A couple of days ago I booked a flight from Gold Coast to Melbourne for 25th April. The webpage was running slow & kept freezing up. When the booking confirmation finally came up it said 24th April, and the flights were $119 each, not the $99 flights I'd attempted to book. (I'm not sure whether this was due to a glitch in the website or if I clicked on the wrong button by mistake due to the website issues I was having). I immediately called to attempt to correct the booking. I didn't mind writing off the $40 extra I'd paid, I really just wanted the date corrected. Although they eventually agreed to waive the transfer fee, I was quoted $190 (on top of the $40 overpayment and the original fare) to correct the booking, since "it costs more to book through our customer service centre than online". I was informed that I could not speak to anyone higher up (even when I let them know I would be pursuing the complaint through Fair Trading) and was told the response time for an online complaint would be 15 days, which would have been too late. In addition, I got a series of conflicting excuses as to why the booking could not be amended without incurring extra charges. I then tried to amend the booking online and found that the online transfer fee would be a further $198 on top of what I had already paid (so $198 worth of flights would eventually cost me $428 if I amended over the phone, or $436 if I made the correction online). Since the cost of correcting the booking was as much as a new flight, and I already had accommodation and time off work booked, I rebooked through Virgin Blue and lost 100% of my Jetstar flight costs. I have now lodged a complaint online but from what I've read I don't have much chance of success. I will not be flying with Jetstar or Qantas again. I have also tried to cancel my Jetstar credit card, but although I have called twice, no one who is able to cancel my card has been available and no one has got back to me as promised.
PS It also seems odd that they get away with charging extra for a seat (even an unselected seat) when there is no option to stand. If it is compulsory to sit, surely the seat is part of the ticket cost? This is definitely unethical and surely must be illegal.