An Air New Zealand customer says she’s unimpressed after being charged $30 by the airline for booking tickets over the phone, and Consumer NZ is warning contact centre fees shouldn’t be charged if consumers have no option but to call.
The customer, who Interest.co.nz has agreed not to name, says she wanted to use her Airpoints to book flights for another traveller and was unable to do so on the Air New Zealand website.
After calling the airline’s contact centre and booking the flights she noticed the flights were $30 cheaper on its website.
She was surprised to learn she had been charged $30 for booking through the contact centre, and says the fee wasn’t disclosed up front by Air New Zealand.
“There’s a recorded message saying there’s a charge if one calls the contact centre, which I think is cheeky but thought, ‘how much could it possibly be?’, but that’s it. No details or anything.”
The customer says after she noticed the difference she asked the airline representative why the flights were more expensive, and then the call centre fee was disclosed.
“If I had not asked, I don’t think I would have been told. A short message up-front is one thing, but they should be being very transparent about that."
Air New Zealand spokesperson said in an emailed response that customers are not charged for the call itself, but there is a service fee for requests such as booking a new ticket through the contact centre and these service fees vary depending on the request.
They said the recorded messages mention how to self service on the website to save time waiting on the phone, and also mention potential service fees.
The spokesperson said the customer could have listed the person on their Airpoints profile and then booked them online using their Airpoints, but the customer says she attempted to book online and the website told her it wasn’t possible and to call.
The airline’s website does outline a range of “optional charges” that may be levied by the airline, including for booking flights through the call centre.
It says new bookings and changes made via an Air New Zealand contact centre, Travelcentre or airport ticketing desk will have fees applied which can be charged per booking, per journey or per person depending on the change requested. The fee is based on the customer’s location at the time of the transaction.
For New Zealand callers, they can expect to pay between $30 and $150 to book online, and to change a booking through the call centre could also incur a service fee of between $30 and $150.
Another page on the website outlines fees for long haul bookings, and says there is a $60 booking service fee per seated passenger, per one-way journey to book through the call centre. The airline also charges a $22.60 credit card fee to book using a credit card.
It charges “miscellaneous fees” ranging from US$15 to $100 for document searches, reproducing electronic-ticket receipts, ticket endorsement, and refunds on visa required tickets.
Consumer NZ said in a statement it thinks it’s unfair to charge a fee for booking through the contact centre when a customer has no choice but to book through one.
“At the very least the customer should be made aware of the extra costs they are facing. We believe such a fee shouldn’t exist if the customer genuinely has no choice but to use the contact centre.”
In 2017 Consumer ran a campaign targeting “sneaky fees”, service or booking fees added to the cost of advertised goods and services.
It estimated retailers could be earning $68 million each year from fees charged on top of the headline price.
Air NZ has also been a more recent target of the consumer watchdog after it launched a campaign highlighting the public’s rights when airlines cancel or reschedule flights.
It says under the Civil Aviation Act, if an airline cancels or delays a domestic flight for reasons within its control, travellers are entitled to reimbursement of up to 10 times the cost of the ticket or the actual cost of delay – whichever is lower.
On Thursday, Consumer lodged a complaint with the Commerce Commission about Jetstar, alleging the budget airline was misleading consumers about their rights when flights are cancelled or delayed.
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