Poor quality special meal in QF J class

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Westmate

Junior Member
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Oct 22, 2011
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I recently traveled to USA (SYD-LAX-BOS-NYC-LAX-SYD) first time on QF Business class and requested special meal (Vegetarian). I found meat pieces in first leg (SYD-LAX) in my meal so had to abandon meal as I felt it was contaminated by meat (I am very strict vegetarian). On my return travel, JFK-LAX I was given meal but no Dessert given, sort of very average in taste/quality (suspect it was same vegetarian meal as in Economy only nicer crockery). Between LAX-SYD I was surprised to see same food for dinner (plus dessert) again very average quality and it was difficult to eat same food on two consecutive long flights. After my return I complained to Qantas customer care via email, received a phone call today stating they will take my comments on board and will pass on to USA catering team to rectify these problems. When I insisted Qantas should apologise (in writing) and compensate for keeping me hungry in 3 out of 4 legs in Business class full paid ticket customer agent stated they cant provide compensation as I was actually given "meal" in those flight. He offered me $100.00 flight voucher as goodwill (he made a point that it is not as a compensation though) which feel not worth for the inconvenience and unpleasant experience I had instead I insisted he speaks to his supervisor voicing my concerns and asked him to send a written apology letter. I flew Emirates and Singapore before (in both Y and J) and found their food quality much better. I am still not happy with Qantas's handling of my complaint what should I do next? Is poor quality in special meals is normal for Qantas?:shock::shock:
 
You are lucky to get your special meal on QF, as many of the QF threads go on about how special meal requests simply do not turn up on the aircraft at all.....:shock: sadly many posts also allude to customer complaints going nowhere or elsewise being unsatisfactory in outcome. You can keep escalating it if you want but you may have t do what a lot of people do. Fly someone else next time.
 
I don't know how to answer you, I'm kind of caught up in the details of your meal choices. :oops: I think you need to answer how it affected you. So I had an issue on a long haul J flight and I focused on why I choose J and paid the excess cost. Then how the service failure nullified my reasons for paying extra for J. So maybe try a letter on that line of thought, if possible.
 
You've brought it to their attention so they can address it for future flights. I don't know what you're expecting Qantas to do. They've made an offer to you, but it's apparently not good enough. If you were to have a bad meal with friends at a restaurant, are you going to complain and complain until they comp your bill? At best you would get your meal for free as good will and have to pay the remainder of the bill. Effectively, that's what Qantas have done.
 
You've brought it to their attention so they can address it for future flights. I don't know what you're expecting Qantas to do. They've made an offer to you, but it's apparently not good enough. If you were to have a bad meal with friends at a restaurant, are you going to complain and complain until they comp your bill? At best you would get your meal for free as good will and have to pay the remainder of the bill. Effectively, that's what Qantas have done.

nah - I don't agree.

The magnetic attraction to flying J or F is service.

Service is simply:

1. The seat (with skybed 1 add velcro undies)
2. The service (remember the ads on TV?)
3. The accompaniments - i.e. meals / drinks / amenities / Lounges

If any of the mix is missing, the entire product is defunct. A $100 voucher to be used in future travel is nice if the FA spills lemonade on you between SYD and CBR, but the OP couldn't eat a main meal (granted the snacks available are very adequate and I personally could easily survive MEL/LAX on just these alone) and the product is incomplete - the QF rep was a louse and I agree with the OP's anger.
 
nah - I don't agree.

The magnetic attraction to flying J or F is service.

Service is simply:

1. The seat (with skybed 1 add velcro undies)
2. The service (remember the ads on TV?)
3. The accompaniments - i.e. meals / drinks / amenities / Lounges

If any of the mix is missing, the entire product is defunct. A $100 voucher to be used in future travel is nice if the FA spills lemonade on you between SYD and CBR, but the OP couldn't eat a main meal (granted the snacks available are very adequate and I personally could easily survive MEL/LAX on just these alone) and the product is incomplete - the QF rep was a louse and I agree with the OP's anger.

Thanks Munital and all others who responded. I have declined $100.00 voucher for the same reason as I feel if meal quality is not of J standard than QF argument of providing "meal" is not sufficient. Even flight attendants were apologetic and bit embarrassed looking at quality of meal product and infact suggested me to write to Qantas so something could be done to improve. I have heard standard Qantas business class menu is far superior but unfortunately due to my special meal requirement I was not able to enjoy it but I always have in the past ordered special meal in other airlines (Singapore,Etihad,Emirates) and food was of much better quality consistently. Also customer service agent's response was of like "if you want compensation than take $100.00 otherwise leave it) I choose to decline and ask for supervisor's intervention and written apology instead. I am not sure if supervisor would ring me or this is it from Qantas's point of view. Bit disappointed :(
 
Yes keep at them, 3/4 of the meals were unsatisfactory you are paying so much more to fly business class compared to economy so they have to make it right otherwise they will lose you as a customer.
 
