I won't touch your hand luggage, but he will...
#91
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, TK Elite, HHonors Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 7,683
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...
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...
#92
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: not far from MUC
Posts: 6,620
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!
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...
#93
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, TK Elite, HHonors Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 7,683
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.
#94
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,240
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'.
#95
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: BOS
Programs: BA Silver, Mucci
Posts: 5,289
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...
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...
#96
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, TK Elite, HHonors Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 7,683
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.
#97
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Spitalfields, London
Programs: BA Gold, KFC 'The Colonel's Club' Palladium tier, Mucci des Visions Célestes du Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Posts: 2,307
#98
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Argentina
Posts: 40,198
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.
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.
#99
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,240
#100
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: HEL
Programs: AA Plat Pro, AY Lumo, Hyatt Explorist, National Exec Elite
Posts: 152
#101
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: London
Programs: BA EC Gold, bmi DC Gold, EI GC, TK M&S Elite, Aegean M&B Silver, HHonors Gold, Junior Jet Club
Posts: 229
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...
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...
And yes, for clarity, the customer is always right. Sufficient noise about any policy indicates someone should be thinking about a rewrite / change.
#102
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: Mucci de la Cuisine Aérienne du Réseau Courte Durée de British Airways
Posts: 4,704
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.
#103
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,751
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!!
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!!
#104
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Argentina
Posts: 40,198
#105
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Battleaxe Alliance
Posts: 22,127
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.