An Australian couple has slammed flagship airline Qantas for booking their 13-month-old baby onto a different flight to them - then refusing to take responsibility for the mistake.
Stephanie and Andrew Braham had been travelling through Europe when they were notified by Qantas that their flight home had been rescheduled.
However, when they checked the new booking, they found their baby daughter had been booked on to a different departure than the couple themselves.
The Brahams say they were then forced to spend 20 hours on hold trying to speak to someone at Qantas, and even when they got through, the airline refused to take responsibility for the error.
“They said they hadn’t done anything wrong because they did book her a ticket.
“Initially, they denied any liability. That’s Qantas,” Stephanie Braham told Australian breakfast show Today.
”We spent 20 hours, 47 minutes and 13 seconds on the phone to Qantas over a 24-hour period, and over 55 separate phone calls, before they finally agreed to book us on new flights home,” she told presenters.
The airline has previously been criticised for leaving customers on hold for up to eight hours as they battle to change a booking or check in on a customer service issue.
After nearly a full day on hold, Stephanie says, Qantas customer service reps finally agreed to move the family onto a replacement flight where they could travel together - 12 days later than their intended departure date.
The Brahams were in Rome when their flights home were rescheduled, leaving them to arrange expensive last-minute accommodation in the Italian capital.
They acknowledge that there are “worse places to be stuck”, but will miss work and family commitments due to the delay in getting home.
“We’re seething. I’m meant to be home,” Andrew told Today.
”I don’t think we will really feel assured until we get on that plane and the plane is in the air at this stage.”
In an update on Thursday, Ms Braham told The Independent that the couple had another six nights to go in Rome, saying: “Qantas finally reached out this morning (a week after we first contacted them).
“They offered to compensate us $200 AUD (£115) per night for accommodation, but that only covers a fraction of the additional expenses we’ve incurred.”
The Independent has approached Qantas for comment.
In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, Qantas said it “sincerely apologises” to the family, adding that a “backend administrative error” between the airline and partner KLM was the reason the couple’s child was moved to a separate flight.
”We are reaching out to the family to provide support and will provide reimbursement for their accommodation,” said a spokesperson.
This week Qantas was forced to add an 11-hour stopover to its London-Sydney flight, due to Heathrow Airport’s recently imposed passenger cap.
Flight QF2 from London to Sydney will now depart nine hours earlier and will include an 11-hour stopover in Singapore; though it will arrive not long after it was originally scheduled to.
