T***@rocketmail.com
2013-04-15 15:26:52 UTC
I travel Easyjet a lot, with hand-luggage only. At least ten times a year. They're normally quite reliable.
However, lately they have been employing this awful custom of taking people's hard hand-luggage at the point of boarding and insisting on putting it in the hold, in spite of the fact that the case fits the dimensions perfectly (with room to spare).
I find this practice absolutely abhorrent. In the old days they used to ask for volunteers, but now it's common practice. They even say that they will do it "for free" as though it is some kind of favour they are doing for *me*.
What is particularly bad is that they more often than not completely overcompensate. Just last September, for a flight to Germany, they insisted on putting the hard hand-luggage into the hold for I guess everyone on the flight. When I got to the plane, the stowage areas were almost empty (just soft bags and duty free) and there would have been plenty of room for our bag.
If I had the right to say "no" then I wouldn't mind. If I had luggage already in the hold, then I wouldn't mind. But the main reason I don't check luggage in is because I want to be out of the airport experience as soon as possible and into the smoking area outside the airport asap, so do not want to be hanging around for bags.
Yesterday, Amsterdam airport. A late flight to Stansted. I knew that the South Western train was having maintenance work and that I would need to take a tube from London Bridge, and being Sunday night I knew the tube finishes earlier. The woman insisted on putting my bag in the hold. I complained, said that otherwise I would risk missing the tube in London Bridge. I said that I had my iPad and other breakables in the case, and no alternative bag to carry it in. Plus I had no lock for the hand-luggage. She insisted, and practically said that if I didn't comply, I couldn't board. This kind of jobsworth attitude one has (sadly) come to expect from RyanAir staff, but never from Easyjet. I wish I'd taken her name down, to be honest.
Regretfully, I took out all the breakables from my bag, carried them in my hand trying not to break them, and got to my seat, only to find plenty of room in the overhead lockers.
(Actually, thinking about it, they could never be as bad as RyanAir: if they had resorted to making me put my hand luggage in the hold and I had to take items out of the case and didn't have an alternative bag to put them in, they would have said I was carrying more than one item and had a problem with that. And you think I'm joking?)
Anyway, guess what. I was late for the last tube in London Bridge by about ten minutes, and had to take a railway replacement bus, which took ages to find as there was no signposting directing one to Tooley Street, or staff who knew anything about it, so I was waiting in the nice new busstop along with about thirty other shmucks for ages.
So my question is: do I have the right, under any kind of passenger charter, to refuse point-blank to comply with these orders, assuming that I have a valid reason why I do not want to be waiting at the carrousel? And is EasyJet turning into RyanAir, little by little?
PS - the email address this is sent from does not accept incoming email, so please reply to the group!
However, lately they have been employing this awful custom of taking people's hard hand-luggage at the point of boarding and insisting on putting it in the hold, in spite of the fact that the case fits the dimensions perfectly (with room to spare).
I find this practice absolutely abhorrent. In the old days they used to ask for volunteers, but now it's common practice. They even say that they will do it "for free" as though it is some kind of favour they are doing for *me*.
What is particularly bad is that they more often than not completely overcompensate. Just last September, for a flight to Germany, they insisted on putting the hard hand-luggage into the hold for I guess everyone on the flight. When I got to the plane, the stowage areas were almost empty (just soft bags and duty free) and there would have been plenty of room for our bag.
If I had the right to say "no" then I wouldn't mind. If I had luggage already in the hold, then I wouldn't mind. But the main reason I don't check luggage in is because I want to be out of the airport experience as soon as possible and into the smoking area outside the airport asap, so do not want to be hanging around for bags.
Yesterday, Amsterdam airport. A late flight to Stansted. I knew that the South Western train was having maintenance work and that I would need to take a tube from London Bridge, and being Sunday night I knew the tube finishes earlier. The woman insisted on putting my bag in the hold. I complained, said that otherwise I would risk missing the tube in London Bridge. I said that I had my iPad and other breakables in the case, and no alternative bag to carry it in. Plus I had no lock for the hand-luggage. She insisted, and practically said that if I didn't comply, I couldn't board. This kind of jobsworth attitude one has (sadly) come to expect from RyanAir staff, but never from Easyjet. I wish I'd taken her name down, to be honest.
Regretfully, I took out all the breakables from my bag, carried them in my hand trying not to break them, and got to my seat, only to find plenty of room in the overhead lockers.
(Actually, thinking about it, they could never be as bad as RyanAir: if they had resorted to making me put my hand luggage in the hold and I had to take items out of the case and didn't have an alternative bag to put them in, they would have said I was carrying more than one item and had a problem with that. And you think I'm joking?)
Anyway, guess what. I was late for the last tube in London Bridge by about ten minutes, and had to take a railway replacement bus, which took ages to find as there was no signposting directing one to Tooley Street, or staff who knew anything about it, so I was waiting in the nice new busstop along with about thirty other shmucks for ages.
So my question is: do I have the right, under any kind of passenger charter, to refuse point-blank to comply with these orders, assuming that I have a valid reason why I do not want to be waiting at the carrousel? And is EasyJet turning into RyanAir, little by little?
PS - the email address this is sent from does not accept incoming email, so please reply to the group!