Emirates Skywards - Poor management of meal choices

I flew from Accra to Dubai in Economy Class last week. As is my custom on this flight, I go to sleep immediately after departure (with liberal application of "Do Not Disturb" stickers) and skip the meal if I am asleep during the service (I will eat if I am awake though).

About 2 hours into the flight, I was woken up by one of the crew (despite having multiple DND stickers on my seat, my shirt and my face). Her purpose was to ask me my meal selection in advance. Evidently she was going around all the HVC customers to do this. I grumbled a bit about being woken up but confirmed that I would have the lamb option for dinner.

An hour later, I am once again awakened by a different crew member and presented with a fish meal. I told her that I had requested for the lamb. "Oh, the lamb is finished". Well, then I'd rather not eat. Good night.

20 minutes later, I am awakened YET AGAIN by the SFS this time. She is very apologetic. Would I like a crew meal instead? No thanks, no big deal. Please let me just go back to sleep.

20 minutes later, I am awakened FOR THE FOURTH TIME by the second crew member again. She has a tray for me with a Business Class starter, Crew Meal main course (beef) and Business Class desert. This time I lost my temper and told her to take the damn tray away and just let me sleep in peace. She whimpers and disappears.

Finally, after I had awakened about 90 minutes before landing, the SFS once again comes around to apologise for the mess with the meal selection. I told her that my issue was not with the inability to provide me with the lamb meal, but rather with the way the whole thing was managed. If I have a pink "DO NOT DISTURB" sticker on, then do not wake me up unless there is a safety issue. If I wanted to be woken up for the meal, then I would have a green "WAKE ME UP FOR THE MEAL" sticker instead. Finally, when I said that I didn't want to eat, don't compound the problem by waking me up every few minutes trying to make it up to me.

She explains that she had 112 Golds and 38 Silvers on board (out of 204 passengers in Economy), so she wanted to ensure that all of them got their main meal selection first. Unfortunately, most picked the lamb so there wasn't enough of the lamb to give them their selections, even by giving everyone else the fish.

I told her that the meal issue was entirely irrelevant. If I wanted a specific meal choice, I'd have requested it. If I wanted to simply sleep, I'd have put on the DND sticker (oh wait, I ACTUALLY DID DO THAT!).

However, to be woken up to be asked my choice for a meal that I didn't even want to eat in the first place and then not even be able to deliver the choice in the end was a bit like adding insult to injury.

My comments :

a) While it is admirable that the SFS intended to please the HVCs by giving them their first meal choice, the sheer number of HVCs on the flight made this impractical and therefore it should not have been attempted.

b) The crew tasked with asking the HVCs for their meal preference were inexperienced and had no idea how to handle a conflict between the instruction "ask the HVCs for their meal choice" and the "Do Not Disturb" sticker.

c) The unfortunate situation was then compounded by attempting multiple apologies while all I wanted to do was get back to sleep.

Thoughts? Comments?

While nobody has attempted to wake me on a night flight for anything other than 'prepare for landing', I would have to agree that DND stickers should trump any other service instructions. It's hard to believe that anyone could seriously complain about not receiving a meal while displaying a DND sticker... but perfectly reasonable to complain about being woken up.

Perhaps your error has been in the manner of sticker display. I am never sure whether to apply it to the top of my seat, the top of my head, the eyeshades or my forehead. What is your preferred method? Sometimes, when displaying the sticker, I naturally wake up (if an end-of-flight breakfast service) due to cabin lights coming on and find a random meal choice in front of me. Assuming one is not a violently restless sleeper, that would be my choice of service standard.

It reminds me of the phenomenon prevalent in otherwise excellent hotels, where maids/minibar stockists/even room service will religiously respect the DND sign, only for the housekeeping supervisor to telephone your room (sometimes as early as 11am) asking when they can make up the room. Hotel telephones are generally loud... this practice is so prevalent that some misguided individual clearly wrote it into a book of service standards somewhere.

Thoughts? Comments?

In your past life, did you run over a dog. Or a cat? Do you sometimes sit on the toilet, like I often do, and ask yourself..."why does this stuff always happen to me???"

