The Private Room - Service Sub Standard
 

I was very surprised at the lack of service I received in the Private Room at Singapore.

We arrived at 3 pm for our 8 pm departure so thought we'd relax and enjoy the lounge and airport before departure. We were ushered in to the lounge with lots of attention and sat down in 2 seats opposite a tv. The view from the windows wasn't very exciting so we thought we'd watch tv and read for a while. When we arrived there was only 1 other gentleman in the lounge. Throughout the afternoon there was probably a maximum of 8 of us in TPR.

I motioned over the wait staff and asked for a drink. I had a soft drink and my husband had a champagne. The drinks only were brought over. No nuts or other snacks were supplied. I went in to the small buffet area and noticed they had nuts in a self serve jar but there was nothing to tip them in to. A staff member in the cleaning galley noticed me and came over to ask if she could help. I indicated I wanted some nuts and she went to find a bowl and served them for me. I took them back to the table myself.

I was not really thirsty so I was not that concerned when staff did not come over so I thought I'd just wait to see how long it was before they returned. After 1 hour, and I do not exaggerate, I had to stand up and wave staff over to ask for another drink. Again, the drinks were delivered with no offer of anything to eat or a snack.

After 15 minutes we thought we'd have a snack. I attempted to make eye contact with a number of staff to no avail. I thus had to stand up and walk in to the wide aisle to wait for a staff member to acknowledge me and approach me. I asked for a menu so we could have a snack and this was brought over to us a few minutes later. The order of satay arrived quite quickly. There was no offer to re-fill our glasses.

After our snack we decided to have a walk around the airport and asked a staff member if there was a place to leave our bags so we didn't have to carry them with us. I was told that they did not have a facility to store luggage and we'd have to carry it with us. That was fine if that was the rule, however, we noticed at a desk in the TPR there was a carry on wheely bag with luggage tags attached that was sitting behind the desk up against a wall.

My husband and I had an enjoyable walk around the airport, as well as a foot massage then returned to the lounge. Again, I had to approach staff and ask for a drink instead of them offering one to me.

I don't like staff hovering too much and being overly attentive but the service, or rather lack of it, was unbelievable. I wanted a happy medium of being asked if we wanted a drink or anything every now and then.

Another surprising thing to note, when we checked in at the First Class entrance, our 2 carry on bags and a large box of chocolates were not scanned or visually looked at as we entered the airport. They were screened as we entered the holding area to board, however, one could still have done a lot of damage in the hours before as I wandered around the airport with my unscanned items.

That is standard at Changi, the security is all gate based, although occasionally there will be random scans of hand luggage prior to immigration. This effectively puts the transit area of Changi on the same level as, well with any public space in Singapore, such as Marina Bay Sands, Clarke Quay, any major shopping centre. When you think about you don't pass through security entering those places. Also, there will sometimes random security checks on arriving passengers from certain places, particularly from secondary airports in Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand etc.

It means the airport needs less infrastructure (arrivals and departures are not on separate levels, as they are most major international airports) and gets transiting passengers into the shops much quicker upon arrival!

First world problem.....move along.

This is plain silly.

If you want a drink, ask for a drink. If you want a snack, ask for a snack. Otherwise, good service is about leaving people alone and presuming that they will communicate their needs. I hate it when service staff interrupt.

This is not a first world problem. It is not a problem.

It almost sounds like your disappointment at the service in TPR had you on the lookout for things to disapprove of that you would otherwise not have noticed....

"A staff member in the cleaning galley noticed me and came over to ask if she could help. I indicated I wanted some nuts and she went to find a bowl and served them for me. I took them back to the table myself."

Oh my God! Praying that you are well after this horrifying experience of having to carry your own bowl of nuts to your table!

What an absolute travesty. Our thoughts are with the OP for this trying and difficult ordeal.

To be honest I love the quietness in TPR - if staff is always checking on you I would feel worse. As others mentioned if I need something I get it. I have been in TPR every week since the last 3 months and service is consistent.

I agree that I would expect better service. Sorry to hear it was bad for you.

Can't understand the sarcastic responses - isn't this what FT is about - dissecting the services of airlines? I don't find it unreasonable to have expectations (people pay $10-20k to fly Suites, or use a lot of their hard-earned miles) or to critique what is supposed to be the "best first class experience in the world" - and the lounge is a large part of this product. TPR is great, but not perfect nor the best F lounge... :D:D

If I want a drink or food, I will signal to get attention.

To be upset for TPR staff not paying attention to you every single moment to anticipate when you might be thirsty or hungry, I am not sure if it is fair.

In fact, I will find it odd if the staff are peeping at me every now and then.

Somehow, I thought I was reading expectations equivalent of a Royal Palace, rather than TPR. ;)

Exactly. You pay for a service you expect to receive that service. Not sure what the narky responses are about.

The difference between service at Sydney First Class Lounge and the Private Room was so different which was the point of this post. Apparently from the responses I read here I just need to suck it up and accept whatever crummy service the staff feels like delivering.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to post a sarcastic reply.

In my experience from a few visits. If you sit at the dining tables (indicating you want to eat) you will be approached by staff and they will go back and forth in intervals to top up your drinks and offer your more food.

Once you move to or settle in the TV / Lounge chair area they will not bother you much and you will have to call them over to get things. I can understand that an occasional check on a guest would not be too much of an effort, but at the same token I have also heard some people telling staff that they do not want to be disturbed and will come to them if they need something.

You may never get it right for everyone.

Somehow, I have feeling your travel was on award redemption?