QF A330 in-flight entertainment problems

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cjg

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2007
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Hello fellow Frequent Flyers

I’ve been reading the posts on this website for some time, but this is the first time I’ve actually put something up myself. I apologise in advance that it is a gripe about Qantas.

I was wondering if any other people have had trouble with the in-flight entertainment system on Qantas’ A330 aircraft and their experiences with Qantas Customer Care when it has been brought to their attention.

I regularly fly the Sydney – Tokyo route in Business Class and for the last three flights (most recent was yesterday) the system did not work for my seat. On the other two occasions the system was down for the whole aircraft, but yesterday it was just my seat and because the flight was full there was no seat I could move to.

To his credit the Customer Service Manager did all he could, but it was a technical issue that was beyond his understanding of the system.

When I called Qantas Customer Care the representative was apologetic but did not seem to understand my annoyance and frustration that when I am paying several thousand dollars each trip I expect things to work and to get the service I pay for.

I understand that at times systems break, but this is the third time in a row and highlights there is something seriously wrong with their maintenance.

The QCC representative informed that she would look into my complaint and would organise some form of compensation, but she did not know what this would be.

After these experiences (and others including lost luggage) I’ve started to seriously consider flying another airline, but Qantas’ direct flight from Sydney at 2140 is the most convenient and I don’t really have an additional few hours to fly via an Asian hub.

Anyway, I’m sorry if all that is a little lengthy. Has anyone else had similar problems and has Qantas assisted them or compensated them in any way?
 
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The probem with AVOD on the A330's and 747's have been discussed at length on various threads. The problem is not so much with maintenance as being a design issue. People have certainly reported getting compensation.
 
The general consenus is that by writing a letter rather than calling yileds the best results. QF are really good in general about replying and actioning complaints of valued customers.

I was on a trans tasman in J and the film stopped about 4 times, they had to keep reloading it. Wrote a letter, got a $300 QF voucher!

Remember to outline/mention your spend / status etc for added weight.

Let us know how you go.
 
cjg said:
I understand that at times systems break, but this is the third time in a row and highlights there is something seriously wrong with their maintenance.

It's not a maintenance issue nor is it a design issue. In general the A330 has always been more reliable than the 747. Since the new patch the system is experiencing less failures than ever on both aircraft. It seems you've had a bad run the with the A330 as it usually experiences 'expected' breakdowns - which as you pointed - no system will ever not break down. Unlike the 747 which was always having issues. Bascially the system isn't a bad design, and it goes under maintenance after every flight, it just wasn't designed for our aircraft but is saying that that's why the A330 experiences less problems than the 747 due to the smaller capcitiy of the A330.
 
milehighclub said:
Bascially the system isn't a bad design, and it goes under maintenance after every flight, it just wasn't designed for our aircraft

OK, then the manufacturer sold Qantas a system underspec for what it was intended to do.
 
oz_mark said:
OK, then the manufacturer sold Qantas a system underspec for what it was intended to do.
Which implies to me it is a poor design for use in a 350+ seat 744 aircraft.
 
NM said:
Which implies to me it is a poor design for use in a 350+ seat 744 aircraft.

Or Qantas stuffed up big time when they put out the contract... We'll never really know whose fault it was - but I do wonder who is picking up the tab for the (what must be by now a ) multi-million dollar compensation that Qantas has been paying out over the last couple of years...
 
Mal said:
Or Qantas stuffed up big time when they put out the contract... We'll never really know whose fault it was - but I do wonder who is picking up the tab for the (what must be by now a ) multi-million dollar compensation that Qantas has been paying out over the last couple of years...
My comment was not attributing blame to the manufacturer. I am using "design" in reference to the solution, which in this case is specific to QF's aircraft. Its just like in my line of work I can take perfectly reliable appliances and combine them in such a manner that the overall solution is not reliable. That would be a poor design. It does not mean that the individual components are dud, but he combination may be a poor design.

As far as blame goes, I suggest it lies with the organisation that decided on the solution for QF's requirement. Now that may have been QF or it may have been the hardware vendor or it may have been some third party - I don't know.
 
Same route - $50 compensation on board - more use to me than $300 for travel (That I got on another flight) as I don't pay for my flights ;)
 
cjg,

Welcome to AFF. These guys are slipping in the courtesy stakes today.

