Scoot review OOL-SIN (19th June 2012) - Don't get me started!!! :@

[ash.1111]

Had an interesting flight with Scoot today (19th June 2012) from OOL to SIN. Even though I am a cabin crew member for an airline here in Aus, I do feel that my nitpicking is warranted and should be ironed out ASAP. FYI, I think there were 8 crew members on this very busy 772 flight.

Pros:

- Got us from A to B for MUCH less than even industry discounts (for myself and my partner)

- Clean plane (although tray table wasn't cleaned; not a huge deal however)

- Got super seats, fantastic recline and cheap price to pay for a bit of extra legroom

Cons:

- Cabin crew had little control over pax; would say 'sorry sir' even though the passenger was walking from the bathroom back to his seat during pushback/safety demo (he got up after door close and was in there for a while)

- Seatbelt sign. What seatbelt sign? Yes, pax got up. The sign would have been on for at least 40-50 minutes at one stage and with no PA to indicate it was on, and crew literally ignored anyone standing up (even though they went around checking seat belts)

- Couldn't understand any of the PAs made by the cabin crew

- The call bells were going off LITERALLY every 5-15 seconds, for the ENTIRE flight! Yes, that's right! I thought at first it was a lot of demanding pax, but then realised pretty quickly that it was some kind of system error

- Because of the call bells literally going off every 5-15 seconds, the cabin crew were flat out ignoring call bells. During the long seat belt sign stint, I got so thirsty (had a sore throat before boarding from hotel air conditioning) I had to walk to the galley (took my chances) and ask for a glass of water. They didn't ask me to be seated (half the cabin were walking around) and I only did this because I couldn't wait any longer (no way they would answer my call bell)

- DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE SERVICE! It was the WORST service I had ever seen! It would have taken 3hrs+ to do the economy service plus another hour to at least get the carts out. What's worse, the crew would drop everything they were doing to serve someone who had already been severed, making the entire service slower. They also randomly left carts in the middle of the cabin unattended and a pax actually moved the cart so he could get back to his seat. Of course the crew member didn't say a word to this passenger who took it upon himself to move the cart at least 10 metres up the aisle

- The crew didn't seem the slightest bit interested in having any sort of conversation

- The food was horrible; the drinks were warm and the hot food was cold (hot and cold items stored in the same cart!)

- Crew took rubbish with their bare hands and it literally took around 2-3 hours after the service for them to take our rubbish (they didn't have any sort of order, they were literally just taking bits and pieces whenever they could)

- Apparently bathrooms don't need toilet paper or tissues

So there you have it. A lot of coughing but I feel that the supervisor for this flight should get some strong feedback from management. I understand it's a very new airline and crew are also very new, but I hope management read this and pass on some feedback to the operating crew. As a cabin crew member myself, I understand the challenges faced daily, but when you fail at ensuring a safe and orderly cabin, you literally fail at your role as a fight attendant.

Flying back on Friday, let's see how they go second time round...

Sorry about the rant.

 

[Mal]

No need to be sorry... My trip experience was similar in parts. Organisations can only improve when they recognise there are problems - the more people post about the issues on Scoot, the more they can try and improve.

BTW, was your plane Barry?

 

[k3nnis]

Yep doesn't sound too good! I think in the meantime I will fly SQ,QF or BA for SYD-SIN

 

[ash.1111]

Not sure, actually. I should have looked, but after 2 hours sleep I wasn't really myself. Also, the plane was delayed and they didn't update the screens or issue any PAs advising of a delay. Slightly unprofessional of AeroCare.

 

[Mal]

Not sure, actually. I should have looked, but after 2 hours sleep I wasn't really myself. Also, the plane was delayed and they didn't update the screens or issue any PAs advising of a delay. Slightly unprofessional of AeroCare.

Yeah, they were a touch sloppy before my flight. Nothing I'd rate as too serious (just lax passport checking as one example and not being able to control boarding lines as another), but they do need to improve.

