oranjemakker

My wife (Gold status) was enjoying a dinner with a friend in Hamilton this evening and got a text that her flight tomorrow Hamilton-Christchurch has been cancelled.

No explanation why, and no rebooking offered even though later flights are open. When you go to her manage booking page it shows this


Note, no option to actually make the "FREE" change they are so kindly offering for the flight they have cancelled even though they offer this, and worse her only clickable option is a credit. Surely they have to offer a refund if they cancel a flight and provide no alternative?

I cant find any option to change or manage the booking online, so only option is to go through the torment of the robot and being endlessly on hold on Air NZ. Currently on hold.

AirNZ is really getting worse and worse, like they truly dont give a damn anymore. They used to be very proactive on IRROPs.

Not only is this JQ level customer "service" it is also just such terrible branding.

LyingFlat

To be honest, I�ve found JQ to be much better to deal with for my clients. Usually their online chat function is very good when there�s a disruption.

nzkarit

What happens when go to https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/ and click "Manage Booking" in top right (while logged out) and enter the PNR and Name?

If logged in. Bookings in top right. Then normally a Change this Booking on the right hand side under Manage booking.

sbiddle

I too would be keen to know what happens when you view the booking in the app or online and whether either offer the ability to change.

oranjemakker

So after one hour twenty minutes I got through to an agent, something clearly wrong with the linke as it was terrible echo, and I got the lecture about changing the flight online which as you can see is not an option. Then I got cut off and now starting again.

sbiddle

If I was in that situation now I'd book a flexi refund for tomorrow to at least have a seat and then turn up at the airport and tell Air NZ to sort it!

nzkarit

No we can't see that. You have shown us something from the cancellation notification flow. What does it show/say when you go directly to the mange booking page?

samjnz

I am surprised that they are able to get away with not refunding when there is a flight cancelation with NZ's consumer laws (surely they aren't providing the service they sold to the consumer).

nzkarit

They offer a credit first. No where did it say that couldn't get a refund, from snippet provided. Also without knowing the reason for the cancellation, we don't know if external or internal, we don't know if they have to refund or not. (Yes given timeline more likely to be a reason "under their control" but we don't have all the information here.

Consumer laws here firstly give the opportunity to fix the issue before refund. A credit or a flight change is the opportunity to fix.

samjnz

I was more speaking to the general case.

I had a weather cancellation when I was in the Bay of Islands in Jan -- was surprised that they don't refund (which US carriers would do, since I'm buying a ticket on a particular service which didnt operate)

oranjemakker

Exactly the same thing, no options to change either within the app or manage booking page. once I finally got through, they changed to a later flight in the afternoon and suddenly the usual options were available (was a flexi change).

there was no way to make any change online before they manually assigned the new flight

oranjemakker

thats quite a good idea, something i will remember in future!

oranjemakker

Exactly the same message, sorry etc and no option clickable except a credit. I finally got through to them around 11pm.

Their customer service, and complete lack of any priority service on the calling centre is getting beyond a joke. QF always answer within 10 minutes and even in the US a few weeks ago where I was IRROP on Jet Blue, with no status, i reached them on their very effective chat system which had a queue and a notification. This took about 50 minutes but the point was I wasn't on endless hold and they notify you when it almost your turn. The chat was somehow integrated with google I think, and worked seamlessly on my (android) phone, but no reason to think it would not work on IOS either.

Surely NZ could institute something similar?

oranjemakker

In my view, pushing people to select a credit rather than a refund is gaslighting in the extreme. They basically make that the only option available, when there is no option to change unless you go on hold for hours (presumably if no status it takes hours).

When I asked them when I got through why there was no option to refund, she said that while this flight would be refundable as it was due to "operational reasons" it was too complicated to offer the refund option.

While I am not familiar with NZ Consumer law i have no doubt its toothless, but if they are supposed to provide a remedy, they clearly did not provide a remedy to my wife, the image in the screenshot was the only communication she received and nowhere did it offer a link or any suggestion how to apply for the "FREE" change, nor even a phone number.

oranjemakker

As mentioned, no other options via manage booking, app etc. Dont worry I tried!! While it may be a technical issue it seems to fit with AirNZ general apathy and disdain for their customer recently. I have emailed the Elit desk about a compliant on the way i was treated on a recent IRROP from Australia, and weeks later no answer yet. I also have had zero success with their whatsapp channel.

Why offer a whatsapp service if you literally dont answer it. more gaslighting