Rambuster

I don't think they actually lied to you - this would imply intent.
You were just mis-informed by OS staff at the VIE SEN lounge. Perhaps they misunderstood your question or were actually not up to date on this product feature, as Flysurfer eloquently posted.

What do you expect from OS or LH if you complain ? A nicely typed letter explaining that Flynet is out of serivce by reasons beyond the airlines control ? To be honest: A waste of your and their time ...

RussianGuy

I'm on vacation flying OS Moscow - Vienna - Singapore (DEC29th) - Phuket (SQ) - Singapore - Frankfort - Moscow (LH), by the way off the subject JW Marriott on Phuket is simply awesome ;-) my new favorite resort chain hotel now and I've been to many )

and back to the sunject, I wrote a letter to Austrian ailrlines asking what they going to do about my problem, I also STAR GOLD with SK for 6 years in a row and since there're only about 200 SK Golds in Moscow and they love me there if there will be no answer from OS I will get SK people to help me with that issue ) will keep all posted on results )

SmilingBoy

Well, OS never had FlyNet - why would you have thought they had?

SmilingBoy.

Counsellor

I think we need to distinguish here between two situations:

First situation: I have read about how great the new Business Class seats are on OS, so I upgrade hoping that the flight will have the new seats, but without asking anyone whether it is so equipped. It turns out this aircraft has not yet been retrofitted, so I sit in an old seat. While not uncomfortable (and indeed, clearly more comfortable than coach seats), the seat I sit in may not be as comfortable as the new seats. Do I have a gripe?

Analysis: In this case, even though I am upgrading for comfort, no one has made any representation to me that the new seats are in place in this particular aircraft. Further, I have not told anyone that the only reason I'm upgrading is to ride in the new seats. I have no good reason to believe the aircraft has the new seats, since I know that only some of the aircraft have been retrofitted. Finally, I upgraded for comfort, and I did receive more comfort, although possibly not as much comfort as I would have received in the new seats. I may have a gripe, but if so it's not OS's fault.

Second situation: I have an existing ticket for carriage from point A to point B. A need develops for me to have access to internet during the flight. I am perfectly happy to be flying in coach (or, more accurately, the delta in comfort between coach seats and service and business seats and service is not to me worth the 65K miles it would cost), but coach does not give me the internet access I need/desire. After I explain that I need internet access, an official representative of OS appearing to act for OS in an OS workplace and dressed in an OS uniform tells me that internet service is available in business class if I wish to upgrade. ("I asked in the lounge before doing the upgrade if it'll be ok, lounge girls did confirm.") I upgrade with that individual. It turns out that there is no internet access on that plane, but I don't find that out until after we are en route. Do I have a gripe?

Analysis: I would be inclined to say I do. The question revolves around what was represented to me, what I understood I was to receive as a part of the upgrade, and what the representative of the airline understood to be the purpose of the upgrade. All three factors have to come into play together, and they did in that [hypothetical] case. My existing coach class ticket was sufficient for my purpose of transportation between point A and point B; my sole purpose for upgrading was to obtain internet access during the flight. Further, the airline representative knew this was my purpose in upgrading, and assured me that internet access was available on the aircraft if I upgraded. From a legal standpoint, depending on the legal system, the doctrine may be called (failure of) consideration or causa (the benefit I understood I was to receive under the contract, that the representative of the other party knew I expected to receive, and that the representative of the other party represented that I would receive) or implied warranty of fitness for purpose (which doesn't require an affirmative representation that I would receive what I understood I was contracting for), or other doctrines.

Now, there are a number of side issues (mutual mistake as to whether the aircraft was equipped with internet access; superior knowledge; measure of damage; offset for partial delivery; obligation, if any, to minimize damages by volunteering to go back to coach upon discovery that the purpose of the upgrade could not be met; etc.) that may or may not come into play, but it would seem to me that in the hypothetical posited above, where the sine qua non or essence for the transaction was the internet access, and was understood by both sides to be said internet access, that the situation is significantly different than the situation in the first hypothetical.

P.S. This is not intended to be, nor warranted to be, a good legal opinion. It is simply a discussion of thoughts on a hypothetical situation in a hypothetical jurisdiction.

For a legal opinion one should find a laywer admitted to practice in the actual jurisdiction, provide the lawyer the actual facts, and if necessary provide the lawyer actual consideration/causa.

RWTH

Exactly why I asked the OP about his routing...

To the OP:

As far as I understand the dilemma, you were told by OS staff at the VIE SEN lounge that you will have internet excess on the OS flight from VIE to SIN ?

flysurfer

Internet excesses are to be avoided, anyway.

Rambuster

Total waste of time and money and only for the lawyers benefit ...

RussianGuy

yes! i asked if we'll be able to use internet inflight to do work during our flight - answer was "yes".

rorschi

Hello,

are you sure that there was not just a misunderstanding?
Why should the staff at VIE tell you that there is internet-access on board on this particular flight in this particular class, whilst OS doesn't offer this at all? I think somebody who is able to issue an upgrade at the home-airport of an airline knows what to answer when somebody asks "I will only buy an upgrade if there is internet available in business class...".
I guess there was a real misunderstanding (may be a language problem, may be somebody of you - the staff or yourself - were in a hurry). Indeed there is internet access at this lounge!

But if you really tend to complain, avoid to write "it was a pure leisure flight" and "we had very important work to do" within the same phrase...

Patrick

SmilingBoy

Odd odd odd! OS NEVER offered inflight internet!

SmilingBoy.

whiskey_sk

I actually got some mailing from OS being exstatic about their refurbished Boeing hardware bringing Connexion (besides the new business class seats), and IIRC this was October/November 2006. Literally like 3 or 4 days before Boeing officially stated they're shutting the service down.

SmilingBoy

Bad marketing! On the website, they removed the mentioning of Connexion a month or so before the first flight with the new business class.

SmilingBoy.

IAMORGAN

You could <POSSIBLY> claim a refund under EU legislation.

The product (ie the upgrade) is no longer fit for purpose and therefore is of no use to you.

But in all honesty, I think your chances are slim.

Good Luck.

andre1970

Beautiful comment! ^

oliver2002

Nope. Where did you get that?