LHR wheelchair assistance shambles (again)

Old Dec 28, 2017, 9:50 am
  #16  
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Originally Posted by irmster
I paid for my tickets through BA. I flew BA. I made the assistance request with BA not with Heathrow. BA have at
least a duty of care to ensure this request is met, not to say 'not my fault mate blame HAL' as you are clearly doing. You are just showing again that BA and some of their staff really don't give a toss. Can I not help you would be more appropriate.

(If the assistance request was made separately to the airport by the customer and confirmed directly by the airport back to the customer, then obviously things would be different).
You obviously dont know me as I would love to blame BA if I felt that it was their fault.
I wouldnt be here answering your questions if I didnt care.
I am sorry that your mother wasnt given the service that she needed and I am just explaining the process and where your complaint should be directed.
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 9:55 am
  #17  
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Originally Posted by irmster
I was in 1D and my mother in 1C - when the guy came up the steps, the only conversation that happened was that the person meeting the flight said there were not enough coaches to have a club only one and to only let 45 people down for the first one, With that he went back down the stairs again. There was no conversation about anything else - I am 100% sure of this as I was right there. It was not just my mother who had booked assistance as others were waiting when we tried to call from the non answering phone in the terminal building.
Thats unusual as our SOP is to tell the person meeting the flight if there are any customers requiring assistance if not we say no specials, did you hear either of these two?


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Old Dec 28, 2017, 10:00 am
  #18  
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If you arrived on yesterday’s 491 I can see that there were 6 customers who required assistance?
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 10:03 am
  #19  
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Yes, the request does indeed need to be made via BA, you can't book it directly with Omniserv. However I would be fairly certain - particularly at this time of year - that the information was duly communicated to Omniserv but they didn't have sufficient staff to meet the workload. The communication process is what it is, and had the OP arrived on any other airline into LHR it iwould be the same procedure and quite possibly the same outcome with them. Omniserv do not have many friends within the airline staff based at LHR (though it's perhaps not as rock bottom as it was a year or so back) and BA staff in particular have found it difficult to get Omniserv to meet the requests made of it. Omniserv is contracted by HAL to provide the service. Service 2 is door to door and a bit more robust since (inter alia) the BA crew will have to wait until Omniserv turns up at the bus and if necessary the captain can radio in a complaint if they are late to arrive, though I'm told that doesn't make much difference. If Service 1 is selected, and there is a bus involved, then BA have no clue what has gone on after the passenger has left the aircraft.
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 10:08 am
  #20  
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Originally Posted by Can I help you

Thats unusual as our SOP is to tell the person meeting the flight if there are any customers requiring assistance if not we say no specials, did you hear either of these two?

No - and I was really right there by the door. There was a lady who was in a worse state than my mother.
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 10:12 am
  #21  
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I’m still not sure you would have heard what was said as we speak to the person on the steps as we open the door so they would have their back to you, I can see that 6 wheelchairs were requested in our system for the 481?
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 10:13 am
  #22  
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Originally Posted by Can I help you
You obviously dont know me as I would love to blame BA if I felt that it was their fault.
I wouldnt be here answering your questions if I didnt care.
I am sorry that your mother wasnt given the service that she needed and I am just explaining the process and where your complaint should be directed.
OK fair enough. Sorry if I was a bit harsh - but that 'tell me what BA did wrong' post made me quite angry. As I said before, regardless of who is responsible for the service, my only interaction in booking it was through BA - and the service was not provided.
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 10:15 am
  #23  
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OmniServ or OmniShambles as they have often been referred to, provide the WheelChair service at LHR if I'm not mistaken.

Just to provide some context as to how far BA are from involvement, I walked into the CCR last week and there was a huge row going on.

The Reception lady, was being berated by the son of a Prem, who had ordered a wheelchair. The wheelchair hadnt turned up, and the BA staff member was frantically calling all the numbers she could find; including the Duty Manager (who came along a few minutes later). Now, if BA cannot guarantee wheelchair for one of their absolute top customers, what hope is there for the rest of us!

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Old Dec 28, 2017, 10:17 am
  #24  
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Originally Posted by Can I help you
Im still not sure you would have heard what was said as we speak to the person on the steps as we open the door so they would have their back to you, I can see that 6 wheelchairs were requested in our system for the 481?
the 491 you mean. So of the 6 wheelchairs - zero showed up. Ultimately this may be the fault of the operator - same as the fact that the dire food may also have been the fault of the operator. However, my arrangements were all though BA. Therefore BA is responsible in my view.
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 10:18 am
  #25  
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Sorry it was just a question so that I could try and give reasons for any shortfall in service.
As has been said the wheelchair provider at LHR can be fantastic but when they are stretched it can all fall down like a pack of cards.
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 10:23 am
  #26  
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Originally Posted by irmster
the 491 you mean. So of the 6 wheelchairs - zero showed up. Ultimately this may be the fault of the operator - same as the fact that the dire food may also have been the fault of the operator. However, my arrangements were all though BA. Therefore BA is responsible in my view.
Sorry the 491, the catering standard is the responsibility of BAs as they can change caterers if they are not happy, the wheelchair service is provided by one company for the whole airport and is the responsibility on the airport operator HAL.
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 10:26 am
  #27  
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
No, under European law the provision of assistance at all airports must be provided by the airport, not the airline.
So the airport provides a service, how does an airport recover the cost of this service?
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 10:36 am
  #28  
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Originally Posted by richardwft


So the airport provides a service, how does an airport recover the cost of this service?

EU law requires an airport to provide mobility assistance to those requesting it. The law requires the cost of providing such service be spread across all users of the airport and is included in the airport tax/passenger service charge paid by the passengers of all airlines that use the airport.

I will add the the special assistance that my family has received over the years at LHR is by far the worst service. It is dreadful. I have complained so many times I’ve lost count, nothing changes apart from it getting worse.
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 10:37 am
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Every interaction I have had with special assistance in the last few years has been a nightmare! To the extent that I am now thinking taking my own wheelchair, however can anyone tell me will they bring it back to the aircraft door at the end of the flight or will I still have to depend on Omniserve to get me to baggage claim to reclaim it? This would be a S/H in ET and a L/H in F.
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Old Dec 28, 2017, 10:41 am
  #30  
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Originally Posted by richardwft
So the airport provides a service, how does an airport recover the cost of this service?
HAL pay for it from their assorted income streams. One big component of that is the Passenger Service Fee that HAL levies on all tickets departing LHR. See section 2 below.

https://www.heathrow.com/file_source...5April2014.pdf

HAL make a lot of money from the shops, which are in many cases on a revenue share scheme, I think that's about half HAL's income now.
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