My Worst Qantas Flight Ever - PER - ADL

[snoopyau10]

I wanted to get your thoughts on the below letter I sent to Qantas. I needed to follow Qantas up three times after no response after 4 weeks. I recieved an Apology from The Customer Service Centre, and was advised that the Crew Member would be spoken to regarding the matter. No compensation was sort or offered by Qantas. Text is a bit long but wanted to get your thoughts on if I did the right thing and the reply I should have expected from Qantas.

I normally do not make complaints, and general always give positive feedback when I can, however this incident is in no-way passable and needs to be brought to the attention of Qantas Management.

Here is a summary of the incident that took place.
After the food service had been completed, I needed to finish some work and placed my food tray under my feet as I need space on my seat tray for my Laptop. As did the passenger is seat (14E Think this is the seat number) opposite me.
An Empty Can of Beer that was on my tray must have fallen off the tray just near my feet.
As Clement passes in the aisle with the trolley his foot kicked it and then he "shouted" at me from two rows away not to do that again and said that he did not have eyes in the back of his head. At this point I felt threatened by is action and completely embarrassed as many passengers turned to see what was happening. This is completely unacceptable service, considering it was an accident and I am sure that the can was kick by him as he passed and did not fall off the tray, but I will accept that it may have fallen from the tray.
I consider myself a very low maintenance customer and never ask for extras and happy with the food and service of Qantas. Clements approach is not how I expect to be treated as a customer.
Had I shouted at one of the Qantas Crew members I would have been offloaded form the aircraft and handed to Federal Police I am sure.
On leaving the aircraft I approached Clement at the boarding gate to discuss the matter and I told clement "that I did not appreciate at all being spoken to in that manner and please never do it again to me or another customer"
Clement then argued with me, with regards to the position of the tray and he said that "the tray was in the aisle. Had that been the situation anyone of the 10 odd people who passed to use the toilet and one other trolley would have also "tripped" over it, which of course they did not, as I was careful to consider its position.

I accepted Clements position at the time of discussing with him that I understand the hazards of working on an aircraft and he advised that he hurt his back in a similar incident some time ago, which i acknowledged.. Clements continued to argue the point, I had to walk away from the situation as it was getting heated and did not want to make a scene.
All I wanted was an apology from him to at least acknowledge that this type of behaviour towards a customer is unacceptable. I did not get this at all.
This would have been one of the worst flights I have experienced since flying regularly since August 2010. 16 Flights in total, 10 on Qantas and 6 on Virgin.
I am not the kind of person to make an issue out of something small, but if I take this experience away and reflect I would have to consider my travel with Qantas in future. I have flights booked for the USA in Jan/FEB and should be doing at least another 8 - 10 sectors before Christmas Domestically. I have Qantas Club Membership and wish to secure Gold FF within 3 – 4 months.
I would appreciate a response from Qantas regarding this incident, not only to acknowledge it, but for some closure on the incident as I am not looking forward to my Qantas flight tomorrow afternoon from Adeliade to Sydney.
There is always two sides to every story, however the above is an accurate record of the events and conversations as they occurred.

 

[samh004]

The response, even though it took so long, seems adequate, I don’t think compensation for such an incident is required.

 

[Justinf]

My opinion is that the floor is no place for a food tray. The way you were spoken to was unacceptable, but I would never dream of placing anything other than my carry-on luggage or my feet on the floor of an aircraft.

 

[Febs]

The response, even though it took so long, seems adequate, I don’t think compensation for such an incident is required.

I agree. Response seems what I would expect.

OP - Your letter does seem to somewhat make a mountain out of a molehill...apologies, but that's how it reads to me.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[snoopyau10]

My opinion is that the floor is no place for a food tray. The way you were spoken to was unacceptable, but I would never dream of placing anything other than my carry-on luggage or my feet on the floor of an aircraft.

I take your point.

I guess placing any item on the floor of any aircraft is not desirable. Even carry on. The possibility exists that the strap of a backpack or bag could cause a trip hazard in the aisle.

 

[Justinf]

I take your point.

I guess placing any item on the floor of any aircraft is not desirable. Even carry on. The possibility exists that the strap of a backpack or bag could cause a trip hazard in the aisle.

So did the FA think you threw a beer can at him? Even though I don't agree with putting your foodtray on the floor, it seems he has overreacted.

 

[snoopyau10]

The can may have Rolled off the tray but I believe he kicked it, unsure. Either way he made me feel about 2" tall.

Just though his behavior was pretty bad.

 

[garee]

Your letter lets you down, due to poor spelling and grammar. Maybe use Spelling and Grammar checker in Word next time.

We'll all be looking out for Clement next time we fly. Can't be many Clement FA's with QF

 

[JetLagged]

And how have your subsequrnt flights with Qantas been - including your return trip?

 

[munitalP]

Let me see if I read this right...

You insist that thoughtfully you placed your food tray on the floor as you needed to use your laptop.
Unthoughtfully the flight attendant who was cleaning up after meal service leaned under your seat in front, kicked the can out then yelled at you from 4 seats away?
If I was wowbagger the infinitely prolonged, you would be heading to the top of the list.
The people walking past who didn't trip over it, that's perhaps because they were looking where they were walking or were not using every available inch of the isle.
In my experience although limited :shock: the flight attendants clean up or serve from front to rear, a safety thing (like not leaving trip hazards in the isle) so he was either on his way to clean up or had already passed you once and was cleaning up. So, I'm assuming he was on the way to cleaning up as you were seated mid aircraft on a 737, walking backwards being pushed by a heavy trolley trips and no doubt stumbles, stops, picks up your can, then from 4 seats away "yells" at you about it...

