A balance to Qantas bashing

[High Miler]

I have read a lot of posts recently by AFF members indulging in what only can be called Qantas bashing. I have a story which I would like to present to the members which shows that there are always two sides to every story and which I hope will provide a balanced outlook on the service provided by Qantas.
My partner and I flew Premium Economy LHR - MEL via DXB, on QF10 departing LHR on 03 November 2014. The service on that flight could not have been better. On both sectors, the Service Manager introduced him/herself to us as usual, but from then on, the attendant staff carried out their duties with activities that went well and beyond the normal flight attendant duties. On the first sector, our attendant helped us with cabin baggage stowage, made sure that our meals arrived hot, discussed the wine choices with us, offering a taste of both white wines and returning with a fresh glass to pour our choice. On the second sector however, the service only got better. I boarded with a suit bag and immediately was offered hanging stowage. Overhead locker space was juggled to make sure my carry-on bag was within reach of my seat. Meal and wine choices were again discussed at length, making sure that our preferences were met. The attendant noticed that I gave my chocolate to my partner, so on learning that I never eat desserts, the attendant returned from First Class with a cheese platter, especially for me. He then proceeded to ask if my partner enjoyed chocolate and on receiving a reply to the affirmative, he promptly returned with a First Class chocolate dessert for her. I was seated in 24J, the aisle exit row seat in Premium Economy and an overweight passenger trod on my slipper-socked foot whilst waiting for the toilet. The Service Manager came to me about 5 minutes after the event and wanted to make sure that my foot was not injured as a result of it being trodden on. The last piece of excellent service was when the attendant informed me that he had taken my suit bag up to the Business Class locker so I could collect it on disembarking without having to return to the Premium Economy locker which was behind me.

Overall, we experienced a perfect example of an entire crew working together to deliver an excellent service experience.

I think that credit should be given where credit is due

 

[drron]

Welcome to AFF High Miler.
Yes QF service can be great.Unfortunately not consistent.I would love to have that sort of service in a QF J cabin but usually it is not that good.
You might be excused for thinking it must be my attitude.However I consistently get better service on an airline that gets bashed even more than QF.Yes I am talking about American Airlines.So much so Aadvantage became my preferred loyalty scheme in 2006.
We each are unique.

 

[medhead]

Your QFF Oneworld status?

Things like hanging suit bags is the minimum standard, especially in premium economy. As is tasting the wine and having fresh glasses. Most of the so-called bashing is about when that minimum does not happen.

Niceties from a higher cabin are extra as IMO.

 

[clazman]

Planning a US trip for early next year, and looking at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge and it is amazing the polar opposites on the reviews, they are either rated 1 or 10 with nothing in between.

AA dosn't rate much better ...... Curious if you had tipping like in any service industry in NA would it be a different world?

 

[CMA222]

I think that credit should be given where credit is due

First of all welcome to AFF.

When credit is due surely it is better to tell the affected party, be it QF itself or an individual crew member, that they did a good job. No harm in posting here but will they ever know?

I often take notes when enjoying QF services in the air and on the ground if the service is better than expected or a crew member goes the extra mile. I, at the first opportunity, put that in an email to QF Customer Care and request the comments be relayed to whomever it involves, particularly if I am commenting on a named individual or a group of QF staff or crew. I usually get feed back that that will occur and on one occasion was asked if I wanted my comments to be considered a nomination for the crew member for their internal staff awards.

Posting on AFF is more likely to contain discussions of service failures (and other useful topics) as it is frequent flyers' experiences. There are other more effective ways to issue bouquets. No harm in putting them here but it is less effective IMO.

 

[RooFlyer]

Planning a US trip for early next year, and looking at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge and it is amazing the polar opposites on the reviews, they are either rated 1 or 10 with nothing in between.

AA dosn't rate much better ...... Curious if you had tipping like in any service industry in NA would it be a different world?

You mean if I paid extra to be assured of getting what I should have been getting anyway, it might be better? Tip when they provide a meal or a drink or at the end of the flight. Wonder how much the pilot should get?

ps I've observed before that the Air Canada discussion on FT can get pretty mean; there must be 'something' to get otherwise very polite Canadians fired up. Ah yes, its 1) Aeroplan 2) Aeroplan and 3) Aeroplan ... followed by exactly the type of issues, and inconsistency as we find on Qantas.

 

[UP4014]

Welcome, what you experienced should be the norm, anything more a bonus and anything less, well you called it bashing.

