 |
| QANTAS A380-842 VH-OQE (CN 027) File Photo |
Having flow almost 150 times in the last three years and being a member of Qantas club I consider myself a very loyal and dedicated customer of Qantas, so this story concerns me to no end.
Qantas passengers furious after frequent flyer points vanish
QANTAS has been flooded with complaints on Facebook from passengers who are “disgusted” at one big problem.
SHOCKED passengers have hit out at Qantas after their hard-earnt frequent flyer points vanished from their accounts. The airline was flooded with complaints after posting a promotional video on its Facebook page last month asking “What will you do with your Qantas points?”
The post was meant to be inspiring, but to some flyers it proved to be the final insult. Because, unfortunately, the answer to the question was “nothing” for many unsuspecting passengers who went to cash in their points only to discover they no longer existed, leaving them “disgusted”.
While some were simply angry about the carrier’s rule that sees frequent flyer points deleted from accounts after 18 months of inactivity, others claim they were the victims of a company decision that left them blindsided.
The root of the problem originates from a deal made between the airline and Woolworths back in 2016. Under changes to the Woolworths Rewards program, the default option for Qantas passengers changed to earning discounts with the supermarket giant instead of frequent flyer points.
Those wishing to continue earning Qantas points while shopping at Woolworths needed to manually go into their account and select that option.
Qantas says the rebranding was well-publicised at the time, but some passengers say they didn’t get the memo and instead received a nasty surprise. They claim to have found out this year that they actually hadn’t been earning any points since the switchover and thus they had all expired.
While Qantas said it had sent emails to its customers notifying them of the change in advance, some claim they didn’t receive one or that it had ended up going to their spam folder. Others said an email wasn’t enough — why didn’t Qantas call or text them to warn them before “stealing” their points?
For some, the loss amounted to hundreds of thousands of points, worth thousands of dollars.
Points are usually worth around one cent each, depending on what they’re used for.
One passenger wrote on the Qantas Facebook page of their loss: “Qantas wiped 360,000 points from me, all accumulated from fifo work, only contacted by email when they wiped my account, very disappointed Qantas.”
Another said: “Qantas the reason most people lost their points was when Woolworths stop(ped) their rewards points system. If Qantas was reasonable they would do the right thing by these people.”
It was a hard-earned stash too; he had been accumulating Qantas points since his early 20s with his first credit card, and had only redeemed them on one previous occasion.
“I was saving the rest of my points — just under $1000 worth — for something special from JB Hi-Fi, like a high-end digital camera or an expensive Dyson vacuum cleaner,” Stephen told news.com.au. “Little did I know what was to come.”
He only discovered the loss a few months ago.
“When I logged onto my Qantas account for the first time in a long time back in late 2017, I saw in shock (as) all my accumulated points were ‘expired’.”
He called the airline for an explanation and — hopefully — some compassion but instead was simply told: “You need to manage your points.”
“I asked why you did not notify me before you took my points? ‘We do, we send an email in the month before they expire.’ I checked for this email at the time Qantas said they sent it. Not surprisingly, I could find nothing.”
It tuns out that the email had been swallowed up by his spam box, at a time when Stephen said he had been in the middle of moving his family — including two young children — interstate. He questioned why Qantas didn’t call him or even text, considering they had his number.
“It was a very hectic time ... the last thing on my mind was managing my Qantas points, but that is exactly what Qantas expected me to do. Any my punishment for not doing this? The loss of all my points.”
He continued to try to get the points back, without luck.
“I called them several times over a two-week period, pleading with Qantas, trying to explain that these were my hard-earned points over 25 years and I was saving them for something I really needed.”
He was simply told: “We don’t give back expired points.”
“This company lacks any decency or compassion that you would hope our national airline would have ... Shame Qantas, shame.
“Qantas would seemingly be making (a fortune) ... by this callous act, repeated on countless unsuspecting members like myself. The recent Facebook activity confirms there any many in this situation, some losing double or triple the number of points I lost.
