You are obviously a lush - would you like the bottle?

[RooFlyer]

I've posted a few times at how impressed I have been this year with QD domestic J. Recent experience makes me unsure if I should re-inforce that (hic! .. show me the way to go home ....) or be a bit offended.

QF 454 MEL-SYD in J; dep 5:30pm. A 737, I'm in 3D.

The FA/CSM began the cabin snack/drinks service at 5:55pm. It was a very slow haul after that - some fiddling around and very long, indulgent chats with uniformed pilots/FOs in 1 A and 1B. First row got completed at 6:10pm (yes, I kept tabs when it was obvious it was going to be a slow one). Row 3 got served at 6:20pm and by that time I was really hanging out for a drink.

Very soon after, the engine power came off and we started descent. Top-ups for row 1 were given about 6:25 and then the cabin was begun to be cleaned up. When and she came by me at 6:30, I asked (genuinely) if a top up was available at this late stage? Sure she said, and brought me a plastic cup (OK) full to the brim! with white wine. No way would that be consumed in the short time before it would have to be taken away - she was making an unsubtle statement - "Here: swill this".

Five minutes later she came to clear things away finally and I have her back the barely sipped plastic cup. And then came the clincher. She looked at me and said "I'll give you the rest of the bottle when you de-plane to for you go on with."

This really pissed me off. For my audacity of asking for a wine top-up, after she took 25 minutes to serve 10 J pax because she was chatting with pilots / FOs in row 1, (yes, possibly attending to some un-avoidable other tasks too) she very un-subtly treats me like a drunk. It doubly annoyed me as, unlike often when bad service is achieved because the FAs being under the pump, this was entirely due to her mis-placed priorities.

I deliberately didn't look at her on exit, lest she offer me the bottle, at which point I probably would have told her to put it somewhere uncomfortable.

 

[MelUser]

That's the problem with Row 3 on the short 737 flights. Row 3 often misses coffee and sometimes even the whole meal.

I've been on a flight (in Row 2 thankfully) where I;ve heard "cabin crew please prepare the cabin for landing". Row 3 hadn't even been served their meal - so no meal, no coffee, nothing for Row 3.

 

[castie]

How does this happen?!

Flew SYD - MEL Return only just last week.
Outwards on 767 and return on 737.
Both times in row 3.

Meal was served about 10-15 mins after they turned off the seatbelt sign.
So how on earth can it vary so much?
Hate to say it but surely its bordering on incompetence to not get the meals served? ( And flights were full both trips!)

 

[Happy Trails]

I had something like that in F a few months ago on QF128.
Requested a postprandial Cognac and was given a standard wine glass full to the brim and freezing cold.
I wondered at the time time whether the FA genuinely didn't have a clue, or was taking the piss.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I've posted a few times at how impressed I have been this year with QD domestic J. Recent experience makes me unsure if I should re-inforce that (hic! .. show me the way to go home ....) or be a bit offended.

QF 454 MEL-SYD in J; dep 5:30pm. A 737, I'm in 3D.

The FA/CSM began the cabin snack/drinks service at 5:55pm. It was a very slow haul after that - some fiddling around and very long, indulgent chats with uniformed pilots/FOs in 1 A and 1B. First row got completed at 6:10pm (yes, I kept tabs when it was obvious it was going to be a slow one). Row 3 got served at 6:20pm and by that time I was really hanging out for a drink.

Very soon after, the engine power came off and we started descent. Top-ups for row 1 were given about 6:25 and then the cabin was begun to be cleaned up. When and she came by me at 6:30, I asked (genuinely) if a top up was available at this late stage? Sure she said, and brought me a plastic cup (OK) full to the brim! with white wine. No way would that be consumed in the short time before it would have to be taken away - she was making an unsubtle statement - "Here: swill this".

Five minutes later she came to clear things away finally and I have her back the barely sipped plastic cup. And then came the clincher. She looked at me and said "I'll give you the rest of the bottle when you de-plane to for you go on with."

This really pissed me off. For my audacity of asking for a wine top-up, after she took 25 minutes to serve 10 J pax because she was chatting with pilots / FOs in row 1, (yes, possibly attending to some un-avoidable other tasks too) she very un-subtly treats me like a drunk. It doubly annoyed me as, unlike often when bad service is achieved because the FAs being under the pump, this was entirely due to her mis-placed priorities.

I deliberately didn't look at her on exit, lest she offer me the bottle, at which point I probably would have told her to put it somewhere uncomfortable.

hmmm.

while the service is slow (we know it is) this seems a case of generous hospitality rather than anything to really take offence at.

I was in row 1 the other day and offered a very generous refill despite the 'prepare for landing' announcement and was told 'I'm sure you'll be able to manage' when i asked if there was enough time.

