Not sure if its just me but Qantas is becoming more and more inconsistent.

Not sure if its just me but Qantas is becoming more and more inconsistent. Some international flights im greeted with mate. Some flights no greetings. Some flights very good customer service. Domestic forget it. Maybe im just having a whinge but as soon as i lose my QF plat ....cathay pacific and virgin for me.....

Your comments about Qantas being inconsistent in its trademark inconsistency are inconsistent in their own inconsistency.

Service on Qantas does tend to be a little inconsistent... and I find that more so on domestic than international. I can't say that I've ever not been greeted at the door though. I also find that service on an A380 service is usually excellent... 747 is variable but more often than not it is good... On the A330 though, it is hit or miss. Maybe they prioritise their best crew on to the A380...

Lounge staff are usually great though... especially in the First lounges.

Totally agree. The A380 crew are a different breed from the A330 crew.

The experience in the First Lounge and Domestic Business Lounges makes up for the shortfall (inconsistent) service on the flights. I pity thoes who don't have access to the lounges and wonder why they bother paying premium prices (especially when ex AU) to fly Qantas, if they are not accruing points and/or non-frequent flyers.

A380 are better, but still inconsistent vs CX or similar. Its probably the same difference as going to a 5 star hotel in Sydney vs one in Hong Kong or Singapore. Staff are better trained, more service minded, and more helpful.

The key thing missing is consistent protocol. They often forget and miss things... like they forget to give you your welcome drink, or to wake you up for breakfast, or they give a toilet bag to everyone except one row. It's so random. They run out of pillows, medium PJs, and some dishes too often. Sometimes they give you a pen to mark your choices for breakfast, sometimes they don't. I've pressed the light to try to order a snack and been ignored for 15 minutes before I went to the kitchen and saw the crew chatting. It's like every crew makes their own rules.

With the mattresses, they're not consistent with who puts them on and off. So my friend was flying QF for the first time, they set up his mattress while he was in the toilet. When they were landing, they asked everyone to remove the mattress, but since he wasn't there when  they put it on, he had no idea how to remove it. He was fumbling there for a while and with no help from anyone. 

Protocol means more predictability and more consistent service and more satisfied passengers.

Regardless of the route I am flying on CX business, I know what to expect, I've never had a negative surprise, they always treat you like you are important, and if they ever forget anything, they are always apologetic, rather than be annoyed at you for asking. 

Interesting.  I've always had very good experiences on A380 and A330, but man watch out for the J crews on 747s... I've had more than enough attitude over the years from that lot (and I'm not a demanding customer by any stretch of the imagination).  I go out of my way to avoid 747s now.

Agree that domestic crews can be variable, but my experience is mostly good.

They are mostly OK to good as long as you don't need anything special or unusual. That's where they used to be so good and are now so poor, sometimes to the point of being rude in manner if not words. And if I hear one more time "Sorry but 'we' don't....." for a simple request I'll go postal. Many others have done already. Good service is respect for the paying customer....

I've never had a bad experience on QF International, but the cabin crew can be ordinary at time on domestic flights.

As a previous employee of Qantas, the difference between international cabin crews on A380 vs A330/747, is the majority of A380 cabin crew are on different employement contracts to the (more generous) ones the more senior staff members are on that crew the A330/747 aircraft

I do understand that the many of the A380 crew are employed by QF Cabin Crew UK, but I've had slightly more inconsistent service from them too. Wouldn't say that the employment contract is indicative of the service

I often get the impression that performance of the crew is dependant on how good the Customer Service Manager is at organising and motivating the crew. A disinterested CSM = poor crew service. Anyone agree?

I dunno. I've been on an A330 flight with an excellent, upbeat CSM and two rather 'meh' FAs in my section.

QF has always been inconsistent but if you really look at it a lot of airlines of any service level are. But what I like about QF over others, at least for intl routes, is that if you tell them that they missed something or didn't provide something that they should have, many of them are eager to please, they do apologise, and they try to give you more attentive service, especially upbeat CSMs (which I'm glad to say I get more of them than less). A smile doesn't hurt, especially for red-eye A330 routes where the product is "lesser" and more prone to inconsistency

I think they are paying more attention to call bells- thank goodness! Basic but important