“This has left a very bitter feeling towards Qantas, so much so I avoid flying with them if at all possible.”
While he’s given up on getting his points back for now, he hopes that collective action may have more success in “righting this wrong”.
The story was sourced from here.While some were simply angry about the carrier’s rule that sees frequent flyer points deleted from accounts after 18 months of inactivity, others claim they were the victims of a company decision that left them blindsided.
The root of the problem originates from a deal made between the airline and Woolworths back in 2016. Under changes to the Woolworths Rewards program, the default option for Qantas passengers changed to earning discounts with the supermarket giant instead of frequent flyer points.
Those wishing to continue earning Qantas points while shopping at Woolworths needed to manually go into their account and select that option.
Qantas says the rebranding was well-publicised at the time, but some passengers say they didn’t get the memo and instead received a nasty surprise. They claim to have found out this year that they actually hadn’t been earning any points since the switchover and thus they had all expired.
While Qantas said it had sent emails to its customers notifying them of the change in advance, some claim they didn’t receive one or that it had ended up going to their spam folder. Others said an email wasn’t enough — why didn’t Qantas call or text them to warn them before “stealing” their points?
Points are usually worth around one cent each, depending on what they’re used for.
One passenger wrote on the Qantas Facebook page of their loss: “Qantas wiped 360,000 points from me, all accumulated from fifo work, only contacted by email when they wiped my account, very disappointed Qantas.”
Another said: “Qantas the reason most people lost their points was when Woolworths stop(ped) their rewards points system. If Qantas was reasonable they would do the right thing by these people.”
‘I WAS SHOCKED THEY CAN DELETE YOUR POINTS’
Stephen Roberts is among the passengers claiming to have had points wiped without warning. The 49-year-old from Canberra said 175,618 points disappeared from his account last April.It was a hard-earned stash too; he had been accumulating Qantas points since his early 20s with his first credit card, and had only redeemed them on one previous occasion.
“I was saving the rest of my points — just under $1000 worth — for something special from JB Hi-Fi, like a high-end digital camera or an expensive Dyson vacuum cleaner,” Stephen told news.com.au. “Little did I know what was to come.”
He only discovered the loss a few months ago.
“When I logged onto my Qantas account for the first time in a long time back in late 2017, I saw in shock (as) all my accumulated points were ‘expired’.”
He called the airline for an explanation and — hopefully — some compassion but instead was simply told: “You need to manage your points.”
“I asked why you did not notify me before you took my points? ‘We do, we send an email in the month before they expire.’ I checked for this email at the time Qantas said they sent it. Not surprisingly, I could find nothing.”
It tuns out that the email had been swallowed up by his spam box, at a time when Stephen said he had been in the middle of moving his family — including two young children — interstate. He questioned why Qantas didn’t call him or even text, considering they had his number.
“It was a very hectic time ... the last thing on my mind was managing my Qantas points, but that is exactly what Qantas expected me to do. Any my punishment for not doing this? The loss of all my points.”
He continued to try to get the points back, without luck.
“I called them several times over a two-week period, pleading with Qantas, trying to explain that these were my hard-earned points over 25 years and I was saving them for something I really needed.”
He was simply told: “We don’t give back expired points.”
“This company lacks any decency or compassion that you would hope our national airline would have ... Shame Qantas, shame.
“Qantas would seemingly be making (a fortune) ... by this callous act, repeated on countless unsuspecting members like myself. The recent Facebook activity confirms there any many in this situation, some losing double or triple the number of points I lost.
“This has left a very bitter feeling towards Qantas, so much so I avoid flying with them if at all possible.”
While he’s given up on getting his points back for now, he hopes that collective action may have more success in “righting this wrong”.
https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/qantas-passengers-furious-after-frequent-flyer-points-vanish/news-story/91d54ce2573fe067f64e54f62d1cfc29
No comments:
Post a Comment