From 4 seats away, how did he know to single you out? From 4 seats away on a 737 I'm surprised he even managed to be heard over the AC noise, I'm still interested in how he knew it was you though unless we are not getting the whole story...

I wouldn't have apologized

 

[snoopyau10]

And how have your subsequrnt flights with Qantas been - including your return trip?

8 qantas flights since the beer can, and all have been ok as expected.

767 mid aircraft, fa walking backwards on clean up, kicks can makes a big deal.

I take all your comments on board. Lesson learned don't place anything on the floor if you want to avoid the fa going off if it happens to fall or shift.

 

[Travel Guru]

I don't agree with yelling at anyone, but the food tray has no place being on the floor, there's so many potential hazards created by placing it on the floor where you cant easily stop something from going flying or rolling in the case of turbulence.

I wouldn't waste your time with the letter to be honest, as earlier posters have said, you need to tidy up the grammer if you want it taken seriously.

TG

 

[MatF]

I tend to agree with the other posters, I wouldn't put the tray on the floor either.

I also think your letter could be better - and to be honest, the last section where you list the flights you have coming up, the fact that you want to achieve gold, etc makes it sound like you want something (to me).

I will be keeping my eye out for Clement though

 

[Nigelinoz]

I was in a similar situation on a flight from Melbourne to Perth last year,meal service was over and I needed to use my tray table to do some paperwork,I just pressed the call button and politely asked the F/A if my tray could be removed,the young lady said "Certainly sir,no problem" and removed it.
Cheers
N'oz

 

[RB]

I don't agree with yelling at anyone, but the food tray has no place being on the floor, there's so many potential hazards created by placing it on the floor where you cant easily stop something from going flying or rolling in the case of turbulence.

I wouldn't waste your time with the letter to be honest, as earlier posters have said, you need to tidy up the grammer if you want it taken seriously.

TG

Maybe even tidy up the grammar

 

[Diesellife]

Perhaps the way that you got treated was unacceptable, but to be honest, I would be thankful as Clement did not trip over and hurt himself. Otherwise a possible lawsuit would be brought against you!

No material compensation would be offered in such case, except an apologetic letter which you have already received.

Just out of curiosity, what sort of compensation are you looking for anyway?

 

[tipsy.skipsy]

Your letter lets you down, due to poor spelling and grammar. Maybe use Spelling and Grammar checker in Word next time.

We'll all be looking out for Clement next time we fly. Can't be many Clement FA's with QF

Yes there can't be many Clement's with Qantas , but sure as there are many FA's with the same or worse Attitude towards customers ( Clement Personality ). You have to watch out for all of them , ever second flight I am greeted by one (Clement Personality)

I wish to develop a scale i.e barometer of sorts to describe the level's of customer service at any step of my journey.

Here's the first idea :-

Clement Personality Scale

CP-1

Worst experience you have ever had in your lifetime , which must include a very rude person at the other end ( i.e FA , Customer Service at Check-in , Customer Service over the Phone ) and the incident resulted in a very heated argument , or was intervened by someone. The follow to be a formal complaint submitted with the Airline , Hotel , Car Rental Company etc etc.

CP-2

A bad experience with some thing but which usually gets resolved with an apology and a smile or maybe a drink offered along the way.

CP-3

Average Experience , No one tries to make it better

CP-4

An average experience , but the person serving tried his/her best to make the expirence as comfortable as possible.

CP-5

A smooth , trouble free experience.

CP-6

When someone goes out of their way to make your day.

Requesting your opinions on the Clement Personality Scale.

I think AFF does not have such a scaling system.

 

[medhead]

I would just suggest that if you do send the letter remove any emotion and don't ask for any compensation. Sure you had to work but still it is, what?, a 4 hours flight. Surely there is enough time to wait?

In a similar situation I would normal turn the tray around 90 degrees and then put my computer next to it to work. The trays are small enough these days to do that. Maybe put the beer in the seat pocket.

Anyway, bad about being yelled at, I guess be happy that will be raised with the staff member.

Unthoughtfully the flight attendant who was cleaning up after meal service leaned under your seat in front, kicked the can out then yelled at you from 4 seats away?
If I was wowbagger the infinitely prolonged, you would be heading to the top of the list.

Minor point of order, it was 2 seats and as I read it the tray was under the feet not the seat in front.

767 mid aircraft, fa walking backwards on clean up, kicks can makes a big deal.

Of course, there is no row 14 on a 767 that I remember.

 

[oz_mark]

I don't agree with yelling at anyone, but the food tray has no place being on the floor, there's so many potential hazards created by placing it on the floor where you cant easily stop something from going flying or rolling in the case of turbulence.

...and yet on a turbulent flight once, we were instructed to put our meal trays under our seats for landing, as no-one was coming to get them.

However, the office is crammed when you are in the air, so you need to do something with your meal tray if you want to work. Probably the best idea would be to call an FA with the 'ignore' button, and see if they can remove it. I have seen this done a few times.

 

[JohnK]

Right or wrong I have placed the meal tray on the floor in front of me (usually seated in bulkbead on an A330) many times and there has never been any complaints from cabin crew. In fact on a number of occasions they have seen it on their way past and have either asked for the meal tray or bent down to pick it up.

Usually this happens if they have not collected the meal trays quickly and I am uncomfortable with the tray table digging into my stomach if left there for too long.