Lufthansas understanding of Customer Service in F
Jan 5, 2019, 8:21 am
#16
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: London, Paris
Programs: LH HON, AF Platinum
Posts: 2,001
TBF, only maybe 2 times out of 10 have I been told it’s Dining on Demand. But I’ve always found that if I communicated what I wanted early on, I always got what I wanted. FAs can’t read minds, not even the F ones.
Jan 5, 2019, 9:18 am
#18
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: LAX and LHR. UA lifetime Gold 1.9MM 1K , DL Gold Medallion, HHonors Gold, Marriott Gold, Avis President's Club
Posts: 3,592
LH F cabin staff can vary tremendously. On the top deck of an A 380 in F, as the first to board, I attempted to put my carry-on into the closet nearest me (I was seated in 1D). I was immediately scolded by an FA who told me that my closet was at the rear of the cabin, two rows behind me. This closet belongs to 1A, she said. I informed her that the passenger seated in 1A was my wife (who had not yet boarded) and that both our carry-ons would fit comfortably in the closet, but she was not to be deterred. I was marched back to "my" closet, out of sight of my seat (with the result I had feared when I discovered later that someone had gone into the closet and interfered with my bag, unseen by me — LH really needs to do something about the cabin layout from a security point of view).
Jan 5, 2019, 9:23 am
#19
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: LH M&M, BA EC, DL SM
Posts: 5,718
Fliers with more experience in LH F would have probably placed an order, to set the desired main course aside for later. The purser should have made him aware of the possibility.
A lot of things went wrong here, reminds me of the Swiss Cheese Model:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_cheese_model
If all of the holes align, serious sh%& happens.
Jan 5, 2019, 9:24 am
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: TXL
Programs: IB G; EY S
Posts: 102
Thanks for all the replies so far. I will hand in a complaint to LH and will report back on what their answer is.
To be fair, I am sure that the experience in LH F can be a completely different one if you get the right crew. The First Class Terminal in Frankfurt was absolutely gorgeous and I really enjoyed my stay there, my Personal Assistant was very friendly and was even able to get a change to my ticket done, which seemed to be impossible given the responses when I asked the issue here on FlyerTalk.
Compared to onboard the treatment in the FCT was great!
To be fair, I am sure that the experience in LH F can be a completely different one if you get the right crew. The First Class Terminal in Frankfurt was absolutely gorgeous and I really enjoyed my stay there, my Personal Assistant was very friendly and was even able to get a change to my ticket done, which seemed to be impossible given the responses when I asked the issue here on FlyerTalk.
Compared to onboard the treatment in the FCT was great!
Jan 5, 2019, 9:31 am
#21
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,875
The OP appears to have been very unlucky, nonetheless the experience is inexcusable and should be dealt with as many of the posters indicated. That said, I am one of those flyers who rank a crew's service and interaction with me in First to be often more important than the hard product. And, for that reason alone - I always seek out LH/LX First over any any of the ME3 or remaining European carriers offering First. I just completed 4 long-haul F segments with LH (A380) and LX (330 & 777) this past month. All four offered consistently top-notch experiences and the destinations varied as much as LAX and DAR.
Yes, my F experiences on EK/EY have had lots of bling and responsive service - I've often found the overall experience to be robotic, impersonal and flat. To some degree, this is a result of cultural differences. I don't have as much experience in F to Asia, but I was rather unimpressed with OZ out of LAX on the 380. SQ F may be a different story, but I've never been understood the hype about their J experience. To be clear, I'm not requiring an overly chatty FA as once can get here in America, instead just a genuinely warm, engaging and professional interaction.
I suppose we all view F products with different tastes. As it should be. For me, the complete experience is most important to me - and for my travels from California to Africa - I continue to rate LH via MUC or LX via ZRH at the very top.
Yes, my F experiences on EK/EY have had lots of bling and responsive service - I've often found the overall experience to be robotic, impersonal and flat. To some degree, this is a result of cultural differences. I don't have as much experience in F to Asia, but I was rather unimpressed with OZ out of LAX on the 380. SQ F may be a different story, but I've never been understood the hype about their J experience. To be clear, I'm not requiring an overly chatty FA as once can get here in America, instead just a genuinely warm, engaging and professional interaction.
I suppose we all view F products with different tastes. As it should be. For me, the complete experience is most important to me - and for my travels from California to Africa - I continue to rate LH via MUC or LX via ZRH at the very top.