Trying to work out if that "ding ding" may have been the reason why my overhead lights and call buttons weren't working. Did they just switch them off for the flight completely?... As I flew Barry, I've checked other reviews around the place trying to work out if they were on the same plane. Some did report that Barry had lights working etc.

The repeated cold food issue is significant. There must be food safety issues around that.

 

[ash.1111]

The overhead lights were blinking as well (in some rows) and they didn't turn off the call bells; there was dinging until the very end. I was actually REALLY annoyed by the call bells (literally every 5-15 seconds for the entire flight), but not sure if I am 'tuned' to listen out for those noises. It was so bad I couldn't listen for when the seatbelt sign was on (and of course they didn't make a PA or it wasn't audible).

I also thought of food safety; our meal was cold (only row 33) and it was most definitely in the same cart as the cold drinks.

 

[jetlagger]

Was informed the OOL/SIN TZ flight was 5 hours departure delayed yesterday after a warning light in the coughpit.. PAX were ' Compensated" with a $50 inflight credit... Doesn't sound too enchanting with your report, ash.111
Thanks for the update though..

 

[Mal]

Was informed the OOL/SIN TZ flight was 5 hours departure delayed yesterday after a warning light in the coughpit.. PAX were ' Compensated" with a $50 inflight credit... Doesn't sound too enchanting with your report, ash.111
Thanks for the update though..

$S50 credit sounds right according to their passenger charter: Our Promise to You | FlyScoot.com

in the rare case that a delay is attributable to our actions, for delays beyond 4 hours, a SGD50 travel voucher will be yours. This will help you cover miscellaneous expenses.

Interestingly, they also claim

Scoot will make our best effort to notify customers of all significant delays and cancellations.

I'd class 5 hours as "significant". I know one of my travel insurances kicks in at 4+ hours delay (can't recall which one at the moment - have a few depending on how I pay for flights, or my catch-all insurer), so if I had nothing else planned wouldn't mind too much... Then again, a 5pm SIN arrival vs a 10pm SIN arrival are different beasts.

 

[LiamR]

Interesting Trip Report, let's hope they improve.

 

[Platinum A332]

Looks like a horrible way to start/end a business trip or holiday. At least JQ looks/sounds survivable (then again, never flown JQ long-haul....)

 

[JohnK]

Interesting trip report from someone who is in the same industry.

Does not look too good for Scoot. But I guess if airfares remain low then people will continue to try them.

 

[Mal]

Scoot posted the following on Facebook regarding the delay on Monday. Interesting comments.

Dear Scoot Community: this is Scoot’s Head of Commercial, Steven. I wanted to reach out to all of you regarding the delay we had on our Gold Coast-Singapore flight on Monday. The total delay was slightly over 6 hours because of 2 reasons – 1) There was a coughpit computer warning that needed investigation and 2) There was a fuel tank seal that our engineers needed to replace. Though these were relatively small issues, we make absolutely no compromise when it comes to safety. The former was fixed relatively quickly while the latter took longer than expected.

We understand that while waiting at the airport, many of you were asking for more definite estimates on our exact departure time. While we knew the issues would be resolved within a few hours, we were actually constrained by strict crew operating time limits (i.e. that our crew can only operate a certain number of hours a day). This is something every airline faces, and it made the situation trickier because if we could not resolve the issues and have our plane depart by 1530hrs, we would have had to cancel the flight and reschedule because our crew would be required by law to take a mandatory 11-hour rest period. This is a non-negotiable requirement.

Needless to say we didn’t want to cancel the flight (and I’m pretty sure our guests (you) didn’t want that either), but until our engineers and pilots gave the all clear we didn’t know if and when we could depart. Which is why our ground staff could not give an exact time of departure. I also sent our Country Manager, Darren, to Gold Coast Airport to oversee the situation and provide real-time reports back to us at our head office here in Singapore so we could decide the best approach. In the end, the plane finally took off at 1517hrs local time.

