AlisonB84

On my flight VCE-LGW yesterday, the CSM did the usual announcements about BOB and at the end asked that any passengers who would like hot food from the menu, press the call button asap so they could start heating it in advance.

Seemed like a good idea, although I was in CE so not sure how well the BOB went. Did hear a couple of bings after she made the announcement which could have been hot food requests.

subject2load

This highly-informed post by Secretsquirrel.return (thank you ^) provides the most comprehensive picture we have had to date of all that BoB involves.

Time will tell if the many 'teething troubles' are eventually resolved to the point where an efficient, reliable service can be delivered across the S/H network. Let's hope so !! Meanwhile, right now, it's difficult to think of a travel industry scenario where the mismatch between pre-launch hype & marketing spin versus real-world implementation is as great as BA seem to have achieved with this policy change.

Based on what Secretsquirrel.return describes, the shambolic onboard process has had the effect of causing almost as much distress to hardworking CC as it has upset paying pax who were led to believe that this is something they had actually asked for. We're all familiar with the clichéd and often tiresome marketing mantras - but perhaps Fail to Prepare and Prepare to Fail really does apply to senior BA management for this sorry mess.

It would be good to think that BA will get their act together - and quickly. BUT, until they do, I suggest the misleading strapline adopted by the marketing bods of "The food you love, now available at 30,000ft" should be amended to something more accurate ..... perhaps along the lines of "For the food you love at 30,000ft, be sure to bring it onboard with you"

SilverSkier

The post by secretsquirrel.return is fascinating - it must be hugely frustrating for the cabin crew to be associated with such an apparently restrictive and inefficient system. I was particularly interested to learn that the BoB food is an "asset" of M&S. Does that mean that the unsold perishable food is a liability for M&S and not BA?

BA6948

Reports of flights not being loaded with food and an announcement at the gate for passengers to purchase their own food from the terminal. Yesterday ATH-LHR, today BHD-LHR. Many more I guess. What a disaster!

miamiflyer8

I have a feeling this is going to end up just like it did with US Airways charging for soft drinks.

V10

You'd assume so, and further it would suggest that BA is guaranteed to generate a profit on BoB revenues.

Indeed I'm wondering what benefit M&S is getting out of this at all given that product prices are largely governed by what competitors are charging for similar products, but with BA additionally acting as a middleman in this situation and creaming off a slice of the income. Further, I'd not be at all surprised if M&S were paying an additional chunk of cash to BA in return for their brand being promoted both on BA aircraft and on the ground.

If it's seen as a means of promoting the M&S brand, time will tell how effective this is and whether it proves to be value for money but it would seem to be relatively risk-free for BA.

orbitmic

I just wanted to add my belated welcome to secret.squirrel and my thanks for your exhaustive report which vibrantly contrasts with the 'feedback from most passengers has been very positive' narrative.

What you recount very much confirms that this is not merely a case of random and predictable teething problems but something beyond that, a project that has not been properly piloted, for which training has been inadequately conceived, and for which no reliable contingency plan has been put together by the managers in charge of this project.

From that point of view, what strikes me as most odd is that the said managers have managed to think of such sophisticated scenarii as the ones you mention at the end (I'll confess that the thought that some people in CE might ask for their free food/drink to be served to a family member in ET had not even crossed my mind) but not of the basics such as: 'what do we do if the machines do not work?' or 'what do we do if we realise we won't manage more than 5 rows of BoB during the cruise?' From a planning point of view, this is just bizarre.

Finally, please be careful: we very much value your honest contributions and look forward to many more of them but there is always a risk that some people in the company's management who might prefer such dissenting voices not to be audible, so I think that you are very correct to be careful about protecting your anonymity. Thanks again for your post and welcome once again!

orbitmic

I don't think this is a mystery at all to be honest: exclusive access to tens of thousands of largely captive customers with what will ultimately be a effective system of distribution and cash collection, what's not to like? Even with reduced margin that would be a guaranteed profit for them if they avoid over-catering or share the over-catering risk with BA.

andyinflitwick

Typical of the current BA management approach. I traveled LHR-BCN last night and while the BoB service wasn't a disaster, I could see that the crew were really struggling with the POS equipment. I lost count of the number of key presses it took the poor CC member to get an Appletizer and a packet of crisps to price - and even then I got the wrong things...

Hopefully a few weeks of practice will allow everyone to iron out the bugs. Totally agree with the comments about lack of training (this is clear) and also that the big bang approach was ill advised.

