In a recent Dom J flight I took with QF, it was the CSM who didn't respond to my call light. I had politely rejected the meal (it was ordinary and I wasn't hungry), but I did want a second drink. After some time of unsuccessfully trying to gain the CSMs attention, I pressed the call button. That was also ignored. My desire for a second drink was not so desperate that my bemusement about how long it would take for the call light to be answered didn't take priority. He walked past a number of times, cleared plates from all others in the J cab, chatted continuously to the couple in 1A and 1B (but hardly threw a grunt at all the others) and still he didn't even bother looking at me (I was intending on simply gaining his attention from 1F). In the end, the lady sitting beside me stopped him on one of his passes.
Having said that, dealing with the public can regularly be problematic and frustrating for crew, but I think that write-up was required. The CSM is regularly as complicit as the crew with regard to poor service and let's face it, the CSM is supposed to be ensuring quality. If they did their job correctly, no complaint is necessary. Last year, VA Dom J was suffering badly with J cabs regularly a pig sty and crew hiding behind the curtains rather than doing their jobs. This year there has been a very noticeable improvement and I tend to believe poor reports on social media (including AFF) possibly spurred the VA management to look into those practices and stop them. Both airlines (VA & QF) tend to absolutely ignore their private customer feedback, but poor feedback widely read in the public domain tends to get results. That article will hopefully contribute to an improvement in service which may help many of us as well as QF. Companies should be doing their own ongoing QA checks and public reports of poor staff behaviour is a valid way of getting the message across.
