BA T5 First lounge…disaster.
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at 11:37 by StephenLondon.
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openflyParticipantMy first trip thru T5 for a few days. The new catering company took over on the 2nd May. After four days, the shelves are empty, no cold collation, the Walkers biscuits and cake have gone. The jams and Marmite are bulk loaded…it is fried breakfast or nothing.
It is rather like the Gatwick First with bacon! One can only assume that times are so hard at BA that massive cutbacks have to be made.
The staff are unhappy. The BA lounge manager told me that the complaints are flooding in but it will take time to sort out. The whole thing should have been a seamless changeover.
I can only imagine that the First lounge will be combined with Galleries in the near future, again to cut costs more.
Can BA get anything right!?
6 May 2013
at 07:00
CXDiamondParticipantI understood the new lounge offering was being reasonably well received at least outside of London in the UK. The biscuits are if anything of higher quality than Walkers and the cake offering is limited to during the afternoon but again of rather better quality.
Given that the new contractor is Baxters who have a rather good reputation, I doubt they have gone in to this to offer a lower standard of service. It would not be good for their reputation.
Many staff are unhappy with changes, it may be that they are being expected to work harder and it’s inappropriate for a lounge manager to comment that complaints are flooding in.
Of course, if BA discontinue F service there will only be one lounge but that’s all in the future at present.
6 May 2013
at 09:19
openflyParticipantFurther to my opening salvo, I went to look at the South Galleries. Little seems to have changed there. It would appear that the First Lounge has taken the hit. So much from the previous caterers has disappeared. The empty shelves look depressing. Goodness knows how the European travellers will receive the total lack of cold buffet. It’s a fry-up or nothing. In the hots there is a much smaller selection than previously.
The staff seem to be unhappy that the passengers are unhappy with the offering. The visitors book makes interesting reading.
The BA lounge manager told me that there are massive concerns at the poor reception to the new cost- saving product. There is little in the First that you cannot get in the Galleries.
6 May 2013
at 15:27
FormerlyDoSParticipant“Another BAbashing thread! zzzzzz”
What is BA bashing here?
Seems like a factual report, to me.
6 May 2013
at 17:46
1nfrequentParticipant“The new catering company took over on the 2nd May. After four days, the shelves are empty, no cold collation, the Walkers biscuits and cake have gone. The jams and Marmite are bulk loaded…it is fried breakfast or nothing.”
Sounds to me that the handover has gone badly. Ordinarily I’d expect the exiting contractor to have transferred all consumables to the incoming contractor and there should be enough to last a good few weeks while the new contractor beds in and sorts out their own supply chain. Seems to me that’s not what’s happened here.
BA bears the front-end responsibility as far as passengers are concerned but this really is a downstream botch up for which Baxters and Compass need to take responsibility. I hope they’ve got an adequate mechanism in their contract to hit either contractor for losses and costs.
1F
6 May 2013
at 18:38
Henkel.TrockenParticipant” scott72 – 06/05/2013 17:36 GMT
Another BAbashing thread! zzzzzz”
This will be the BA apologist handle that popped up last about a week ago to tell us that afternoon tea sandwiches in F are always unwrapped – which many of us know they aren’t. Given the length and interest of the trip report the comment was about it was a pity that it was all the handle had to say.
Isn’t the offering meant to be very different with Baxters? I very much doubt they were told to do exactly the same as the previous contractor. Knowing the way these things work the specification was probably higher for less money.
I would doubt the stock in the lounges are good for more than a couple of days – where would the storage be? On site at LHR would be very costly.
6 May 2013
at 18:46
openflyParticipantGals and guys….I am certainly not bashing BA. I am relating things as I found them this morning.
The First lounge is a superb facility and has been since it opened. It was such utter disappointment to see such degradation of one of the best facilities in BA. I gather that I am not the only person to feel this way.
When more of the BT gang can express opinions then we will get a better picture.
6 May 2013
at 20:08
esselleParticipantThis whole thing is so sad.
BA have been serving LPGS in the Concorde Lounge/onboard in F for about 18 months. It is nothing to do with the customer service ethos, but everything to do with procurement.
How cheap, how much supplier contribution, then, and only then, how can the marketeers position it as premium
Lowest common demoninator.
6 May 2013
at 20:11 -
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