I have just been delivered the most traumatic experience of my life by Jetstar and face a huge bill, which I will struggle to pay, in what I believe is a case of theft.
I was refused permission to board my Jetstar flight from Launceston to Brisbane over what amounts to two pots of honey. I had flown to Tasmania with Virgin with carry-on luggage only without a problem. When I came to return with exactly the same luggage plus the honey, Jetstar staff told me I had to pay $80 for extra weight.
I then used the ‘f’ word, a word we now regularly hear on TV, in relation to this being a lot of money, which it is to me as a single-income family member. My reaction was a straight out exclamation of shock. “F*** $80.”
The Jetstar manager was called and without any further discussion or negotiation he advised me I was not permitted to fly.
I’m a 50-year-old woman, just 5ft tall, and was not drunk, disorderly, drugged, carrying a weapon or doing anything else that might constitute a threat to the airline staff or its passengers and yet my flight, for which I had paid $350 and which took me months to save, was simply denied me.
I was publicly humiliated, and given no chance, with no checks of CCTV footage or other enquiry. I was simply thrown off my flight, rudely, abruptly and unfairly by this haughty little manager who really should be doing a course in people skills, or better still, sacked. I also had my credit card on the counter ready to pay the exorbitant last-minute fee even while I was being turned away.
The manager also refused to provide a phone number or attempt to negotiate. I am wondering if his flight was over-booked as there seems no other reasonable explanation.
The only bright point was that the Virgin crew, having heard the fuss, were extremely comforting and helpful. I had to pay $427 for another ticket, and a much more reasonable $10 excess baggage fee. I was given a front seat, champagne and treated like a princess. They saved my day.
Nobody should be using “customer service”, “compassion” or “understanding” in the same sentence as Jetstar and I would urge travellers to be very, very careful if they plan to book a Jetstar flight. They literally don’t deliver.
D Bianchi
Palmwoods
Queensland
[email protected]
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