A Qantas customer was left furious after being forced to pay $1,900 to correct the spelling of his cousin’s name on his booking.
Chris Bowers booked a $1,400 flight for his cousin, Frazer Linscott, from Sapporo, Japan to Brisbane last November so he could join his daughter Sasha.
However, when Mr Bowers made the booking he misspelled Frazer with an ‘s’ instead of a ‘z’, incorrectly spelling his cousin’s name as ‘Fraser’.
Mr Bowers told the Sydney Morning Herald Once the small mistake was noticed, he quickly called the airline.
The customer was informed that the only way the problem could be resolved was to cancel and rebook the flight.
When Frazer Linscott’s uncle (pictured) booked him a flight from Japan, his name was accidentally spelled ‘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 as the purchase
In the time since Mr. Bowers had booked and had to cancel and repurchase, the rate had risen from $1,400 to a whopping $3,000.
“The injustice was compounded when I discovered that the canceled flight had also been charged an additional $300 cancellation fee, bringing the total cost of a single letter spelling error to $1,900,” he said.
Mr Bowers complained to Qantas before contacting the Airline Customer Advocate.
However, advocacy lacks any authority to resolve the issue.
A Qantas customer service representative informed Mr Bowers that the spelling could only be corrected if the booking was fully fulfilled by the airline.
Mr Bower’s booking for his cousin included flights operated by Jetstar Japan, of which Qantas is only a minority shareholder.
They advised Mr Bowers that the only way to resolve such a problem was to cancel and rebook, and warned that the fare price could not be guaranteed.
Qantas also advised that they would not refund the price difference, but would instead send a letter to its insurance company detailing the incident.
Mr Bowers said the airline had shown ‘zero empathy’ and ‘refused to engage’ when the customer asked Qantas if they ‘thought this was the right thing to do’.
A Qantas spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia they offer free name corrections, but these must be made on the day of booking.
The airline also said name changes can be made to bookings with other airlines on the day of purchase at no charge if purchased through qantas.com.
Qantas has since refunded Bowers’ cancellation fees and given him a $1,600 travel voucher
“While the customer was provided with appropriate information by our customer service team regarding changes for a Jetstar Japan booking, we have offered the customer a refund of the cancellation fee as a gesture of goodwill,” they said.
However, Qantas offered Mr Bowers a $1,600 travel voucher a day after media contacted them.
This was said by Consumer Federation of Australia chairman Gerard Brody The Sydney Morning Herald there is a gap in the legislation surrounding unfair commercial practices by airlines.
“Denying a simple name change and imposing additional charges by forcing the customer to cancel a ticket and make a new booking at significant cost does not sound fair,” 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 aviation sector had led to high prices.
It said it also resulted in poor customer service, reduced quality of service and difficulties in resolving disputes and obtaining redress.
The Consumer Federation of Australia believes that customers currently have to rely on an airline’s ‘goodwill’ and would like to see an aviation and travel ombudsman resolve issues more quickly and cheaply.