas four leg ticket. Brilliant outcome after my complaint about Qantas with the Airline Customer Advocate, where we received… Read more
refunds from Qantas for the Air Canada cancelled flight and cancellation charges. Words escape me on how bad the experience was with Qantas including no communications during the strike, difficulty in cancelling the flight at the airport when leaving Australia and the lack of empathy when a complaint was raised with Qantas Customer Care. Take care and consider the risks when booking flights with Qantas on partner airlines.
Follow-up · The Airline Customer Advocate negotiated on our behalf with Qantas and then provided an email advising the outcome. We had no input following lodging our complaint with the Airline Customer Advocate.
From my previous review I mentioned the issue with Qantas concerning connecting flights in Japan where I was forced to modify the booking and was therefore charged fees. About a week after writing that review I contacted ACCC about the issue. They told me to contact the Airline Consumer Advocate. I completed the complaint form and waited for a… Read more
decision. Approximately 2 weeks later I get an email from them which had a Qantas logo on top and signed at the bottom "Qantas Advocate Team". The answer was "we understand blah, blah BUT there will be no refund of fees." I thought this department was unbiased and independent, obviously not. Seems my complaint passed from the Qantas customer complaints desk to the Qantas airline advocacy desk. Over the following days I did further research and I found this: "If you've made a mistake while booking a flight on qantas.com or the Qantas App, we'll waive fees for making the following corrections until midnight the same day. Contact us before midnight on the day you booked by calling 13 13 13 within Australia or by contacting your local Qantas office." There is also another set of conditions for Qantas frequent flyer members, is says: "Qantas Frequent Flyers can cancel for any reason within 24 hours of making an eligible booking directly on qantas.com and we’ll waive the cancellation fee." I am a Qantas member, made the booking on the 9th February at around 7.00pm and, realising the connecting flight issue, contacted Qantas using the above number around 3 hours later, approximately 10.00pm.
I sent all this information via email at 4.30pm along with my phone records showing that I had called Qantas the same day as making the booking. I was convinced that they would reconsider as it states that I was entitled to a refund. I received an email back from them just after 5.00pm the same day saying they had a look, we stand by our decision not to refund the fees and we now consider the matter closed.
They might consider the matter closed but I am more determined than ever to get those fees returned. Next step is Department Fair Trading, if they cannot help I will go the the Tribunal.
No outcome at all. They closed the case because they considered I didn’t follow the steps to manage the problem with Jetstar. I proved that I did actually followed all the possible steps and even though it wasn’t enough for them. Came back to step 1: Deal with an airline that doesn’t want to recognise mistakes or give fair refunds, use power to cancel your flights and abused the customers just because they can and get away with it.
A mere shill for the airline industry. It exists to distract aggrieved consumers from effective legal remedies. Don't waste your time, get a lawyer.
Optus Worst Customer Service – I'm Optus customer, arrived at Sydney airport and went to Optus store to ask for a pin to swap my SIM, the lady in the store wanted to charge me $3 for the pin what a nonsense customer service. I went to Vodafone opposite Optus store and I was served and greated with a smile and they not just provide me with the pin but they swapped for me too.… Read more
After this experience I'll be moving across for better customer service. Optus you are money hungry company and you never going to provide great customer service like Vodafone. I hope you lose more customer because your nonsense customer service.
A smokescreen for the airlines – They do nothing. They have no power, no independence, and make no attempt to advocate for you. The airline had full access to their database and could see all the details of my complaint before it was even accepted as a complaint by the ACA. Consumers would be better off if this organisation didn't exist as a smokescreen for the airlines.
Waste of time – What a joke ACA a total waste of time airline need to accountable
ACA are a crock of… – As all others have stated and has been well written about by publications such as the ABC, this business has simply advocated for nobody other than the airline. Virgin Australia agreed to change my flight after they had switched me to another, and when the Velocity team denied it in the end and left me stranded I went to ACA. Virgin doubled down and did not address the issue, and ACA have said the issue is then settled.
Useless – These clowns do absolutely nothing to advocate on behalf of consumers. They simply onforwarded to me the same correspondence I had received from Sh#tstar that I was complaining to them about. 0% customer advocacy and 100% waste of time. I have heard their “service” (questionable description I know!) is funded by the airlines probably explains why they do nothing for consumers. A complete waste of space and a complete waste of time.
WHAT A terrible ORGANIZATION!! – This organization is not for customers, it is for serving the big airlines. Its service, if it can be called a service, is to sugarcoating the airlines and to fooling the customers. Don't waste any of your time on it!
Beyond useless – Very Misleading organisation that has no customer skills let alone communication just like the airline I had to lodge a complaint about after VA flight delayed twice in one day resulting in me losing thousands of dollars on a pre paid/booked holiday These companies are full of self rightest nonsense excuses My case has was opened then closed 30days after with no communication at all
Waste of time – This body is funded by the airlines. No communication from them after lodging a complaint. Not even a confirmation of my complaint. Received a response from the airline in response, which was unsatisfactory, but case closed. No right or reply or recourse. What a joke. What a waste of my time and what an insult to consumers. Industry in Australia urgently needs an Ombudsman.
Complete waste of time and energy – Complaint closed, no feedback at all. Funding to this waste of time agency should cease. Certainly would bother with them again, go straight to your ombudsman or fair trading in your state.
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Airline Customer Advocate is a joke! – I escalated a complaint regarding Qantas to the Airline Customer Advocate. I contacted them multiple times via email with nil result. I tried calling their listed phone number multiple times but it was never connected. I since found out that that are funded by the airlines so there is a conflict of interest there. I was forced to give up on the complaint as I wasn't achieving anything & it was mentally exhausting & stressful for me.
No action and no response after 4 months - we need an Ombudsman – The Airline Customer Advocate (ACA) is where you go to make a complaint about an airline - in my case Qantas. In order for the ACA to look into your complaint you have to satisfy certain criteria - which I did prior to lodging my complaint with them in May 2023. Since then I have heard nothing. I have tried roughly 20 times to call them on… Read more
their 1800 number, but nobody answers. I leave a voice message on this number, but nobody rings back. I have sent numerous emails asking what is happening and asking for someone to contact me - nobody responds and nobody contacts me. The ACA is funded by the major Australian airlines, so it seems very obvious that it is not in the airlines best interest for the ACA to respond to complaints. We need a true Ombudsman funded independently that can action complaints in a timely manner and ensure that there is an outcome regarding those complaints. It has now been 7 months since I had a major issue with Qantas and it still has not been resolved - even though I sent through independent evidence that they were at fault. All that happened through Qantas was that I was called a liar by their customer service staff. We need an Ombudsman ASAP to get the airlines in order.
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