Heathrow, terminal 5 and BA!

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

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

Found it, and I've added a comment.

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

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?

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.

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?

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

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.

Wonder if GNHQ could invite their comments?

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.

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

Maybe we need to talk to the newspapers too?

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

The rest of us will form a disorderly queue

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!

Thanks Bags I think I've done it right. It seemed to go ok! I did two, one for going and one for coming.
I DO meticulously plan everything as it is the only way I can manage travelling solo! however this has put me off flying in future.
Unless I take up long distance swimming, I'm going to be confined to cruises from Southampton from now on. (Not quite sure how I'd manage all my evening dresses and pearls swimming though)

Good. Now we'll sit back and wait for a proper apology and some compensation for your distress. Over to you, Terminal 5....

Galen What an exhausting experience, it must have spoilt your whole holiday. I hope you are starting to feel better now.
Sadly I don't think that it is just Heathrow Airport.
A good friend had a similar experience accompanying his wife who is now completely wheelchair bound, from Gatwick. They were so humiliated by being blamed in front the rest passengers for holding up the plane, when it was BA's fault that they weren't there on time, that she was in tears and they have never flown BA again.
On our last trip with Easy Jet, long story but conditions for disabled passengers were so bad that Dh and I waited for a supervisor to come from the other terminal so that we could complain there and then. He was extremely sympathetic and asked us to complain in writing as well because the airlines would not employ more and better assistance staff unless more people complained.

The two places where I have had trouble have been Heathrow and Sharm el Sheikh. Tbh, Heathrow were all right when we were going out to the States, just appalling when we came back. An (even more) elderly gentleman and I got off the transatlantic flight almost at the last; I was first and they had my wheelchair waiting - nothing for the elderly chap who said he had arranged one. "It's not far", said the porter, and the elderly chap was persuaded to walk to the next place - it was a long way, though and I felt dreadful that I was in the wheelchair, but I knew that I couldn't manage it either. We were put in a sort of holding area (lots of staff, standing around, gossiping) and eventually someone came and asked both of us (strangely we were both going on to Newcastle) if we could walk through security - err, no, that's why we ordered a wheelchair. We both refused to be intimidated and eventually two wheelchairs turned up.

Again when we arrived at Sharm everything was fine, and all was ok until we were at the gate to come home. There must have been at least six of us in wheelchairs, of various ages and disabilities. There was a special vehicle to take everyone to the plane (with a platform which could be raised to get people actually onto the plane). So there we all were, with assorted helpers, and the driver went round and asked everyone for money before he would go! Then, when he did set off, I realised that the wheelchair I was in hadn't been secured and it shot across the inside of the vehicle and I hit the wall on the other side. We were flying with Thomson and they were aghast when they realised what had happened.

Every single porter I have had in the States has been lovely and helpful - last year a young man ran with me through Minneapolis Airport so that we could catch our next flight - what a hero.

Isn't there a single company that owns Heathrow and Gatwick? Ah yes - formerly known as BAA. Bet the managers did OK after being handed this on a plate from a past government. They have a near monopoly in the UK - Heathrow and Gatwick included.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathrow_Airport_Holdings

I have reported my moan to GNHQ .they have replied saying they are asking for their comments on their twitter site, (I think?)

BAA is owned by a consortium led by the Spanish company Ferrovial which appears to have tentacles everywhere - worldwide.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathrow_Airport_Holdings

Well Spain is certainly not a world leader in disability issues

Since becoming disabled I have been a bit worried about travelling alone, then I visited Scotland two years ago and had a really great experience, helpful friendly staff wheelchairs awaiting me, assistance going through security, great on the planes both ways in fact on landing at Charleoi, yep, the young man insisted on pushing me to my friends car and even loading my bag into the car, and he wouldn't take the 10€ my friend offered him for his help, yep the punchline, RYANAIR,,,, I know I was probably very very lucky, the comic touch came when i got home and wanted to send a mail thanking them,praise where praise is due, and all I could find was a complaints site.!!!!!
The worst airport ever is Charles de Gaulle in Paris, awful, a friend and his Mother were caught up in the fiasco when Terminal 5 opened and are still waiting for their bags to be returned and compensation !!!!