Sweet-talking your way into the CCR - unacceptable
Dec 31, 2018, 12:30 pm
#91
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but that is not the same thing as this post is about at all.
That is you approaching Eurostar in advance and giving them an opportunity to accept or deny your application based on their needs for media coverage AND where your article will be published. If it was for publication A it might be a no but could be a Yes for magazine B.
Try doing that on the train itself after booking into standard class and it won't work (and likely stop you ever getting a freebie in future because the train manager is going to report it).
An yes I have seen people try to blag their way into first on trains in the UK and being sent back to standard class or, in return for payment being allowed to stay. A refusal leads to the British Transport Police being asked to meet the train at the next stop.
That is you approaching Eurostar in advance and giving them an opportunity to accept or deny your application based on their needs for media coverage AND where your article will be published. If it was for publication A it might be a no but could be a Yes for magazine B.
Try doing that on the train itself after booking into standard class and it won't work (and likely stop you ever getting a freebie in future because the train manager is going to report it).
An yes I have seen people try to blag their way into first on trains in the UK and being sent back to standard class or, in return for payment being allowed to stay. A refusal leads to the British Transport Police being asked to meet the train at the next stop.
Dec 31, 2018, 2:14 pm
#92
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The issue here is not per se that they were granted access to the CCR when they didn't actually qualify for it but their behaviour once they were in - playing music over phone speakers, dirty shoes on chairs etc etc
That is what really affects others when others behave badly and especially when they know they have been done a huge favour in the first place.
That is what really affects others when others behave badly and especially when they know they have been done a huge favour in the first place.
Dec 31, 2018, 2:16 pm
#93
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Dec 31, 2018, 2:40 pm
#94
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Just stay of Mt Everest, people have no business up there, and just make a mess of it anyway. As clearly shown by OP, people that are not entitled to the CCR just make a mess of it, and hence have no business there and should stay out of it. All sorted! 😋
Dec 31, 2018, 3:41 pm
#95
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The most famous quote in mountaineering history is probably that of Edmund HIllary who was the first to reach the top of Everest. When asked why he wanted to climb it, he reputedly replied, 'because it's there'. Some things are done simply for the achievement of having done them. Foolish or sensible have nothing to do with them.
Wade Davis’s book Into the Silence is a fantastic read on the motivations of those who attempted the climb as a way of exorcising the horrors experienced in WWI.
Dec 31, 2018, 6:33 pm
#96
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but that is not the same thing as this post is about at all.
That is you approaching Eurostar in advance and giving them an opportunity to accept or deny your application based on their needs for media coverage AND where your article will be published. If it was for publication A it might be a no but could be a Yes for magazine B.
Try doing that on the train itself after booking into standard class and it won't work (and likely stop you ever getting a freebie in future because the train manager is going to report it).
An yes I have seen people try to blag their way into first on trains in the UK and being sent back to standard class or, in return for payment being allowed to stay. A refusal leads to the British Transport Police being asked to meet the train at the next stop.
That is you approaching Eurostar in advance and giving them an opportunity to accept or deny your application based on their needs for media coverage AND where your article will be published. If it was for publication A it might be a no but could be a Yes for magazine B.
Try doing that on the train itself after booking into standard class and it won't work (and likely stop you ever getting a freebie in future because the train manager is going to report it).
An yes I have seen people try to blag their way into first on trains in the UK and being sent back to standard class or, in return for payment being allowed to stay. A refusal leads to the British Transport Police being asked to meet the train at the next stop.
Similarly, I’ve seen the same happen with crews of other airlines when off duty get a free upgrade to an empty J seat once the boarding door was closed! It’s all about being personable to the people that have the power, and crucially which is the crux of this thread, respectful of the environment that you have just got a freebie onto!
Dec 31, 2018, 8:45 pm
#97
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The behaviour of course is out of order but it is clear to me that the evil being mainly discussed is the method of entry which, as others have observed, is a matter for BA.
Dec 31, 2018, 9:15 pm
#98
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So I don’t know what trains you’re travelling on but as a daily commuter in first class, with a first class pass on an intercity route (I hasten to add with seniority my blagging days on the railway are behind me!) as well as being in the railway industry I can assure you that no train manager, guard or conductor would report someone to the BTP for trying to blag a free upgrade, and again dependant on the person, circumstances, and loading I have seen many people be successful in “having a cheeky word in the Train Managers ear” to get a nicer seat! And by that I mean both “joe public” and those in the industry!
Similarly, I’ve seen the same happen with crews of other airlines when off duty get a free upgrade to an empty J seat once the boarding door was closed! It’s all about being personable to the people that have the power, and crucially which is the crux of this thread, respectful of the environment that you have just got a freebie onto!