If I didn't know you, I would say that you were a very strange person...;)

Perhaps your error has been in the manner of sticker display. I am never sure whether to apply it to the top of my seat, the top of my head, the eyeshades or my forehead. What is your preferred method?

I wear the eyemask below which is liberally smeared with DND stickers. I also put a DND on top of my seat back and another DND on my sleeve/collar where it is visible from the aisle. There can never be any doubt that I do not want to be disturbed!

http://www.seanmendis.com/images/JNB%20cnx/eyemask.jpg

If I didn't know you, I would say that you were a very strange person...

And since you DO know me, you say that I'm even stranger??? :D

Perhaps the crew are better trained to respect DND when it lights up at 1A. Perhaps you should start carrying a Suite door with one of those around...

Perhaps the crew are better trained to respect DND when it lights up at 1A. Perhaps you should start carrying a Suite door with one of those around...

:rolleyes:

I think carrying an entire suite door would exceed the permitted carry-on size.

Forgive my ignorance about this, what is going on in Accra so that this many golds are shuttling back and forth?

Forgive my ignorance about this, what is going on in Accra so that this many golds are shuttling back and forth?

This is actually not a particularly high number. I've seen flights with 150-170 Golds on occasion. Mainly traders who do monthly (or more) trips between Accra and Guangzhou.

Where do you get so many DND stickers from ?

I only get one in Business.

Is this a Gold privilege I'm missing ? :p

Where do you get so many DND stickers from ?

I've hoarded them over the years. I have about 20 spare ones in my desk drawer at home! They come in very useful. :D

:rolleyes:

I think carrying an entire suite door would exceed the permitted carry-on size.

Maybe the gold gift should be an inflatable door then? Instead of a $20 voucher for the high street. Or they should have quiet zones onboard in Y.

I was in Business class on a day flight so wasn't sleeping and didnt feel 100% so I was just drinking fluids (water mainly, the occasional juice) but suffice to say, I didnt want any kind of meal and told the cabin crew this on their initial ask the passengers what they want for meals etc.

Anyway, get the the point Rich, it didnt stop them asking me 6 or 7 times throughout the 7 hour flight if I wanted food and while I didn't get mad I ended up saying if I do want anything, I'll ask. Her reply was 'well we may not be serving food when you decide if you want something'

That is fair enough so I said 'in that case that will be my fault so dont worry'

I still think to this day that she thinks I was mad not to eat, but there you go.

I've hoarded them over the years. I have about 20 spare ones in my desk drawer at home! They come in very useful. :D

You love (or hate) EK too much :D

I've hoarded them over the years. I have about 20 spare ones in my desk drawer at home! They come in very useful. :D

Apparently they don't on occasion!

Do you sometimes sit on the toilet, like I often do, and ask yourself..."why does this stuff always happen to me???"

Pedantic, I know, but do you sometimes sit on the toilet or often ask yourself questions? Or both? And is this multi-tasking?

I ask since my definition of multi-tasking is sitting on the toilet and reading a book, but this may be slightly off-thread...

When I sleep on board I sleep the sleep of the dead. Never had a problem with being woken with unwanted meals although frequently wake up so close to landing that meal service has finished :-(

Apparently they don't on occasion!

Works fine 90% of the time at least! :)

How did you actually get the business class eye-shade when flying in Economy Class?
I have to say that your eye-shade is very x-treme and probably she thought that eye-shade is a piece of art, rather than a warning-sign!

How did you actually get the business class eye-shade when flying in Economy Class?


Previous J flight would be the most obvious i would think?

Previous J flight would be the most obvious i would think?

Indeed, I've had this eye-shade for a couple years now and keep adding to the stickers (some fall off as well as time progresses) with each flight.

I also put DND stickers on my collar/sleeve and on the back of the seat, so there really is no way that they cannot be seen. It's more a case of "see but ignore".

I also put DND stickers on my collar/sleeve and on the back of the seat, so there really is no way that they cannot be seen. It's more a case of "see but ignore".

I would love to take a picture of that.