bmi again

Here's someone else who had a bad bmi experience: their staff even admit that the company is incompetent so I wonder when I will get my money back? How do these people keep their licences?

 

DW

 

--oo0oo--

 

Comments

The following is a long letter which my girlfriend is sending to BMI after the poor service she received. Long, but worth the read! I am writing to register a complaint about the service or lack thereof which I received from your company during a recent visit to the United Kingdom. I am an American and my boyfriend lives in the UK. Planning visits and saving money to fly across the Atlantic is difficult at the best of times but the experience I have just endured with your airline has left me incredibly disappointed and upset.

 

The following is an account of the dealings between BMI British Midland and myself during and indeed after my trip to the UK:

 

 

June 22 – Arrived at Manchester after having missed my connection at Heathrow due to being delayed from Washington on Virgin Atlantic. I was informed that my bags did not get transferred to the BMI flight in London and that they had not arrived. I was informed that they would be delivered to my boyfriends address when they arrived.

 

11pm my bags arrived by courier as promised.

 

July 6 - Checked in with BMI at Manchester over two hours before takeoff time. Both bags were tagged and I was assured they would be checked all the way through to Washington.

 

Arrived at Dulles airport in Washington and was called to Virgin Atlantic desk. I was told my bags were not put on the plane in London and that they would be arriving the next day. I was told to leave the keys to my bags’ padlocks with Virgin Atlantic’s Sophie Ramsey.

 

July 7- I received a call saying that only one of my bags was sent. It arrived late that night.

 

July 8- I left two messages with Virgin Atlantic at Dulles inquiring about the location of the second and most important bag containing presents, photographs not to mention thousands of dollars worth of clothing) Both messages went unanswered.

 

July 9- I called Virgin Atlantic again and a woman named Sara called me back. She said she had been sending messages to BMI about my bag and would tag it “urgent.” She told me the airlines would look for it for 10 days and then I would need to make a claim. I listed several things I had in my bag in case it had been torn open or the address tags had been ripped off.

 

July 10- My boyfriend called Manchester and they said they had no trace of my bag and no record of any problem. However at midnight, my bag showed up at 28 Fairlea Road in Huddersfield, England. This is my boyfriend’s address, which I left with BMI two weeks earlier when I arrived in England and my bags were lost the first time.

 

July 11- My boyfriend called BMI the next day and told them I was in the US and BMI claimed they didn’t know I left the country. My boyfriend called BMI and was told that the bag would be collected by courier that afternoon and would be put on the direct BMI Manchester-Washington flight the next day. The courier arrived almost 6 hours later than promised by BMI staff, even after two more calls to Manchester by my boyfriend.

 

I called Sophie Ramsey at Virgin Atlantic to find out if BMI had been in touch since we at least now knew what was supposed to be happening…and she hadn’t heard anything back from BMI. She didn’t even know my bag had turned up where I had stayed in England. Sophie told me she would meet the BMI flight with my keys the next day if she received confirmation the next day from BMI in Manchester.

 

July12- I received no call confirming that my bag had been on BMI’s flight and I never received my bag. I left a message on Virgin Atlantic’s machine again.

 

Meanwhile my boyfriend called BMI in Manchester three more times speaking to several people among them Linda and Dorothy, none of whom seemed to have much control over the so called courier who had supposedly picked up my bag the previous day. All they could say is that to their knowledge my bag had NOT arrived at Manchester and to let them look into it. He calls back later speaks to a less than friendly woman who says he needs to call back the next day to speak to Dorothy or Linda. She looks in her computer and says that it says my bag was picked up on July 11 at the house I stayed at in England but that it doesn’t say my bag even got back to Manchester Airport. Not only were my bags lost both ways of my journey but they were also lost on the road between Huddersfield and Manchester. I was furious. My calls to Manchester went unanswered.

 

The BMI staff at Manchester told my boyfriend they would call to let him know if and when they found my bag. He asked that they do their utmost to get the bag, providing it showed up at the airport onto the Washington flight the next day (another 24 hours without my belongings, gifts and personal effects bringing the total to a week!)

 

July 13- Sophie Ramsey called back saying she still had heard nothing from BMI and as far as she knew, my bag was not on that plane. I called BMI Customer Service and spoke to a woman named Amanda. As she began to understand the situation, she looked for my file on the world trace report. Amanda told me Virgin Atlantic was doing as much as they could but she said, and I quote “BMI is incompetent and I’m saying this because it is true. Somebody is not doing their job.” Amanda said the last thing on the World Trace Report was Sophie Ramsey’s message asking about my bag being on the BMI direct flight. It went unanswered by BMI. Amanda told me she would be calling Manchester and leaving more urgent messages.

 

Late July 13- I return home to find a note on my door saying that my duffel bag was at my next-door neighbor’s. I collected my bag only to find that my keys were not delivered to me and as a result, I could not even open the bag I had been missing for a week. I left a message at Virgin Atlantic asking for my keys to be delivered the following day- a trip that would not be necessary if BMI had bothered to communicate with Virgin Atlantic at all.

 

July 17- Amanda, from BMI customer service, called and said that she finally got into contact with BMI in Manchester and my bag would be on a plane. I told her my bag had already arrived.