Jan 5, 2019, 9:31 am
#22
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: LH M&M, BA EC, DL SM
Posts: 5,718
LH F cabin staff can vary tremendously. On the top deck of an A 380 in F, as the first to board, I attempted to put my carry-on into the closet nearest me (I was seated in 1D). I was immediately scolded by an FA who told me that my closet was at the rear of the cabin, two rows behind me. This closet belongs to 1A, she said. I informed her that the passenger seated in 1A was my wife (who had not yet boarded) and that both our carry-ons would fit comfortably in the closet, but she was not to be deterred. I was marched back to "my" closet, out of sight of my seat (with the result I had feared when I discovered later that someone had gone into the closet and interfered with my bag, unseen by me — LH really needs to do something about the cabin layout from a security point of view).
Jan 5, 2019, 9:35 am
#23
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: LH M&M, BA EC, DL SM
Posts: 5,718
Thanks for all the replies so far. I will hand in a complaint to LH and will report back on what their answer is.
To be fair, I am sure that the experience in LH F can be a completely different one if you get the right crew. The First Class Terminal in Frankfurt was absolutely gorgeous and I really enjoyed my stay there, my Personal Assistant was very friendly and was even able to get a change to my ticket done, which seemed to be impossible given the responses when I asked the issue here on FlyerTalk.
Compared to onboard the treatment in the FCT was great!
To be fair, I am sure that the experience in LH F can be a completely different one if you get the right crew. The First Class Terminal in Frankfurt was absolutely gorgeous and I really enjoyed my stay there, my Personal Assistant was very friendly and was even able to get a change to my ticket done, which seemed to be impossible given the responses when I asked the issue here on FlyerTalk.
Compared to onboard the treatment in the FCT was great!
I have had god and bad crews including LH and LX, but only about 1 bad in 10-20 good on these two airlines. But the good and very good crews on LH are usually better, from my perspective, than the good crews on some of the other "premium" carriers, especially the ME3, where service is often more standardized and robotic.
To be fair, status and being able to talk to them in German could help, too.
Jan 5, 2019, 10:18 am
#25
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: ZRH
Programs: LX HON***, FB Silver, BA Silver, Bonvoy Gold, Hyatt GP, Hertz Gold, GHA Black
Posts: 830
in theory yes - the problem is once every passenger finished the meal service they distribute the food amongst the flight crew. I can tell you there is more than one time I have seen they are very keen on eating the left overs of F class food (and not only the FCL flight attendants).
Jan 5, 2019, 10:21 am
#26
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: ZRH
Programs: LX HON***, FB Silver, BA Silver, Bonvoy Gold, Hyatt GP, Hertz Gold, GHA Black
Posts: 830
Sounds like a good assessment of the situation.
I have had god and bad crews including LH and LX, but only about 1 bad in 10-20 good on these two airlines. But the good and very good crews on LH are usually better, from my perspective, than the good crews on some of the other "premium" carriers, especially the ME3, where service is often more standardized and robotic.
To be fair, status and being able to talk to them in German could help, too.
I have had god and bad crews including LH and LX, but only about 1 bad in 10-20 good on these two airlines. But the good and very good crews on LH are usually better, from my perspective, than the good crews on some of the other "premium" carriers, especially the ME3, where service is often more standardized and robotic.
To be fair, status and being able to talk to them in German could help, too.
Jan 5, 2019, 10:25 am
#27
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: LH M&M, BA EC, DL SM
Posts: 5,718
Jan 5, 2019, 10:30 am
#28
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: TXL
Programs: IB G; EY S
Posts: 102
Jan 5, 2019, 10:35 am
#29
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: ZRH
Programs: LX HON***, FB Silver, BA Silver, Bonvoy Gold, Hyatt GP, Hertz Gold, GHA Black
Posts: 830
sorry I disagree. Unless you only fly one or two carriers. I travel on Chinese, Russian, French, Spanish, etc. speaking carierrers. I don’t think you need a language level to buy an airplane ticket.
Jan 5, 2019, 10:47 am
#30
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Stoke on Trent, UK (MAN ), BUE, BKK, DBV
Programs: LH HON***,UA,BA.EK Gold,AV.
Posts: 11,632
in theory yes - the problem is once every passenger finished the meal service they distribute the food amongst the flight crew. I can tell you there is more than one time I have seen they are very keen on eating the left overs of F class food (and not only the FCL flight attendants).