As mentioned this has been discussed a few times on different threads around here. A friend of mine works for Rockwell Collins who supply the systems. They advised QF prior to installation that the systems weren't correct for the a/c and yet QF insisted that that's what they wanted. (Go figure)

For some time Rockwell Collins had people on a lot of flights sorting and working the problem. Not sure where they are currently at :!:

Put simply the computers used aren't powerful enough and hence they lock-up and/or freeze frequently. The best advice offered is that if the system is working then treat it carefully and after you make a selection wait for it to respond. don't keep pressing buttons as it will stall/fail.
 
My experience of compensation following AVOD failure has been to write a letter using all the standard rules (clear, fair, set expectations etc), which has typically elicited a call within approx 2 weeks followed by compensation (never greater then AUD500 in my case) in the form of a QF travel voucher. So depending on what you regard as reasonable compensation I would think you have a case for similar.
.....and welcome to AFF!
 
Is it too late to complain?

In sept 2006, I was on a QF flight from SIN-PER where the entertainment system was down for the entire Y section for the whole flight!

Dec 2006, MEL-AKL, 2 hours into the flight - problems entertainment system in J. CSM restarted it, still no good. Then he shut down the entire system, and restarted from cold. That knocked out everyone's entertainment!

I didn't know you could get $500 vouchers!!! argggh

Chucksta
 
Chucksta said:
I didn't know you could get $500 vouchers!!! argggh
Chucksta

You wont get that for whY :) probably too late but i must write and complain to QF about every month i get the old month entertainment, happened atleast 3 months in a row on the 1st/2nd/3rd of month since they have not uploaded the new movies... i am not complaining about that at all, i understand it can take some time and the plane must be on the ground long enough to do it.

What i do complain about is staff knew it and either denied it would be last month movie when i asked when boarding and seated before flight, i askthed them to check. i would have slep instead of waiting to find out otherwise !

One crew from Perth were upfront and told me it was probably last month when asked and promptly checked and confirmed for me, and so i choose to sleep instead of waiting for entertainment.

E
 
simongr said:
Same route - $50 compensation on board - more use to me than $300 for travel (That I got on another flight) as I don't pay for my flights ;)

I just unfolded the voucher to share my parents in Cyprus only to find that there were in fact 2 vouchers :)
 
I've always found QF's IFE on international to be wobbly at best. Even when many of the aircraft were the old loop system, I'd often find the menu system not working. :(

OTOH, I've found Virgin Blue's IFE system to be totally reliable so fare and a huge improvement over QF's domestic "canned" system.
 
The IFE on all of my more recent QF international flights has worked without problem. This has been about 20 flights over the last 4 years and all but one on a 744.

This includes the AVOD, as well as the older loop system.

Considering the problems posted by others I have been quite lucky.

simongr said:
I just unfolded the voucher to share my parents in Cyprus only to find that there were in fact 2 vouchers :)
So you will be returning the errant voucher......;)
 
A QF FA confirmed the A330 IFE is not designed for the aircraft and that's why it has had problems. Presumably the IFE used on 747s wasn't either!

On the compensation, on a flight form PER to SYD I was sitting in 26K and the IFE on the A330 didn't work. No bother to me I was doing some work on the laptop all the way home.

A week later and apology letter and 2 Hoyts Vouchers lobbed in the mail:D . Not quite the $500 mentioned above, but well worth it!
 
Thanks for the advice on the IFE system and on potential compensation from Qantas.


I'm returning from Tokyo to Sydney on Monday - fingers crossed the system is working on this flight.
 
straitman said:
cjg,


A friend of mine works for Rockwell Collins who supply the systems. They advised QF prior to installation that the systems weren't correct for the a/c and yet QF insisted that that's what they wanted. (Go figure)

Allegedly BA (despite the extensive and well-documented QF issues) have recently installed RC AVOD systems and low-and-behold they are experiencing issues. The suggestion that RC warned QF and QF still went ahead sounds dubious. Even if it were factual this still reflects poorly on RC who should have declined to supply.

Panasonic also supply AVOD systems and don't seem to have had the level of 'associated' issues as RC. Perhaps mud does stick.
 
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