Passenger photo of worm in Jetstar meal

Two more Jetstar customer atrocities have come to our attention.

One involves a booking computer malfunction in which Jetstar attempted to extract a $50 rebooking fee from a passenger to correct, and the other is about a worm in an in-flight meal.

The worm incident also makes airline history, in that it is the first time on the public record that an airline has voluntarily identified an object in a meal as a ‘worm’ rather than a ‘maggot.’

The experiences of Serena Chan, who found the worm in her seafood nasi lemak meal on a flight from Singapore to Perth are recounted in this report in Perth Now, which also quotes a beetle expert as saying it was probably the best protein  in the entire dish.

The indifference of Jetstar to Ms Chan, in that it advised her to apply for a refund on-line, and hang about for 5-10 days, is also documented in even more detail in this complaint from a passenger (name and booking code confirmed) who is otherwise happy to be flying Jetstar from Sydney to Ballina this Friday.

This is her complaint:

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is in reference to booking ******, from Sydney to Ballina.

I purchased a ticket on Fri 3 June to fly from Sydney to Ballina on 10 June. Upon opening my confirmation email yesterday, I noticed the date to fly was 11 June. I called your customer service and they said it would cost me $50 change fee and the fare difference to change my flight.

Positive I booked for 10 June, I went on your site and tried rebooking the flight as I did on Friday. I found an error on your system which changed the date of my flight without notifying me and while I was in the middle of paying for the flight.

I selected 10 June to fly out, then entered all my info. When I got to select payment, I selected Poli. While it was processing I opened another browser window to browse your site for return flights. I looked at outgoing flight and time for 11 June. Then I returned to my payment window and saw an error saying to press back button because  I could not pay by Poli without the windows os and I was using a Macintosh. I selected to pay by visa and finished my booking. I then checked the booking it automatically changed that date to 11 June when I was originally booking it all under 10 June. I didn’t receive any error message or notice that the date changed when I opened a second window to browse your site. That is a critical system error that your website caused and which changed my flight details without notifying me.

I called and explain this to your customer service centre. After talking to 3 different reps that did not help me. I waited on hold for an hour to talk with one of their supervisors, Grace ID # 900985. She was unhelpful and said there was nothing she could do and that I should have called earlier. I said that I booked the 10th June for $79 for 2 people and wanted my fare honored. Just because of a system error from your website, I shouldn’t now have to pay a change fee and fare difference.

She told me I should have called earlier. I let her know that I didn’t have access to open the pdf on my computer at home. I saw the confirmation email in my inbox and knew the flight I booked went through; however no details were in the email, just the confirmation number. Then on Monday, when I got to work to open the attachment to print out the flight details, I noticed that my flight was dated 11 June, even though I booked the 10th June.

I am writing you to get this resolved. This was a system error and needs to be fixed on your end. For flight details to change without notice is wrong. I already booked accommodation for Friday and requested time off from work. I would like my flight to be changed to 10th June as scheduled and with no extra charges. There are still seats available on this flight and because this is an error I found on your system, I think you should honor my original flight booking at no extra charge.

Can you please help me to resolve this matter or advise who I should talk to that could help me right away.

According to your customer guarantee, your team are always
here to help, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, Call Centre open 24/7, 365 days
per year with decision-maker available and to explain other options if you are not satisfied with the resolution, $50 Jetstar travel voucher

Signed by the passenger

The Jetstar response and remedy (below)  has however has been well received by the passenger.

A Jetstar spokesperson said:

. We can confirm that this customer experienced a website error.

· Our customer service team have called and corrected the booking to reflect the correct date requested at no charge.

· The customer is happy with the end result.

· Jetstar apologises for the inconvenience caused.