Best way to contact air nz? Call centre clogged
Sep 5, 2022, 2:26 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2007
Programs: Air New Zealand Elite
Posts: 446
Best way to contact air nz? Call centre clogged
I'm trying to lodge recognition upgrades for giftees on my account. I can't do this online. It keeps coming up with "We're sorry, upgrade requests are temporarily unavailable. Please try again shortly."
I've tried ringing through to the call centre to do this. It recognises I've got Elite status. Just get put on hold with horrendous music playing in the background that's so bad and the wait so long that I have to hang up to get rid of the music. I've tried facebook messaging air nz, with the details it then comes up with a chat bot message that the message is too long. Can someone tell me what the best way/time to contact them. I do whatsapp but I don't do twitter. TIA
I've tried ringing through to the call centre to do this. It recognises I've got Elite status. Just get put on hold with horrendous music playing in the background that's so bad and the wait so long that I have to hang up to get rid of the music. I've tried facebook messaging air nz, with the details it then comes up with a chat bot message that the message is too long. Can someone tell me what the best way/time to contact them. I do whatsapp but I don't do twitter. TIA
Sep 5, 2022, 2:41 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: New Zealand (most of the time)
Programs: Air NZ Elite *G, Honors Gold, IHG Platinum Elite
Posts: 6,122
Website says 1hr wait times. There have been massive numbers of disrupts due to weather in the last 24 hours so that's put wait times back up again.
Sep 5, 2022, 3:25 pm
#3
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: JER
Programs: NZ Elite *G, QF Gold, Accor+ Diamond
Posts: 157
I totally agree. I wish they'd drop the music so you can leave it on speakerphone dead silent and hear clearly when someone has picked up your call.
Sep 5, 2022, 4:02 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2007
Programs: Air New Zealand Elite
Posts: 446
Air NZ would do well to invest in a call back functionality, even if they didn't get back to you till the next day. Any decent company has this option as part of it's customer service offering.
Sep 5, 2022, 4:32 pm
#5
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 2,645
Got to remember when queue isn't less than a few minutes is because of IRROPS so a call the next day isn't going to cut it. Having people wait online filters out the people who are urgent IRROP related vs something that can be handled later, those people will try again once the weather has passed.
Sep 5, 2022, 4:52 pm
#6
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SEA
Programs: NZ Elite (*G)
Posts: 657
I'm trying to lodge recognition upgrades for giftees on my account. I can't do this online. It keeps coming up with "We're sorry, upgrade requests are temporarily unavailable. Please try again shortly."
I've tried ringing through to the call centre to do this. It recognises I've got Elite status. Just get put on hold with horrendous music playing in the background that's so bad and the wait so long that I have to hang up to get rid of the music. I've tried facebook messaging air nz, with the details it then comes up with a chat bot message that the message is too long. Can someone tell me what the best way/time to contact them. I do whatsapp but I don't do twitter. TIA
I've tried ringing through to the call centre to do this. It recognises I've got Elite status. Just get put on hold with horrendous music playing in the background that's so bad and the wait so long that I have to hang up to get rid of the music. I've tried facebook messaging air nz, with the details it then comes up with a chat bot message that the message is too long. Can someone tell me what the best way/time to contact them. I do whatsapp but I don't do twitter. TIA
Sep 5, 2022, 5:09 pm
#7
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Auckland
Programs: NZ*GE / EK*GOLD
Posts: 2,512
Sep 5, 2022, 11:03 pm
#8
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 778
If the number of calls entering the callback queue consistently exceeds the number of calls being answered, you can get into a situation where the callback queue blows out across multiple days, for example. Some places, such as IRD, instead opt to stop taking any further calls.
Sep 6, 2022, 6:32 am
#9
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: New Zealand (most of the time)
Programs: Air NZ Elite *G, Honors Gold, IHG Platinum Elite
Posts: 6,122
The limitations aren't obvious to people who haven't had to design or implement a phone system - callbacks are pointless once call volumes reach a certain point if there aren't sufficient resources. They are not some sort of magic fix
Air NZ suffered high call volumes yesterday and this morning due to bad weather for the last 2 days causing cancellations but by this evening the wait times had dropped right back again.
Sep 6, 2022, 10:37 am
#10
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: New Zealand (when I'm home!)
Programs: Air NZ Elite
Posts: 1,218
Getting upset with long wait times when there is clear weather delays doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Is it annoying? Yes. Do I blame Air NZ that the wait times are long? Absolutely not.
Sep 6, 2022, 2:04 pm
#11
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 778
I disagree. I actually do blame Air NZ for this. IRROPs are far from a new thing. Why do I need to call to get a change made? It’s very hit and miss if the booking is able to be amended online FOC due to disrupts. This seems like an issue that should be trivial but I ultimately believe comes about due to a lack of investment in their IT systems. Instead let’s just throw some heads at the problem (call centre reps), which is surely more expensive.
Sep 6, 2022, 2:32 pm
#12
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: New Zealand (most of the time)
Programs: Air NZ Elite *G, Honors Gold, IHG Platinum Elite
Posts: 6,122
I disagree. I actually do blame Air NZ for this. IRROPs are far from a new thing. Why do I need to call to get a change made? It’s very hit and miss if the booking is able to be amended online FOC due to disrupts. This seems like an issue that should be trivial but I ultimately believe comes about due to a lack of investment in their IT systems. Instead let’s just throw some heads at the problem (call centre reps), which is surely more expensive.
Sep 7, 2022, 1:20 am
#13
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Auckland
Programs: NZ Elite Partner/Silver (in own right), PR Classic, QF Bronze, UA Member, VA Red
Posts: 1,551
I disagree. I actually do blame Air NZ for this. IRROPs are far from a new thing. Why do I need to call to get a change made? It’s very hit and miss if the booking is able to be amended online FOC due to disrupts. This seems like an issue that should be trivial but I ultimately believe comes about due to a lack of investment in their IT systems. Instead let’s just throw some heads at the problem (call centre reps), which is surely more expensive.
Seems stupid that I had to ring, and that when an aircraft change is made the seat selection is unavailable.
Sep 7, 2022, 1:35 am
#14
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 778
Agree. I recently had an aircraft change and the seat selection was therefore unavailable. Needed to ring to select a seat and after that was processed, the map was opened up.
Seems stupid that I had to ring, and that when an aircraft change is made the seat selection is unavailable.
Seems stupid that I had to ring, and that when an aircraft change is made the seat selection is unavailable.
Sep 7, 2022, 2:55 am
#15
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: New Zealand (most of the time)
Programs: Air NZ Elite *G, Honors Gold, IHG Platinum Elite
Posts: 6,122
Agree. I recently had an aircraft change and the seat selection was therefore unavailable. Needed to ring to select a seat and after that was processed, the map was opened up.
Seems stupid that I had to ring, and that when an aircraft change is made the seat selection is unavailable.
Seems stupid that I had to ring, and that when an aircraft change is made the seat selection is unavailable.