I WAS on a Melbourne-Singapore Qantas flight on May 15. The service leaves much to be desired and the Qantas website feedback service is non-existent.

Before meals, the crew is supposed to remind passengers to set their seats upright to facilitate dining. This was not done. For some inexplicable reason, the meals were served so slowly, that when I received mine, the passenger sitting in front of me had finished his meal, reclined his seat and was already sleeping.

As I needed space to consume my meal, I asked a stewardess, one Ms Leeah, to tell the reclined passenger to set his seat upright.

She glanced at him indifferently, informed me he was sleeping, and walked away.

During the flight, I was having a headache and pressed the button for service. I waited for five minutes before pressing again. Only after the third time did a stewardess attended to me. As I was seated near the galley, it was evident that the crew were chatting and not busy at all.

When I returned home, I e-mailed my feedback about the stewardess, Ms Leeah's poor attitude, on the Qantas website.

I received an automated reply saying that the airline would try to reply to me within 30 business days.

I waited for 30 working days and when there was no reply, I e-mailed Qantas again, inquiring about the absence of a reply - and received the same automated reply.

It's been more than two months since I sent my first feedback. For a national carrier like Qantas, the service is wanting. What's more, I sense that the airline is insincere in inviting feedback when it is in fact, hoping that passengers will just tire of waiting for a reply, and forget about their grievances.

Andrew Chia

This article was first published in The Straits Times on August 2, 2008.