lcylocal

Looks like he has a point. Obviously it is hard to know the scale of something from the BoB menu but that doesn’t even bear a passing resemblance to the photo.

flatlander

So, after my glowing review of the box-of-cake, myself and Ms F tried to buy one both ways on a weekend trip to Porto (LGW-OPO-LGW). The cakes had not been loaded onto either our flight out last Friday nor our return flight yesterday.
BA and Tourvest still have some stock issues to sort out!

subject2load

Yes, there certainly is quite a mismatch there. Mind you, whenever a ‘celebrity chef’ lends his / her name to something in this way (particularly where the inherent limitations of a BoB menu are concerned), I think it makes sense to manage expectations as regards what is actually delivered.

Am I right in saying that the menu headline for this particular item is ‘Pie in the Sky’ ... .... ?
In which case, perhaps credit must be given for a very truthful description, based on the Collins Dictionary definition :
“If you describe an idea, plan, or promise of something good as pie in the sky, you mean that you think that it is very unlikely to happen.”

BA6948

I think nobody should bother with the M&S food onboard... Stocking issues continue to happen on a daily basis and no matter how much some customers complain (on Social Media), BA's answer is the same: what flight was it and we will make sure we pass it on to a catering team...

But the most honest answer from BA to date was this one:

Twitter

So if you are planning to fly BA shorthaul and especially on longer flights, just stock up on food and hand the trash to BA whilst on Board. After all, they don't care!

And if you look for decent airlines, there are plenty out there. Just flown LHR-CDG-RBA yeserday evening with AF. Full dinner in Y on the CDG-RBA flight with full bar including Champs ... And as a nice touch for their Platinum members, a personal greeting and a warning that the power sockets were not working so if we wanted to charge phones, they were happy to do it for us in the galley. And to finish, I was given a Chocolate box at the end of the flight from their Business Class stock. Now this is how you treat your passengers with class!

flatlander

In this case, one of us felt like trying the cake on the way out and the other felt like enjoying it again, and on the way back we still felt like that with an additional factor of not having any time in the airport to get food. We entered the lounge about 1h15m before departure to see the flight marked "boarding", having zero trust in EU countries to operate an efficient Schengen emigration check we moved to the passport control immediately, and after that there is almost nowhere to get any food and the gate was open so we entered to wait for the bus to the aircraft (which did leave after a 5-10 minute wait). The flight is an 18:50 to 21:30 schedule, so when you take the airport experiences into account it's more like a 17:15 to 22:00 affair. With no chance to get food, we needed to eat on the aircraft!

This was in Porto, which is a fair size airport (though very dominated by global retail brands and not by food). In a smaller airport, there might be even less opportunity.

Yes, it would be great to get food beforehand, but events do prevent this for some customers.

I had one of the in-flight pies. It was thoroughly and entirely mediocre (also very small). Ms F had the Christmas sandwich which she pronunced "not awful".

BA did at least have sandwiches (in the 4th row of Euro Traveller, I have no idea how those at the rear fared) so not a complete stocking failure, but the logistics and the marketing of new products do need to align.

fartoomanyusers

before you even get to the problem of running out of stock ... on short flights they often don't even manage to serve the whole of Economy !

BA6948

Well it is hit and miss on all fronts:
- understocked or no food at all in some cases
- expired products are also sold every now and then
- slow service on monger flights
- misleading pictures (the pie was not well received by some travelers)

so yeah! To avoid disappointment, either bring your own food or go with other airlines if it is possible.

BA6948

It seems that the pie is not going down well with passengers. It looks tiny and completely different from the one on the brochure:

SKRan

Yes and no. British snacks are boring. Yet people insist British catering onboard the meh it in private. It’s Britishness.

icegirl

It never ceases to amaze me how people on this forum can't seem to go a few hours without a meal. BoB is nothing new and the childish tantrums that continue simply boggles the mind. Whilst it would be nice to perhaps have a cup of team and a biscuit thrown in of a full all you can eat a la carte menu, I don’t frankly care considering the amount of time people have usually to wait in an airport terminal building prior to being called what’s stops people from indulging in from something in the lounge or the assortment of cafes, restaurants and bars?

SW7London

I think all people are wanting is for BA to provide what BA advertise...

icegirl

If you and the said people are not getting what you feel is advertised I suggest you take BA to court on the grounds of false advertising.

SW7London

Lol. Why bother typing such a response?

Your suggestions aside, no reason why people frustrated at BA's continued lack of proper execution of BOB cant raise their views

icegirl

Well you and others here feel quite strongly about it - or perhaps start a protest outside T5 on the issue? I will say this though, on a BA documentary earlier this year Alex Cruz & Carolina Martiolli made it clear that on the topic of BOB, the claim was not about cost cutting but more choice for the customer and that catering satisfaction level are back to what they were prior to BoB being launched.

Kgmm77

I think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect a company to deliver against its stated service offering. As others have said, most other airlines can manage it.

And as for childish tantrums, glass houses etc.

Well they would, wouldn’t they.....