Where has the Club World service gone?

I have top tier status with BA, United and Etihad but do the majority of my flighs with BA given they are the only international airline serving my hometown of Phoenix. During a recent flight from PHX to LHR in Club World, I have experienced some uniquely poor customer service. I take that flight twice a month and of course Murphy’s law made this happen on one of the few instances I was flying together with my wife and two kids. The following is a non inclusive list of the issues we experienced: 1) We were not offered a drink nor a newspaper after we boarded. 2) the first drink service came 1 hour after departure (never happened before) 3) the meal was served more than 2 hours after departure. This is unacceptable on a night flight where people need to sleep and was particularly bad for us since we had two small kids. When I very politely asked if my kids could have their meal earlier, I got the rather patronizing answer: ‘sorry all meals have to be cooked’. The CSD did find a way to get some food ‘earlier’ but by the time the meals arrived my kids had wisely decided to go to sleep 4) I had asked for a glass of port together with my dessert. Since it didn’t come, I asked two more times, and eventually I got it, about 25 minutes after my first request 5) when for breakfast, I asked if my son could have some fruit and cereals, as he didn’t have dinner, the mindboggling answer was ‘sorry you can only have one per person, as this is a full flight, you can give him your if you like’ 6) In general, the attitude of the FA serving us was unfriendly and uncaring, she never smiled once (even at my kids) and it looked like she did not want to be there. In addition to this, my wife (who flies with me twice a year on the same flight) made me notice that the quality of the food in club world has gone down dramatically. I probably got so used to it that I didn’t notice but I think she is right. I wonder if BA changed provider in the last few months or this is another smart idea like that of taking the eyeshades and ear plugs off the amenity kit…What do others think? Have you seen the same? Are my expectations too high in today’s time and did I just get too spoiled by Etihad and should get back down to earth?

“To Fly To Serve” say BA. Not quite accurate is it? BA service is a pale shadow of what it used to be. Get back to EY or their partner AA (even with a connection) for the most part newer planes (or better maintained), new seats & better food. No contest.

KM + 1
It’s either those pesky North Koreans or a Spotty 12 year old with delusions of adulthood!!

Hi acireale ……. What should really agitate you , is that if you opt to fly to LHR , indirectly with AA new business proposition , BA still get a percentage of your hard earned cash. Hence why BA can cheapen their premium product knowing it’s a win/win financially for them.

I believe that both the main UK airlines, BA and Virgin have the most historic business class cabins of any of the main legacy carriers.

With a stale product, comes a stale attitude by those delivering it… its that simple..

Do BA care, absolutely not, when most flights in Club are leaving pretty full.

One thing I have noticed, is the BA fares seem to be a lot lower than a few years ago. When eventually a new product is launched… I wonder what effect this will have on the fares…

Not wishing to be a BAbasher (I am Gold BA) but sad to say, US airways MAN to PHI last week was seriously better than BA’s same flight from LHR….

To my mind, BA seem to have completely forgotten about the small matter of customer service/satisfaction – it’s as though it’s simply not important to them anymore?
They have full flights so why bother?

The US flight had a much cleaner aircraft, lie flat business seating that didn’t require climbing over someone’s legs to get to the toilets…..
Food was excellent – really. Actually felt like fine dining.
The service was happy, smiling and attentive.

My only issue was them suddenly turning on ALL the lights an hour or so before landing on the return to UK (night flight, we were sleeping) – all at once…from dark to glaring in a nano second…… not good

Based on this flight however, I have booked to PHI with US Airways for my next trip, in preference to BA which is a sorry state of affairs since it’s my National airline……

@GrahamSmith,

Thank you for the censorship and the preservation of my weak constitution…I shall forever wonder about Mr Marx’s witty response…

@RussShaw6

I totally agree with your sentiments and comments. If you send these comments to BA.com it a case of “yeah, right, thanks, we are sorry you are disappointed….yawn, yawn, yawn”. They are not listening.

But, if you send your comments in this thread direct to the boss <a href="mailto:[email protected]“>[email protected] you might just get your message to somebody who cares.

Good luck.