Qantas mishap costs Aussie dad almost $9,000
- Replies 9
Planning a celebration for a significant milestone can be both exciting and stressful–but when there's an unexpected financial hiccup, it can really dampen the spirits.
That's exactly what Geelong father, Jason Wilson, found out the hard way when he attempted to book birthday flights through Qantas, only to end up out of pocket to the tune of $8,977.
Jason was looking forward to sharing an incredible U.S. holiday with his son, marking his 18th birthday with this special trip. Who wouldn't get butterflies in their stomach at the thought of revealing such a delightful surprise?
Sitting down with his laptop open and a credit card ready, Jason chose the perfect Qantas flights, painting a picture in his mind of the wonderful memories they would create.
Clear at the thought of his finances, it was time to execute the plan.
‘I finally successfully settled on some flights and proceeded to payment. I attempted not once but five or six times to make a payment...I thought I might use a different card,’ he shared.
Sadly, for our Aussie dad, his jubilation was short-lived. After trying to make a payment multiple times and experiencing an equal number of error messages, he decided to give it a rest and revisit the transaction later.
Much to his surprise, his card was declined at shops the following day.
At that moment, it dawned on him that something was badly amiss. That's when he realised his account was overdrawn.
‘I’m out by $8,977.20,’ a distraught Jason stated, further saying that one of his bank accounts is currently overdrawn by six thousand dollars.
Jason took the next logical step by getting in touch with the Qantas customer service team.
However, he wasn’t given any definitive explanation or resolution for the deduction or his overdrawn account. It is also unclear why the money was charged from his account if it wasn’t in exchange for plane tickets.
‘I have not been given an indication of the reason why they have actually made the transaction,’ he shared.
‘The possible solution is that it will just fix itself.’
It is understood that the money was, for a time, in the hands of Qantas. However, it has since been released. Jason and his bank are still determining its location and when it could be credited back into Jason's account. It is also understood that Qantas is attempting to locate the missing funds.
‘They've offered me the tickets at the sale price. So, they will honour that,’ Jason explained. This is little comfort to him, however, with the primary concern being the mysterious missing amount of cash—the exact sum he intended to pay for the tickets to begin with.
Jason also pointed out that he has no idea when he can expect the tickets for their trip since the money is ‘floating’ somewhere. He claimed he was not given a timeline for a solution either.
With his bank account having a shortage of $5,975, the anxious dad stated he wouldn’t be able to ‘see a penny’ of his pay soon. This also led him to borrow money from his friend.
‘If I don't have access to that money when I have all my direct debits occur when my mortgage repayment gets paid, I'm actually not going to have any expendable cash to be able to do that,’ he concluded.
‘So that's when the problem is really going to start to be apparent.’
‘I'm not destitute, but you know, it's been difficult over the last four days or so because I've had to put my life on hold until this is resolved. It's causing a lot of anxiety; I don't know if I'll ever see that money again.’
This worrying account serves as a good reminder for our readers: always double-check those bank statements after making any large transactions, and don’t hesitate to get in touch with your bank or the vendor if something doesn't look quite right.
In similar instances of payment errors, checking your bank account balance via your bank’s application or online also wouldn’t hurt before trying again.
Remember, friends, financial safety is as important as physical safety in this digital era.
What’s your opinion on this story? Have you ever experienced something similar? Comment it below!
That's exactly what Geelong father, Jason Wilson, found out the hard way when he attempted to book birthday flights through Qantas, only to end up out of pocket to the tune of $8,977.
Jason was looking forward to sharing an incredible U.S. holiday with his son, marking his 18th birthday with this special trip. Who wouldn't get butterflies in their stomach at the thought of revealing such a delightful surprise?
Sitting down with his laptop open and a credit card ready, Jason chose the perfect Qantas flights, painting a picture in his mind of the wonderful memories they would create.
Jason was looking forward to travelling with his son. Credit: Sohel Patel/Pexels
Clear at the thought of his finances, it was time to execute the plan.
‘I finally successfully settled on some flights and proceeded to payment. I attempted not once but five or six times to make a payment...I thought I might use a different card,’ he shared.
Sadly, for our Aussie dad, his jubilation was short-lived. After trying to make a payment multiple times and experiencing an equal number of error messages, he decided to give it a rest and revisit the transaction later.
Much to his surprise, his card was declined at shops the following day.
After experiencing multiple error messages, Jason said he decided to try again later, only to have his card declined at the shops the next day. Credit: Pixabay/Pexels
At that moment, it dawned on him that something was badly amiss. That's when he realised his account was overdrawn.
‘I’m out by $8,977.20,’ a distraught Jason stated, further saying that one of his bank accounts is currently overdrawn by six thousand dollars.
Jason took the next logical step by getting in touch with the Qantas customer service team.
However, he wasn’t given any definitive explanation or resolution for the deduction or his overdrawn account. It is also unclear why the money was charged from his account if it wasn’t in exchange for plane tickets.
‘I have not been given an indication of the reason why they have actually made the transaction,’ he shared.
‘The possible solution is that it will just fix itself.’
It is understood that the money was, for a time, in the hands of Qantas. However, it has since been released. Jason and his bank are still determining its location and when it could be credited back into Jason's account. It is also understood that Qantas is attempting to locate the missing funds.
‘They've offered me the tickets at the sale price. So, they will honour that,’ Jason explained. This is little comfort to him, however, with the primary concern being the mysterious missing amount of cash—the exact sum he intended to pay for the tickets to begin with.
Jason also pointed out that he has no idea when he can expect the tickets for their trip since the money is ‘floating’ somewhere. He claimed he was not given a timeline for a solution either.
With his bank account having a shortage of $5,975, the anxious dad stated he wouldn’t be able to ‘see a penny’ of his pay soon. This also led him to borrow money from his friend.
‘If I don't have access to that money when I have all my direct debits occur when my mortgage repayment gets paid, I'm actually not going to have any expendable cash to be able to do that,’ he concluded.
‘So that's when the problem is really going to start to be apparent.’
‘I'm not destitute, but you know, it's been difficult over the last four days or so because I've had to put my life on hold until this is resolved. It's causing a lot of anxiety; I don't know if I'll ever see that money again.’
This worrying account serves as a good reminder for our readers: always double-check those bank statements after making any large transactions, and don’t hesitate to get in touch with your bank or the vendor if something doesn't look quite right.
In similar instances of payment errors, checking your bank account balance via your bank’s application or online also wouldn’t hurt before trying again.
What’s your opinion on this story? Have you ever experienced something similar? Comment it below!
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