Matt

 

[juddles]

....When credit is due surely it is better to tell the affected party, be it QF itself or an individual crew member, that they did a good job. No harm in posting here but will they ever know?.....

Same should be said then with a ¨bad review¨. Get all the spankers to voice their criticism directly to staff rather than Qantas-bash on the fórum??

I have had many many flights on QF where I have experienced what the OP did - a fantastic experience.

 

[CMA222]

Same should be said then with a ¨bad review¨. Get all the spankers to voice their criticism directly to staff rather than Qantas-bash on the fórum?? I have had many many flights on QF where I have experienced what the OP did - a fantastic experience.

Everyone has good experiences, but how many have you chosen to write about on AFF?? As I said it is an available option if people chose to use it. QF Customer Care I expect field more complaints then compliments. Ask Jessica Tam about her recent experience with providing immediate feedback in the F lounge in Melbourne, which is now a thread on here.

 

[Pushka]

Welcome to AFF and great you experienced good service. Unfortunately not everyone experiences it. Is that bashing?

 

[yohy?!]

I think the 'balance' on AFF is pretty much spot on, there are lots of positive reviews of QF hard and soft product.

The negativity is simply a reflection of reality where QF have made changes to their FF program that have devalued it and in some cases declines in travel experience as a result of their strategic direction of starving their legacy divisions of investment in favour of Jetstar.

 

[TomVexille]

Welcome aboard!

Nothing wrong with a bit of positivity

 

[jackthomas]

Welcome to AFF!

I think you'll find everyone is equally as 'bashful' of other airlines when they don't meet the required standard. In Fact I see a lot more 'Bashing' of Virgin on the forums lately.

That's what is so great about these forums we share the good AND the bad that we experience. Unfortunately fantastic experiences like yours are not always the norm!

Hope we can hear you around for some input on other issues.

 

[ashleyn]

I come to any flight with very low expectations. Get me safely from A to B and I'm happy. Anything beyond that is a bonus. And that is regardless of the class of travel.

 

[JohnK]

Welcome to AFF High Miler!

You have had a good experience with Qantas.

I received incorrect bonus points for a flight over 2 weeks ago. Call customer care and they promised to get back to me. They got back to me a few hours later and promised to get back to me. That was almost 2 weeks ago.

In my view this particular customer service experience is poor. Woeful even. Qantas bashing?

 

[NM]

I think that credit should be given where credit is due

Welcome High Miler. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[Happy Trails]

I reckon most of the 'bashing', on AFF at least, is from Qantas aficionados and arises more out of sorrow and frustration than animosity.

 

[anat0l]

Welcome to AFF, High Miler

First up, in a perfect world, nothing would go wrong. But this isn't a perfect world, and we're all still human (not robots) - or at least the last time I checked anyway, out of 6 billion or so specimens, some exceptions may apply....

I think when it comes down to it, people are far more likely to complain than compliment. This applies to AFF as well as any other site where people share experiences. (It also explains why when you get called to the boss's office, it's probably more likely you're in trouble than you're about to be given a pat on the back).

So when you see the "bashing" that is here, it is probably only because of the imbalance of published stories of which the aforementioned reason explains. Only a few people here harbour patent hostility which leads to your observation of "bashing".

And yes, there are (almost) always two sides to every story. We often only have the unfortunate privilege of hearing only one of them. No one can do much about that.

Hope you will stay around. The content here may seem hostile, unforgiving and seemingly unwarranted, but in the end, it so happens that sometimes people are dissatisfied (to put that diplomatically, sometimes) with things that can and do go wrong whilst flying.

Don't be surprised (or personally offended) if you are branded an "apologist", which is the pejorative term (apart from questioning whether you work for the said airline or hold a significant stock holding in it) for the notional opposite of "bashing".

We need more stories of when things are going right (and even more when a wrong is fixed). That's not just for when it goes beyond the call, and that's not just for Qantas.

 

[samh004]

Your QFF Oneworld status?

I too would like to know, but sounds great.

You've provided enough information here that if you haven't already contacted customer care to let them know about the good service, Red Roo should be able to do so.

 

[boomy]

Welcome, what you experienced should be the norm, anything more a bonus and anything less, well you called it bashing.

Matt

So getting treats from First Class while sitting in Premium Economy is the norm now?
What I would like to know is what status the OP has with QF and if other pax sitting in the same cabin with the same status were treated equally.