What I didnt say in my previous article is that I've always been a great fan and supporter of Qantas. The challenge is the staff at LAX are contractors and not directly employed by Qantas itself. Maybe the degradation in service is the direct result of outsourcing strategies? I'm not really sure but what I do know is my own experience was unacceptable.

So what happened when I arrived into Melbourne? After passing through customs we headed down to the baggage carousel and waited for our bags. My name was called over the PA to go to the baggage desk and I immediately thought, "oh no". Sure enough, despite being assured by the Qantas staff at LAX two of our bags didn't get onto the plane and would be delivered the following day to my home.

I'd purchased a present for my wife for her first day going back to school and sadly this was in one of the cases held up. Such is life.

While at the baggage desk I related my story to the Qantas staff at the baggage desk and they couldn't believe it. They then told me that many passengers experience the sort of beligerent behaviour that I had while travelling through LAX. So much unnecessary angst and cost over 4 kgs.

Qantas is now having to courier the bags to my home.....crossed fingers that they arrive OK. While waiting for our other bags at the conveyer we heard and spoke to a number of passengers complaining about their treatment from Qantas staff. This is a shame as I've always found the onboard crew to be excellent in the past. I'm not sure what's going on with Qantas at the moment but driving people away can't be good for the airline.

Despite my latest experience I love the flying kangaroo and I hope that after my discussion with senior customer service representatives will meet with a more sensible response. I'll keep you posted.

Written by :

mgilmour

 

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written by Raptor, February 06, 2012

Michael:
Having been a "rusted on" supporter of the flying kangaroo,after all I worked for them for most of my flying career.I think that your problem may have been with "contracted staff",not "true blue" Qantas staff apart from the two who you were referred to by the arrogant counter staff,at LAX.Qantas are going through a bad patch at the moment,so please cut them some slack,and give them time to sort out this customer relations/service debacle.

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I totally agree
written by mgilmour, February 08, 2012

Raptor,
Like you, I've actually always been a strong supporter of Qantas. I've always had a preference to fly them but the last few trips has seen some obvious negative changes. The contract staff just don't seem to care compare to the true blue Qantas staffers. I understand the need to cut costs but they need to take a look at why people fly the kangaroo and realise that it has a lot to do with the culture of caring that has been developed over years.

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