Thumbs down Qantas... thumbs down

<p> </p> <p>I am not generally one to complain or pass judgement on anything, but after our recent dreadful Qantas experience I feel the need to do so. My husband and I are quite well traveled and have flown with many other airlines including Qantas many times in the past. In 2008 we embarked on our around the world trip, flying only Qantas. We never had any problems or issues to report. Oh how things have changed, what has happened Qantas, this time was **********! I will never ever fly or recommend Qantas to anyone ever again.</p> <p>The ghastly trip of which I will detail later was our first ever flight with our 4 month old infant son. This in itself is a rather stressful venture as first time parents embarking on an incredibly long haul flight from JHB - AKL. I was rather pedantic about making sure we had a bassinet for our little one for all flights and had called Qantas many times confirming my request, I was kindly told that it is not something that is booked until check in but that a note has been made for our booking and that we shouldn't have any problems as our little one is still very young.</p> <p> </p> <p>So on the 31st March 2016 our ordeal begins. We board the plane as normal and get ready for take off only to be told that there are technical difficulties and that the they are working on it. After sitting in our seats for 2 hours and no air conditioning in economy, we were told to disembark due to high temperatures and the crew not knowing how long the issues could take to be rectified. Upon disembarkation we requested that they please fetch our baby's pram as no one could tell us how long we would be hanging around for, initially the staff blatantly refused. We basically begged and pleaded until they finally fetched it for us. Thank goodness we made a fuss as we were left wondering around O.R. Tambo for 4 hours! Qantas kindly told us to make our way to restaurant where we could eat and drink whilst we wait for an announcement concerning our flight, this restaurant was chaos and there were no available seats or tables for us and our baby. We ended up getting no dinner. As time went by (with no announcements over the PA System and no ground staff able to tell us what's going on we just new that we would miss our connecting flight in SYD. After a 4hour wait we boarded for the second time to finally begin our journey. Arrival in Sydney was a shambles, we had missed our connecting flight and had to be put up in a hotel as well as apply for visas to enter Australia. The ground staff's assistance was atrocious and we were left not knowing where to go or what to do. Being left behind whilst filling in the visa application forms and no knowing what to do next. We appreciate that the hotel was nearby and consideration was taken for our baby. Throughout this entire journey and debacle your staff was not very forthcoming, from the staff at O.R. Tambo to the attendants and especially including the staff at Sydney.</p> <p> </p> <p>Open our return we did not receive a bassinet, I was told at check in in AKL that I should request a seat change in Sydney. Upon arrival in Sydney whilst in transit I did so, the woman I dealt with was incredibly rude. Her words were "you should organize your trip properly, there is nothing I can do"</p> <p> </p> <p>Further to all of the above, the meals were dismal on all flights as well as the service. As a breastfeeding mum who requires a steady income of calories was highly disappointed to find my self mostly hungry, requesting a panini clearly stated on the menu (which was never offered to us) only to be told we are no longer serving these and we are to wait for dinner service. Yet people around us happily chomped on these elusive paninis.</p> <p> </p> <p>Thank goodness our baby was an angel whilst traveling and we see he will be a travel enthusiast just like his parents. We look to travel a lot in the future with our child but wil not ever be making use of Qantas again. Our experience was absolutely shocking and quite frankly down right disgusting!</p> <p> </p> <p>Jennifer Coombes</p> <p> </p> <p> ********** </p>