Originally Posted by
bealine
Whether the rules are stupid or not are not open for debate or argument in the few minutes between boarding and pushback. "I'm sorry" always sounds better than "No" - but then on a recent British Airways Customer Service course I attended recently, I was told I should never apologise either, as that infers that BA is in the wrong so no matter how you answer, you're wrong!
Perhaps that's why his only comments were "No" and "Can't Do" whilst on the ground.
Originally Posted by
bealine
Equally, one might ask what the OP was trying to achieve by telling the crew member that another crew had previously "broken the rules?" How do you know that crew member is not being "checked out" by his/her performance manager? Do you honestly think that throwing a strop and pointing out previous crew inconsistencies is going to change the outcome?
I'm not trying to be confrontational here, merely looking at the discussion from both sides.
I wasn't trying to achieve anything except ask for a glass of red wine. Out of every 10 sectors in F (I fly J too) I probably have a pre-take off drink - 3 or 4 times - and it is red wine or if not on offer, nothing. BA has always served me red wine in F - with the cabin crew most of the time bringing the menu to choose.
After two brusque rebuffs I politely asked when did this change, to be told it "never happens," inferring either I was lying, trying to pull a fast one or just confused.
Frankly when the CSD came by the say hello once in the air, I didn't even bring it up with him as it was a non-issue.
My only reason for posting was to find out if over all these years have all of these other crews been bending the rules or did I run into a Bad Apple. I was told clearly it was never policy to serve anything but champagne which seemed surprising. Naturally based on my experience my thought was that this FA was just not inclined to.
I don't
need the drink - I just enjoy it particularly if my plan is to recline and sleep as soon as wheels up.
I appreciate the responses from BA staff. I also
will not be asking for red wine as I understand the current BA environment is less about 'putting people first' and more about 'making sure staff follow procedures.'
I can understand that BA is not in the same position today as 25 years ago competing against weak carriers such as TW/PA while dominating the routes to Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Every penny counts, and I suppose this translates to the F class bar as well.
I also understand airlines like many companies regularly 'interpret' laws and rules to their commercial advantage with the take they will fight them in the legal system if they believe their interpretation is beneficial to the company. Therefore I accept that BA has made the determination that to pay duties or turning a blind eye to serving the F class bar doesn't make economic sense. Often these days my F travel is upgrade instruments so from a BA perspective I am only CW revenue in what they are hoping was going to be an empty seat - sort of silly to start spending more money on me if that is what serving me red wine on the ground will do.
As mentioned, from my perspective silly rule - BA's intent isn't to avoid duty and therefore compete unfairly with other alcohol serving establishments on the ground. Others obviously disagree.