Good luck to the crews having to deliver this! The race to the bottom continues...

muscat

Zero BoB on this morning's 06:50 from Edinburgh as "our two machines are not working". Passengers' dissatisfaction was already high as we were bussed to a plane which was in total darkness, and then had to wait on the bus for twenty minutes until the flight crew turned up and unlocked the plane, put the lights on, etc.. Insult added to injury with the announcement that "We are sorry for our late departure due to being parked on a remote stand"

CloudGazer

Has anybody who paid by Avios had a debit to their account yet? None for me, paid on the 11th.

subject2load

Oh dear. Yet another depressing report of 'Zero BoB' availability.

You really wouldn't want BA organising your family picnic, would you .....

jameseyre

I was on BA1371 from MAN-LHR this morning.

BoB was on board, but not many takers at all. I could see maybe 3/4 teas bought, no food.

Quite a few grumbles from travellers who clearly did not know until the CC announced the M&S menu.

A couple in front were about to order a glass of fizz each to celebrate a wedding anniversary trip to NY, before learning that it would set them back Łs these days.

Honestly don't know what BA's SH differentiator is now. As a Silver card holder, I have to pay to choose a seat, pay for food/drinks, pay for hold baggage...

Looks like I will have to stock up with a couple of cans of Tiger and Kettle chips from the lounge for the return trip!

Secretsquirrel.return

Thanks for the welcome,

Finished another day with multiple flights yesterday and can say that most of my flights went well. This is down to three factors crew exposure to the POS, a working POS and not many sales. If any one of the above factors is the other way around i.e. Lots of sales or crew first time exposure to POS, or POS not working etc the whole process falls apart and fails a few rows into service. So even with experienced crew and working machines a high demand will fail the service due to the badly designed POS.

There is another factor. IS BOB HAVING AN IMPACT ON CE? Well it's to do with what we call our matrix, this is our crewing level. It's also a sore subject and may now be coming back to truly effect service. We all know about the previous dispute (I don't want to start a discussion on that BUT) BA changed our matrix by removing a cc on our short haul flights (and long haul). So now we have a situation where you can have 130 customers at the rear of an airbus 319 with only 3 cc, and the ICCM left to serve CE alone. Up to the 11th we could manage to do a free pass service and then 1 cc could be released to go to CE to help with the service. This is now not possible at all, so unless the CE load goes above 16 in which case we get a 4th cc on a 319 the ICCM will be doing the service alone.

In fact on short haul all our aircraft (except 767 legal is 6 our min is 7 ) we only carry the legal number of crew, so crewing post previous dispute is about legal requirements not customer service.

Now with the introduction of BOB we have an issue, we have 2 service bars loaded in the rear of an airbus, these are double ended bars with different stock on each side. With just 2 cc you can easily work one bar together (cc each end) ideally each with a POS. Now if we add a 3rd cc to the rear service they will be ineffective on a bar alone, firstly they will be unable to access 50% of the stock, secondly the bars are quite heavy and there is a safety issue. They will need a POS so leaving only one POS for the 2cc bar (reducing efficiency) . So an even number in the ET cabin is the most affective way to work.

So this brings me back to: is this impacting CE ? Yes so far with out a doubt I would say more so on the 767 as in
CITYFLYERUK case we only have 7 cc. Normally the ICCM would work 2 CE 5 ET and who ever finishes 1st goes to help the other cabin. Now as 5 is an ineffective number so the ICCM will be more likely to release the CE cc to go work in ET especially in a light CE load or a service such as extended breakfast or afternoon tea. The 767 has been much more problematic in service so far .

I totally agree with this point, BA have gone much further in this venture then just a service on board. It's very clever if it does work. The question will be will
M&S except the bad service and delivery of there brand?

And absolutely M&S social media is the way to go it is for both companies. It's instant and cant be hidden.

It's a shame that the powers that be feel that a race to the bottom of customer service is the way to the top.

Thanks so much for all your concerns as to my anonymity and advice to be carful. I have gone to very extensive lengths to protect this. You would be VERY surprised the lengths BA has gone to in the past to force forums to hand over posters details and the consequences that resulted in this.

Safe flying

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My username is not original I have used in memory of poster somewhere else who was a true hero to many at BA .
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The information posted here are my views and opinion . They do not reflect the official view or opinion or any other individual or company.
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South London Bon Viveur

I have yet to experience BoB but I will be flying in Y on Thursday so will get to see first hand. Going by the initial reports it seems as though there is a good chance that even if you are willing to pay for food you won't actually be able to, because the service wont get that far on many SH services. I am also concerned about reports of CE being adversely affected, although it makes perfect sense if you think about it. not sure the LCC hybrid model has got off to a good start.