Quote Originally Posted by mickd1961 View Post
I turned up at Menorca airport with my wife and three youngish kids about 20 years ago and as is my luck I picked the slowest of the three check in desks and got there last.

Handed over our 5 tickets and the staff started talking in Spanish instead of the fluent English used up to that point.

I was then informed there was only 4 seats left so either I stayed behind or we all did but we had no money left and there was no timescales as to what day we’d next get a flight!

We’d booked the holiday through Thompson I think it was many months before so it seemed inconceivable that we were a seat short.

The Thompson rep had disappeared on the coach back to the resort and I started to panic and was kicking off at the desk and then running around trying to find help.

I was then approached by gun wielding police and was told I’d be arrested if I didn’t shut up.

At that point a couple of fantastic young reps from another company intervened and took over at the check in on our behalf.

The reason for the missing seat?

A member of Thompson’s staff wanted to get back to the U.K. quickly and had had a ticket printed manually for them at the desk😤😤

This shows how much contempt airlines have for their customers!

In the end these reps persuaded the necessary people at the airline to put the staff member in the spare cockpit seat with the pilots ( it was pre 911 )

This messing around delayed take off so we as a family we’re treated like leper’s once we finally boarded as everyone blamed us for the late set off.

A horrible and unnecessary experience due to selfishness and the wilful neglect of a family of 5 people.

I never flew with them again.
Mate, with some exceptions, the whole industry treats its customers as a tiresome inconvenience. Whether it’s the behaviour of airlines breaking EU law in order to use other people’s money to enable their own broken businesses to limp on or Ryanair and BA cynically exploiting the situation to avoid the refunds they legally should give despite being part of cash rich groups.

The holiday firms are no better and then we have airports where you get treated like a criminal rather than a customer and get exploited every which way by being forced to buy their expensive airside products if you’re carrying hand luggage. As a frequent traveller I’d thought before all of this I was getting fed up with the treatment airports give the customers, might start seeing more of the UK in future I reckon.