Dirty Class Suite

Been on my big trip to Malaysia via Hong Kong stop over, to my horror my first time on 10 hours plus in UCS was a dissapointment, i slept well, but to start with the seat was filthy salt and food stains on it! The tray table broken, flapping around during takeoff! Then to dinner- the tray was filthy and food stains all over it, i had to clean it myself,
also the suite looked tatty and well worn the silver on the monitor arm was worn and the side pannels chipped allready?
Broken cocktail table,
Broken toilet leaving 2 for the whole of Upper Class, Dirty toilets and water all over the floor so wet socks! And the crew said we dont have any more socks.

On the return the flight was better but the suite also has a broken cocktail table and looked well worn, not good at all

[fozzyo]

I can see those cocktail tables being removed unless they sort them out. Dirty seat and trays aren't really acceptable in UC. Did you bring this to the attention of the FSM / Customer Services on your return?

Foz )

My cocktail table could only just hold my bucks fizz on my flight. A couple more dgrees and it would have been on my lap..

Dean

Isn't the cleaning of the plane contracted out on the flight's arrival? I'd imagine if it is then some airports are much better than others at maintaining a standard?

I must admit that I often am shocked at the state of aeroplanes, VS included, but at least the fleet is somewhat new! I just flew AA in business from BOS to AUA (Aruba) and my seat was disgusting.

JC.

[fozzyo]

I would assume that Virgin (or whichever airline it is) own Ground Staff would do a sweep through the plane to inspect it and get any areas that needed cleaning to be revisited. I know that sometimes turn arounds are very tight, particularly if the aircraft is late coming in but I would prefer a five or ten minute delay and a clean and tidy aircraft.

Foz )

quote:Dirty seat and trays aren't really acceptable in UC.

Not in any class.

If you didnt make any comments in flight I would certainly write a letter to Flying Club.

A dirty plane is unacceptable in any cabin but especially in J as UCS is Virgins premium product.

I would write, as letters seem to be taken more seriously than emails.

List ALL the issues you had.
Keep the letter constructive but use firm language..after all who wants to pay £1000's for a dirty seat etc..

Sorry your UC experience was below par.

let us know how you get on

wrote in the other week still not heard back,

on aprevious flight i had a used condom hanging out of the pillow case, disgusting!!!
not having much luck in upper class!
Got fobbed off on that even![:0]

VS customer services do not seem to be really helping the issue of VS service. I have noticed a number of increasing complaints about the level of service, cleaniness of a/c etc. I wrote to VS to complain about the service that I experienced and it took them 6weeks to reply! That is just unexceptable- to make VS feel bad, i complained about a train journey with First Great Western the other week and i had a reply from there customer service department within 3 days of sending my complaint. Perhaps if customer services are so over stretched that it takes 6 weeks to respond then they sld start to employ more staff.

And by the way the LCC's keep coming out on top- just booked a flight to Italy with dare I say it Ryanair, 2 pax have the same names ie: Mr J Smith, one of the party only decided last week to travel so we booked his ticket seperatly and within an hour Ryanair rung up to check we hadnt made a mistake and booked the ticket twice!

Got my Letter reply back, from Richard himself, he gave me 20,000 miles for the comments on the Airplane dissapointment, what does everyone think? Flying in premium in DEC to JFK shall i try for UCS upgrade?

Hi jonathan2122,

20k miles seems like quite a good compensation deal to me.

Hope your next flight goes better.

Regards

TBS

What does worry me is the "here are some bonus miles. we're sorry. is that all?", without any evidence of follow up.

Yes, it's nice to be compensated when things are bad, but it's also good to know that you shouldn't expect the same bad thing to happen the next time.

Sure, these things probably get a couple of minutes airtime at some management meeting, and some memos go out, the mx supervisors get moaned at for not fixing cabin defects quickly enough, and people shout at Fernley (or whoever else is doing the aircraft presentation at that station) to do a more thorough job.

