Two frustrated Qantas passengers were forced to pay for their flights three times because of system errors, missing payments and the issuing of tickets with the wrong travel dates. 

To make matters worse, their luggage didn’t arrive on time with them when they landed and it took four months for the airline to refund for the ticket issue. 

Now, Qantas has been ordered to pay Nikki Bohlmann and Leesa Jackson more than $4000 in compensation for the “very poor service” they recieved. 

On May 5, 2022, Bohlmann and Jackson paid $7,246 for premium economy return flights to South Africa with Qantas but, because of an error, the airline failed to issue the tickets. 

After calling the call centre, they rebooked the flights but were told a systems error had occurred and their payment had not been received. 

The passengers were told to pay a third time to rebook the flights, but when this set of flights finally went through, they were issued with an incorrect return date out by a month. 

Qantas said they would have to pay $163 for a date change but flights were now full on their original return date and they would have to extend their trip by three days. 

The ticketing errors meant they spent more than 14 hours on the phone to a call centre and when they returned to Auckland, there was another issue to contend with: luggage that would not arrive in New Zealand until five days later. 

The couple paid for premium economy flights to South Africa that were eventually issued with the wrong date. Photo / Supplied 

Although the airline said it would refund the clients for the previous flights they had paid for that had not been issued, the money took four months to be returned. 

Bohlmann and Jackson recently took Qantas to the Civil Court to claim $18,000 for compensation, loss of income and expenses incurred. 

The passengers submitted their holiday was spoiled because of a lack of funds and provided evidence the extra three days abroad lost them a combined income of $22,610. 

Qantas agreed to pay the date change fee and $1826 in expenses; however, disputes judicial officer Elizabeth Paton-Simpson was not convinced $22,000 was “the true loss” and the passengers could have made up the three lost work days elsewhere. 

“Both are essentially self-employed and are likely to have had ways of making up three days’ earnings if they wished. 

“It would not be just for them to receive an extra three days’ holiday with expenses paid as well as the earnings they would have made if they were not on holiday,” the recent civil court decision said. 

Although Qantas admitted they were at fault, Paton-Simpson said the passengers were entitled to compensation for stress and inconvenience for the poor service. 

“I consider the standard of service offered in the booking process very poor in multiple respects. 

“There is no doubt that the passengers were majorly inconvenienced by the airline’s poor service. They were forced to take extra holidays at a time that was not their choosing and they provided evidence they had spent a total of more than 14 hours on the phone to the airline.” 

Qantas was ordered to pay Bohlmann and Jackson $4426. 

Nikki Bohlman told NZME it was not about the money but about the principle. 

“We were not treated like humans at all, we were just a number. [It was] absolutely impossible to sort anything out, we couldn’t speak to anybody. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised there are thousands of dollars that have been written off by people who thought ‘I just can’t do this any more,’ Bohlmann said. 

In a statement, a Qantas spokesperson said the airline offered compensation to the couple, which was rejected and have paid the amount directed. 

“We know this experience was frustrating and not up to the standards that our customers expect. 

“We apologised to the customers at the time and have paid the amount specified in the Tribunal Orders.” 

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.