Very ordinary treatment by J CSM

[cmdwedge]

Good morning all AFFers!


Had a disappointing experience on my final QF flight to attain WP last night. Was travelling MEL-CBR with my wife and two toddlers. I was ticketed in J, the rest of the family in Y. I swapped my seat with my wife so that she could have the nicer J seat and I'd rough it in Y with the kids. Anyway, about a minute after boarding, my wife came down to row 15 and told me that she had left her phone in the J lounge. So I went straight to the front of the plane and advised that she had left the phone there. CSM said to speak to the 'ground crew' outside, and ripped off the stub from my boarding pass. There were maybe another 15 people waiting to board.


I ran (!) outside and spoke to the ground crew, and she told me to run to the lounge. It was gate 8 and was maybe 250-300m away. Ran there, got the phone, and as I was leaving the lounge, the door angel was on the phone to the ground crew saying 'yes, Mr Cmdwedge is just leaving the lounge now'.


Ran as best as I could back to gate 8, got in very red-faced and handed the phone to my wife, who resumed her seat in J. Another crew member came up with a bottle of water and told me to breathe again.. I'm not terribly fit! Plane was delayed maybe 5 mins or less. First time in over 100 flights that I've delayed a plane and I was really apologetic to the crew and those pax around me in Y.


Anyway, after the flight, I asked my wife how J was (she's a bit new to it all, I get to fly J a bit with work). She said she was made to feel awful for the whole flight by the J CSM. She's the most apologetic, non-DYKWIA person in the world. Whilst I was running to the lounge, she apologised three times to the CSM. He told her off because I was going to the lounge myself, and he had 'told him to speak with the ground crew, not run to the lounge'. Each time she profusely apologised, he said 'well, I'm in a lot of trouble now, I'll need to explain this when I get to Canberra'.


During the flight, whilst in J, she was treated quite rudely by him and again, she apologised, and again, he told her in no uncertain terms what an inconvenience it was for him to have to explain everything to the Qantas gods. Wine was offered begrudgingly, etc.


Now I realise that we had stuffed up. We were juggling two toddlers (keeping them quiet and occupied in the J lounge), several bags, little backpacks, etc. She left the phone on the seat as we were trying to get organised - they never called our flight and I realised that we were getting close to departure time and left before it being called, so as not to inconvenience any flyers. I ran as best I could, and the flight was delayed no more than 5 mins because of me, but the J CSM went out of his way to make my wife's flight unpleasant. If she'd been snooty about it all then I would understand, but she was really berated BECAUSE she was apoligising. My experience with the Y CSM was entirely different, being told that it was 'ok' with a smile when I got back to my seat.


I've just tapped WP but I'm really put off flying with QF now. What a disappointing experience.


wedge.

 

[lovestotravel]

Curious to what the CSM would need to explain at CBR...

Sounds like just a poor CSM, I'd be sending feedback to QF and let them deal with it if they care enough or it may just get filed in the Trash folder

 

[cmdwedge]

Curious to what the CSM would need to explain at CBR...

Sounds like just a poor CSM, I'd be sending feedback to QF and let them deal with it if they care enough or it may just get filed in the Trash folder

I sent through some very positive feedback on an EXCELLENT J CSM on two international flights recently, and never received even a confirmation that they had received it. I imagine that any feedback I provide now will be treated in a similar fashion. Maybe being WP will change it? Who knows.

 

[maninblack]

Good morning all AFFers!


Each time she profusely apologised, he said 'well, I'm in a lot of trouble now, I'll need to explain this when I get to Canberra'.


During the flight, whilst in J, she was treated quite rudely by him and again, she apologised, and again, he told her in no uncertain terms what an inconvenience it was for him to have to explain everything to the Qantas gods.

Perhaps he'll be in so much trouble that he loses his job

 

[cmdwedge]

Perhaps he'll be in so much trouble that he loses his job

Which is specifically what my wife said, after the flight, that she did NOT want to happen. Maybe the chap was having a bad day already and me running off, delaying his flight, put him over the edge. Still, being in J, my wife was polite and deserved to be treated a little better. As she said, at least he could have said 'it'll be ok' and then had a whinge to his fellow flight crew during takeoff and landing, out of earshot. Instead, she copped an earful whilst fully acknowledging that she'd mucked things up. In J. Poor.

 

[basso]

First time in over 100 flights that I've delayed a plane and I was really apologetic to the crew and those pax around me in Y.

