DH, DD, DS and I were flying with Flybe today. I know it’s low cost airline but we paid €2,700 for our return tickets (short haul in Europe) so not really low cost and the way they treated us was appalling for any kind of airline. The short version is that’s I am looking for the most effective way to complain if anyone has any advice. Fuck off Daily Fail.
The long version:
The woman at the check in seemed to be in a bad mood, not too sure why. She had to come out from behind the desk to put a tag on DD’s wheelchair and she huffed and puffed about that, then tutted over DD’s walking aid (had been pre-booked with the assistance form so there was no reason for her attitude).
Then she weighed the hold luggage. One at 17.9, one at 11.7 and one at 25kg. She told us we had to pay £30 in excess luggage for the third one. I explained that the weight should be shared between the bags but she refused to accept that. I offered to show her the Flybe terms and conditions stating this but she refused.
Here they are if you are interested:
www.flybe.com/baggage/baggage-terms
I told her that Ryanair had been fined for exactly this violation and it was illegal but she said Flybe was not Ryanair.
She directed us to her supervisor in another desk but the supervisor refused to comment unless we waited in the queue to see her. There was a massive queue for the supervisor, we had already waited a very long time for check in so we decided to pay the fine.
As the third bag was being weighed I took a photo of the weight reading, just that and nothing else. At this point the woman lost it, shouted “That is it!” And went to get the supervisor. They refused us entry on the plane on the grounds that I had upset the woman when I told her she was doing something illegal.
I never shouted, nor was I rude, nor did I use swear words, nor was I threatening, and they didn’t claim that, they just said that the woman was upset from being told she was doing something illegal and therefore we couldn’t fly.
I apologized for upsetting her and she still wouldn’t let us travel until I deleted the photo, which was not of her. She said it was illegal to take photos in a secure area. Even then she had to think about whether she was willing to let us travel and she took her time to make her mind up. She was really awful.
For what it’s worth there were no signs saying photography is not allowed at check in, nor is there anything to say this at the Manchester airport website. Google suggests that even police officers do not have the right to make you delete a photo.
I want to complain not just about the baggage charge which was against their terms and conditions but also about the woman’s attitude and how she abused her position by threatening to refuse to let us travel.
Just to repeat, never during all this was I rude, or loud, or threatening in anyway and neither the woman nor the supervisor claimed that I was.