In the same light, if we comment about the slackness of the contracted wait staff at the Clubhouses, someone will produce some memos, the message gets diluted in transit, and I'll be willing to wager the contracted staff don't get anywhere near as good benefits as a VS staffer. They just aren't motivated to do anything better, or fix what's wrong.

Some paper targets may be set, but they are either not enforced, or unenforceable, or the system can be bucked in some way so the numbers look good but the product still sucks (be it aircraft presentation, or daydreaming wait staff in the Clubhouse).

Effectively, there's no evidence to the complainant that there is any follow-up or notice taken, other than maybe it's better next time they fly.

Sub-contractors = great way of shifting blame and responsibility.

Cheers,
Mike

quote:Originally posted by jonathan2122
Been on my big trip to Malaysia via Hong Kong stop over, to my horror my first time on 10 hours plus in UCS was a dissapointment, i slept well, but to start with the seat was filthy salt and food stains on it! The tray table broken, flapping around during takeoff! Then to dinner- the tray was filthy and food stains all over it, i had to clean it myself,
also the suite looked tatty and well worn the silver on the monitor arm was worn and the side pannels chipped already?
Broken cocktail table,
Broken toilet leaving 2 for the whole of Upper Class, Dirty toilets and water all over the floor so wet socks! And the crew said we dont have any more socks.

On the return the flight was better but the suite also has a broken cocktail table and looked well worn, not good at all

Hmm... Sounds like Ground Crew at HKG did a bad job at cleaning, sorry to hear about that.

quote:Dirty seat and trays aren't really acceptable in UC.

Wrong, In any class that is unexceptable.

[Bazz]

There is no excuse for a dirty suite, seat or aircraft, a complaint to the FSM and a letter to VAA is always a good idea.

The shortcomings of the suite in terms of general durability has been discussed elsewhwere here, VAA are aware and seeking to address this aspect.

Other areas, i.e. the cocktail table problem are being worked on and will either be repaired or redesigned and replaced.

Please keep posting your observations to this site but please also bring this to the formal attention of VAA - it is the only way the problems will be addressed.

One of the FSM duties is actually to complete a form at the end of each flight with any known defects.

On My last MCO flight my remote wouldn't lock into the seat as the clip was broken. I imformed the FSM and he said it would be noted for repair.

I know that this doesnt excuse any defects but at least VS are more likely to fix them quickly if they are informed

[fozzyo]

On one flight the (i assume FSM) requested over the PA that any problems with the IFE, Seat etc be reported to a member of cabin crew so that they can try and sort it out if possible or so that it can be reported for repair so that the next passenger doesn't have the same problem.

Just to clear up a dirty seat, table, tray, toilet, overhead locket etc etc is most definately not acceptable in any part of the plane. The "in UC" was added in the context of the thread - wasn't meant to indicate that it is acceptable in Economy or PE.

Foz )

I think we can all agree that this type of issue isnt acceptable in any class!!

However I'd be really annoyed[:(!] if I paid 5k for a ticket and got those probs[:0][:0][:(]

[fozzyo]

Oh I think I'd be annoyed if I paid 5k for a ticket ... never mind the state of the craft.

Foz )

Cocktail tables have been removed and are being modified!

Some Turnaround time are only 45 mins!! from landing to starting passenger boarding again.

I can assure you that there are people out there who check cabin cleaning and the aircaft get a full deep clean every 14 or 21 days depending on there flight cycles.

All defects are noted and repaired during turnaround, however some issues have to wait until the aircraft has enough downtime at LHR.

The materials of the UCS cabin are being reviewed to reduce wear and tear.

Turn around times/location of parts etc will impact how quickly defects can be fixed;I dont think anyone has issues with that.

I dont however think its a justifiable reason for dirty cabin. If the plane isnt ready in 45 mins then you need more/better cleaners or more time.

I personally have never noticed poor cabin conditions so hope that this is just an isolated issue.

