FlyingMoose

In France? Where you can get a delicious freshly baked high quality sandwich at any bakery for the fraction of an airport purchase?

That outdated absurdity needs to end at some point though. Companies knowingly screwing consumers is an increasing problem in the Nordics because they know there are no significant legal repercussions with large financial impacts. The legal system would rather let a contractor get away with this misconduct than sending them into bankruptcy while the consumer doesn't even get compensated for 20% of its trouble or actual expenses (like having to use a hotel when a bathroom is wrongly installed). It is totally pathetic and destroyed lives aren't the equivalent of inconvenience.

nacho

Unfortunately a lot of court decisions (especially for cases that's involved around SEK 100000) is trying to protect the contractor and will only grant compensation that's equal to the actual financial loss vs. the costs of hiring someone else to fix the problem.

I agree it's pathetic but you can't change their culture - Mr. grew up with it and when I told him about this thread he said, " well he got the food refunded - what more does he want?" He doesn't think convenience is something that should be compensated - you get compensated for whatever you can document with a receipt. He hardly ever writes complaints - I'm the one who did all the "dirty work" (I don't even bother complaining in Scandinavia because no one cares).

I think it's a continental thing that you get compensated only for your actual financial loss - if you need to stay at a hotel because someone messed your bathroom up I think your house insurance would cover that somewhat.

SK2751

Like Mr (although not having grown up in this culture) I think the excessive compensation and litigation culture is harmful for the society, makes people scared of lawyers, and makes services more expensive for everybody. No thank you.

But I do like token apologies, for instance a small number of EB points (3K?) or being mailed a nice chocolate box. I do think that the non-monetary psychological apology is valuable.

AStarr

Agreed here. A little bit of goodwill goes a long way. But overly demanding is a problem in some parts of the world...

nacho

I do think that excess compensation is wrong - I have a friend who is very happy complaining to get comped - especially Hilton because of the BMG certs. However the Scandinavian/Continental European approach is too far to the other end.

I let companies know if they have messed up or did the extra mile to make customers happy - something that Mr. won't bother doing.

SK used to give out small tokens for their mess up but it was almost 20 years ago - it was NCE-CPH and my food (free food and drinks in Y so you know how long ago it was) had a living spider crawling on it when I opened the sealed wrapping of my food. It wasn't in the digital era like now so I didn't get a picture/video of it. I wrote to SK and they apologized and they sent they will send a small gift for the mess up. I received a box of chocolate and a note from SK - that's a nice small token you talked about and I felt happy (not that I like the chocolate but every thought counts) because it shows that they care.

FlyingMoose

it puts people on their toes and think twice before knowingly screwing someone. I would argue that services in Scandinavia are more expensive than in countries with such systems, especially for unskilled labour.

The problem in Scandinavia is that the same system applies to medical mistakes and the system will without caring for a second leave people handicapped or incapacitated for life without compensating them for the considerable financial damages and missed income that they'll incur the rest of their lives as a result of those errors. The public opinion I believe isn't so much against such a system but there is a greater public fear about someone might getting a big payout and having the slightest shot at some degree of happiness.

Have you seen companies who do that improve over time? Has SAS improved over time or have they become worse? The non-monetary apologie is easy, doing it a 1000 times to, especially if your customers keep swallowing it. A significant financial penalty would change course a lot quicker and would make a much better apologie.

SK2751

You seem to be focused on optimizing the performance of companies. I am interested in an uneducated part of the society being able to afford healthcare. These are different goals.

nacho

If the healthcare system screwed up so much you would be able to sue them to get compensation - however you won't get rich from it. There was a police case in Smaland a while ago that the police thinks someone was a criminal in a car and the car was damaged as a result. The car owner complained to the police and they refused to pay and I think he took it to court - don't remember what the court verdict was. Again the car owner can only claim for the repair bill but nothing for the days that he needed alternative transport (we have that extra insurance that we paid extra for).

I guess getting something makes us feel better whether they improve or not - at very least they acknowledge that they messed up which is better than a blunt denial.

cnicklo

Has anyone actually ordered and been served one of these meals? I can't find any information or reviews other than the press release. Given that SAS only offers one meal choice in economy and one beverage, the idea of having some choice and an extra beverage (and possibly some upgraded food quality) is interesting to me and a possible value (from my perspective) for the price.

True reviews welcomed!

MatthiasWagner

Haven't tried it myself, but saw a picture + comments from one there ordered it, he was very pleased To me, it looked very much like the Plus serving long-haul.

cnicklo

There has been little posted on the option to upgrade your free economy long-haul meal with one of four, premium options (meat, fish, chicken or vegetarian).

My husband and I recently flew SFO-CPH and both upgraded our meal. Both were quite tasty (mine was the fish option, his chicken ), were served on crockery and also included a second beverage (yes, alcoholic, if desired).

When we ordered, we didn’t know what exactly would be offered, and we weren’t provided a menu or other description when served. I snagged a business class menu on our way off the plane and both mains were served to passengers in that cabin:

Pan-toasted, MSC certified prawns with cream cheese and Parmesan stone-ground grits, smoked tomato ragout and green onions.

Grilled chermoula chicken with cauliflower tabbouleh, roasted sweet potato and pomegranate dressing.

For $~20 each, this was a nice upgrade for us. The extra beverage alone would have cost $8-10. The standard economy meal doesn’t even include a choice of main. You get what they serve.

We’re doing this again on our way home, and I’ll report back then.

Premium fish dinner

Business class menu SFO-CPH

Premium chicken dinner.

oliver2002

Compared to what they advertise the final product served is significantly different. Also definitely not comparable to the C portions.

fassy

Will be interesting to see the return catered out of CPH...

GUWonder

Apparently preordering meals is sometimes not possible because they are sold out.

cnicklo

Flight back CPH-SFO was disappointing. No photos this time, sorry.

I had ordered the meat option and received "reindeer neck ballotin". Not so good from a flavor/texture perspective and definitely much more adventurous than I was looking for. It was served in a sauce with some puffed mashed potato croquettes. The dessert was the best part of the meal -- a carrot cake with sour cream frosting.

My husband had the chicken dish. It was just fine -- not as tasty or as good a quality as our meals originating in San Francisco.

I think we'd do this again but I'd definitely avoid the "meat" option as there are too many opportunities for a mystery meat to be served. Chicken, at least, is chicken, and I'd likely also be fine with the fish/shellfish and vegetarian options.

Chris