Crew failed to secure galley; food explosion all over floor during takeoff
Jan 10, 2015, 10:28 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver, CX Gold, AA, UA, DL
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Crew failed to secure galley; food explosion all over floor during takeoff
I was recently on BKK-RGN in J on the A330, sitting in the second row. I booked LHR-BKK (BR) then BKK-RGN (TG) using UA miles.
Before the flight, my wife and I had pre-ordered meals through the Thai website.
During the preflight checks, the crew apparently failed to secure one of the cabinets in the forward galley holding a large number of meals.
This became apparent when during takeoff the cabinet door flew open and all the meals inside flew out and landed all over the floor, causing an ungodly mess. No one was hurt but someone probably could have been very easily!
To add insult to injury, we were served last out of all the J passengers and offered no choice of meals at all - just the fried rice that none of the other passengers had wanted. The crew basically shrugged and said "sorry we lost your meal" - it wasn't much of an apology though. I would have expected a more sincere apology upfront, something like "we're incredibly sorry, what can we offer you instead, how can we make this up to you?" Plus there was no drink service until the flight was already descending - leaving me about 2.5 minutes to chug my Singha beer before the crew came around to collect it.
My expectations weren't too high given that this is such a short route, but even so, I feel that the crew was negligent in failing to secure the galley appropriately and the J service as a result was unacceptably poor. Would you agree?
Is there a complaints team at TG that I can raise this to and request some sort of compensation? What do you think would be appropriate to ask for?
Before the flight, my wife and I had pre-ordered meals through the Thai website.
During the preflight checks, the crew apparently failed to secure one of the cabinets in the forward galley holding a large number of meals.
This became apparent when during takeoff the cabinet door flew open and all the meals inside flew out and landed all over the floor, causing an ungodly mess. No one was hurt but someone probably could have been very easily!
To add insult to injury, we were served last out of all the J passengers and offered no choice of meals at all - just the fried rice that none of the other passengers had wanted. The crew basically shrugged and said "sorry we lost your meal" - it wasn't much of an apology though. I would have expected a more sincere apology upfront, something like "we're incredibly sorry, what can we offer you instead, how can we make this up to you?" Plus there was no drink service until the flight was already descending - leaving me about 2.5 minutes to chug my Singha beer before the crew came around to collect it.
My expectations weren't too high given that this is such a short route, but even so, I feel that the crew was negligent in failing to secure the galley appropriately and the J service as a result was unacceptably poor. Would you agree?
Is there a complaints team at TG that I can raise this to and request some sort of compensation? What do you think would be appropriate to ask for?
Jan 10, 2015, 12:00 pm
#2
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: WAS/ Silver Spring, MD,USA
Programs: UA/AA
Posts: 857
It was unfortunate that there was an accident , but what do you really expect? Were you really hungry after that one hour flight? Perhaps you can ask to be served first on your return flight. No use crying over spilled milk.
Jan 10, 2015, 12:07 pm
#3
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Your food accidentally fell on the floor. It looks like your main problem is that the FAs didn't grovel in apology enough to suit you. This is a hard thing to file a complaint about as there is no quantitative metric to measure an acceptable level of inflight groveling. Short flight, nobody starved, give it up.
Jan 10, 2015, 1:56 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2013
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Jan 10, 2015, 5:21 pm
#5
Join Date: Dec 2000
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... The crew basically shrugged and said "sorry we lost your meal" - it wasn't much of an apology though. I would have expected a more sincere apology upfront, something like "we're incredibly sorry, what can we offer you instead, how can we make this up to you?" .....
Jan 11, 2015, 1:28 am
#7
Join Date: Jun 2007
Programs: ROP Gold
Posts: 1,292
However, I think you will merely get a standard Thai apology reply (if any).
Last edited by anaidross; Jan 11, 2015 at 3:04 am
Jan 11, 2015, 10:40 am
#9
Join Date: May 2005
Location: UK
Programs: ROP *G, BAEC Gold, HH Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 969
If English was flight attendants' first language and you could easily get something like these:
"Sorry dude, s**t happens!"
does this make you feel better?
One a more serious note- I am surprised drinks were not served before a meal on TG in J. But then I am used to 2+hours flight time.
"Sorry dude, s**t happens!"
does this make you feel better?
One a more serious note- I am surprised drinks were not served before a meal on TG in J. But then I am used to 2+hours flight time.
Jan 12, 2015, 8:06 am
#10
Join Date: Jul 2013
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Posts: 8,328
^
Jan 24, 2015, 1:25 pm
#13
Join Date: May 2012
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Programs: DL, AC, Bonvoy, Accor, Hilton
Posts: 2,920
The comments in response to the incident are not particularly impressive. As someone who has experienced the poor quality service that now is a mainstay of TG, I understand the OP's comment. I doubt the FAs put too much of an effort into "cleaning". This is a job beneath their perceived status and the FAs typically leave the cleaning activity to the ground crew. They may have picked up the dishes and some of the food but that's it. On that flight there are more than enough FAs to do that and to serve the pax. I doubt the OP expected anyone to grovel. However, the FA service level was obviously not very good.
In respect to sending a complaint to TG, don't bother. Unless you are a hiso Thai or have TG FF upper status, you will get the usual polite response of sorry, mai pen rai, and then will be ignored.
In respect to sending a complaint to TG, don't bother. Unless you are a hiso Thai or have TG FF upper status, you will get the usual polite response of sorry, mai pen rai, and then will be ignored.