Airline Compensation ...what is appropriate???

[orrja]

Hi all,
In December I flew Business Class return to Taipei via HK on Cathay. On the HK-SYD leg of the trip I found myself in a Business Class seat with no operational entertainment system. The airline knew about the defect and told me that they were trying to get it fixed before take off, otherwise they would try and change my seat.
Well, doors close, no one comes to talk to me, and plane takes off with me still in 23D. When I called the flight attendant to ask to move, she told me that there were no available alternate seats, and that they were very sorry. She also volunteered that I should have been given an option to accept the seat or take the later flight BEFORE the doors closed. (BTW my colleague was waitlisted for my flight, and was now comfortably sitting back enjoying a movie!!!!!)
I was then told by the flight attendant that I would be entitled to compensation...Great, I can put up with 11 hours of reading magazines if I get compensated with a big tranche of FF points, I thought
Unfortunately, at the end of the flight, I was approached with a $50 In-flight shopping voucher, which I immediately declined because (a) there is absolutely nothing in any airlines in-flight shopping that I want or haven't already got! and (b) given the value of the seat that I purchased, I felt that the compensation was not appropriate - OK I could accept it if the fault was unknown to the airline before take off, but I figured that I had knowingly been given a faulty product and therefore deserved more than a lousy $50 voucher.
I have since written to the airline, and received an offer of $100 compo, which I have also declined...waiting now for another response from them.....

AM I BEING REASONABLE? WHAT DO YOU THINK IS FAIR COMPENSATION?

 

[samh004]

I’d agree with you that $50 or even $100 in a voucher to be used on board is not going to make up for the presumably thousands that you paid for the seat. However, working out how much of the entertainment portion of the experience is worth is difficult.

 

[docjames]

Welcome to AFF.

There's a few threads here of pax in a similar situation (on other airlines) who've detailed amounts. The seach button can help you (top right).

ISTR around the $200-250 mark for longish flights, maybe more in J.

 

[orrja]

Welcome to AFF.

There's a few threads here of pax in a similar situation (on other airlines) who've detailed amounts. The seach button can help you (top right).

ISTR around the $200-250 mark for longish flights, maybe more in J.

Thanks for that - am still trying to find my way around this site...Interestingly, when I raised the possibility of FFPs they simply said that they could not compensate me with FFPs because I am with QF and not CX - I would have thought that it would be easy for all One World carriers to award FFPs to another One World account, but apparently not.....

 

[docjames]

here's a couple to get you started.

basic seach "compensation IFE not working" (without the ").

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....discussion/qf-compensation-ife-u-s-21469.html


http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/open-discussion/ife-worth-usd250-10167.html

 

[samh004]

Thanks for that - am still trying to find my way around this site...Interestingly, when I raised the possibility of FFPs they simply said that they could not compensate me with FFPs because I am with QF and not CX - I would have thought that it would be easy for all One World carriers to award FFPs to another One World account, but apparently not.....

I wouldn’t have thought so, they’d do so for their own programs, but to award points to another program they’d be giving money to that program I guess, so it’s not really something they want to do.

If you are going to travel CX often enough, asking what sort of compensation they’d award to an Asia Miles account might be worthwhile, as then you’ll be able to upgrade future CX flights

 

[ozmille]

I received an AUD200 voucher for IFE not working on LHR-BKK leg. Funnily enough seat 23D as well... :shock:

 

[harvyk]

I'd say a free upgrade to a J seat on your next CX flight would be in order... IMHO you've paid for a service (paying for J is more than simply transport from A to B) and you haven't received it, thus it's only fair you receive the service the next time you fly with them.

A $50 "Store Credit" for a defective product costing thousands is a little bit of an insult.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

I have received gift vouchers from QF when the IFE doesn't work, to my surprise, in the mail a few weeks later. PER-SYD, Y (Red eDeal), $100 credit.

Poor form from CX in the OP's case. I'm surprised you weren't offered before the doors closed, as you stated;
a) flight change (proper options, what you described seems half hearted at best)
b) upgrade to F (if available)

I certainly don't think that your being unreasonable at all.

 

[avonlea]

It's always hard putting a value on IFE as a portion of the flight cost. IFE is no different between J and Y, but would constitute a much larger portion of the cost of the seat in Y. For J, you're paying for the seat and service, not the IFE.

So.. I would certainly go for a sector upgrade.

I'd be disappointed if CX baulked at that as it costs them bugger all because (a) you only get the seat if there's one available and (b) all of the "usage cost" in food and beverages are covered by all paying pax in the class.

 

[michaely]

Hi, several years ago, my wife and I flew in Premium Economy from Mel to LHR on BA.The cabin lights and entertainment system throughout the plane (B747) were not operating the whole journey.On reaching LHR we were handed a complaint form which invited us to register our dissatisfaction, and we were asked to send it to an address in the UK.
After one month, having not had an acknowledgement let alone any suggestion of compensation, we followed up and were eventually told that as we are resident in Australia, The Customer Relations Manager in Sydney was handling it. After a solicitor's letter was sent on our behalf, we received a grudging offer of a one cabin upgrade on our next trip, which corresponded with another promotion BA was providing.
Needless to say, we have not flown long-haul with BA since then, as being fobbed by PR flacks does not sit well with us.

