jwlowry

Last week I reported that I was 0 for 2 on pre-flight drinks for my then-current itinerary. Since the circumstances under which drinks were not offered did not seem to make sense, I asked the FA on my third segment about the policy while she was serving my pre-flight drink. This FA also works for Compass, one of the carriers on which the F cabin pax were not offered drinks. She indicated that it is indeed the policy of both Compass and Northwest that F pax be offered drinks when circumstances allow. She suggested that I contact Northwest's Customer Care department and inform them about what happened and they could research as to why the drinks were not offered.

This seemed like a lot to go through for something that was not a big deal, but since she was kind enough to explain this to me, I decided to follow her suggestion. I dashed off an email via the online form at nwa.com and thought little more of it. The next day (Friday last), I received a form email with a $100 travel cert and an apology. Completely unnecessary and unexpected, and also very much appreciated. ^ ^ ^

Fast forward to last night (Memorial Day). I boarded the same flight as my second segment from last week (one where there was no pre-flight beverage service) and discovered that the same cabin crew was working this flight. This time, however, the two flight attendants switched duty stations so that the one who had been in back was now serving the F pax. She offered water before we took off, then came after departure to take our drink orders. As is my wont, I ordered a Leinenkugel.

The FA appeared moments later with a glass of the requested beverage and the remainder in the opened can. She set them down on my tray and stood up, bumping the tray and dousing my lap and shirt with beer. She immediately leaned over, I assumed to apologize, and said, "You should not have complained to the airline." When I stood up to retrieve some paper towel from the lav, she ordered me back to my seat (the seatbelt sign was on), which contained a small pool of fine red brew. I bit the bullet and sat down, drenching my rear end in beer as well.

After a few moments, she appeared again from the galley with a tray of napkins and paper towels and the comment (this time said loudly enough for the other pax to hear), "What did you do? How did you manage to spill that all over yourself?" She then made a point of warning the other F pax to be careful with their drinks since "there has been an accident in the front row."

Needless to say, I was furious, but I kept quiet and calm for the remainder of the flight (which goes against my general nature). A few moments later, the other flight attendant appeared from the coach cabin and walked to the front galley to speak with the F cabin FA. "That was the guy from last week," Coach FA said. "I know," said First Class FA. "He got exactly what he deserved."

There followed, incidentally, neither an apology nor an offer to have my clothes cleaned from either FA. I was quite angry for some time about this. However, I am glad that it is behind me. I did file a complaint about this, but just wanted to get others' feedback and thoughts.

Thank you and God bless you.

jimc_usa

I do not understand how the FA knew it was you who complained.
But I would complain again, do you have her name?

motytrah

Having read over TA3, FAs have the right to know who complained about them. From what I gathered from the contract at some point FAs automatically were told who the PAX was. However, now it appears to be slightly more difficult to get, but still not that hard.

GBadger

IF this is true, then I believe that she should be fired. No excuse for revenge tactics like this, particularly when the "complaint" was filed under advisement of the other FA.

jwlowry

I don't know how she knew; I just assumed that information was contained in the complaint when she received it. Full name and flight information was required when I contacted NW, I don't know how much of that makes it back to the FA. Maybe she just recognized me as someone who was unhappy with his service on the previous flight and (correctly) assumed I had filed a complaint.

I was rather astonished to learn that the complaint had made its way back downstream that quickly. I thought the process took weeks.

jwlowry

The beer stained clothes are still in my hotel room. I know that doesn't prove her intention, but it does support my case.

I agree. This was bewildering.

DLFan2

This is a rather incredible story!

Please let us know what happens. This could boil down to your word against hers. Were there any witnesses?

motytrah

It's going to be a he said, she said.

That being said, IF true the motive would have to do with what happened with the original complaint. While the FAs have a union, their contract gives NW fairly draconian measures when dealing with customer complaints. A single customer complaint, even for fairly mild infractions, may mean a FA loses the ability to bid for lead and purser positions. That's real $$$ out of pocket for the FA.

It all depends how NW recorded the original complaint (who it went to, did it end up in the work record, what severity it was assigned).

jwlowry

I was sitting in seat 1C on an Embraer 175 (1-2 configuration in F). After I was ordered to sit back in my seat o' beer, the passenger in 1D turned to me and said, "That seemed rather harsh. She spilled the drink and won't let you clean in it up?" (or something to that effect) When the FA from coach came forward and the two FAs had their little conversation, the pax in 1A raised his eyebrows and looked at me. I just gave a little shrug. After we got off the plane and were walking up the jetway, he mentioned to me that he had heard what they said and was amazed that I had remained so calm.

Having said that, I have no idea who these two passengers were or how to get a hold of them. I wasn't in the mode of taking witness statements or anything; I was most concerned about whether the car rental agency was going to let me take one of their cars while reeking of beer.

I am not looking to get anyone in serious trouble for this. I have had a lot worse happen (an FA who appeared to have fallen asleep, for example, or FAs who ignore Federal Air Regulations) and have never sought to get anyone fired. I have also never asked an airline (or hotel company, etc.) for compensation because most unpleasant occurrences are unintentional. However, it seems to me that, in this case, this was obviously intentional and I think it would be reasonable to expect the airline to do something (more than offer a $100 voucher or drink coupon) to make up for this.

GBadger

I'm guessing that NW knows. And if they take this seriously (which they obviously should), they should contact those passengers to get statements from them.

tkarre

Holy cow! The above story would make me hesitant to ever file a complaint about bad service! I do think you were right to TTU in the first place if there was a question or concern about the service, but it's that sort of thing that makes me let things slide, even when I probably shouldn't. The intentional beer spilling as revenge for a complaint definitely needs to be addressed by the airline. Even if a customer was totally in the wrong, that sort of behavior is a sure fire sign that someone does not belong in the service industry.

By the way, I did not get pre-flight beverage service (not even water) in F on my last leg of my last flight, even though there was no obvious reason for it. To make matters worse, they had to cut the beverage service short due to turbulence, so those of us in the back row of F got only one drink on a 3 hour flight. Obviously, turbulence is something they can't help, but it would have been really nice to have the pre-flight drink considering that we weren't served anything at all for the last 2 hours or so of the trip. It was a free upgrade for me, so while mildly irritating, it was not earth shattering, but had I paid for a seat in F, I would have been much more annoyed.

jjvan

If this was on an e175, that is compas. The FA's there are non union and do not have a contract. They could not have been given a name of a person that files a complaint. I am confused by the comment "This FA also works for Compass". Are you saying that she works for both NWA and Compass? That is not allowed, we are not allowed to work for 2 different carriers. I find it very hard to follow your story as it seems full of holes. Without a more clearer picture I find it very hard to believe.

xliioper

FWIW, I was 3-for-4 for pre-flight drinks on a mileage run from FNT-TPA last week. On the flight from FNT-DTW, we actually got 2 rounds of pre-flight drinks. During the first round, the FA explained that they didn't have the water for the coffee yet, but we could have anything else. After the coffee was ready, she made a second round offering the coffee and anything else we wanted.

socrates

4 for 4 this past weekend

OhSoBlessed

Shame on the FAs if this story is true!

NWA management will believe the passenger's story. They always do even if the story is made up and then offer the PAX free or discounted travel vouchers.

If some PAX makes a complaint about a particular FA, it is only fair he or she know who made the complaint. The FA's manager will want to know the details of the incident when a complaint is received, so the FA will need to know who sent the complaint.

Nowadays, if a complaint is received, the entire crew gets a letter and not just the individual FA involved in the incident.