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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be offended to be offered fish as a veggie?

127 replies

birdladyfromhomealone · 01/02/2019 12:47

Just want an opinion if I should complain or not?
I ordered a veggie meal on a plane and they told me they didn't have one for me.
Showed them my confirmation which said Asia Vegetarian on my booking.
They blamed my travel agent and just shrugged, not their fault , nothing they can do.
I was offered fish or chicken instead.
This was a 10 hour flight!!
I ate bread rolls and cheese.
WWYD complain or not.?

OP posts:
Boysandbuses · 01/02/2019 13:42

Firstly, I worked in the food industry for years. so many people describe themselves as vegetarian and then mention they eat fish. Bet this happens on planes too.

Its ridiculous to be offended. I cant eat certain foods, someone offering me them does not offend me.

I did say to the purser how would he feel to have no food for 10 hours. He just shrugged.

You did have food. You had a cheese sandwich and a scone in 10 hours. Not a huge amount of food, but you did eat. whilst I am sure you may have been a bit peckish, you weren't starving. and if you were that hungry or not eaten for a while before the flight and you think an infligh meal would have filled you then you are bonkers. Inflight meals are never huge.

I get the impression that you not only complained about them not having your meal (which is fair enough) but you have then embellished it and exaggerated in the hope of getting some extra compo. The use of the word 'offended' and saying you were left starving for 10 hours, is a huge tip off that you are seeking further money.

Its shit they didn't have your meal. But get over it.

UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername · 01/02/2019 13:43

who expected me just to eat whatever they deigned to make available. And who, knowing that what they were offering was unsuitable, made no effort to try and help.
But they can't magically produce food that isn't there. Or nip out to the shop for an alternative.

Hanumantelpiece · 01/02/2019 13:43

Are you allowed to take food onto a flight? I've not flown for years but last time I did, you weren't allowed to take anthing on. (May have been the specific airline).
I don't think you should need to take extras if you've ordered a meal and not been advised in advance that they cannot cater for you.

SummerStrong · 01/02/2019 13:45

Annoyed = yes

Offended = no

You definitely should make a complaint though.

DobbyTheHouseElk · 01/02/2019 13:45

This brings back awful memories of a 26 hr flight. They’d mistakenly ordered RAW vegetarian not vegetarian food for me. For 26 hrs.

Raw Broccoli and Raw peppers. That’s all. I was so faint. No way did it compare to any airline meal I’ve ever seen before.

Original poster
birdladyfromhomealone · 01/02/2019 13:50

Boysandbuses
Can you highlight please where I said I was starving?
Thanks for the opinions its not a great big deal BUT I wanted to know if I should complain or not.
I think I will eat a big meal in future before boarding, just in case but I left India in the early flights out of the morning so "lunch" was the first meal served on board.
Arrived at Heathrow at 7.00pm and went straight to a cafe and had a lovely pizza.

OP posts:
Boysandbuses · 01/02/2019 13:51

Are you allowed to take food onto a flight? I've not flown for years but last time I did, you weren't allowed to take anthing on. (May have been the specific airline).

I have never flown with an airline that says no food, even cheap ones. There are rules on taking fresh food into countries, but you can simply dump before customs. I have never known an airline say no food.Not saying it didn't happen, just that the majority do allow it.

Boysandbuses · 01/02/2019 13:53

Can you highlight please where I said I was starving?

Right at the bit you said that you complained that you had been left with no food for 10 hours. if you werent starving and did have food......what was your point in saying that to anyone?

OutPinked · 01/02/2019 13:53

I would mostly complain because they didn’t exactly go out of their way to find any alternatives they possibly could and they weren’t very kind or thoughtful about the situation.

Some faux veggies eat fish and tell everyone they are vegetarian when they mean to say pescatarian and that's where confusion arises.

Racecardriver · 01/02/2019 13:57

@pigsdofly most cheese is vegetarian. You are thinking of cheeses like Parmesan which contain animal rennet. They are the exception not the rule

AGHHHH · 01/02/2019 13:58

It was a mistake. Absolutely no need to get offended.

Be annoyed, yes.

EyesUnderARock · 01/02/2019 13:58

I’ve been vegetarian for over 40 years, I always go for the Marie Antoinette solution. Yes, I’d complain whilst unpacking my usual supplies.