As to on a plane all the cabin crew I know - and they have told me this - refuse to upgrade anyone - absent criteria such as broken IFE - just because some one asks and is 'personable'. In fact they hate it because they know fare paying passengers will complain.
Dec 31, 2018, 9:56 pm
#99
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..the behaviour ("unbecoming") is mentioned as almost an afterthought in 1 sentence at the end of the second of 3 paragraphs. The rest of the post is solely concerned with the fact that the people concerned were allowed entry without the usually required qualification coupled with a rather unnecessary insight into the OP's views on reality show contestants.
The behaviour of course is out of order but it is clear to me that the evil being mainly discussed is the method of entry which, as others have observed, is a matter for BA.
The behaviour of course is out of order but it is clear to me that the evil being mainly discussed is the method of entry which, as others have observed, is a matter for BA.
The loud music, muddy shoes (muddy where from?) and rudeness to staff appear later as fortuitous observations confirming the OP's prejudices against blaggers.
Jan 1, 2019, 2:33 am
#100
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I have a friend of mine who worked on the Gatwick express an now works on Great Western and he regularly contacts the BTP with full approval of his employer(s) when people either refuse(d) to move out of first when they have also refused to pay. He cares not how personable the individual is he is giving the passenger the option to move or to meet the BTP.
Jan 1, 2019, 4:59 am
#101
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I have a friend of mine who worked on the Gatwick express an now works on Great Western and he regularly contacts the BTP with full approval of his employer(s) when people either refuse(d) to move out of first when they have also refused to pay. He cares not how personable the individual is he is giving the passenger the option to move or to meet the BTP.
One bloke was particularly funny... The train manager didn't get to check the tickets until after the meals and drinks run had completed in F. When he pointed out the passenger only had a standard ticket, the passenger said "Oh, sorry, I'll move back". Not a chance of that being accepted, and he was forced to upgrade to a full fare F ticket that was around a £150 upgrade. He was livid
Jan 1, 2019, 7:04 am
#102
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Isn't "blagging" almost by definition getting something that is one is not normally entitled to? And as such, one would expect that for the majority of the time, would be "blaggers" would be unsuccessful...otherwise it would be an entitlement/ unpublished benefit. Therefore numerous counter-examples of failed blagging doesn't imply that a (?gifted) minority can be successful in such endeavours.
Whilst I don't applaud the blaggers, I'm not that fast to condemn them either....and I've had my share of unentitled benefits over the years...
tb
Whilst I don't applaud the blaggers, I'm not that fast to condemn them either....and I've had my share of unentitled benefits over the years...
tb
Jan 1, 2019, 7:31 am
#103
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Exactly. OP comes across in the opening salvo simply as miffed at the good fortune of the blaggers. Fair enough: I'm sure the Germans have a word for that emotion.
The loud music, muddy shoes (muddy where from?) and rudeness to staff appear later as fortuitous observations confirming the OP's prejudices against blaggers.
The loud music, muddy shoes (muddy where from?) and rudeness to staff appear later as fortuitous observations confirming the OP's prejudices against blaggers.
but, just because the OP omitted it in the opening salvo doesn't exactly mean it wouldn't be in the reasoning.
providing this as subsequent justification is hardly the part of 'good fortune'. often people cannot explain eloquently their irritation and disgust for something. doesn't mean that these pieces of 'fortune' just appear - that's not how the brain works! it either happened or it didn't.
trying to shift it to the character of the complainant is just an attempt at justifying begging/blagging behaviour. if a perk is offered, it is very different to putting the staff in an uncomfortable position of using their own personal judgement on whether to provide an unspecified perk, having already 'correctly' declined the perk. on the balance of probability, a weak unempowered customer service assistant may have felt it was less likely to be a problem and be less socially awkward. do you think perks should be offered in such a circumstance?
clearly. the frustration the OP writes about is with people who don't deserve something, behaving poorly. that seems clear from the outset, unedited post 1:
'sadly did observe them putting their feet up on the seats and acting unbecoming of the place'.
Jan 1, 2019, 8:01 am
#105
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German lesson 1/2019:
The German expression "Schadenfreude" consists of the two separate words "schaden" (damage) and "freude" (joy). It means deriving pleasure from someone else's misfortune.
In the situation described in this blog, the blagger got away with it - so no Schaden. The OP also got no joy out of it - so no Freude.
If anything, the blagger could have taken some Schadenfreude out of the OP getting upset, but that assumes that he'd have noticed or cared about the OP'S emotional distress.
The German expression "Schadenfreude" consists of the two separate words "schaden" (damage) and "freude" (joy). It means deriving pleasure from someone else's misfortune.
In the situation described in this blog, the blagger got away with it - so no Schaden. The OP also got no joy out of it - so no Freude.
If anything, the blagger could have taken some Schadenfreude out of the OP getting upset, but that assumes that he'd have noticed or cared about the OP'S emotional distress.