Let’s start at the beginning. On that fateful morning, after having had three hours sleep, my mum, my sister and I arose at 4:00am, so that we could catch our flight from Gatwick airport to Aldergrove (Belfast International). Great, we thought. We’ll have the whole day ahead of us when we arrive. On arriving at the check-in desk at 5:45, I noticed that other people had their passports with them. For a domestic flight? Yes, because new regulations require all passengers to have passports with them on any flights.
When we got to the desk, we too were told we must have passports to be able to fly. When we told the employee that we didn’t have them, she sent us to very unhelpful customer service desk employees. We agreed with the man there that we would go home, get our passports and be transferred to the 11:20am flight from Luton airport. He gave us details of a train direct from Gatwick to Luton. “Is this guy programmed with responses, like a robot?” I asked myself. Can someone really be that blind to our situation? We needed to return home to get our passports. Why on Earth would a Gatwick to Luton train be useful to us? Think about it, stupid EasyJet guy!
After spending a total of £50 getting home and then to Luton airport with our passports and spending £75 (£25 each) being transferred to the Luton flight, we were all set. We arrived up at the airport with minutes to spare, got trapped in one of those revolving doors at Luton (why not have normal doors, like most other normal buildings?), because it got stuck and arrived at the check-in desk a bit late for comfort, but in time for check-in.
But where was the check-in desk? We went to the customer service desk and two other passengers were there saying that they had arrived ten minutes ago, when the check-in desk should have been open, but it wasn’t there. It had closed more than ten minutes early. We spoke to a member of senior management. She insisted that the desk had not been closed early, even though BY EASYJET’S VERY OWN CLOCK, it had. If they have a huge queue at a check-in desk and the closing time comes, do they turn all the people away, even though they were on time? We asked to be put onto the flight, which by then had not yet been boarded. Our pleas were in vain. We asked if we could speak to the manager, to make a formal complaint.
Before he came, another employee came and asked us what the trouble was. Thinking that she was the manager, we started to explain our story. During this, the senior management staff member came back and said, “Can you not talk to any more members of my staff? You can wait for the manager. He’s on his way.” Well sorreeee, missy! It’s not as if we harassed your member of staff now, is it?
The manager arrived after ten minutes. We asked whether he could simply put us onto the flight now. He said that the flight was being fuelled, so we weren’t allowed on. We retorted “But we could have been let on ten minutes ago, if it wasn’t for that rude senior management staff member.” We were told that that was just too bad, because the plane was being fuelled, and that was that. Why so strict? I mean an aeroplane is just like a bus in the sky. We don’t have to show our passports when we get on a London General, so why an EasyJet?
EasyJet had stolen from us! We had paid for a flight, been on time, and were being denied what we had paid for! We asked when the next flight was. 3:15pm, we were told. We demanded free tickets on that flight and a member of staff looked up availability on the computer system. He said that all seats for that flight were booked and that the next flight with available seats was the next day! Fortunately, he suddenly realised that he had been looking at the bookings for the Liverpool-Paris flight. Huh? We were then booked onto the correct flight, which had seats available. All this time, there were cameramen from Airline filming. They like big arguments and irate passengers on their show. I can see why they buzz around the EasyJet desk so much.
We waited in a white-washed room for around twenty minutes, for our flight at 3:15pm. The company did not think to decorate the place a bit, maybe even put in a plant or two. But no, all of the passengers for the flight were crammed into this white, stuffy, clammy box to wait for their flight. We boarded the flight and landed in Northern Ireland extremely tired and relieved.
In all fairness, the flight was okay, but nothing special. All safety procedures were observed (life-jacket demonstration and seat-belt checks, for instance) My advice to potential EasyJet travellers is that even if you are usually on time for your flights, but tend to cut it fine, DON’T use EasyJet. They will, quite literally, make you pay. Basically, you get what you pay for. If you don’t mind unprofessional business management, being treated like scum and having to put up with extremely rude, uncaring and insensitive staff, then by all means, use EasyJet.
Booking can be done either over the phone, or through their website. Whatever you do, don’t forget to bring your passport with you on the day you fly!
Thank you, EasyJet. You made our flight extremely easy and we hope to fly with you and your courteous staff again! Not.
More details
Class flown most frequently
Economy
How often do you travel with this airline
Rarely
Where did you book
Directly with this airline
Safety
Satisfactory
How well does it cater for disabled people
Don't know
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