Heathrow, terminal 5 and BA!

If Heathrow don't get their terminal staff act together, I'll certainly write a letter. I'd hope that a few other gransnetters would too. It's ridiculous that someone who has planned everything carefully cannot be looked after with proper care and dignity at Heathrow. For shame!

The rest of us will form a disorderly queue

bags may I please nominate you to tell it like it is.

Maybe we need to talk to the newspapers too?

My bitly links have been clicked on a few times too.

I don't know how many people have seen and reacted to other Facebook and Twitter items, but in three hours the GN Edinburgh one has been seen by 160 people. If even a tenth of them take it further and share the post or Twitter it, then there could be a lot of coverage.

Wonder if GNHQ could invite their comments?

I am speechless - but very glad that others have been able to translate their disgust into tweets etc and hope that somebody wakes up to this thoughtless, sadistic even, shambles.

Oh, and I've just made my second tweet in four years!

That is one of the most disgraceful accounts of mistreatment that I've ever read. Heathrow should be ashamed of themselves. And, as ever, it's a question of blame the outsourced agency instead of taking the responsibility which is theirs. Have they ever bothered to read the Equalities Act?

No, you are not being unreasonable. Heathrow need to make sure the contractors who work there are up to the job before giving them the contract, if that's how it works.

Meanwhile, it would be a good idea if someone representing Heathrow 'management' registered with Gransnet and talked to us directly on this thread.

The return

Athens check in. Young girl who doesn't understand about batteries! Eventually her supervisor was called and grudgingly allowed me to take them on board, she then tried to charge me extra for disabled equipment. Supervisor agreed it went free. I was first in the queue and it took 45mins yo get through.

Heathrow.
We landed at 4.20pm and was swiftly disembarked into a wheelchair and then decanted into a buggy along with other disabled people. We sat in that buggy for over half an hour before we were taken to luggage retrieval.

I needed a porter. Guess what? No porters! After an hour with me in tears and seriously losing the plot. I was demanding to see who was in charge. No response. Eventually two management types wheeled me and my baggage to my taxi. 6.20pm we left the car park.

I was told they can do nothing about the porters as they are a private company!

Am I being unreasonable?

bags I only tweet once a year, but perhaps this will get me on there more often!

Found it, and I've added a comment.

Heathrow beware ! several thousand Grannies on the warpath. Upset one and you get all our backs up

Heathrow have replied to bags's tweet, with a link to their feedback page.
www.heathrowairport.com/help/contact-us/feedback

And mine, and on the Gransnet Edinburgh one too (I am no longer the editor, but I seem to still have access, so I have added it)

Posted on my Facebook page too.

Another complaint sent to @HeathrowAirport on Twitter re this thread

Glass yes please! I don't tweet! I only witter!

Galen "You and yours" Radio 4 might be a very good place to start. They do regular pieces about Airport and other travel issues for people with varying types of disabilities.

galen do you want us all to tweet for you?

They use the excuse that the porters are a private company. I replied that as they engaged them they are responsible!

Galen - last year I also had a bad experience at Heathrow Terminal 5. We flew BA and they were fine; the Terminal Staff on the other hand were not. I have to have assistance at airports as I cannot manage the distances so we always request a wheelchair - this normally works well. However Terminal 5 was a disaster - total disregard for disabled passengers (I was not the only person affected). We wrote to BA afterwards to complain and BA passed on the complaint to the company who employ the terminal staff. A month later I hadn't even had an acknowledgement of my complaint; I wrote to BA again and they said they would chase it up - never heard a thing from that day to this!

It really is a scandal; normally at airports my treatment is very good (particularly in the US), and I am ashamed that my country can't do as well at their main airport.

Needless to say we won't be going away via Heathrow any time soon.

They sometmes sit up and take more notice if it hurts them financially as well. Sorry you had a rotten time .