TheBitterBoy · 01/02/2019 14:01

This happened to me on American Airlines. I'd booked a veggie meal, but in between booking and travelling they changed their range of dietary options meaning there was now one option for all dietary requirements, so if you booked a veggie meal you would get a non meat option that was also suitable for vegans, kosher and halal requirements. Fine you would think, but when they changed this, their system reset everyone's choices to default, so I got on the plane (on my honeymoon!) to find there was no food for me. Two of the flight attendants were awful, they said straight to my face that it was my fault for not confirming my meal at the check-in desk! I'd never flown before so I didn't know you had to do that. Reduced me to tears. Anyway, another staff member took pity on me and once first class had all eaten she brought me a spare veggie meal from their section (they get to choose on board, so usually spares but not guaranteed).
So yes you should definitely be upset/annoyed and complain. But offended is an odd choice of words.

HelloDarlin · 01/02/2019 14:03

Vegetarians don’t eat fish.

Mum is veggie & always brings her own food. Sometimes they take her apples / bananas, depends on the airport security / rules. She always carries oatcakes in her bag.
She never orders the veggie meal, as it’s always a lump of stodgy pasta. She gets the regular meal & plonks the meat onto Dad’s plate. If it’s a curry, then she just had the rice...
I’m 90%, so I never use the v word. Most of my 10% is fish. I’ll eat meat, sometimes, if I’m served it in somebody’s home etc...

It is annoying that you ordered & didn’t get it though. Do complain as it did disrupt your travel experience.

HelloDarlin · 01/02/2019 14:06

Most cheeses are not vegetarian.

Processed supermarket cheeses are in more cases than real cheese.

Pythonesque · 01/02/2019 14:08

Worrying whether I'll get food is probably at the top of my list whenever I fly. I'm gluten-intolerant and, while I could carry food for a 10 hour flight, if I'm travelling UK to Australia to visit familiy, I would really prefer at least one hot meal! I agree that people with less common allergies are really stuck as you can really only choose from a few options nowadays. You can't even choose combined gluten and dairy free (which is what I ought to stick to, and my mother and sister have to) - usually you are told the gluten free meals are made dairy free anyway, but that tends to vary with airports so it depends what route you're flying.

In our experience travelling with special meal requests, it is very rare to get through a 2-leg flight without some of the meals going wrong.

PlantsArePeopleToo · 01/02/2019 14:13

The majority of cheese is vegetarian friendly. At least in the UK it is.

Nesssie · 01/02/2019 14:14

That's why I started being non-veggie on holiday. It's too much hassle in lots of places, not worth getting worked up about.
Hmm

PlantsArePeopleToo · 01/02/2019 14:17

I have no idea why people are getting so het up about the cheese thing tbh. The majority of cheese is perfectly fine for vegetarians so I am not sure why people are assuming the cheese the OP ate wasn't.

I get there are problems with the dairy industry and it can be argued that it is hypocritical to be veggie for ethical reasons instead of vegan. But the OP isn't vegan she is vegetarian and fish isn't vegetarian where as cheese is.

RiverTam · 01/02/2019 14:19

most British cheese is veggie, lots of continental cheese isn't. I must say I would assume the cheese in a cheese roll was probably cheddar and thus fine.

ThinkAboutItTomorrow · 01/02/2019 14:21

Not on your scale but I was shocked flying BA business class that the sandwiches were all meat based. Lunch was fine but afternoon tea had no veggie option.
The flight cost nearly £4K and it was just sorry, nothing vegetarian.

MaMaMaMySharona · 01/02/2019 14:26

Personally I'd have eaten around it Confused
Do people actually think you can pick the meat/fish out of a meal if you don't eat meat/fish? Seriously?!

ClaraMatilda · 01/02/2019 14:31

As a vegetarian, I wouldn't be offended by 'sorry, we have no vegetarian meals, would you like fish?' although I definitely wouldn't take it - but I would be offended by being given a so-called vegetarian meal and discovering it was fish.

That there are some very confused people who describe themselves as vegetarians and yet eat fish/chicken/whatever, regularly or on rare occasions, doesn't change the meaning of the word. If a meal contains fish it isn't a vegetarian meal.

Elfinablender · 01/02/2019 14:35

I'd complain because you didn't get the food you ordered and the customer service was shite.

I'd keep offended out of it though.

Fatasfook · 01/02/2019 14:37

Yes you are being unreasonable to be offended but reasonable to be slightly inconvenienced

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