Andriyko

If one has a customer service role it does not mean that one has to carry somebody else's bags! The attitude of some people...that is what's infuriating not that CC refuse to lift bags!

If you're my lawyer, accountant, etc.. would you be carrying my bags just because you provide a service?

It has been pointed out many times that the majority of CC have no problem with lifting a small bag for a person who cannot put it into the overhead bins themselves...but if a person if unable to do so then a small bag is all they need to carry onto the aircraft. The problem is with people who clearly know that they are too short, fragile, lazy, important to do the lifting...but still take a heavy bag onboard believing that someone will be required to help them against the warning from the ariline that they should only take something onboard if they are able to lift it...

shorthauldad

If someone has a customer service role they need to be able to say 'No' politely.

Even if I ask for something which they can't or won't give me, they still need to be able to say 'No' politely...

If they can't manage to do that then you have to question their suitability for any customer service role!

If someone was my lawyer or accountant, if they were rude to me (!) they wouldn't stay employed by me for very long, it wouldn't matter how good they were at their job.

Ever heard of the expression "the customer is always right" / "Der Kunde ist König" / whatever local version you use?

Andriyko

Where do you draw the line then between what a member of the cabin crew can and cannot be asked to do?


I think the problem starts when people ask for a service which is clearly and expressly not included into the price of a ticket (same as people asking to guest more people into lounges knowing perfectly well they can't).


Yes, being rude is absolutely out of line but I would not believe every word of a passenger who was refused assistance with a bag because a refusal itself may seem to be rude to them.

golfmad

That's an excellent point and well made.

The answer is 'common sense'. My view is that all too often the decision is taken away from the individual (who would usually come up with a common sense decision of their own) and made for them. Hence my overwhelming frustration with the 'nanny state'.

HilFly

Short or disabled people just don't need hand luggage like "normal" people, do they? A small bag is all that short or disabled people need.

Andriyko

That's not what I meant to say. Some people, unfortunately, can only take a small bag because that's all they can physically carry themselves in light of absence of personal porters.

choosethedrew

Perhaps therein lies the way ahead for BA.

HIDDY

Yes but I'm afraid using common sense nowadays can get you into trouble.

In my last job I had to abide by all sorts of new rules and regulations forced on us by Government bods via our management. One day I was taken upstairs and given a written warning for using common sense during a situation which had occurred....something I had done for years without anyone batting an eyelid.
After that scolding I carried out my job going by the book regularly reminding management that I couldn't do that favour they wanted me to do because it wasn't following proper procedure previously enforced by them.
In other words instead of allowing common sense to prevail and keeping everyone happy they ended up shooting themselves in the foot.

golfmad

+1

And on the face of it, post #1 in this thread offers a classic example of just that.

hrnt

Or perhaps here lies the way ahead for SQ

I guess boils down to which the customers prefer: assistance when lifting the bags, or higher carry-on limits.

CityFlyer99

You completely miss my point; I have a problem with the attitude the OP witnessed, and I have a problem with the current policy and its consequences.

And yes, for clarity, the customer is always right. Sufficient noise about any policy indicates someone should be thinking about a rewrite / change.

Littlegirl

No one needs all this hand baggage in the cabin, they just take it on because it saves them a bit of time and because most of them realise that they, themselves have to lift the bags.

If you were boarding an aircraft at some outstations and you could see what people try and bring on, you would be shocked. Some of the wheelies that we turn away at the door and have to get tagged are the size of a very large suitcase and would not even fit into the overhead bins. People just push the boundaries to the limit.

As I have said before I have had a woman ask me, a smaller person than her, to stow her bag and it was so heavy I could not even lift it off the floor to gage the weight.

8420PR

Common sense is that if you cannot lift YOUR bag into the overhead locker or stow it under the seat in front then check it in!

If you are disabled then you will be provided help. If you are just short, have a bad back or injured arm etc, then you may like to think about that when packing your bags

It is called taking a bit of personal responsibility!!

HIDDY

Of course what we don't know is who is to blame?

Legislation,management or the union? Probably a bit of all three plus the customer I imagine.

LTN Phobia

Indeed. I put up with taking just a very small bag on board for a while when I injured my shoulder and I couldn't lift one of my arms above my shoulder. You often end up having to adjust the way you do things so that it's still within your own capability, so you do so and come up with a workaround.