There was nothing malicious or untoward.

i have been offered a full bottle to take away on a couple of occasions and it is not something Qantas specific.

Of course you were there and your view is subjective, but from an objective point of view it all looks more friend than foe.

 

[medhead]

hmmm.

while the service is slow (we know it is) this seems a case of generous hospitality rather than anything to really take offence at.

I was in row 1 the other day and offered a very generous refill despite the 'prepare for landing' announcement and was told 'I'm sure you'll be able to manage' when i asked if there was enough time.

There was nothing malicious or untoward.

i have been offered a full bottle to take away on a couple of occasions and it is not something Qantas specific.

Of course you were there and your view is subjective, but from an objective point of view it all looks more friend than foe.

"Here swill this" sounds very different to "I'm sure you'll be able to manage"

 

[RooFlyer]

"Here swill this" sounds very different to "I'm sure you'll be able to manage"

Oh! Must say that this was my interpretation ... not her actual words!

 

[JohnK]

The FA/CSM began the cabin snack/drinks service at 5:55pm. It was a very slow haul after that - some fiddling around and very long, indulgent chats with uniformed pilots/FOs in 1 A and 1B. First row got completed at 6:10pm (yes, I kept tabs when it was obvious it was going to be a slow one). Row 3 got served at 6:20pm and by that time I was really hanging out for a drink.

This gets mentioned quite a lot. Service should never be compromised because staff on duty want to socialise with off duty staff even if those staff are on duty travel.

That is not good enough.

 

[drewbles]

I prefer it when the FA says "would you prefer if I just left the bottle for you sir?". It simply implies that I enjoy my tipple and it saves them having to go back and forth so regularly as to provide their recommended daily exercise requirements just for furnishing me with a suitable libation!

 

[JohnPhelan]

On a couple of occasions I've been given the bottle to take home, too. I certainly didn't take it as an insult!

 

[Flying mermaid]

I've been offered a bottle as well - a trip CBR Mel in J. I had a glass of white wine with lunch and was then asked if I wanted to take it home with me as I was the only one who had had any. I was actually off to a girls' weekend so was quite happy to take it and share it with my friends over a Chinese dinner. Didn't find it insulting.....

 

[blackcat20]

At least you weren't offered a straw like I was recently when I purchased a bottle of wine from a bar...

 

[Melburnian1]

No one doubts that pilots are important staff members in any airline.

However, surely paying passengers ought to be given the best seats on any mode of transport.

Many of the AFF members who fly frequently place a high value on seats such as 1A. Why should QF staff travel in those seats when there are passengers either paying for themselves or having their company or government department or authority pay for the J ticket at what many in the community would suggest is an almost obscene rate per passenger kilometre?

This QF hostie ought to be given an instruction that the deadheading or travelling for leisure staff are to be served last. That's good manners. In restaurants on the ground, sometimes the staff eat first (at say 1730 when dinner patrons start walking in at 1830). The difference is that those restaurant waiters then face several hours of serving diners, while on a short domestic flight leg this is not continuously the case due to time on the ground.

When will the well paid QF staff with their generous allowances from the pilots and senior management down realise that their high by world standards pay and conditions will sooner or later be a major contributor to sending QF either insolvent or even more struggling financially than it is today?

Couple that with what AFF members such as JohnK assert is 'inconsistent' service and you have a recipe for a very poor future for any QF employees in the longer term, or perhaps even the medium term.

Clearly no one at QF thinks of the long suffering shareholders. I bet not too many of them would be wishing the Board and senior management at QF the compliments of the season, given that the company has not paid a dividend since 2009.

 

[Hvr]

At least you weren't offered a straw like I was recently when I purchased a bottle of wine from a bar...

They really do know who you are.

 

[RooFlyer]

At least you weren't offered a straw like I was recently when I purchased a bottle of wine from a bar...

At which point I would have asked for another straw "so I can drink it faster"

 

[opusman]

The whole reason she brought it to you in a plastic cup was so you didn't have to rush drinking it. They don't want you holding onto glasses during landing but plastic is fine.

 

[mannej]

However, surely paying passengers ought to be given the best seats on any mode of transport.

Many of the AFF members who fly frequently place a high value on seats such as 1A. Why should QF staff travel in those seats when there are passengers either paying for themselves or having their company or government department or authority pay for the J ticket at what many in the community would suggest is an almost obscene rate per passenger kilometre?
.

Is Row 1 in a 737 the best row for seats? Perhaps not...

 

[fersea]

The trick is to have enough in the Qantas Club that you don't need any on the flight!!

(only joking ... sorta!!)

 

[boomy]

Is Row 1 in a 737 the best row for seats? Perhaps not...

It's the best row for fast service, not necessarily for comfort.

 

[Kangol]

I wish someone would call me a lush
Biggest compliment ever!