Conversely I was pretty happy with QF J/Class LAX SYD a few weeks ago. Comfortable, great inflight entertainment (no comment on the reliability, but it worked fine on our flight), good food/wine selection, friendly service oriented cabin crew.... What's to complain about??? Certainly didn't look, smell, feel, sound or taste like a barn to me, ifsknt.
Disclaimer : I do work for the mob, but have nothing but good experiences to relay from that sector. Even on the way over (B744 BNE LAX) we had a similarly good experience with the only exception being the "not horizontal flat bed" (fixed on the a380).