Originally Posted by
readywhenyouare
In that sort of situation I just smile and say "ok, [insert FA name]" and after landing ask them to accompany me out to the gate and page a redcoat. I did this once on DCA-ATL when the flight attendant in F went on a power trip and insisted we all had to put our seats up and turn off electronic devices at initial descent. That is not required until the aircraft has descended through 10,000 ft. Always comply in the air since you technically have to follow that "obey all crew member instructions" rule. It's much better to take care of it on the ground.
Wow, and they actually followed you out there? Way to go! ^ Not for the sake of being snarky, but at least to find official clarification. This FA went on to say things like "There's no way to scan it, the device can only read credit cards. It can scan a barcode off your phone, and there's no place to input the numeric code. When you give us a paper coupon, we collect it and give you a drink or snackbox, and blah blah blah (she went off on some tangent about their "policy" for collecting HOOU, but she went around in circles, sort of sounded like she was making it up, and at a point or two I'm pretty sure I could have pointed out places she contradicted herself; but alas, I can't remember her exact words)."
In this particular instance, I doubt I would have gone to the gate and gotten a redcoat; also, it was a domestic 763 full of passengers like myself who, after a long day of travel and dealing with crowded airports full of delayed and cancelled passengers, just wanted to get home. Now for something more substantial, like compelling an entire aircraft to stow things and return seats prematurely, that's a bit different. I'll definitely keep that in mind, if I encounter something significant in the future.