Zizi Sparks: Supporting local business means Air New Zealand too

Air New Zealand aircraft parked up on the tarmac, at Auckland International Airport, Auckland, during the Covid-19 level 3 Lockdown. Photo / File

COMMENT

Support local, travel domestically, buy from the little guys, have a staycation.

It's what we've been hearing as the country moves down Covid-19 alert levels.

And for the most part, I think many people have been doing all of the above.

But there is one area where many people are failing. This week Air New Zealand came under fire again for offering customers credits instead of refunds.

It has refunded flights to or through the US and anywhere else it will not fly again but has refused to refund the cost of other tickets.

Passengers have until June next year to book with their credit and a further 12 months to travel.

But consumers are fired up.

There have been frustrations about the ease of getting credit and not getting their money back.

Due to caller demand, the company has seconded people from other parts of the business to help.

And it's frustrating. It prompted one customer to place an ad in the NZ Herald asking the airline to contact them after being unable to get hold of them.

I get it because I had to call Air New Zealand as a customer who needed to their credit for flights not used due to Covid-19. I spent more than an hour on the phone with them, about three-quarters of this on hold.

By the time I hung up I was very frustrated but my issue was solved.

Yet later that day I got a call back from another representative telling me a mistake had been made because the person I spoke to had been seconded from another part of the business and didn't really know what he was doing. It left me thinking: Couldn't they have trained the secondments up a little better?

But I had redeemed my credit and rebooked using it, without complaining about the lack of a refund. I saw it as a way to explore somewhere new.

I think those people who are complaining about the airline's response need to cut it some slack - and show support like they would for any other business trying to cope with this economic crisis.

Air NZ is just like other Kiwi businesses. It's been given Government support, cut jobs - some 4000 of them - asked people to take voluntary redundancy or pay cuts.

It has also extended a helping hand to the community by donating 8000 unused blankets to charities.

The airline says there would be tens of thousands of potential refunds and if it was to ''open the floodgates'' it would further jeopardise its already shaky financial position.

I acknowledge some customers will be in real financial hardship, maybe having lost their own job and I do believe special circumstances should be accounted for. Perhaps refunds could be provided if customers meet certain criteria.

But times are tough all around so when you're supporting and buying local, why not add Air New Zealand to your list.