I realize the whole delay was frustrating for all of those of you who were affected. But as with any situation like this, Safety First, as I’m sure you can appreciate. We do acknowledge the inconvenience caused, and in keeping with our Guest Promise that spells out in black and white our service recovery approach – every guest on the flight will receive a SGD$50 travel voucher. You’ll be hearing from us soon, but if you’d like more details, you can read Our Promise at Our Promise to You | FlyScoot.com

There are also 2 more areas I want to quickly touch on: 1) Don’t forget travel insurance. I know we sound like a broken record but it is in these very instances that travel insurance does help. And 2) For guests who have purchased connecting flights – please ensure you give yourself enough time to connect. As much as we’ll try to make your flight as smooth as possible, there are issues that may be out of our control, which is why Scoot, just like all other airlines, cannot take responsibility for your ongoing travel plans.

Overall, in less than 3 weeks we’ve transported over 15,000 guests between Singapore, Sydney and the Gold Coast, which is something the Scoot team is very proud of. We admit that there’ve been hiccups along the way and for that we apologize. We hope you understand starting a new airline does involve so many variables that need to come together perfectly. Which is why it does take some time to optimize your operations, and believe me, we are working our hardest to do this as quickly as we can.

So a big thank you for your ongoing support, and hope to see you on a Scoot flight some time in the future.

Steven.

 

[haydensydney]

Wow... a SGD$50 travel voucher. For a 6 hour delay.

No thanks, lol

 

[Simo]

I might being going on them next month up to SIN on a boys trip for a weekend.

 

[richie9x]

Wow... a SGD$50 travel voucher. For a 6 hour delay.

No thanks, lol

Seriously what would you have expected? Most passengers have probably only paid $100-$150 for their ticket. For a delay like that most premium airlines are only going to give a food court voucher for $20-$30.

I have been delayed by Qantas for 4 hours and received absolutely nothing, which was fine with me.

 

[jetlagger]

I'm certainly glad that I wasn't on that said delayed flight.. To be 'stuck" in the GC departure gate.. Would be most unsatisfying.. It is definately a scene of de ja vu.. As with most LCC when it works.. Great for the 'next to nothing fares＂ but when situations within or beyond control occur... Which in the general scheme of things.. the airline/s in question seems to want to distance itself from any form of responsibility.. Just an attempt to 'sweeten the undelighted ones" with a 50 buck voucher.. Please.. Even with a gratis pending flight.. I am still apprehensive..

 

[jetlagger]

Seriously what would you have expected? Most passengers have probably only paid $100-$150 for their ticket. For a delay like that most premium airlines are only going to give a food court voucher for $20-$30.

I have been delayed by Qantas for 4 hours and received absolutely nothing, which was fine with me.

Had a 5.5 hour delay on QF DPS/SYD once.. QF agents had a card table set up in departure gate for all the platted hair & henna tattood bogans to vulture the sandwich & 'soft" drink spread.. Had paid much more than the '$199"o/w specials spruiking around the billboards nowadays..

You get what you pay for.. & you pay for what you get!

 

[ric_melb]

Scoot's post on Facebook looks and sounds like so much spin. And I would suggest "Steven" should be sent on a concise writing course.

 

[dajop]

Appreciate ash.1111's post, excellent insight. I'm tempted by the extra legroom Scoot has over Tiger, Jetstar and Air Asia for their SIN-BKK flights so may be worth a try. Not all interested in the OOL or SYD flights. But still keen to hear how the return journey goes.

As for the discussion on delays, really, an LCC handling a delay badly with paltry recompense for the passengers?? I don't believe it . And in today's other news, it was revealed that rain is wet, ice is cold and that politicians tell lies.

(sorry if I offended anyone by my gratuitous use of sarcasm, but in 2012 does anyone expect anything better of LCC's - or for that matter many non LCCs during delays?)

 

[smit0847]

Interesting trip report - sounds pretty horrible, even for a LCC. I flew JQ OOL - KIX, NRT - OOL and have nothing but good things to say about it - yes it was LCC but everything just worked.