Jet Blue - Need to Vent!

I flew to Richmond Virginia today on a Jet Blue Airline. It was my first time using this airline so my first impressions were not bad (better than RyanAir). The airline has its own arrivals and departure building at JFK which is quite modern & swanky; and the airplane itself was pretty decent considering that Jet Blue is a so called “budget airline”.

I arrived at the boarding gate just as the last few people were boarding the plane. Once inside the plane I was happy to see there was live TV showing from the screen attached to the seat in front of me, and I also had an option to listen to music, watch music videos, or watch a movie. However I also noticed that there was no headset! I looked around and everyone except a lady in front of me was watching the TV without I headset which I thought was really weird. It didn’t make sense that after investing in this technology we’d have to watch the screen with no sound. I then pulled the airline brochure in the seat in front of me & noticed I had to purchase a headset for $2. So the next time the stewardess came by (there is no call button) I asked her for a headset. She was serving drinks at the time and looked a bit irritated and said “you mean you don’t want a drink?” I told her no, and she said she’d get me the headset after she had finished serving the drinks. I continued to wonder why they would serve drinks & food first prior to dishing out the headsets. It was a 55 minute flight and we were already 20 minutes into it.

Ten minutes later one of the stewardess’s colleagues passed me by holding a headset. She was looking around so I assumed she was looking for me and I waved to get her attention. She looked away then asked the lady next to her if she had requested a headset, and she said “no”. I told her it was me who had asked for it and she said “no, my colleague says she’s blonde” (I am not blonde). I guess she found the blonde woman and gave her the headset, however as I reached over to give her my $2 notes she said “no cash allowed, only credit or debit cards” I was so annoyed by then I said forget it. Why would I risk the safety of my credit or debit card to purchase a head set, now 40 minutes into the flight by the way, for a mere $2?

The person who upset me the most was the first stewardess named Suzanne. Firstly she conveniently “forgot” about my request, and she passed me by several times (and seeing me without a headset) without saying anything. Someone with great customer service would have come back with a headset much earlier, for example after serving the drinks (before serving the food which was just light snacks). I was really fuming because I didn’t know if she was incompetent or prejudiced. She wasn’t in the least bit friendly.

Ironically too, Jet Blue is celebrating 10 years in business today...