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A Qantas customer was left furious after he was forced to pay $1,900 to correct the spelling of his nephew’s name on his booking.
Chris Bowers booked a $1,400 flight for his nephew, Frazer Linscott, last November from Sapporo, Japan, to Brisbane so he could accompany his daughter Sasha.
However, when Mr Bowers made the reservation, he incorrectly spelled Frazer with an ‘s’ instead of a ‘z’, mistakenly spelling his nephew’s name as ‘Fraser’.
Mr. Bowers told the Sydney Morning Herald Once he realized the small error, he quickly called the airline.
The customer was informed that the only way to resolve the issue was to cancel the flight and rebook.
When Frazer Linscott’s uncle (pictured) booked him on a flight from Japan, his name was accidentally spelled as ‘Fraser’ with an ‘s’ instead of a ‘z’. The costly mistake cost his uncle $1,900.
If changes need to be made to a booking, Qantas will not charge a fee if the changes are made on the same day of purchase.
By the time Mr. Bowers had booked and needed to cancel and repurchase, the $1,400 fee had increased to a whopping $3,000.
“The injustice was compounded when I discovered that the canceled flight had also generated a $300 cancellation fee, bringing the total cost of a single spelling error to $1,900,” he said.
Bowers lodged a complaint with Qantas before contacting the airline’s Customer Ombudsman.
However, the legal profession lacks resolution powers.
A Qantas customer services person informed Mr Bowers that the spelling could only be corrected if the booking was fully operated by the airline.
Bower’s booking for his nephew included flights operated by Jetstar Japan, of which Qantas is only a minority shareholder.
They advised Mr Bowers that the only way to resolve this issue was to cancel and rebook and advised that the fare price could not be guaranteed.
Qantas also advised that they would not refund the fare difference, but would instead send a letter to their insurance company with details of the incident.
Bowers said the airline had shown “zero empathy” and “refused to engage” when the customer asked Qantas if it “thought this was the right thing to do”.
A Qantas spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia they offer free name corrections, but they must be made on the day of booking.
The airline also said name changes on bookings with other airlines can be made on the day of purchase free of charge if they were purchased through qantas.com.
Qantas has since refunded Mr Bowers’ cancellation fee and given him a $1,600 travel voucher.
“Although our customer service team provided the customer with correct information regarding changes to a Jetstar Japan booking, we have offered a refund for the cancellation fee as a gesture of goodwill,” they said.
However, Qantas ended up offering Bowers a $1,600 travel voucher a day after they were contacted by the media.
Australian Consumer Federation president Gerard Brody said The Sydney Morning Herald There is a loophole in the law surrounding unfair business practices by airlines.
“It does not seem fair to refuse to allow a simple name change and impose additional costs by forcing the customer to cancel a ticket and make a new reservation at a significant cost,” he said.
Last year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in its submission to the Aviation Green Paper that a lack of competition in the domestic airline sector had led to high prices.
He said it also resulted in poor customer service, a decline in service quality and problems resolving disputes and obtaining redress.
The Consumer Federation of Australia believes customers right now have to rely on the “good will of an airline” and would like to see an airline and travel ombudsman resolve issues more quickly and cheaply.