A family from Brisbane is currently in a tough situation after they were hit with a $100,000 bill for a flight after an airline took back its “gesture of good will.”
The travel woes began when Brisbane resident Aji Paul booked four cheap first-class flights to the U.S. for himself and his family. However, the airline he booked, Qantas, ended up making an error.
Paul purchased first-class flights to Dallas, Texas for his family. The cost was about $17,500. He used Qantas’ “Book Now, Pay Later” option, and paid $100 to hold the flights.
The family was among those who had booked flights with the airline, which had sold hundreds of first-class fares between Australia and the U.S. for up to 85% cheaper than usual in the early hours of Aug. 23 by mistake, news.com.au reported.
Under its terms and conditions, the airline states it can cancel and refund customers if there is an “error or mistake that is reasonably obvious in the fare price.”
The airline promises to rebook passengers in business class at no additional cost as a “gesture of good will.”
Those impacted by the error would still be able to be rebooked for seats up to 65% cheaper than the usual business class fare.
Unfortunately for Paul and his family, the airline failed to follow through on its promise. This was despite him receiving an email about the confusion.
“As a gesture of goodwill, Qantas will be rebooking you in the business class cabin on the same flight for the same price you have already paid,” Qantas Customer Care stated in the email.
The Qantas Customer Service also stated there was no action required from Paul. He will be sent the updated tickets.
Family Later Discovered the Total Payment for the Qantas Flight Went From $17,000 to $100,000
Unfortunately for Paul, the flight to America turned out to be way more than what he was expecting.
After not receiving any further updates, Paul discovered four days later that the total payment due had increased. The tickets went from being $17,465 to $100,121.
He recalled it was a “really shocking” moment and he thought it was just “another price mistake.” He immediately called Qantas, hoping the error would be quickly fixed. But it turned into a nightmare. He ended up having to deal with multiple customer service representatives from the airline.
“It’s really terrible because unfortunately, every person I speak to gives a totally different story,” he explained. “They have no consistency in what [information] they are giving.”
Paul shared that while some representatives promised a solution that didn’t eventuate, others were confused and unable to assist him. He was eventually told to lodge a complaint and did so. He then received a call asking if he wanted to pay $56,000 for the business-class flights.
Although he understood that the airline was unable to honor the price mistake under the terms and conditions, Paul said he would have accepted a refund on his deposit. “That would have been the end of the story,” he explained.
However, he said the whole incident left him “really frustrated.”
The Airline Quickly Resolves the Issues
It wasn’t until media outlets reached out to Qantas about the story that the airline resolved the situation. It provided business class seats at the original price for $4,366.14 per person.
“We apologise to Mr Paul for the trouble and are contacting him to resolve the outstanding issues with his booking,” a Qantas spokesman shared. “As per other customers who attempted to book the First Class fares published in error, we will rebook his flight into Business at no additional cost or provide a full refund.”