Made a friend on my last BA AMS flight. Yes, that’s a stranger helping her with her carry-on luggage. That’s 3 backpacks/large purses and one hard roll-aboard.

The reason I share this is I watched her ask the staff at the gate whether she needed to check any of the bags or if she could get assistance with them. She was told they couldn’t help her with bringing them to her seat (by mine) due to lack of extra manpower but made no mention of the excessive bags. Same on board.

I think inconsistency is more destructive than slightly lenient policies. If people know they can get away with doing this enough of the time, they feel incentivized to adopt an attitude of begging forgiveness rather than asking permission.