747 Business service - a little bit too casual

[under the radar]

So you have to be a P1 to get a drink before the meal ? It's been so long since flying QF I'd forgotten this. On SQ usually before takeoff they will take drink orders, and unless there is bad turbulence, I will have a Singapore Sling or Champagne in my hand within 20mins of takeoff.

QF10 is a 'supper service' ex LHR..there is no 'planned' seperate pre meal drinks service due to the 2230hr departure from LHR....pre meal drinks services are 'planned' around departure times from ports...so you will find some flights will offer...and some flights will not...and to be fair as the poster is P1 and was provided with beverage by the CSM as part of 'greeting'..doesnt mean the rest of the cabin wasnt offered pre meal beverages by the CABIN CREW if their was a 'planned' beverage service.. just a couple of reasons why this could have occured..

 

[TonyHancock]

QF10 is a 'supper service' ex LHR..there is no 'planned' seperate pre meal drinks service due to the 2230hr departure from LHR....pre meal drinks services are 'planned' around departure times from ports...so you will find some flights will offer...and some flights will not...

QF10 left SIN at 20:20 though.

 

[under the radar]

QF10 left SIN at 20:20 though.

i added a little bit more to my post..maybe explains further..as im not sure if 2020hr departure listed as 'dinner service' ...but the proceedure is if menu states 'dinner service' = pre meal bar... 'supper service'= no pre meal bar.

 

[TonyHancock]

i added a little bit more to my post..maybe explains further..as im not sure if 2020hr departure listed as 'dinner service' ...but the proceedure is if menu states 'dinner service' = pre meal bar... 'supper service'= no pre meal bar.

That makes sense, thanks. I think the menu said supper service.

QF6 was interesting, I'm used to getting the standard menu handed out by the crew, but there wasn't one. There was something on the "other side" of the breakfast fill in menu but I didn't pay any attention to it.

 

[under the radar]

That makes sense, thanks. I think the menu said supper service.

QF6 was interesting, I'm used to getting the standard menu handed out by the crew, but there wasn't one. There was something on the "other side" of the breakfast fill in menu but I didn't pay any attention to it.

my pleasure .... no menus usually has 1 of 2 scenarios...nil supply of menu stock ex port of departure OR cabin crew tardiness (couldnt be bothered handing out).... either way it's a 'fail'

 

[Moopere]

Your QF 6 experience may as well been on SQ........

People say SQ is a bit like this but I don't find them to be this way . I find the FA's to be warm and friendly and more then willing to chat with you, but you have to break the ice yourself first.... which, as the customer, is fine, its up to me to "tell" them the sort of engagement I'd like.

 

[lovestotravel]

So you have to be a P1 to get a drink before the meal ? It's been so long since flying QF I'd forgotten this. On SQ usually before takeoff they will take drink orders, and unless there is bad turbulence, I will have a Singapore Sling or Champagne in my hand within 20mins of takeoff.

You are talking about the airline that actually prides itself on customer service, and then trying to compare to Qantas

 

[Bolthead]

I know this is a QF thread however I usually fly VA Y+ or J long haul and although I find the service excellent and the fact they do call me by 'Mr. Bolthead..' I also find that they try too hard as well. It just doesn't seem to be sincere and it is like they are talking to you from a script. I also flew (for the first time) recently in J QF (Shanghai return) and I could not fault the staff and I also found that they seemed more relaxed and professional. On the other hand my last long haul J flight on VA had an 'ex' QF cabin crew looking after us and he was great. Perhaps because the VA staff are still relatively young they have not learnt how to relax.

 

[Newk]

My two bobs' worth: I am very happy to be addressed as "mate". Done appropriately it would be a wonderful greeting after time away.

 

[chrisb]

My two bobs' worth: I am very happy to be addressed as "mate". Done appropriately it would be a wonderful greeting after time away.

As long as they're polite, attentive, prompt, understanding and courteous they can call me whatever they want.

I'd rather have my call button answered within 30 seconds than be called Mr B.

 

[MrJetset]

I have found the A380 crews to be good (and also jet connect crews). But I've had a finger of my baileys be removed without asking, which makes a joke of telling someone they shouldn't have ordered a drink they didn't finish.

Perhaps we had the same FA!

 

[RockDoc]

Actually it is the hardest and most expensive part of the product to get right.

The hard product, plane, lounge etc are static and once properly installed are just a physical product to be maintained.

Service relies on people doing the right thing at the right time to the right person in the right circumstances. Lots of combinations to get exactly right all of the time. Get the timing wrong and what would be awesome service in another circumstance is considered poor service.

And another part of the whole equation is how the recipient sees the service. This board has many examples of what some people consider good service and what others decry as poor or inferior service. Yet the same product was delivered. Are both views wrong? Of course not. It is perception of the recipient. As an example, after the initial greeting I prefer to be called by my first name and when appropriate will advise the FA. Other passengers are rightly horrified at being referred to by their first name. Same situation, different reaction.

The service employer also has responsibilities to ensure that the provider (the actual person delivering the service) is themselves given good service and allowed to do their job. Do they have the right tools, both physical and training to deliver the required level of service? Are they treated properly? If the employer treats their staff like cough well it is easy to guess what the employee thinks about the business and regardless of how professional they are, it will almost invariably be seen by the customer.

