brewdog11

I was sitting in the T5 Galleries F lounge a few days ago, and what I saw truly made me shake my head.

A gentleman (ahem, "gentleman") went up to the bar with a large reusable water bottle and emptied the entirety of a new JW Blue bottle into it. The bottle had just been placed out and was untapped, so he basically took the entire bottle to-go.

I'm at a loss as to how this is not theft. I've seen people take things from the lounge before, but I've never seen anything this ridiculous. In the era of cost-cutting, I worry that this could create a tragedy-of-the-commons sort of situation.

Blueboys999

That sort of thing is an all too frequent sight which has been discussed many times on here although that one looks like an particularly extreme example.

brewdog11

I did a search for a particular thread and couldn’t find it. Indeed, I found this to be extreme and wanted to share. Had I been closer, I would have said something.

Tobias-UK

There is absolutely no doubt that this was theft.

madfish

And there will be those who will try to defend such actions. For example:

BoB
He could have been sharing it with a number of friends.
He could have drunk the whole bottle in the lounge, so why does it matter if he takes it to go.
BA is a large organisation they can afford it.
The OP is wrong and didn't see it.
The OP is to blame.

Worcester

I sure about defending them but I feel sorry for someone like that. I am not sure what price my dignity but it's a hell of a lot more than the a bottle of blended whisky.

T8191

Simple, gratuitious, selfish misappropriation of a product intended for general consumption.

No doubt m'learned friend could refine that

Flame3601

Disgustingly chav'ish , no class or any form of decorum from that "thing". I would of filmed him for evidential purposes and let it play out to see what he would of done with it - off-site consumption intended for consumption at home/on the plane or drank the whole thing in the lounge to cover me from the "oh it isn't a issue as I'm drinking it here". Depending on how it all played out i would of told the staff and would of hoped he was dealt with in a stern manner.



I would have no issues , if i was manager of the lounge , to call the police and ensure his Exec club tier status was fully removed ...

FrancisA

I frequently point out in this type of thread that BA specifically encouraged, and certainly permitted, food and soft drinks to be taken from the lounges when they changed the ET catering about 10 years ago ...

... but in this case I cannot see how this is anything other than straightforward theft.

There is no way that any passenger could consume a whole bottle of JW Blue Label and be legally permitted on a plane. There is also no way that a solo passenger could drink that quantity on board without becoming inebriated.

Taking a small amount of food and drink for one's own use was certainly once permitted and if it is still allowed is far from unreasonable.

This however is way beyond what has ever been allowed and beyond what most people would find acceptable.

Unlike the OP, if I had seen that, I would have had a quiet word with the lounge manager.

brewdog11

I didn’t think to do this at the time (I didn’t know who to ask for and had to get on my flight), but this would’ve been the right thing to do in my opinion.

The man left the lounge immediately after filling his bottle, too. I didn’t know if they could track him down.

South London Bon Viveur

Awful behaviour, but the issue of lounge etiquette is indeed a tricky one. Is it acceptable to take anything out at all? I hardly ever do- though once I did sneak a mini Diet Coke- I had taken it to drink in the lounge but then saw that my flight was boarding and put in my bag. I felt a little naughty, but I had intended to drink it there and then, but then ended up leaving the lounge rather sooner than I had anticipated. Was I wrong? What if I had taken 2? Where do you draw the line? The case described by the OP is an extreme and pretty obvious case, and unacceptable. But the parameters are not always clear.

I am also one of these people that frowns on loading up a plate from a buffet to the point that food is falling off it. I prefer to put modest amounts on the plate, but to make several trips. But I know plenty of people that see no logic in this and prefer to be more efficient by piling food on plates and saving themselves extra journeys to the buffet.

jerry a. laska

See also some of these reports:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...ft-lounge.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...e-jw-blue.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...k-flounge.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...es-lounge.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...t-lounges.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...eft-maybe.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...got-video.html

Prospero

Outrageous behaviour!

Worcester

A Pax like that should avoid flying on Saudia Airlines....

UKtravelbear

Perhaps it's time BA installed some optics with a 15 second delay between each dispense of a measure.

there would be 20 * 35ml shots in a 70cl bottle so it would take well over 5 minutes to empty a full bottle.