 

[ronone69]

I have received various amounts of compensation ove the years. From QF, a $400 voucher to use for flights / shop purchases / etc for a non function SIN->MEL. CX a $100 voucher one time and a one class upgrade voucher another time. The more you hassle, the more you get. You could go to VCAT or the equivelent in other states claiming misrepresentation of service (their website will tell youy all about their wonderful entertainment systems so this would be a breach of the Fair Trading Act) (cost $36, piss off value to airline $1,000's) so maybe ask for $500 and then threaten to go to VCAT if they don't pay!!!

 

[melaus]

Sorry to not agree with the majority here, but I'd be happy to accept a voucher to change to a seat where the Entertainment System is not working. If I happen to be on any of the flights where mine's working and your's isn't, I'll swap with you for nix!

 

[Czardas]

Ok so what would one expect when flying F and a coughroach crawls out of the lettuce in your steak sandwich, as you go to take a bite?
True story, it happened to me on Mel to Lax, 2 years ago.

 

[ronone69]

Ok so what would one expect when flying F and a coughroach crawls out of the lettuce in your steak sandwich, as you go to take a bite?
True story, it happened to me on Mel to Lax, 2 years ago.

Sounds great - on QF I pressume. This has never happened to me. I would demand a full refund of my ticket or a free flight. Threaten to have food safety inspections, tell them you will contact the health department, etc, etc. My wife had a bug crawl out of a lettuce at a resutaunt once - she was told "Look how fresh our herbs are !!!" Guess we did not pay for the meal...

 

[michaely]

I have received various amounts of compensation ove the years. From QF, a $400 voucher to use for flights / shop purchases / etc for a non function SIN->MEL. CX a $100 voucher one time and a one class upgrade voucher another time. The more you hassle, the more you get. You could go to VCAT or the equivelent in other states claiming misrepresentation of service (their website will tell youy all about their wonderful entertainment systems so this would be a breach of the Fair Trading Act) (cost $36, piss off value to airline $1,000's) so maybe ask for $500 and then threaten to go to VCAT if they don't pay!!!

Like you, I have received various inducements from airlines over the years to stop complaining and go away. The last time I flew with QF to PRC our flight was delayed for 5 hours, and I was only going for <36 hours. I upgraded myself on points coming back, which also meant detouring via Sydney. After much hasselling QF offered me a peace-making gesture of $300, which I reluctantly accepted. I am not a big fan of QF international operations.

 

[ApplesHK]

I've had this problem quite a few times, although never in business class. I must say, the staff tried everything on these occassions and luckily they were short flights.

In your case however, I think you have been treated very poorly by Cathay. Cathay should offer you an upgrade on your next flight as a matter of course. This is hardly a minor matter on 10+ hour flight.

I suppose it's a timely lesson to keep an iPhone/iPad/iPod device loaded with a few films........just in case huh? At least your story will act to jog our pre-flight routines to have a few films ready and loaded; I'll be doing this from now on.

No doubt Cathay will be reading this and hopefully somebody will offer you reasonable compensation; $50 or $100 gift vouchers is not reasonable for what you had to tolerate, in my opinion.

 

[Czardas]

Sounds great - on QF I pressume. This has never happened to me. I would demand a full refund of my ticket or a free flight. Threaten to have food safety inspections, tell them you will contact the health department, etc, etc. My wife had a bug crawl out of a lettuce at a resutaunt once - she was told "Look how fresh our herbs are !!!" Guess we did not pay for the meal...

How did you guess? Yes it was QF. The FA's offered me anything from the duty free book and I was already considering the Raymond Weil watch but when this happened, I was too embaressed to ask for it as it was the most expensive item in the book and it felt like I was picking it only because it was free ..............so instead I declined and was given a bottle of Dom P and in the mail weeks later a very weird apology letter with a $150 DJ voucher.
I've kept the letter and laugh about when you consider the value of a F seat. I also have a good story for dinner parties.

 

[JohnPhelan]

Yes, I agree CX should be offering you better compensation. But - in my experience - the worst thing you can do is actually demand a specific amount or a specific 'thing'. Just let them know you are still unhappy and have posted details on AFF, etc.

There is nothing more cringeworthy than someone demanding $xx_ in compensation, or demanding an upgrade, etc. (In my view, people who do that are just like those who front up at check-in and ask for a free upgrade. They have no class whatsoever.) In a business-like letter, detail the poor experience, the poor response from the airline, and the value of your continuing business to the airline.

Most importantly, don't just deal with Customer Relations - send a detailed letter of complaint to the CEO, with a copy to Customer Relations. You might be quite surprised that this often does work, and you may get back a personal, detailed response from the CEO. It's worked for me!

 

[nonscenic]

My one experience was in 2007 when on an Austrian Airlines Business class trip Vienna - KUL- SYD the sound on the IFE didn't work on my seat and the adjacent seat, and there were no spare seats in J. Given that the IFE I had wanted to see I had seen on the outbound flight, I was pleased with the EUR35 in flight duty free they gave without hesitation (I was able to use it to buy a gift for "She who must be obeyed" back home).