#883158 by Kraken
16 Sep 2014, 21:42
Arrived at Dubai airport and was dropped off at the dedicated First / Business class check in area. Nothing to say really – those who have been to DXB will know what it’s like, i.e. smart, efficient and spotlessly clean. Bag dropped, through security, duty free and up to the lounge.

Had time for a couple of beers before the wander down to B31 where boarding was just starting into the gate lounge. After about 5mins in there actual boarding started. Onboard and into 11K – a seat with a misplaced window.

I was making notes on my iPad about the flight and by the time we landed in MAN, the notes had been entitled “Lazy Uninterested Crew”.

Hot towels before takeoff – the crew member handing them out missed about 8 seats in Business Class – mine included. When a different crew member came round to collect the used towels, she asked where we had put ours. We advised her we’d not been given them and it took another crew member a few minutes to produce them.

After takeoff there was one drinks run before lunch was served. No top-ups or refills offered at any time.

The food element of lunch was one of the few good things about the flight. Had the Seared Tuna to start, which was excellent. Followed this up with the Chicken Biryani, which was also good, but way too much for me. One drink was offered with your lunch, again with no top-ups or refills on offer.

I then had the cheese, which as always on Emirates was very good. When I had finished with the cheese, I advised the crew member as she was delivering a coffee to the passenger next to me. 55mins later the cheese was still on my table, so I pressed the call button to get it removed. No apology of any kind from the crew.

The crew must have been worn out from the service they had just delivered, i.e. the absolute minimum, so they all cleared off to the galley between L2 / R2 and shut the curtains.

Just over 3hrs out of MAN, the seatbelt sign went on. No crew member entered the rear [larger] Business Class cabin to check passengers had complied with the sign. At one point, a bloke came forward from Economy and stood / sat in the aisle having a work meeting of sorts with the guy in 11F – all while the seatbelt sign was on. (I took a few pictures of this on my iPhone… may come in handy, as you can see the illuminated seatbelt sign in them).

A few children from Economy were roaming quite freely up and down the aisles in Business Class too – well, with no cabin crew around to stop them, why not?!

At no point in the flight were any other drinks of any kind offered. The crew clearly thought that 2 drinks + the bottle of water you get on the seat (+ the glass of water on your meal tray) was enough for a 7 hour flight… in Business Class.

About 2hrs out of Manchester the crew came round to offer the light bites – they only took food orders though, no “anything to drink with that?” A few people, myself included had some food. I had the Prawns in black bean sauce – as with most food on Emirates, it was very good.

Only at this stage (1hr out of Manchester) did the crew clear away service items from the cabin. Some people had empty glasses in the drinks holder on their seat that had been there since just after lunch had been served, as they had not finished the drink before the service was cleared from their seat.

Here is where is gets really good… the 2 toilets in the Business class cabin were both occupied for the best part of 10mins (I kid you not) and a queue was building up. One passenger asked a crew member if he could use the toilets in First. This got a firm “no” answer, as “passengers are not allowed to pass through a higher cabin”. Now a passenger asked why the crew had done nothing about the children from Economy in Business class? “No-one told us” was the answer. I mentioned the business meeting by 11F when the seatbelt sign was on and suggested this was a definite no-no. Someone also said something along the lines of “surely it is your job to monitor what goes on in the cabin?” Credit to the crew member, she kept her cool and stuck to her guns about no use of the First toilets (which I agree with). She did have her name taken by a few pax though. I told her I would be writing to Emirates about the flight, but not her.

Eventually the 2 people who had been blocking up the toilets emerged (one from each toilet I hasten to add… no mile high club here) and the queue moved. Not long after that the seatbelt sign went on for landing – and the crew did come round to check people were obeying this time / secure the cabin for landing.

Also worth mentioning that there was only one hot towel run (the one before departure - which they could not even get right) in the entire flight.

