Poor service on Etihad EY462

When booking my Etihad return tickets I was excited due to the fact I was traveling on what I thought was a great Gulf Carrier who shared the high standards as other Gulf Carriers such as Qatar or Emirates.

Onboard

Upon takeoff the drinks cart came around doing its normal rounds, the lady who I was sitting next to asked for a red wine and the Airhostess said they had a bottle of Merlot, however, pronounced it “Mer” then “lot” which did prick my ears up our of interest, instead of it’s correct pronunciation “Merlow”. When it came to my turn I asked for a beer and opted for a Carlsberg, however, a few sips on I found the beer was actually room temperature and the drinks cart was now too far away for me to ask to get this replaced.

Once the air hostess had finished her drinks round she came back down the isle and the gentleman infront of me asked for another beer which he got served. After he had been served I then asked the air hostess if I could have another beer but could check the can was cold as the one she had given me was room temperature. She then replied I would get another beer during the dinner service and refused me a beer after the gentleman ahead of me got served.

When the dinner service came around we were offered a chicken or a pasta option by a male stewardess. We were at the back of the plane so he was handing out the dinner’s manually while his female colleague started at the front of the plane. The lady I was sitting next to asked what was in the pasta option and the male attendant asked if she would like to look at it as he did not know what the ingredients were. I think the last time I had this unprofessional service was British Airways! I opted for the chicken option and 5 minutes later he came back with our orders, however, handed me a Lamb dish which I was not offered to start with, which confused the situation until I got the chicken option.

When the drinks cart came back I again asked for a beer and could it be cold this time as the last one I had was room temperature. She said that they only had one fridge and this was the temperature for all the drinks. I asked the air hostess for a glass of ice so I could chill my drink in there.

The next meal the male stewardess did not give us any option but we were having the vegetarian dish.

At the Airport

I am a Silver Etihad member and I went to the lounge at Abu Dhabi, and used my priority pass to gain entry to the lounge, however, I found out later that my Silver status actually gets me free entry to the Lounge, however, I was not told about this in Melbourne when the lady was printing the tickets which I thought was default when airlines printing your boarding card.

I was taking a short trip to the UK, and my onward journey from Abu Dhabi to London Heathrow was much better , a selection of food was offered and chilled drinks. Again when boarding the same flight from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne on the 20th , the beer again was not cold, however, there was a selection of meals this time. I can only imagine there is something wrong with the fleet or the plane that Etihad flies from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi.

Overall the EY462 flight has ruined my first experience of Etihad with staff that seemed abrupt, untrained backed with a plane kitchen that cannot chill drinks properly

Etihad are in the news for being cost cutting at the moment : http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2017/05/11/etihad-lounge-cost-cutting/, and can only imagine this is now the outcome of this venture