Managing a complaint onboard
Jun 25, 2023, 1:17 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Suffolk
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 120
Managing a complaint onboard
A couple of GCH pax in 1D/F on a flight back to LHR yesterday complained vociferously about the food (beef cheeks) and the cabin crew's response was to ply them non-stop with alcohol for the rest of the 4 hr flight. We were in 2D/F and totted up the grand total of four double G&Ts and twelve quarter bottles of wine consumed by the pair. Amazingly, they walked off the plane unaided. I don't want to appear moralistic, but is this really the best way of managing a complaint about food?
Jun 25, 2023, 1:26 am
#2
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: SW London
Programs: BAEC Silver; Hilton Diamond;a miscellany of other hotel non-statuses
Posts: 3,607
Jun 25, 2023, 1:44 am
#3
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 7,238
A couple of GCH pax in 1D/F on a flight back to LHR yesterday complained vociferously about the food (beef cheeks) and the cabin crew's response was to ply them non-stop with alcohol for the rest of the 4 hr flight. We were in 2D/F and totted up the grand total of four double G&Ts and twelve quarter bottles of wine consumed by the pair. Amazingly, they walked off the plane unaided. I don't want to appear moralistic, but is this really the best way of managing a complaint about food?
Jun 25, 2023, 1:56 am
#4
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: SW London
Programs: BAEC Silver; Hilton Diamond;a miscellany of other hotel non-statuses
Posts: 3,607
Please take this as a very friendly rebuttal of your post, OP, and not as a harsh criticisim - for it isn't one - but... it seems to me that you've been awfully nosy on this flight! You noted the type of card the complainants held, the food they didn't like, how many drinks they had, what type of drinks they had... If the complaint was resolved, and if the pair walked off happily, and if their drinking session didn't disturb you or rob you of the tipple of your choosing... then where is the problem?
Jun 25, 2023, 2:10 am
#5
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BKK
Programs: Mucci Chevalier de la Brosse a Cheveux Dore, SK *GfL, BA Gold, WY G, HH DIA, IC Plat Amb., Hertz PC
Posts: 3,722
Sorry to be blunt, but… As another poster has said, you have seem to have been incredibly nosy. Maybe mind your own business and move on? - I would trust the crew to handle the situation professionally as they see fit, and provided the pax are not unruly, then providing them with whatever they want might be a way to de-escalate and maybe even recover some of the bad impression the pax had on the food. Some people can handle their drinks better than others, and on a four hour flight - well, I will refrain from judging either for or against.
Jun 25, 2023, 2:14 am
#7
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,065
Perhaps this could have been dealt with differently, perhaps this was the perfectly tailored response that these two customers needed. One thing is for sure is that crew actions get scrutinised by passengers in a way that those self same passengers would deem intrusive and Orwellian in their own work space. Every action that someone (of hundreds) thinks is odd, is questioned and judged, often from positions of incredible ignorance; it is not a normal job, that’s for sure. Not that anyone is above having their actions questioned but I do wonder if it happens in more traditional employment?
Last edited by Waterhorse; Jun 25, 2023 at 3:39 am
Jun 25, 2023, 2:15 am
#8
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,994
To answer the question, yes it isn't unusual to be given a few drinks after a moan about something onboard.
As to whether this is the best way to manage it, well that really is between the passenger and the cabin crew unless some general disruption is caused by the passenger. Anything beyond that is moralising, which is as you noted something you are trying to avoid.
As to whether this is the best way to manage it, well that really is between the passenger and the cabin crew unless some general disruption is caused by the passenger. Anything beyond that is moralising, which is as you noted something you are trying to avoid.
Jun 25, 2023, 2:20 am
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Suffolk
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 120
Sorry to be blunt, but… As another poster has said, you have seem to have been incredibly nosy. Maybe mind your own business and move on? - I would trust the crew to handle the situation professionally as they see fit, and provided the pax are not unruly, then providing them with whatever they want might be a way to de-escalate and maybe even recover some of the bad impression the pax had on the food. Some people can handle their drinks better than others, and on a four hour flight - well, I will refrain from judging either for or against.
Jun 25, 2023, 2:23 am
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Programs: Mucci des Hommes Magiques et Magnifiques
Posts: 19,107
It’s not that alcohol is appropriate it’s the extra attention that is being given to unhappy customers, as said above as long as other customers were also happy.
Jun 25, 2023, 2:23 am
#13
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,994
Let me flip your question, how many times as cabin crew have you had to deal with complaints onboard, and did it work in this instance?
Jun 25, 2023, 2:27 am
#14
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: London (née Melbourne)
Programs: Qantas Platinum (Oneworld Emerald)
Posts: 988
In many other countries, even Australia, crew are known to refuse any further service and then call the police on loudly complaining passengers, and that probably would have impacted your day a lot more.