Landed about half an hour early at Manchester. Took them 10mins to get an airbridge attached, but off soon after that. Brisk walk to immigration & baggage claim, as I walked down the steps to the carousel I clocked by bag, so was straight out, through customs & to the Chauffeur Drive pickup area.

So I am sure you can guess how I will summarize this flight! Dubai Airport = excellent. Flight itself = good (smooth & arrived early). Cabin Crew = lazy and uninterested. Manchester Airport = acceptable.

As said above, a letter will be going to Emirates about this flight. The crew onboard today need a good kick up the backside, as the service was not Business Class standard.
#883160 by Blacky1
16 Sep 2014, 21:58
Not a good experience at all by the sounds of it , such a shame as you think better of airlines like EK especially in premium cabins , do let us know what kind of response you get to your letter .
Thanks for posting
#883161 by Bretty
16 Sep 2014, 22:01
Gosh, quite a contrast to the outbound sector, how disappointing for you. It really doesn't make for a pleasant flight when there are issues, and if you're like me, the flight is part of the holiday not just getting from A to B.

Let us know what response you get from Emirates.
#883170 by David
17 Sep 2014, 00:26
Hi James,

Outbound better than the inbound (even given the difference in classes)

Just shows, many airlines have the same problems, crew not great, flight not great.

I guess the difference might be how they handle the feedback.

thanks for a couple of good TR'S

David
#883634 by Maximus
20 Sep 2014, 17:59
Maybe they had heard about the raucous passengers at the bar on the inward flight and had decided to restrict drinks.

But this is not what I would expect from EK.
#883781 by iforres1
22 Sep 2014, 13:07
Even on my worst EK flight the service has never been this bad. Looks like you just got a duff crew which is a shame, as they are normally good. Good crew = a good flight regardless of carrier. A second hot towel should have been forthcoming as well. Well worth a letter.
#883807 by Alex V
22 Sep 2014, 16:35
A real shame to experience this, least of all on EK where one thinks standards are usually higher than the norm.
Im sure its a one off and look forward to your next TR.

cheers

alex
#883855 by honey lamb
22 Sep 2014, 22:36
I flew EK on DUB-DXB-DUR-DXB recently on their 777 service in Business. The final leg should have been DXB-DUB but because of a missed connection it morphed into DXB-LHR-ORK, the Cork leg going above and beyond my contract with them.

As a result I had an opportunity to experience several different layers of service.

The DUB-DXB leg was OK but more akin to a PE offering than a J experience.
The DXB-DUR leg was similar but the difference was that the second meal service ex-DUB had been a bar of Walker's shortbread and a cup of tea/coffee, this time there was the equivalent of Light-Bites on VS. Oh, and the fact that EK had overnighted me in an hotel free of charge because of a 10 hour layover helped.
The DUR-DXB leg was similar to the above. The food was good as it had been on the other two legs and there was an excellent amenity kit.
Because of the missed connection I was put on to the A380 service to LHR - again in Business. The difference was amazing! Apart from the DXB-DUR leg, all the other flights had had shared lounges where the service was minimal. Ex-DXB the lounges were great but so spread out so they were impersonal.
On the A380, the service by comparison was streets ahead. The champagne was better, the food was better, the snacks were better.
What were the defining factors? The crew on the DUR-DXB leg were the best. My first choice of meal had gone but somehow the crew assigned to me managed to get it for me; I had known at the time of check-in/boarding there was an issue with my connection and they did the best to reassure me and facilitate me. The ground crew who dealt with my mis-connection was superlative! y) His brief was to get me back to Dublin and on hearing that I needed to be in Ireland that night - and moreover in Cork that night, pulled out all the stops to do just that even though EK's contract was to get me back to Dublin.
#884109 by Kraken
25 Sep 2014, 17:48
Response from Emirates to my feedback....

Dear Mr Kraken

I refer to our acknowledgment dated 18 September 2014.

Naturally I was sorry to learn of your disappointment with certain aspects of your recent flight, EK19 from Manchester to Dubai on 16 September.

Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that we do place a great emphasis on the level of inflight service that we provide to our passengers, especially those travelling in our premium cabins and it was therefore regrettable that we did not meet your full expectations on this occasion.

I note your comments regarding the level of service and behaviour displayed by members of the crew on this flight.

We do expect our staff to represent Emirates in a friendly and professional manner and to provide passengers with the utmost assistance at all times. Whilst I am not trying to absolve our staff of their actions or responsibilities, unfortunately the efficiency of the service can sometimes be affected by a number of reasons, such as, crew experience and the individual requirements of each passenger. Despite this there is no excuse for rude, unprofessional or unfriendly service and I do apologise for what must surely be a rare lapse in our service standard.

It is regrettable that you enjoyment of the flight was further marred as a result of children coming through from the Economy cabin. I also note that another passenger had made his way through to talk to the person seated in 11F.

I do appreciate your comments and we would hope that all parents and guardians would make every effort to ensure their children conduct themselves in a dignified and civilised manner, and that they do not cause offence or discomfort to other passengers. I am sorry if this was not the case on this occasion.

Due to the points raised I have checked the crew reports from this flight and although there no specific references to the behaviour of the children, a report was taken about the other passenger to whom you referred.

Naturally we would expect our passengers to comply with our safety regulations and return to their seats should the seatbelt sign be illuminated. I understand that the passenger was approached by the crew and asked to return to his seat. Whilst he did not do so immediately, a second request was made, to which he did comply.

It was nevertheless disappointing to learn of your dissatisfaction with the way these situations were handled by the crew and I am sorry if you felt that they may have been more proactive. Whilst I can only offer my apologies for any inconvenience you may have experienced, we do appreciate you bringing these matters to our attention. Your comments have been forwarded to our Cabin Crew Management Team to review and take appropriate action with the view of improving the standard of service offered to our customers.

Mr Kraken, I am truly sorry if we did not live up to your expectations on this occasion and would like to assure you that our passengers' views and opinions are of enormous value in helping us refine and improve the quality of service.

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to contact to us and for the benefit of your feedback, and once again, please accept my sincere apologies.

Yours sincerely,


Name Removed
Customer Affairs UK


Thoughts: Well for starters the person writing the reply has the route wrong. It was Dubai to Manchester.

To say "crew experience" can affect the cabin service is odd. Simple solution, only put experienced crew in the premium cabins. The crew were not rude, unprofessional or unfriendly - they just did the absolute bare minimum, which is not what you expect in Business Class.

Blames the parents for letting the children wander into Business Class. It's no surprise that the crew did not see the children, as they were in the galley with the curtains shut.

As to the guy talking to the pax in 11F - he may have returned to his seat eventually, but this meeting had been going on for half an hour already with the seatbelt sign on. Point missed completely that the crew did not do a run through the cabin to check passengers were complying when the sign was turned on.

So all in all a "sorry, sorry, blame this / blame that, sorry & thank you for bringing this to our attention" reply.
#884127 by Bretty
25 Sep 2014, 22:10
I'd be inclined to write back and address every lame comment with a reminder of the facts reported. Not that it would make much difference but would at least point out the incompetence of the respondent to your original complaint!
#884129 by honey lamb
25 Sep 2014, 22:26
Bretty wrote:I'd be inclined to write back and address every lame comment with a reminder of the facts reported. Not that it would make much difference but would at least point out the incompetence of the respondent to your original complaint!

Wot Bretty said! y)
#884131 by Sarastro
25 Sep 2014, 23:13
Frankly though, a damned sight better response than you'd have got from VS.

I bet the VS response would have been: Sorry you had a bad time, we're disappointed to hear that. Please keep spending money with us and we'll vaguely try and do better next time.

For a fact, I can tell you that EK take letters like yours seriously. I've known cabin crew to be sacked for lesser complaints.
Virgin Atlantic

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests

Itinerary Calendar