Hi everyone! Long-time lurker finally seeking your inputs regarding your thoughts on a terrible experience I had at JFK with the ground staff.

I've historically had pretty poor experiences with the contracted ground handling agents at JFK, but this took the cake. Flying JFK-SIN on SQ25 in J, paid ticket, and as PPS. In short, I arrived late for check-in, and managed to get on the flight, but the check-in staff insisted I check my (overweight, but size-compliant) hand-carry there and did not allow me to gate-check it, threatening to offload me from the flight if I did not check the bag at the check-in desk.

I felt threatening to offload a passenger for something within my rights was really crossing the line, but I'm curious about your thoughts - am I overreacting?

Good pro-active outreach on-scene from the station manager when I asked the IFS for the staff's name, but I wrote in to SQ feedback anyhow. I'm usually content with a nice reply, but given this really crossed the line (in my opinion), I'm not keen on closing this matter without some offer of compensation. Any thoughts and benchmarks you guys have from your experience? I've had 3k miles offered easily for issues with the online booking system, and USD 150 in travel vouchers for a delayed bag.

Am reproducing my complaint letter, and SQ's response below:

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Dear Sir / Madam,

I am writing to relay my extreme disappointment with one of your ground staff at JFK, [FM], whose treatment of me left me affronted, insulted, and provided by far the worst experience I have ever had with Singapore Airlines. I was travelling on SQ25, departing JFK on Saturday, September 20, in Business Class.

Upon checking in, I was asked to have my carry-on bag weighed. At 14kg, this was above the 7kg limit, and I acknowledged that this would not be permitted on board the aircraft. However, I requested that I be allowed to gate-check the bag due to important medication and valuables being in it. In response, [FM] insisted that I could not do this, refused to provide an explanation why despite me asking, and then explicitly threatened to offload me from the flight if I did not agree to check in the bag at that moment. His specific words included "do you want to fly or do you want to keep your bag?", "If you don't check this bag I am going to offload you", and subsequently "I am offloading you now" when I paused before acceding. Furthermore, when I asked to speak with the station manager, he refused, claiming that he was the only manager.

Faced with this threat, I conceded. However, my understanding - confirmed by my subsequent chat with your JFK station manager *** - was that there are no SQ, FAA, or airport regulations forbidding me from taking an overweight carry-on sized bag airside; the only restriction is that I may not carry it on board the aircraft.

While I accept that there are valid reasons for encouraging me to check my bag at that point, I find this entire interaction wholly unacceptable, and am taking issue with the following:

1. I was blatantly lied to, when I was told by [FM] that I could not take my carry-on into the passenger area and subsequently have it gate-checked

2. I was threatened with being offloaded without cause, no small matter, especially when wholly unwarranted

3. I was again blatantly lied to when he claimed he was the only manager, when I requested to speak with the station manager - I was not told she was unavailable or busy, but rather that there was no other manager

4. [FM]'s demeanour and words were rude, callous, dismissive, insulting, and completely unbecoming of a representative of the airline

5. My bag, once checked, was not tagged as priority baggage - this appears to me to be maliciousness at worst and incompetence at best

That said, I must commend *** for responding very quickly upon learning that I was dissatisfied with the ground staff, proactively coming on board to understand the situation and assuring me that she would look into this, and promptly following up on the situation via email, which stands in stark contrast to [FM]'s handling of the issue.

Nonetheless, words cannot do justice to how upset, insulted, and angry this situation has made me. I hope that you would look into this matter, take the necessary action, and get back to me. Given the extreme nature of the situation, I must also request that you kindly consider how this can be put right.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

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Dear Mr ***

Thank you for your patience while we looked into the concerns you brought to our attention regarding your check-in experience in New York for SQ25 on 20 September 2014, bound for Singapore.

Firstly, I am very sorry for my delayed response to you, Mr ***. This is an oversight on my part for which I hope you would accept my apology. We have investigated your experience thoroughly with our New York team and would like to share the findings with you.

Secondly, we apologise for the manner in which our check-in staff spoke with you about your cabin baggage.

Our records show you arrived for check-in after the check-in counters had closed for SQ25. As your cabin bag weighed more than the usual allowed limit, our check-in staff was concerned there could have been a possibility the local airport authorities may not allow your bag through. We did not wish to risk this as then the chances of loading your bag onto our flight would have been slim given the limited time and the containers for all baggage may have been closed. An operational decision was made to ensure your bag was loaded onto the flight with you and to avoid any delay to you or to the flight.

We appreciate you may not agree with this, though we seek your understanding a decision had to be made to ensure the safety of your bag without causing any delay.

Our check-in staff should have communicated this to you clearly to remove any doubt or concern you had. We are sorry this was not the case. As frontline employees of a premium airline, our check-in staff are trained to maintain a professional and polite disposition at all times. We are concerned to note from your comments and feedback this was not the case on this occasion/.

We have asked our New York Airport Manager to take this up with the staff member concerned to prevent a recurrence. If required, our staff will be removed from serving our passengers in front and sent for re-training. We will remind all other check-in staff on the importance of offering a courteous service at all times.

Thank you for taking the time to share your observations with us and for allowing us to take corrective action, Mr ***. We will continue to strive for improvements and uphold the standards of Singapore Airlines.

We hope you were able to go on and enjoy your flight with us and we look forward to the privilege of serving you better in future.

Yours sincerely
***
Customer Affairs Manager

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