[SimonS1]

@KSHaggag – yes I agree it is unacceptable that paying customers miss out on their choice of meal due to upgrades. As rferguson says they msg have been friends and family or maybe standbys.

Definitely worthy of a complaint.

I wouldn’t judge people too harshly, I dress very casually whether in Y, J or the rare occasions I have used F. The cover is often a poor guide to the book, so to speak. That doesn’t mean I have money, but then again some of those dressed to the nines don’t either and it’s usually funny to watch them moaning about champers in the lounge when they wouldn’t buy it at home…

[KSHaggag]

SimonS1,

Thanks !

I knew the 4 pax were upgraded to F to avoid offloading ,but IF THEY WERE FRIENDS & FAMILY or even worse standby staff members that would make things even worse .I did not think of this frankly .I made my assumption in the complaint these were full paying Eco or biz pax .
Just to inform you ,LH never mentioned or admitted this upgrade practice in their reply to me : they just admitted there was a mistake in loading the meals ,which I KNOW IS NOT TRUE !
I still am furious about this although this happened 20 months ago almost .It is unforgiveable and unacceptable by all means .
I know upgrades for operational reasons ( overbooking ) are common practice but ONLY from Eco to Biz and never to F and even in the rare circumstances they have to there are some measures to be taken and points to consider in order not to jeopardize the service extended to the full paying F pax .
LH consequently paid for this mishap through the nose ;valuable eventual business diverted to AF !

[rferguson]

Your case really perplexes me. You insist that you know those additional F passengers were involuntary upgrades due to overbooking. How are you so sure of this? When you say you complained to LH and they denied this. And you also say yourself that LH has a strict policy against this.

Have you perhaps considered that these passengers were booked in F on other flights that had misconnected and they were re routed onto your flight?

The big red flag for me to think they likely were not upgraded is that if they were the crew would have known about it via their passenger manifest. LH crew are a professional bunch. They would have the foresight to serve the bona fida F passengers first offering what’s left to those whom had been upgraded.

Regardless the reason this was poorly handled by LH. Even with Mia connecting/additional passengers they should have topped up the catering to the final F load.

[SwissExPat]

Thanks for the contributions (except that of trident3)
@KSG….. Does not sound good.

My only reason(s) to consider making a complaint is to Alert Management that this is happening (since the crew did not seem to care) and possibly to ensure that this sort of this is eliminated.

Also more importantly having done a google search and looked at the Lufthansa Website, wherefrom the following is copied.

“…Whether your flight is short or long, within Germany or elsewhere in Europe, you will be offered a full meal on board on every route. By using china instead of reusable tableware, a coffee mug, material instead of paper napkins or a new wine glass we create the impression of a carefully laid table….”

The above is what LH advertise as being the product offering. When not delivered, then they need to know about it. They knew in advance the PAX numbers so could have planned accordingly.

Maybe the crew do not know what the requirements are although since Germany the thorough training of personnel is usually a given.
Had an explanation/apology been made right off the bat, then I would not have had any problem. The main issue is that the crew seemed to want to pass off the lower non-compliant service and hope nobody noticed.
Also if standards start to slip, it will only be a matter of time before all the additionally paid for benefits of J will disappear.

@Rferguson (in particular being a BA person)
Recently mid-way through a BA flight I was in WT+ and went to the WC at the back. Whilst passing the galley at the rear, I asked for a red wine. The crew member said ‘”you are in 22D?” [which was WT+] to which I agreed and she then went to a different area of the galley and retrieved a regular glass to serve the wine in. It seems that on BA, WT+ do get a full crockery and glass service. So maybe BA can deliver the product they advertise?

[rferguson]

Swissexpat well your intentions in complaining are constructive feedback for LH. You should do it.

Regarding the wine glass for WTP on BA yes, the ‘service standard’ is that a glass glass is served with wine to WTP customers. Although sometimes we don’t adhere to the standards. For example, in Club World the ‘service standard’ for ad hoc mid flight hot drinks is to serve them in a paper cup with a cardboard ‘club world’ holder. Most of us continue to serve the ad hoc hot drinks in crockery as we consider it naff to offer in a paper cup.

Not to hijack a thread about LH but i’d say the standard where BA is most inconsistent is hot towels! 🙂

[LuganoPirate]

I’m with the don’t bother brigade on this on Pat. Time consuming for you and as said, you’ll just get the standard bed bug letter. Besides, it probably was an oversight so unlikely to happen t you again, and if LH read this forum, they probably know about it already.

