A complaint lodged by a Singapore Airlines (SIA) customer over the ingredients used in his airplane food has backfired hard on him. To be honest, it seems like he didn’t think it through first before lodging the complaint.
Expressing his disappointment on SIA’s Facebook page, the Muslim man was upset that his special request for a lobster thermidor dish was denied. Due to his religious dietary restrictions, he didn’t want any alcohol to be used in the dish — a dish that, mind you, consists of lobster meat, egg yolks, mustard and brandy by its very nature.
According to the complainant, an SIA customer affairs manager said that it was not possible because “it will change the authenticity of the dish”, which is perfectly understandable. But not to the man, it seems, who then requested that he get grilled lobster instead.
Obviously, the request got turned down as well because one can’t just order personal dishes on the fly — airplane meals are prepared on the ground and even if one does want a special meal, they’ll have to pick from a list of options from a menu.
“Very disappointing for an airline with so many international cooks on board SQ not able to fulfilled (sic) it,” the man wrote. “So rigid and as a Muslim client we need to have varieties for our menu.”
Two things jump out. Firstly, there aren’t actually any in-flight chefs cooking up meals on board the plane (again, meals have to be prepared on the ground before takeoff). Secondly, as a Muslim traveler with dietary restrictions, why didn’t he simply make a request from SIA’s list of Special Meals? Surely he knew that he could have a peace of mind if he simply chose from SIA’s halal options.
Though SIA didn’t need to, it apologized to the complainant and relayed his concerns to the relevant departments.
Folks — both Muslim and non-Muslim — couldn’t believe the level of self-entitlement shown by the complainant.
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