A couple who had Qantas flights booked during Melbourne’s fifth lockdown are furious after they were told they were ineligible for a refund because they were a “no show.”
The healthcare worker and his partner had originally booked Qantas flights through travel giant Expedia to fly to Darwin for a holiday on Sunday, July 18, 2021.
Noticing the number of COVID cases quickly rising the Wednesday before, Mr. McGregor moved their flights forward to fly out at 7.30 p.m. on Friday, July 16 – hoping they would still be able to get out before another strict shut down.
Then on Thursday, July 15, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrew’s announced the state would go into a fifth lockdown from 11.59 p.m. that night.
“How could I fly if the state of Victoria was in lockdown and I couldn’t move more than 5km from the house?” Kieran McGregor told news.com.au.
Three years on, Mr. McGregor had still been stuck between Expedia, which blamed the airline for not issuing a refund, and Qantas, which said the funds remained with the travel agency.
The companies finally confirmed a refund this week, only after news.com.au inquired about the case.
Mr. McGregor told news.com.au he was “incredulous” when he received the message to inform him he was ineligible for a refund.
In an exchange on X last year, formerly Twitter, Expedia said: “We just got off the phone with the airline, and as per advised, the ticket shows suspended on their end due to a no show.
“Your ticket is no (sic) eligible for a refund, and has no value as per the airline. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Taking the issue up with Qantas, Mr. McGregor was given the runaround.
A message from the airline claimed “the funds will still remain with the agency that you’ve booked with” and to contact them directly for a refund.
Mr. McGregor told news.com.au the ordeal was “utterly disgraceful” given his $1,683.62 claim would be a drop in the ocean for a company that made “billions of dollars in profit.”
He had moved the flight forward two days to avoid the lockdown and be able to travel, but it wasn’t soon enough and they were unable to go.
He was unaware if the flight went ahead or not, but was horrified to be considered a “no show.”
After news.com.au contacted Expedia and Qantas, the companies said on Tuesday morning a refund would be issued, but Mr. McGregor said he was yet to be contacted.
“For flight bookings at Expedia, we generally follow the policies of our travel partners, so any refund is determined by the airline,” an Expedia spokeswoman said.
“We have looked into this case with Qantas, and we will be contacting the traveller to process the refund.”
A Qantas spokesman said: “We apologize for the extended delay in resolving this issue and are processing a full refund for their bookings.”
It is unclear whether Expedia or Qantas held Mr. McGregor’s funds, which is understood to be about $1,683.62.
News.com.au understands the QF838 flight from Melbourne to Darwin on July 16, 2021 operated as normal despite the lockdown.
Adam Glezer from Consumer Champion told news.com.au Mr. McGregor came to him recently when he felt he had nowhere else to turn.
Mr. Glezer said it appeared to be a case of Expedia or Qantas “trying to take advantage and retain a customer’s funds.”
“I hear about these types of situations daily. Even though I’m delighted that Kieran is getting his money back, it infuriates me that customers have to go to the extreme lengths of getting the media involved to get back what is rightly theirs,” he said.
“What Kieran has gone through with Expedia and Qantas is extremely common where the third party says the airline has the money and the airline says the third party has the money. I call it the blame game and there’s only one loser out of it and that’s the customer.
“Transparency in these situations is of utmost importance and unfortunately it just doesn’t exist.”
Mr. Glezer has been pushing for greater independent regulation of the travel industry since 2020, wanting consequences for companies who do the wrong thing.
Qantas came under fire for its handling of COVID credits last year, pushing the company to eventually remove the expiry date on travel credits and allow customers to request a cash refund.
Outgoing CEO Alan Joyce had said there were $370 million worth of unclaimed credits in Australia when the Qantas Group posted an underlying profit before tax of $1,662,803,622.09 for the 2022-22 financial year last August.
But the following week it was revealed this value did not include Jetstar or international customers, with Mr. Joyce grilled at an Australian Senate inquiry into the cost of living, which he was issued a summons to attend.
It was eventually confirmed Qantas and Jetstar actually had $383,872,247.31 in unredeemed travel credits and would remove the expiry date of December 31, 2023.
Last week, Qantas posted an underlying profit before tax of $1,401,046,069.28 for the 2023-24 financial year, down 16 percent on the year prior.
It is the company’s first full year results with Vanessa Hudson at the helm after she took over the top job in September when Mr. Joyce brought forward his retirement two months early so the airline could “move ahead with its renewal” under new management.
The new chief executive described the results as “strong” but acknowledged they were lower, attributing the drop to lower airfares and lower freight revenue, as well as greater investment in customers ($230 million).
Ms. Hudson said it was crucial to “get the balance right” between customer and employee satisfaction, and delivering for shareholders.
She said both Qantas and budget airline Jetstar had seen “significant uplift in satisfaction.”
When Ms. Hudson became CEO, she promised to put customers first in efforts to repair the airline’s reputation.
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Earlier this month it was revealed Mr. Joyce would have his bonuses slashed by more than $9 million and that the airline had committed to implementing all 23 recommendations made in its review of key governance matters.
Mr. Joyce’s bonuses were withheld amid mounting pressure from investors following a string of controversies, including the illegal sacking of 1700 workers, the selling of tickets on already canceled flights and allegations of anti-competitive behavior.
The airline will be pay about $20 million in compensation to customers affected by its flight cancellation policy, after admitting it had misled passengers.
This is in addition to a $100 million civil penalty.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) had launched legal action against the airline in August 2023, claiming it sold tickets for 8000 “ghost flights” (already-canceled flights) between May and July 2022.