[SwissExPat]

@rferguson… I generally find BA quite good on Hot towel although they are sometimes either cold or scald-ingly hot!! Although better than not getting them…

More worryingly I find that SWISS have become very inconsistent with…… chocolates ! (even though they actually run an advert exclaiming “Chocolates on every flight….. How Swiss!”)….. On a few recent flights, they simply forgot to go round the cabin…. even though I reminded them about 20 min before landing!

@LP….you are probably right. The consolation was that on arrival in FRA at the remote stand, I deplaned onto the tarmac to find a chap driving a Porsche Cayenne who drove me to the terminal….. (onward in F to the USA on a 747-8)… will write the review which was v positive.

[seanyjmuclhr]

I wholeheartedly agree with trident3 on this.

There is something inherently wrong with people if all they can do is bemoan the fact that a perfectly brewed cup of coffee was served to them in a paper cup despite sitting in business class.

Talk about a first world problem. I pity those poor souls in Greece, Syria and IS much more.

[LuganoPirate]

I don’t drink coffee seanymuclhr, but I enjoy tea and if it’s not served in a china cup or tea glass I’d rather not drink it all. My feeling is shared by many in Greece, Syria, Iraq and elsewhere who no matter their situation would turn their nose up to a hot tea or coffee offered in anything other than a cup or glass, Paper cups are a big no no and what I would call one of the worse aspects of our western civilisation!

I wouldn’t write a letter of complaint, I’d just refuse the offering.

[LuganoPirate]

Charles, reminds me of when Mick Jagger bought his first Roller (which I have driven in, with him, but that’s another story) from Jack Barclay.

Turning up and looking the car over, he asked Jack how much they cost. Jack replied, not knowing who he was, probably a bit out of your range sir, but around £7,500 (or whatever it was in the late 60’s). Mick asked if he could use the phone, and to Jack’s astonishment called his accountant and told him to draw the money from the bank and bring it round.

Supposedly true but maybe apocryphal. A nice story nonetheless.

[MrMichael]

A couple of weeks ago I was in my usual Starbucks for a medium size Latte with an extra shot. The staff know me in there. It was quite busy, they told me they had no mugs left so I would have to have it in a paper cup. I informed the Barista that if I wanted my coffee in a paper cup I would buy it from the caravan round the corner for 70p and not £3.50. She hurriedly found a proper mug for my drink.

[KSHaggag]

Staff /coworkers in different industries around the world are either frustrated or tired ,let alone pissed off and this reflects often on their behavior ,however it should not .
Better training and enhancing the feeling of belonging to where they work is the real crisis across all industries around the world .Some nations /companies have the guts to take full control of things and avoid this like SQ , CX to a great extent ,while others are unable to do it .

[rferguson]

In fairness different environments exist on board an aircraft to a coffee shop on the ground.

People mention could the LH stewardess just not wash one of the used cups? With what? I’m not sure about LH but I know on BA shorthaul aircraft there is no provisions to do this (dishwashing liquid etc). Just rinse it out with boiling water? Use some vodka to wash it? Oh dear. Not in europe. Someone gets ill and your are sued to hell and back.

Things happen….every day planes take off with not enough food, missing items, break warmers that aren’t working. A few months ago I was operating a flight back from BKK. It wasn’t until we started pulling the (200-odd) Y class trays from the trolley that it transpired not a single tray had a cutlery pack on it!

I think where LH missed out here is by the crew member not pre empting the situation by explaining that they had run out of crockery and would a paper cup be acceptable to SwissExPat. Not a massive deal but probably could have been a learning point for the crew member.

KSHagg airlines in the middle east and far east operate in an entirely different industrial relations environment. They can get rid of an under performing employee easily. Try sacking someone on a permanent contract in europe or the US. It is NOT easy at all. There is some merit to that. Although I think there also has to be a happy medium. Some crew are totally in the wrong job and should be managed out. I don’t necessarily think airlines like SQ have the guts to take control. Most of BA’s SIN base is made up of ex-SQ girls. I’ve never heard a single positive comment about them as an employer. Apparently it is a bullying culture where even the replies the crew give to set questions are pre worded by SQ. I don’t think their crew perform out of loyalty and love for SQ – I think more often it’s down to fear of getting the chop.

[KSHaggag]

There is always a nice way of conveying a not-too-pleasant message and this should not be an issue for professional people working in a ‘hospitality industry ” .

[esselle]

LP

Love your Jack Barclay story.

Another one that did the rounds at the time was a “star” suggesting to Victor Gauntlett that he may like to provide him with an Aston Martin at cost, only to withdraw the request when he was told that the cost price was actually way higher than the forecourt price……

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