Excuse for Not Attending to Call Button on Int'l Flights

[Simon L.]

Maybe I have spent too time flying with Asian carriers over the last few years, but the crew on a recent Qantas international flight really surprised me (I know this may very well be an "isolated case" that doesn't represent the normal service standard on Qantas, but I still think such thing should have never happened on any Qantas flight if Qantas still wants to be considered as a "somewhat top-notch international carrier").

Anyway, I won't go into great details on the actual flight etc., but on this particular flight I pressed the "service call button" at least four times (waited for way over half-hour until finally attended to), and I politely asked the crew: "Excuse me but do you realise it has been over 30 minutes since I first pressed the call button?"

A cool response from the crew: "Sorry sir, but too many inexperienced passengers on these international flights press the call button for the sake of trying it out." So, this gives cabin crew members a good excuse for not attending to call buttons in a timely manner?

I really think the cabin crew has to be retrained in customer services.

Regards.