Some food for thought.

Not sure I totally agree here. Customer service, just like the hard product needs to be "installed" (swap for "instilled" in a funny game of synophone semantics ) properly and maintained. Get it right from the start and it is not too expensive to maintain (unlike the pressurised tubes hurtling through the sky that all this takes place in). You did touch briefly on what really should be the key to a good service base - consistency. Fair enough, the same treatment by the staff may be read by two different people as being good or bad, but at least when someone boards the plane they would have an idea of what to expect. It follows on from this that once this consistency is established, the vox populi will declare whether the said standard of service is "good" or "bad", and ideally result in a market driven improvement. Individual service staff are then also free to add their own "flair", for want of a better term, on top of the already good base service.

I think maybe the issue that you have identified is not necessarily that good customer service is expensive in an absolute sense, just that it's perceived cost compared to it's perceived value to the airline is out of whack.

All this is a pretty long winded way of saying that, in my eyes at least, it is the service lucky dip experience that is the single worst thing, and should be, like OP says the easiest to get right.

 

[fresherbill]

I was spoiled - no, ruined - by 10 years of flying with SQ. The thing I miss most about SQ is not the detail, but the consistency. You always knew how you were going to be addressed, how long after the seatbelt sign went off before you were handed a hot towel, how hot that towel was going to be etc etc... In my second year of flying QF I have learned to not create an expectation of what service I'm going to get - it's very much up to the crew you get. That's annoying, because it means I can't recommend Qantas, even when I get fantastic service. You wouldn't recommend your favourite car if you knew it had a tendency to blow up every few hundred miles. Nor would you tell someone to go onto your mobile network if you knew that it was great, but only 90% of the time. My standards won't work for everyone, so it's much easier when an airline creates a standard for you. My hope for Qantas is that it will standardise its service at least around an average but consistent product and then work up from there. If that means I can be confident of never being called "mate" (shudder), my recommendations - and I suspect those of countless others - would flow freely.

Now to go and solve the world's other problems...

 

[HKGNZL]

Agree with Fresherbill and totally symphathize with Haggiscat's comments. There are no doubt good FAs on QF but the inconsistencies and bad experiences ruin the confidence.

I have been called 'mate' many times. Have had poor services many times. But what annoyed me most were the times they failed to help when you really needed some help, not just wanting something extra to make your flight more enjoyable. I hurt my back in Europe last year. I needed wheelchair at check-in and I limped onto A380 J class walking with a stick and carrying my bag. No one offered to help. I then asked for an extra blanket (to roll up as lumbar support). I was told J was full and only one blanket per seat allowed.

Whenever we took our baby on QF international, albeit usually Y, I never had anyone to come and ask if we need assistance. More often than not I had to ring and ask for baby seatbelt. The reccord was having to ask four different FAs.

Of course we had the odd good services... but for the prices we pay you should expect some reasonable standard at all flights.

If prices equal, I now always go J on CX, MH, SQ, Qatar or Finn. I flew Turkish airline J recently. It was half the price of other airlines at that time. I expected nothing but found them just fine. They were cold and not keen to converse and never addressed me in any way (name or sir). I told myself it is no worse than QF and half the price.

 

[JohnPhelan]

I flew Turkish airline J recently. It was half the price of other airlines at that time. I expected nothing but found them just fine. They were cold and not keen to converse and never addressed me in any way (name or sir). I told myself it is no worse than QF and half the price.

ummm..... maybe you might like to check out Turkish's safety record before making comments like that .....

 

[HKGNZL]

Have flown Turkish Airline a few times. Happy to do it again. Their lounge at IST is also fabulous - worth seeing.

 

[HKGNZL]

just been on QF7 and the services were perfect. Was addressed by my name all the way. Don't often have that for international business out of Perth (not to me anyway!).

 

[parsonstrish]

I too just flew qf7 19/10 and what an amazing crew. My first experience in what some of you call emerald city. Older crew upstairs and absolutely wonderful. My two dom. flts tsv-bne 18th and bne-syd were also wonderful. Well done qf. Comments sent to qf again.

 

[Jmrocky]

My two bobs' worth: I am very happy to be addressed as "mate". Done appropriately it would be a wonderful greeting after time away.

I agree, I really do wonder about some people. From the tone of some posts it's not hard to imagine the expectation being FA's kneeling down on hand to foot to take a drink order, sans eye contact.

 

[simongr]

I agree, I really do wonder about some people. From the tone of some posts it's not hard to imagine the expectation being FA's kneeling down on hand to foot to take a drink order, sans eye contact.

There is a big difference between calling someone mate and an expectation of obsequious servitude. I flip flop on this topic. I don't fly an airline to be mates with someone. I am a fairly personal person and quiet (though 12,000 posts here may tell a different story perhaps) so I actually don't look to engage with the crew - a simple What would you to eat/drink mr surname is all I really want. That can be done in a way that is friendly and relaxed but maintains a distance between me and the crew. Casual service can often lead to poor service.

I have had great flights recently with exactly this style of service - no-one was required to bow down to me or doff their cap.