Airlinecustomeradvocate Avis 

Do not waste a single second of your time dealing with the Airline Customer Advocate. They are completely useless when it comes to advocating for passengers. Our Lisbon-Doha-Melbourne flights were ruthlessly cancelled (without ANY communication), leaving us stranded and out of pocket. Instead of stepping in to help hold the airline accountable, the ACA just acts as a useless mail-forwarding service. To make matters worse, they prematurely closed my case within three days without doing a single shred of actual work. They simply take your complaint, send a basic email to the airline, and wash their hands of the situation. They provide no independent decision-making, no muscle, and no actual customer support. They are entirely funded by the airlines and it shows—they are there to protect the big carriers, not you. My case was swept under the rug with zero communication and no resolution. We genuinely wish this organisation would be shut down completely, because they serve no purpose other than to waste a consumer's valuable time. They are nothing more than a front to make it look like airlines care about consumer rights. Save your energy and look elsewhere to get your money back!

As all others have stated and has been well written about by publications such as the ABC, this business has simply advocated for nobody other than the airline. Virgin Australia agreed to change my flight after they had switched me to another, and when the Velocity team denied it in the end and left me stranded I went to ACA. Virgin doubled down and did not address the issue, and ACA have said the issue is then settled.

Not actually an independent body, and does not represent or advocate for customers. The ACA is funded and governed by the airlines and is only a forwarding service, without any power. After Qantas made it impossible for me to use my credit from a recent cancelled flight (can't use it online! can't use it over the phone!) I twice filed a complaint with the ACA. Twice the ACA closed the complaint after two months without having responded to a singe email or request for information. Escape and Choice both list the ACA as a front for the airlines, which is useless for resolving complaints. Australia needs an actual independent airline ombudsman, and the ACA proves that fact.

Appalling customer service. It's bad enough that a certain Australian airline has treated me so poorly that I resorted to the Airline Customer Advocate, but then to have the organisation that supposedly supports customers fail to respond to their own online complaints form, or emails or phone calls is just shocking.