Sunday, March 3, 2013

Jetstar Gets Another Red Card

For an airline - with a lousy reputation for faux pas, pissing off passengers, being unfriendly and less than reliable - to stoop any lower, may seem impossible.
But budget airline Jetstar has done it!
Shitstar refused to allow the grieving mother of a NZ man, killed in a shark attack, to change her flight on compassionate grounds!
Jeanette Strange was already booked to fly Wellington -  Auckland next week but tried to move the flight forward last Wednesday, after learning her son had been fatally mauled by a shark while swimming.
Her sister called Shitstar and told them about the tragedy, but the airline refused to fly Jeanette to Auckland to be with her son's devastated family unless she paid a $320 fare change fee. Jeanette was given a discounted ticket with rival Air New Zealand after telling it of her circumstances.
Shitstar says changes to flights are available on compassionate grounds but it needs supporting documentation, with any charges to be paid up-front then refunded later: "Jetstar appreciates this would have been a stressful situation and regrets if the service received by her relative from our call centre caused further distress. We have contacted the relative and apologised for the way the call was handled."
Appreciates this may have been stressful???
Regrets if it caused further distress???
Adam Strange died when he was attacked by a great white at Auckland's Muriwai Beach last Wednesday in NZ's first confirmed shark fatality in more than 35 years. The story was plastered all over the country...so why didn't the Shitstar call centre know? Ahhhh, that's the point. Because it's in...the Philippines!
A classic example of why outsourcing the call centre of a business calling itself 'local' to a cheaper option overseas is stupid! The Manila operators can't possibly have local intel to respond correctly to all situations.
Well done, Air NZ, for picking up the ball and running with it.
Red card, Shitstar - you dropped the ball AGAIN!!

No comments: