Crappy wheelchair assistance at airport

[Booboostwo]

Today I was traveling with 5yo DD from Toulouse to Manchester. I have a herniated disc (waiting for op) and have trouble standing but I can walk slowly with a cane and I am OK sitting so I thought it sensible to book wheelchair assistance at the airport.

We turned up 1.5 hours before the flight, as advised, and checked in immediately at which point we were asked to sit and wait for the assistance. We were advised it would be a while which I assumed would be 10 minutes but turned out to be a 45 minute wait. Another passenger was also waiting one hour for the same flight.

When the assistant turned up he was very rude and in a huge hurry. He was very rude to another passenger who wanted to ask how long his wheelchair was going to be and then pushed me so fast DD could not keep up. When I asked him to slow down he said he was walking normally and she should just keep up! It might sound a bit OTT but I was genuinely stressed with DD behind me, so that I couldn't see her in a busy airport.

When we got to security he was, miraculously, less in a hurry and greeted all his mates with kisses and told them about the 'rude' passenger who had tried to delay him. (Spending longer telling the story than he would have spent replying to the man).

Now this was a rude guy but the delay meant we never got to stop for food (flight was at 14:30 so DD didn't get any lunch until on the plane at 15h), we didn't stop at the play area and god help us if we needed the toilet!

Is this standard and to be expected? We spent ages waiting at check in, when I complained I was told I could walk to the restaurant at the other end of the airport which kind of defeated the wheelchair purpose and that I might miss the assistance person then! So we were stuck waiting and then rushed on board.

Fairytales just stop calling my kid a brat, you are being personally unpleasant about a five year old who has nothing to do with this thread. As I explained she is far too heavy for me to have her on my knees with my herniated disc - it would be agony.

Luckless I can walk very slowly in pain, I cannot stand therefore a wheelchair seemed a sensible option. The service is open to all passengers and is self-selecting. Though I am very glad your herniated disc was less painful than mine! If there is anything herniated discs are is identical for each patient!

peachgreen I don't quite get the source of your frustration. You think some of my complaints are valid but some are not and this frustrates you? Why I am not going to be complaining to you, I'll be complaining to the airport and airline.

Fairytales you think people are patronizing towards you while claiming I can walk, my complaint is minor and I should carry my DD...pot calling kettle black is what comes to my mind.

What's frustrating is that you are continuing to tell disabled people and carers - who have FAR more experience of this than you - that we're wrong and should read the legislation etc etc. We know our stuff. We face these sorts of situations (and far, FAR worse) every day. You're not listening to any of the people in this thread who have repeatedly assured you that the airport met their obligations to you and therefore you are being unreasonable to complain about anything other than the length of time you had to wait (although 45 minutes is within the legislation) and the attitude of the person who assisted you. But instead of listening to our lived experience you've decided that your one single experience is enough to make you the expert and you can discount anyone else's view.

Like I said, if you really want to make airport experiences better for disabled people, your energies would be better spent lobbying your MEP because the airport met their obligation under EU law.

I completely understand that faced with a lifetime of this shit one would give up on complaining. I entirely respect that.

I'm a wheelchair user and if I had your experience I would probably consider it a positive one!

They airport do not have enough staff to provide a wheelchair chauffeur for everyone who require assistance, neither are they your butler.

You arrived 90 minutes before your flight and still wanted to shop/play/eat in that time then be escorted to the plane.

I always arrive at the airport 3 hours before a flight as I know there are often delays to be encountered in obtaining assistance (even when pre arranged)

Generally they will throw you in a wheelchair and take you to a waiting area, where you will be collected from as your gate is called. No frills, just a simple a-b transfer.

Try sitting on a plane when the cleaners arrive because your wheelchair hasn't arrived

Abandoned airside with no assistance on many occasions

My Nan was once almost taken to the wrong plane which was a highlight of her flying assist experiences.

Oh and the time when they tried to take the wheelchair my grandad was using to get someone else - it was his own chair!

What's frustrating is that you are continuing to tell disabled people and carers - who have FAR more experience of this than you - that we're wrong and should read the legislation etc etc.

THIS

and then calling people who don't agreewith you disablist
But goodluck with your complaint

Though I am very glad your herniated disc was less painful than mine! If there is anything herniated discs are is identical for each patient!

It does sound identical actually, in that both of us can walk with pain and neither of us uses a wheelchair in our daily lives. The difference between us is you think you're entitled to have, for free, someone to be at your beck and call for 90 minutes in an airport, and I don't.

Has it occurred to you that while you were playing at being a wheelchair user for a day, people who actually cannot walk had to wait longer for the service they needed to get on the plane? How does that fit in with your self-righteous disability campaign?

Though I am very glad your herniated disc was less painful than mine! If there is anything herniated discs are is identical for each patient!

Being brutally honest, OP, everyone I know with badly herniated discs and therefore cauda equina, has been rushed in for emergency surgery
That you've been told to wait a long time for your op, and are still able to fly suggests it isn't anything serious and nothing that will cause lasting damage

But tell us again how you know all about being disabled...

4 herniated discs here (ooh, it's like bingo- can I call house? ) as well as other things and several ops later -still massive problems. I had to 'book' wheelchair help to meeting both ends when I flew alone from Bristol to Glasgow a while back. I got to Glasgow, was helped off he flight and to the lounge- about an hour later I was still there, having seen no-one else for ages and ages and the lights went out-they had genuinely forgotten about me so I had to phone the airport! I just sat twiddling my thumbs, convinced someone was in their way! I didn't even make a complaint, just said thanks, meekly!

Grr, to meet me both ends!

I have flown from Heathrow to Christchurch via Singapore.
Heathrow via Dubai and the Dubai and Sydney on the way back.
I have arthritis witch mean i swell up ad get stiff on the flights and struggle to walk long distances.
First flight I was going to have assistance but then decided against it as the take you straight to the gate you then look silly getting out of the chair to walk and stretch your legs. We took it slowly. By Singapore halfway through our stop over i just heat a brick wall couldn't walk another step so my husband pushed me, Kids sort luggage. I had help getting through Christchurch as by this point we had realised you get fast tracked through the airport and kids and husband we also tired.

Trip back to uk was ok but coming back to chch I got through security and it was all to much. There they put you all on a electric cart thing. and take you through the airport. At sidney I managed until they changed the gate on us husband wet to talk to staff and said we would prob miss the flight if they didnt help. He had looked for a chair but couldnt find one. They were great.

I think you were expecting a bit to much. A lot of people that need assistance are old and would stress if they couldn't sit by the gate for at least a hr. Maybe they need mobility carts like at the shops or regular shuttles that you can board. I think at heathrow the last bit they had a shuttle that kept going up and down looking for passages for flights that had just been called which was a great help for us as he saw how i was walking and picked us up.

A hour and half before your flights when they board half a hour or earlier before a flight is due to leave is not really enough time to get food.

Options for your flight back get to the airport as soon as possible so you check in as soon as it opens and make your own slow way through the airport. then have help at the other end.

To the PP who said that Irish airports don't care for H&S - I really can't let that go - I'm familiar with the wheelchair service at Dublin Airport and they provide a professional courteous service. I've never seen any lack of awareness re H&S.

I would never expect the staff member to either hang around or to come back for me, if I was to stop to eat or allow a child to play. Wheelchair services are always in great demand and I would feel selfish causing a delay for those reasons.

Re the comment about Irish airports being overly helpful, what does that even mean?

I am genuinely staggered at so many people taking the side of the airports. These are profit generating entities producing millions of pounds

Sadly I'm not staggered. People are supine, apathetic and many vote for the Conservatives and UKIP.

graciestockfield I'm a left-wing bleeding heart liberal who actively campaigns for greater disability rights, but there are far bigger problems to be tackled than trying to get an airport to take a person - who let's remember, does not use a wheelchair in daily life - to a kids' play area at an airport. The airport provided the service outlined by the EU regulations. Complaining will do nothing. Lobbying your MEP is better, but until we have sorted the absolute BASICS, ensuring disabled people have access to a good standard of living and the respect they are entitled to - little quibbles about being able to shop in duty free are just a waste of energy.

Look it's not disability top trumps people. It's not really our place to diagnose the severity of the OP's back problem.

Ha ha at lobbying your mp.

Last time I wrote to mine about disability issues he wrote back to say that I should think myself lucky because in Korea they execute disabled people.

No, really, he actually did. I'm thinking about sending it to private eye it's so hilarious.

Tinkllylittlelaugh I agree and OP was definitely entitled to use the service. I think people just are frustrated that she's talking down to disabled people and carers in this thread who do know a lot more about this stuff and the relevant legislation than she does.

I 'd have that MP's arse on Twitter SuperDandy. Name and shame the fucker.

Much like yourself op I am not disabled, however I do have some experience of disability as I have a disabled child and disabled mother (mum registered blind, unstable fractured spine and several herniated discs in her spine, which can't even be operated on as they are too unstable / too close to her brain stem, as well as several other conditions, dd has ASD, SPD, hyper mobility which means she can't walk far) and while I get where you're coming from your attitude isn't great tbh, you're not disabled, and there are pages after pages on here of people who are disabled who you are offending, they can't all be wrong while you are right having used airport assistance once.

You've made one journey through an airport using assistance, and are pissed off that your dd didn't get to use the play area and you didn't get food.
Mobility issues aside you didn't plan your time well enough imo.

If I am going to the airport and I want to get through check in, customs, shop in duty free, visit the toilet, eat a meal and allow my child to play in the play area, I would certainly allow myself more time than 1 1/2 hours, how did you honestly expect to do all of that in such a short time especially when the airlines usually start boarding about 30minutes before a flight?

I am lucky enough not to have mobility problems and would need at least 2 1/2 hours if I wanted to do all of this and I don't have to wait around for airport assistance.
I think you were always going to be disappointed as you were expecting too much in too short a period of time.
If you had gotten there earlier you could have possibly (albeit slowly) mobilised to the nearest cafe yourself once you were at the gate as usually there is at least a cafe per couple of gates.
Did you ask to use the toilet or did you just assume he was staying with you until you boarded?
Did you ask the guy to leave you at the cafe closest to your gate?

I think when you go back you need to be as prepared as possible, take snacks and toys, magazines for your dd to play with while you're waiting.
If you live in Toulouse anyway you probably won't get better prices in duty free than you will get in your local town anyway so you're not missing out on much there.
If you are able to use the bathroom on the plane before you disembark and get your daughter to as well in case you're in for another long wait.

Yes, in a perfect world you shouldn't have to do these things but it's not a perfect world so it's better to be prepared for situations than to struggle through them.

In an ideal world you, had you allowed more time you should have been able to do everything you wanted in the airport, but unfortunately it's not a perfect world.
The airport is there for profit, nothing more, the airports are there to bring money into the local economy, they are always going to run with minimal staff putting profits ahead of people, unfortunately that's the way of the world. It is wrong but I also can't see it changing anytime soon as no one is going to boycot airports and holidays until they put better services in place.
It's completely wrong that services for so disabled people are so sparse and varied but until legislation is more prescriptive airports will get away with the minimum service provision they can, and the downside of this means disabled people are left in the situation where they have to share the limited services there are.
You're completely right they should be better, there should be enough helpers to go round but there aren't.

Surely you can see how by insisting someone stays with you for your duration of time in the airport, you're depriving another person, of that service.
It's all very well to keep saying well you should both get that service, that's not how it works, it just means one person will get good treatment one person will get substandard treatment and I think the fact you can't see that is getting people's backs up.

I mean this with full respect but you aren't disabled, hopefully you will have your surgery and recovery and be back on your feet again with your experience a thing of the past, you're not going to campaign for better services for the rest of your life, or lobby MP's so while you're currently in a situation where you're not able bodied then you need to think about how your use of services will have a knock on effect on others, expecting someone to hang around with you at ab airport will deprive someone else of airport assistance.

My mum won't use assistance at the airport as she always thinks there are more needy people than her, she thinks because she can physically walk albeit in a great deal of pain, the services should be left for those who need it more, which means that whoever is with her has to get her through the airport, my mums best friend is also blind and again she won't use the service as she doesn't want to deprive others of it. I'm not implying for one second you should struggle in pain, pain is very specific to the person experiencing it and people have different pain thresholds but I think it's a bit grating that people with disabilities will sometimes refuse services they're entitled to as they believe there are people in greater need (when there should be services for all) but you're offended you didn't get a 'day out' at the airport.
Before you say there are laws in place/ legislation/ everyone should be entitled to help if they need it, that's just not how it works.

I wish you well on your journey home and with yours and your daughters treatments.

SuperDandy
You should definitely name and shame that's awful

OP you are temporarily disabled. Sadly if you used a wheelchair all the time, this would be a normal experience. And your complaints would be for the much worse treatment.

Booboos - I'm not saying your daughter IS a brat, I'm saying bless her with her condition, with a DM who from one slightly unsatisfactory experience, which was poorly timed to include all that you wanted, you're breaking out DDA legislation and all sorts. Ok by all means educate your DD on how she should expect to be treated the same as others, in some situations, when you're using a free service, it's not all roses and champagne. Don't bring her up to think like the world owes her something, as she'll be disappointed.

Please tell me, with your daughter having this bone condition, without booking her in as needing services too, did you not anticipate the walk would make things difficult/painful at all? I don't think 4 stone is that heavy, how will having her on your knee affect your back? I'm genuinely intrigued as my pain and condition is global, my children sitting on my knee has never caused issues.

You're using me as an example as I used the word brat in context, not labelling her as one, just saying if you bring her up to think she's owed something in life for nothing, it goes without saying. Also because I made the suggestion your circa 4 stone daughter sit on your knees to make the journey easier.

In B'ham the guys there go quick, they have a JOB to DO, KPI's to MEET, if they DELAY in getting a passenger to the GATE so they can shop & dine, if the FLIGHT is DELAYED it COSTS the AIRPORT MONEY!

To the Irish person...

In the U.K. And other countries, they secure you in the ambulift, bolting you to the floor in effect. In Dublin I just had to put my brakes on and that was it. The same in Kerry too. That's my experience. I've flown to Dublin a few times, they're good at receiving you from the plane & taking you to the exit, flying back they had quite a wait, quite a long wait. I made the mistake of thinking how long can it be. The corridors seem to go on for miles. The staff do seem really nice and helpful.

My advice, flying whilst impaired with a daughter who also has difficulties. You need to plan your time effectively. My memory isn't spot on, but when travelling from the UK, they advocate you arrive pretty much as check in opens.

Let's factor in a wait of 45 minutes to 60 minutes which is pretty much what I've experienced. Or you travel with someone who can assist you so you negate that.

So let's say 30 minutes to get through passport control & security.

Let's say 30 minutes to order and eat a meal, plus 15 minutes in a play area. Or negate the meal by eating before coming to the airport, or taking snacks to substitute. So you can scrub out the 30 minutes ordering food & having to eat nearby.

You NEED to be at the gate at least 30 minutes prior to departure.

Work out all of this on a piece of paper. From your experience, plus Ryan Air and their amazing prices, consider taking a relative with you to help. Makes life easier if DD needs the lavatory on the plane, or before boarding.

Again I wish you all the best for a speedy recovery, plus treatment for your DD so she is comfortable and mobile as can be. Obviously you won't focus on this bit though, but I hope everything is rectified ASAP for you.

Its really out of order to question the oPs back pain. I have back issues and cannot have my DD on my knee for a length of time.