SPMLs on QF are dreadful - I've complained before and gotten much the same non-response you did. Anyone who's been unfortunate enough to hear me rant about this before would know how I feel about this very topic .. :p

If I can make a suggestion: try flying with VA across to the US. The food in J is excellent and there is a quite tasty vegetarian option on the standard menu (I'm assuming here that you're able to eat dairy and eggs; both have definitely featured in VAs vegetarian offerings previously)
 
SPMLs on QF are dreadful - I've complained before and gotten much the same non-response you did. Anyone who's been unfortunate enough to hear me rant about this before would know how I feel about this very topic .. :p

If I can make a suggestion: try flying with VA across to the US. The food in J is excellent and there is a quite tasty vegetarian option on the standard menu (I'm assuming here that you're able to eat dairy and eggs; both have definitely featured in VAs vegetarian offerings previously)

Thanks Notzac, Yes I can eat daily and Eggs no problems. Only problems with beef/chicken/seafood. A colleague of mine did recommend VA over QF for US trip. Only reason I choose QF because of slightly better connections in USA but I am seriously thinking of trying another airline next time especially after $100.00 offer (Without proper apology) from Qantas.It is sad to see an iconic Australian airline slowly going downhill. I must mention Flight attendants were fantastic and tried their best but what could they do serve a customer with awful food on a long haul fight of 14 hours :?:
 
But if it's vegetarian, why order a special meal at all?

On all my Qantas long haul J class flights, a vegetarian dish was on the menu. Was this not the case? Didn't you get a menu?

Menu on board.jpg
 
Unless my memory is failing me, there is a vegetarian option in standard J menu. for the Transpac route...:confused:
 
nah - I don't agree.

The magnetic attraction to flying J or F is service.

Service is simply:

1. The seat (with skybed 1 add velcro undies)
2. The service (remember the ads on TV?)
3. The accompaniments - i.e. meals / drinks / amenities / Lounges

If any of the mix is missing, the entire product is defunct. A $100 voucher to be used in future travel is nice if the FA spills lemonade on you between SYD and CBR, but the OP couldn't eat a main meal (granted the snacks available are very adequate and I personally could easily survive MEL/LAX on just these alone) and the product is incomplete - the QF rep was a louse and I agree with the OP's anger.

Well said! You pay the money to fly J for the overall travel experience. If u wanted to go a-b then you would fly whY. I would be so upset if I got poor meals on the flight.
 
Thanks Notzac, Yes I can eat daily and Eggs no problems. Only problems with beef/chicken/seafood. A colleague of mine did recommend VA over QF for US trip. Only reason I choose QF because of slightly better connections in USA but I am seriously thinking of trying another airline next time especially after $100.00 offer (Without proper apology) from Qantas.It is sad to see an iconic Australian airline slowly going downhill. I must mention Flight attendants were fantastic and tried their best but what could they do serve a customer with awful food on a long haul fight of 14 hours :?:

Did you say anything on board and were you offered an option?
 
Did you say anything on board and were you offered an option?

I did tell FA's about it they apologised and tried to find alternative dishes but they didn't have much Veg options I did manage with Banana ice cream etc but it did spoil my overall experience in J cabin ! Flight crews were excellent. But they couldn't help much with same dishes served twice on same QF 108 once between NYC LAX and again LAX SYD.
 
I'm a bit puzzled too as I often have the vegetarian meal in QF J. Have never seen the special meal ( or ordered it). Puzzled the OP didn't get something from the main menu (or had it offered them by the FA's ) :confused:
 
I'm confused too.

There seemed to be only 3 possible sectors on Qantas: SYD-LAX, JFK-LAX and LAX-SYD. Yet the OP complains about "keeping me hungry in 3 out of 4 legs"?

On the SYD-LAX and LAX-SYD sectors there should have been a vegetarian option on the standard menu. Could this have been an extra option to the special vegetarian meal? In that case there should have been 2 choices available on those flights.

Fair enough that meat should not have been part of the SYD-LAX special meal - but why didn't the OP then choose the vegetarian option from the standard menu?

Is the real complaint about the quality of vegetarian meals in J?
 
Is this the same trip on which the OP was given an OPUP to first for the LAX-SYD leg? And your post didn't mention that you were in F for that leg, not J.

If so, why whinge about only being offered only $100. Be thankful for getting what most of us here, with higher status, only dream about.
 
Poor quality special meal in J :D Try poor quality every meal in J. Cannot remember the last time I enjoyed a meal on QF. Thankfully the serves are also so stingy that you only get a few mouthfuls of the very ordinary fare. I have given up complaining and usually try to eat before the flight. Thankfully the wines on board are excellent.

PS. Get rid of the guy with the ponytail.
 
I'm confused too.There seemed to be only 3 possible sectors on Qantas: SYD-LAX, JFK-LAX and LAX-SYD. Yet the OP complains about "keeping me hungry in 3 out of 4 legs"? On the SYD-LAX and LAX-SYD sectors there should have been a vegetarian option on the standard menu. Could this have been an extra option to the special vegetarian meal? In that case there should have been 2 choices available on those flights.Fair enough that meat should not have been part of the SYD-LAX special meal - but why didn't the OP then choose the vegetarian option from the standard menu?Is the real complaint about the quality of vegetarian meals in J?
I did fly on 4 sectors LAX-BOS on AA where I didn't take meal only snacks so 3 out of 4 sectors it was of bad quality.I wasn't really offered option from main veg menu as probably it was all given as all meals were served same time so may not have much left.Also same meals were given on JFK LAX and LAX SYD flights.Meal quality or taste was not good compared to meals in EK or SQ I hope this explains.May be I have too high expectations.Note meal quality was not bad in SYD LAX but they mixed meat with Veg meal when served in error.Rest of meals were from US catering so may be from AA kitchen rather than Qantas flight catering.
 
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