FWIW, for those that can't work it out, the CSM may well have had to explain the delay in the aircraft's departure. (although they didn't need such an attitude, but you would need to have the full picture of what went on before this to fully understand the staff position)

 

[boomy]

I know how you and your wife feel and it's very disappointing to hear about the poor attitude of the J CSM.
A couple of years ago I was traveling MEL-SYD with a guest from overseas. When we were on the plane he remembered that he forgot his mobile in the J lounge. The door was about to close and it was gate 11, quite far from the lounge. I told the the CSM my guest is flying back to Europe from SYD later that day and he really needs his phone. He told me to run to the lounge and get it. I run as fast as I could but the flight was still delayed about 15 min. Being a mid week morning flight, I know many pax were in a rush to attend meetings and other obligations in SYD. I felt really bad and was very apologetic (my guest's English was not so good so I had to do all the apologies). Anyways, everyone, including the pax and cabin crew were very understanding, especially when they saw me coming back all sweating and barely breathing

 

[Brettmcg]

My experience with the Y CSM was entirely different, being told that it was 'ok' with a smile when I got back to my seat.

Just to clarify, there is only ever one CSM on board (not a J CSM and a Y CSM). Maybe you are referring to the leading FA in charge of the main cabin?

 

[cmdwedge]

Just to clarify, there is only ever one CSM on board (not a J CSM and a Y CSM). Maybe you are referring to the leading FA in charge of the main cabin?

Maybe, I'm not down with all the lingo yet. It was the steward at the main door when we entered - he was in charge of the J cabin refreshments after take-off. The two female stewards were in the Y cabin after takeoff.

 

[zainman]

J, Y or F.. whatever the cabin.. No one deserves to be spoken to rudely.

 

[under the radar]

J, Y or F.. whatever the cabin.. No one deserves to be spoken to rudely.

hope your definition of 'no one' is inclusive of cabin crew who are spoken to rudely by pax in various other situations .. i'm just exercising my right to go 'off topic'

 

[Boris spatsky]

FWIW, for those that can't work it out, the CSM may well have had to explain the delay in the aircraft's departure. (although they didn't need such an attitude, but you would need to have the full picture of what went on before this to fully understand the staff position)

More than likely. Not pointing the finger, but you made the plane late, and the crew now has to put in the paperwork explaining the delay. Frustrating for the crew.

 

[vitagen]

There is no excuse for bad service but 5min late x 200 pax is a lot of time collectively.

Because you forgot your phone.

Not going to get into a philosophical debate, but I give evils to very late boarders doing the walk of shame.

 

[eric2011]

Umm, really is a pity that we don't have the other side of the story

 

[OzEire]

Not a good situation for all involved, but I bet you're glad that they did wait and not just push-back while you were getting the phone... but once the door closes there is no reason for the FA in J to keep rubbing it in - poor form there.

I'm probably going to incur the wrath of the AFF members who are cabin crew, but if the crew wasn't happy for you to get the phone they could have told you that you can't get off the plane (unless you want to lose your ticket), they might have even offered to get the lounge to find it and hold it for your next visit or post it to you. It was their call to let you go back, they should live with the consequences rather than taking it out on the pax. Although, its a bluff, suppose you had checked luggage (and with 2 toddlers that would be normal) it would have been a pain to offload all of the checked bags if you had decided you really needed the phone.

As an aside, 5 mins is nothing. So many times I've sat there watching for ages after the last pax boards until the "door is closed" so we can get moving. This usually seems to be a "paperwork" issue in most cases and, from my observations, QantasLink is the worst offender. I would say that 5-10 mins is not even remotely unusual to sit there, everyone strapped in ready, for the QLink ground staff to get the paperwork out to the (little) plane (with only a small number of pax) - I just don't understand why they take longer than, say, a 767 with many more pax.

*OzEire takes shelter awaiting crew responses.

 

[fersea]

Personally in that case I think the CSM should contact the lounge and they put it on the next flight and you can pick it up. I don't think you have the right to hold up the whole plane.

 

[basso]

Which flight last night was it? The 6 minute late flight, or the 25 minute late flight?

 

[cmdwedge]

QF826. 6 mins late. Landed on time but there was a delay with the stairs.

 

[N860CR]

Anything more than a 3 minute delay needs to be answered for.

The printing and delivery of the passenger manifest and load documentation is the last thing onto the plane before the doors closed, regardless of what caused the delay. Not sure why it matters that it's a (little) Qantaslink plane (with a small number of passengers).

 

[acrimmo]

QLink use a different load control team compared to mainline. We would routinely being waiting for paperwork on every flight. It's much better now though. Thesedays the delays are caused by last-minute Premium Hand Luggage which must be accounted for prior to dispatch.