Narky QF gate staff

[downloadingdata]

Sometimes its very best not to talk back to staff at an airport no matter what.
No matter how rude the staff are, (airline or security or who ever).
You certainly don't need to be taken by away by airport police for being seen as a threat.
Even if you thought you were right but staff might feel threatened.
I certainly wouldn't do it at an airport of all places.

Hmmmm we all know what happened to Dr Dao... not saying this is not the best approach, but is it really fair on the pax? What if the pax feels threatened by the staff? Are the customer service staff not meant to “serve” the customers or have i gotten this the wrong way round?

 

[vandy]

I've always found QF ground staff to be rude and unhelpful, but cabin crew are usually pretty good.

On VA I find it's the opposite, rude cabin crew but great ground staff.

That's just my experience though, and assume it's just luck of the draw the staff I've encountered and dealt with. They're all individual humans and we know they don't all deliver the same level of service. It's why we have the "hang up and call again" approach to dealing with a poor contact centre staff member. You can't really do that at the airport or in the air!

 

[drron]

See it is all about our own experiences.The best interactions I have had with QF staff have been with their ground staff.An absolutely incredible fellow that used to be on the service desk in MEL that went way above the required level of service.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Too many posts to quote but seriously there are many sweeping generalizations in this thread.

Back to the OP, it sounds like a total disconnect between the Lounge boarding call and the actual boarding process.
Regardless of that the ground staff snapping at you shouldn’t have happened.
I would contact QF to give feedback on the incident, keeping emotion out of it.
Hopefully they will look at it as an opportunity to improve the process for domestic passengers.

 

[Borisdog]

Look at an agent the wrong way or accidentally brush up against one while walking in the US of A, could get you ejected from a flight.

Which is why I’ll never set foot in the place again. I had my fill of the wankers 25 years ago when there. Lovely country largely spoiled completely by anything with a uniform not involved with the military. Even mall cops were over the top.

 

[Genji88]

I remember talking to a client who works as a SQ gate agent who was going to a training seminar in LA.

After progressing towards the front of the Customs & Immigration queue, someone behind him said "Please don't judge all Americans by how you get treated at LAX".

Is LAX particularly notorious for narky gate agents, or are other US airports not far behind?

 

[Quickstatus]

All the same (though in individual cases it can be a pleasant experience) but would rather the experience at LAX than some other places I’ve visited

 

[drron]

Yes a few of my LAX experiences have been better than some in BNE or SYD.Don't like MIA though.

 

[justinbrett]

Which is why I’ll never set foot in the place again. I had my fill of the wankers 25 years ago when there. Lovely country largely spoiled completely by anything with a uniform not involved with the military. Even mall cops were over the top.

*** Sweeping Generalisation Alert ***
I think it’s a cultural thing. From my observation many Americans enjoy being treated like cattle and being told what to do at every point. No assumptions are made and procedures are followed to the letter without exception. Nothing is left to interpretation. A gate agent barking orders wouldn’t be offensive to most Americans, it’s SOP.

That’s not a criticism of the individuals, it just seems to be a learnt culture.

 

[drron]

I still love the USA.People are in general friendlier and more polite than Aussies or Europeans-though we spend our time outside the big cities.

 

[Hvr]

but too many staff still behave as though they're unaccountable indolent unionised bureaucrats.

So has the management changed how they view and treat their staff in that time? Staff can only work as their managers allow them to. If they're treated as useless when they think and try to use their initiative then they will revert to doing the very basic things that they're rewarded for and nothing more.

In way too many workplaces Dilbert is a documentary rather than humour.

 

[Princess Fiona]

*** Sweeping Generalisation Alert ***
I think it’s a cultural thing. From my observation many Americans enjoy being treated like cattle and being told what to do at every point. No assumptions are made and procedures are followed to the letter without exception. Nothing is left to interpretation. A gate agent barking orders wouldn’t be offensive to most Americans, it’s SOP.

That’s not a criticism of the individuals, it just seems to be a learnt culture.

You are absolutely bang on here
Sweeping generalizations accepted
<ducks>

 

[Pushka]

I still love the USA.People are in general friendlier and more polite than Aussies or Europeans-though we spend our time outside the big cities.

I’m not convinced the “polite” is at all genuine but simply something they say without meaning. This came to me when all the time you hear people say -“excuse me” etc when really they didn’t need to but when you actually need someone to help out, as in NY when the rain caused the paper bags holding all my treasures and they went crashing into the puddles, not one person stopped to help but simply made sure they said excuse me as they stepped over them. And they would have see what happened but completely ignored it. The actions don’t follow the words.

 

[drron]

I am talking about inviting you home,telling you the must sees etc not the check out chicks etc.
We have had meals with people we have met on cruises or planes.they really are friendly.Again this is outside the big cities.

 

[Pushka]

I am talking about inviting you home,telling you the must sees etc not the check out chicks etc.
We have had meals with people we have met on cruises or planes.they really are friendly.Again this is outside the big cities.

Yes, we’ve maintained friendships with cruise people. I guess I’ve just seen big city busy people ‘polite’.

 

[love_the_life]

There is also a tendency for boarding calls to be made very late in lounges sometimes. Almost have to sprint.

 

[kermatu]

There is also a tendency for boarding calls to be made very late in lounges sometimes. Almost have to sprint.

Yes, happened to me in MEL domestic QF J lounge the other day. First call for flight to CBR was stated as "now on final call". Left immediately and walked quickly. Maybe 2/3 of the way (to gate 3) my name plus two others called out over the terminal PA. About 1 minute later arrived at gate (7 minutes before scheduled departure).

Thankfully staff were very friendly. Knew who I was (so was last to board) and could see I was a bit puffed. Acknowledged I "had transited and knew would arrive soon and they wouldn't leave without me", which was rather nice.

Door only shut 4 minutes later. Was a very light load so I guess the gate/lounge misjudged timing.

 

[pauly7]

There is also a tendency for boarding calls to be made very late in lounges sometimes. Almost have to sprint.

CL angels can sometimes leave it quite late to tap you on the shoulder and tell you it’s time to depart! (But they do call the gate and let them know you are one the way )

 

[calmelb]

CL angels can sometimes leave it quite late to tap you on the shoulder and tell you it’s time to depart! (But they do call the gate and let them know you are one the way )

Surely QF wouldn’t let a CL miss the flight because they were late to tell you to board! I could see that going down very well...

 

[dajop]

Yes, happened to me in MEL domestic QF J lounge the other day. First call for flight to CBR was stated as "now on final call". Left immediately and walked quickly. Maybe 2/3 of the way (to gate 3) my name plus two others called out over the terminal PA. About 1 minute later arrived at gate (7 minutes before scheduled departure).

Had a similar experience on UA flying out of PVG. I left the lounge (on my own initiative) to make the 3 minute walk to the gate, and the moment I stepped out the lounge I was paged, along with three other passengers. I left the lounge 36 mins before departure, flight was virtually full. We sat and waited another 30 mins for pushback.

Generally QF and most airlines in this part of the world are really good for pax arriving at the gate relatively late (within 10-20 mins of departure). In the US, you risk them giving your seat away if you are not on board the plane a random number of minutes, perhaps 30, before departure. There are plenty of stories of pax being denied boarding who've reached gate about 25-30 mins before departure with a boarding pass. My partner had that excruciating experience of seeing the plane he was supposed to catch sitting there for 20 mins after he arrived at gate from a late inbound, because they had already closed the doors and given his - and 4-5 other pax - seats away, presumably to pax on standby. We should be thankful for not having to deal with this sort of cough in Australia or Asia.