Dear San Gottardo,
I am glad you posted your recent AF experience here as I was about the write a very similar post. My feeling is exactly the same although the facts differ a bit.
10 flights, mostly long haul, the rest being domestic. A mix of J and Y.
Here is my recent experience compared to yours then:
Delays: quite few actually but one significant. No proactive warning from ROC and absolutely no explanation given.
Luggages: fortunately no issue.
Phone lines: cannot agree more on pick up delays. Whereas Platinum line used to pick up instantly, delays of more than 30 minutes can be the new norm. I have to regularly try local AF number (SIN most of the time) to get better response time. Also while it is not a problem for me, the Platinum line answers 50% of the time in English (most often with a native French speaker…), 50% in French. Sometimes my phone number is automatically recognised, sometimes not and I have to manually enter my FB number.
Website: fortunately no issue that I can remember.
Promise not respected: after horrible flight in long-haul J (from window in Best to middle seat in NEV4 due to last second equipment change, purser dropped a glass of red wine on me etc.) the chief purser wrote a report and promised CS will contact me. They never did.
Call center agents unable to price correctly a simple itinerary. Example 1: modifying a SIN-CDG-BOD to SIN-CDG over the phone results in going from low fare to full fare. Agent understands it is not normal but unable to look further. Example 2: impossible to book a roundtrip for my daughter with UM on the outbound and flying with us on the inbound. Several other examples available. Huaca rule never worked by the way.
“Big discrepancy in fare conditions and price between phone channel and website”: +100
Crowded and dirty lounges: +1. The worst example has been the one in ORY Hall2 (former Patio IIRC): air conditioning not working, absolutely filthy table and sofas, no one to clean. Waiting downstairs had been a more comfortable experience.
Recurring issues with loaded catering: I took 3 long haul with my kids and for 100% of them their CHML were not loaded despite being confirmed on the PNR (and the AF/FB profile). Of course they are now old enough to eat like adults so that is a minor problem. Still, it highlights a gap between what is expected and what is delivered. Also for 100% of my long haul J, they were out of my choice for the main dish. Again, not a big deal for me as it is airline food after all. Still, I find it disastrous in terms of customer experience per se.
Seat assignment: fortunately no issue that I can remember. Maybe because in 2 occasions the IFE was not working.
The outcome is an online complaint after almost all of these flights. And more miles given by CS than the ones earned from flying. Some compensation in vouchers also.
Maybe it’s me changing, maybe it’s them, or a bit of the two.
The consequence is that after 13th August and for the first time I can remember, I do not have a single AF trip planned (I book and pay all my flight tickets).