Dirty Cutlery in the Virgin Lounge Sydney Airport

[Cyberon]

The cutlery in the domestic Virgin Lounge at Sydney Airport has shockingly dirty cutlery. When I enquired about this, the staff member said it wasn't dirty, just scratched.
Yeah right, all of them were like that. The glasses were the worst, obviously used for beer, they all had a uniform 'foam ring' line on them. Definitely not from scratching.

This is quite attrocious, and easily the worst washing I've seen ANYWHERE. This is not just one glass, it's all of them which were in the clean section.
The spoons and knives were just as bad too.

Take a look next time.

 

[Brisbane Flyer]

Say it aint so Joe...

At least my well used beer glass/champagne flute in the QP is clean...(I dont think I ever looked tho...)

 

[LiamR]

I didn't notice anything when I was there this afternoon, and I'm a clean freak.

 

[Cyberon]

I didn't notice anything when I was there this afternoon, and I'm a clean freak.

I saw it twice in Dec.
Will be there again next week to see whether they've improved...
Did u use the glasses they serve the self serve juice in?

 

[anat0l]

I've noticed the Alessi / Newson tableware in the QF J lounges used to be similarly ill-cleaned. The standard is much better now and they are consistently clean, although they do scratch easily, for some odd reason. The white plates also scratch non-gracefully, especially due to the abuse from knives and forks. Haven't noticed the VA lounge crockery gone down the same path yet, although their tableware tends to be more mainstream and slender compared to the QF Alessi ware.

For some reason, I notice stains most on knives (i.e. the flat surfaces of the knives).

Glasses in the lounges I've had no problem with, although a bit of hot rinse for the polished glass effect would go a long way.

In the first forays when QF JL started using Alessi tableware and I noticed the poor cleaning standards, I did make a formal complaint. Not sure if the standard has lifted as a result, but I suppose I can only recommend you do the same. Also, try intercepting some of the wait staff (i.e. on the floor, not the ones "waiting" behind a counter) and showing them some examples of the shoddy cleaning. They are likely to be a bit more receptive to your criticism.

 

[Cyberon]

I wouldn't mind scratched glasses, but dirty glasses are just gross.
I resorted to washing them myself using the ice water dispenser, and yep, the stains came off!

Even the local RSL washing up is better than the domestic lounge Virgin Sydney!
But will check again next week to see whether they've lifted their game...

 

[LiamR]

I saw it twice in Dec.
Will be there again next week to see whether they've improved...
Did u use the glasses they serve the self serve juice in?

Yeah, I always use the glasses they have for juice/soft drink, cutlery too. Haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. I'll take a good look next time I'm there.

Maybe a quick email to the Sydney airport lounge manager might help? Direct feedback is always the most effective way to correct a bad habit :!:

 

[Sojourner]

Yes, the DJ Lounge in Sydney is by far the worst. On my last two trips through there, the first wine glasses I picked up had lipstick on it (shudders).

On both occasions, I picked up two or three other wine glasses, searching for a clean one - I didn't find one. So I opted for a beer both times - straight from the bottle thanks. The really really irritating thing was that on both occasions, I was travelling through there in off-peak times (around 3pm). They weren't very busy.

The Lounge in Canberra, Melbourne and Perth have been fine though... Sydney is just consistently disgusting. My recommendation is just to drink beer, don't chance it on anything else until they lift their game.

And just to add to this - I am by no means fussy about these things. If there's a smudge here or there, a but of dust - I don't mind. But there's that, then there's other people's lipstick, and god knows what other bodily excretions stuck to their cups, glasses and cutlery. I imagine staff have just jammed a coughload of stuff into the dishwasher and then just taken it out without any consideration as to how well they've been cleaned.

 

[chrisjrn]

This is quite attrocious, and easily the worst washing I've seen ANYWHERE. This is not just one glass, it's all of them which were in the clean section.
The spoons and knives were just as bad too.

Take a look next time.

Take a photograph, and send it to Virgin customer service. Post it here too

 

[Homer]

I am a "clean freak" - if you see somebody standing in front of the wine glasses in a lounge lifting them up one-by-one to look for lipstick or even just too many water marks, and usually rejecting two or three before selecting what appears to be a clean glass, then it may well be me.

Anyway, I haven't noticed a general problem with the Virgin Sydney lounge. I was just in there a couple days ago and I used both cutlery and crockery that appeared to be perfectly clean.

Maybe you've had a bad run or struck them at busy times? I'm not excusing bad cleaning, just saying that I don't think it's a general issue.

 

[Sojourner]

I do hope I've just had a bad run with them. On the last two occasions though, I was travelling during off-peak times and there weren't many other guests.

To be fair, I didn't notice any marks on the cutlery. My main issue was with how they cleaned their wine glasses, as on both occasions you could see lipstick/lip marks on the rim of the glasses on not just one, but many of the glasses. I rejected at least two glasses on each occasion before giving up and deciding to just get a beer.

Staff should just be told that you can't just stick stuff into a dishwasher and expect everything to come out clean 100% of the time without checking. But yes, I should have taken a photo and raised it. I'm hoping it's just a run of bad luck though so I won't have to.

 

[bullerdude]

I was there yesterday and everything seemed quite clean. Hopefully, they have picked up on this after some complaints and improved.

 

[Happy Trails]

It's a status match with QF:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....leanliness-of-crockery-and-cutlery-35142.html

 

[JohnK]

This would be true for most lounges.

I noticed the bartender in the QF Sydney Business Lounge recently rejecting a number of glasses while pouring the beer. It appears that cleaning standards are not as high as they should be. The cutlery has always been hit and miss and generally I give a good rub down with my fingers but perhaps that is not enough.

 

[Justchecking]

Its probably how they are stacking the dishwasher. Commercial washers need all the items stacked a certain way in order to clean effectively. This is probably just one individual without a clue thinking they can fit more into the dishwasher than they should. Most likely stacking the glasses open-end up.
Lets just say that in commercial kitchens they dont take the time to show someone how to use the dishwasher and there will always be someone who's logic defies the norm. :shock:

 

[Gremlin]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I am currently in the Sydney Lounge and had to pick up seven "clean" wine glasses before I found one that didn't have lipstick on the rim. Very disappointing...

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I am currently in the Sydney Lounge and had to pick up seven "clean" wine glasses before I found one that didn't have lipstick on the rim. Very disappointing...

Don't you like kissing all those secretive ladies???

No? Me neither. A dishwasher that works perhaps? My Miele domestic takes off lipstick, so I'm sure a good commercial dishwasher should have no problems.

 

[LiamR]

Come to think of it, the glasses were pretty dirty while I was there on the weekend, I put a few back before finding a clean one.

 

[Ewing]

At least there were dirty glasses.

I was in there last Thursday. There were no glasses, no plates and people were serving themselves soup into the coffee cups.

Having said that, I tweeted about it and shortly after Virgin replied on Twitter. Soon after clean glasses and plates appeared!

My next visit is on Friday morning. Hopefully it won't be bad then!

 

[maninblack]

Has anyone found a snail in their glass