Just flew 4 sectors in UC (MIA-LHR-JNB-LHR-MIA), and can echo some of the comments here. Suites on the MIA-LHR flights could have indeed been cleaned a bit better, and silver paint around TV monitor was indeed scratched & chipped on both of those flights. Also noticed a less-than-stellar wipe down of the monitor and table (streak marks from a dirty cleaning rag probably). Regarding the cocktail trays, on the flight LHR-MIA, they had actually all been removed from the aircraft--FAs specifically pointed it out & apologized. The flights to/from JNB on the A343 also had some rather dirty seats. However, all in all it was a pretty good way to fly. Very impressed with service levels and attitude of the crew.

I have been away for a while and havent really got into this topic until now. (sorry normally ignore UCS topics as i fly Y or if lucky PE so it doesnt bother me!)

It is interesting to read about wear and tear issues and what declan said about some a/c having a 45min turnaround. I recently flew back from SFO and was disgusted by the level of dirt on the a/c. Toilets were a mess from start of flight- i was 1st to use them and they were disgusting. To make matters worse 2 out of my party's 5 trays were unuseable. One was so bad that BA Maintencae (yes BA!) at SFO had to tape my tray up with gaffer tape- and then told me that will have to do! SO i sat for 12 hours with a tray that wouldnt fold away properly! Another of my party tray wouldnt stop going down so much so that it rested on her knees! I personally cannot see how this a/c left LHR in this state.Whilst it may have happened on the outbound flight i cant believe both falts did and from the look of it they werent new faults! Surely people before me would have reported it to the crew. Are the crew not reporting faults back to maintenance!? Perhaps I too am moaning too much but i jsut feel that for the amont of money you pay for a seat that is crammed in the least they can do is offer you one that is working properly! I hope that the a/c didnt leave LHR the next day in this state!

quote:Originally posted by willd
To make matters worse 2 out of my party's 5 trays were unuseable. One was so bad that BA Maintencae (yes BA!) at SFO had to tape my tray up with gaffer tape- and then told me that will have to do! SO i sat for 12 hours with a tray that wouldnt fold away properly! Another of my party tray wouldnt stop going down so much so that it rested on her knees! I personally cannot see how this a/c left LHR in this state.Whilst it may have happened on the outbound flight i cant believe both falts did and from the look of it they werent new faults!

Will,

Out of interest, was this on an aircraft with V:Port (On-Demand entertainment) and the new design seats, or the Odyssey system with the older seats?

Unfortunately, cabin defects often aren't no-go items. While they may affect passenger comfort or facilities, they don't usually affect inflight safety, and therefore aircraft get dispatched with 10s or even 100s of "write-ups" in the log.

If it's a difference between operating (with cabin defects) or cancelling the flight (because of no spare aircraft), the airline is going to choose to operate the flight.

However, I agree that it's would be a poor show for an aircraft to be repeatedly turned out with these sorts of cabin defects for an extended period.

Part of the issue is that Virgin works it's 747 fleet particularly hard. It has 8 LHR configured 747-400s, and usually needs 7 to be serviceable on a normal day. There isn't much slack in the schedule, so this sort of thing has to be dealt with during any layovers for the aircraft at LHR.

I also know that the Joburg flight spends all day at the airport (arrives early morning, departs in the evening). SAA has their MX base at Joburg, and they have appropriate type knowledge (744 and A343/346), so I wonder if VS could contract some light MX work out to SAA, to be carried out during the layover?

Cheers,
Mike

I have to say I flew from ATL(Atlanta) to LGW on BA, and on boarding the 777 we first walked through Business Class then PE, then to our seat in Economy. I was glad I wasn't flying business class that day as some tray tables were taped together, the carpet was stained and horrible and the atmosphere was horrible. I honestly thought that PE looked miles better than business. Just shows that not everywhere has good cleaning! On top of that we were delayed 3 hours due to a fire!! This is why one chooses VS when flying now
John