 

 

For the amount of money I paid for my ticket with BMI and Virgin, I am shocked and appalled at the baggage service I received or in this case, didn’t really receive at all. On the way there (June 21), my Virgin Atlantic flight was late leaving from Washington Dulles so I missed my connecting flight in London. When I got to Manchester I was told my bags would turn up. After a couple of calls, my bag turned up late that night. On the flight back (July 6), I was called to the Virgin Atlantic desk and told both my bags didn’t make the London-Dulles flight. And so began my nightmare with BMI’s baggage services.

 

What is most disturbing is that BMI checked me onto their Friday morning flight to London Heathrow and assured me that my bags were checked all the way through to Washington-Dulles yet they claimed they had no idea I left the country so they pulled an address off a baggage claim from weeks earlier and sent my bags back there. No one looked on their computers, no one responded to Virgin Atlantic’s messages; no one did their job. None of this would have happened if BMI had performed their duties in a competent manner from the beginning. The US Postal Service and Royal Mail could have delivered my bag more efficiently than BMI and to think we trust BMI to take people to their correct destinations.

 

Because of my boyfriend living in the UK, we both make frequent trips across the Atlantic and up until now, were both quite happy to fly with BMI and/or Virgin. Unfortunately, I am now weary of the services both airlines boast. I know that bags get lost every now and then and I can even accept the unlikely circumstances in which I found myself, my bags having been misplaced on both outward and return journeys. But what shocks me the most is the lack of communication between airline staff and to their customers that is essential to transport passengers and their belongings from country to country.

 

I find it ludicrous that a world-class airline can be so continuously inept when carrying out a duty that should be second nature…and the fact that even your own staff admit to customers that the company is “incompetent” does not say very much for the standing of your organization as a whole.

 

I would ask you to look into my complaint as a matter of utmost urgency. I feel that some form of compensation as a gesture of good will is the very least I can expect from you. I sincerely hope that you do your best to try to restore some of my faith in your airline. Until that time myself, my boyfriend and anyone else we warn will, I’m sure give BMI British Midland a wide berth. It’s not enough to repaint your planes and offer seat-back TVs…customer service should be number one priority; it is the grass roots of good business as I am confident I do not have to tell you.

 

I look forward with anticipation to your prompt attention to this matter and a reply.

 

Yours truly,

 

 

 

Caitlin E M

 

Letter to Sir Michael Bishop Chairman of BMI Airline

There follows the text of the letter I have just sent to Sir Michael Bishop, chairman of and major shareholder in BMI, British Midland plc.

Dear Sir Michael,

I am finding it very difficult to believe that someone with your reputation and level of success could lead a business that can so badly mismanage the loss of a customer’s possessions.

The reference I have quoted above is the reference I was given at Manchester Airport over a month ago following the loss of my luggage whilst flying with BMI from Heathrow to Manchester.

I have filled in your forms and have been patient. I have tried to contact your organisation in a bid to understand why I have heard nothing from you and why you are failing to settle my claim. Every single fax, letter and email message has gone unanswered. I have even started a dialogue with the Air Transport User’s Council in my bid to understand what you are going to do to reimburse me for my loss.

Your airline has lost 11 made to measure business shirts, a made to measure suit with spare trousers, a made to measure blazer, an expensive pair of shoes and a lot more. The replacement cost of my possessions is £1,800. I travel on business quite a bit and have made one short trip since you lost my possessions. At the end of next week I am going on a much longer trip and as yet you have done nothing to reimburse me for my loss.

I feel that four and a half weeks is far too long for your organisation to rectify a loss that took you less than an hour to cause. I can only hope that you will now do the decent thing and begin an investigation into this matter. In the meantime I leave on my next trip on Friday 19th October and the least you can do is to ensure that I have something to wear and something to carry it in.

Yours sincerely

DW

Reply: David Cameron are you an example to our children?

In the spirit of fair play, here is the full text of a reply I had to my letter to David Cameron. It took them just five minutes to reply, too!

Dear Duncan,

Thank you for your e-mail, following Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons this week.

I certainly take on board the points you make and will ensure that David is made aware if your concerns.

David is very disappointed that after weeks of spinning the Prime Minister has now decided not to call an election. In doing so he has deprived the British people of the chance to vote for the much needed change this country needs.

David also feels very strongly that the government should hold a referendum on the new EU Treaty after Tony Blair and Gordon Brown signed up to major shifts of power from Britain to the EU and major changes in the way the EU works.

It has been David's view for a long time that it is a pretty good principle that elected representatives should not give up the powers that they were elected to wield without asking the people who elected them first.

It is for these reasons why David criticised the Prime Minister in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Please find below a link is to an article by David Cameron about Gordon Brown's decision not to call an election. In his article, David makes clear his thoughts on the events of the last few days. He also sets out how the Conservative Party will continue to fight for real change:

http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.show.article.page&obj_id=139577

Thank you, once again, for taking the time and trouble to get in touch.

Yours sincerely,

Alice Sheffield

Office of David Cameron MP

House of Commons

London SW1A 0AA

Mr Cameron are you setting a good example to our children?

Here is the text of a letter I have just sent to David Cameron, leader of the Tory Party.

Dear Mr Cameron,

Whatever my opinion of the way in which our Prime Minister has behaved of late, don't you think that your own behaviour is a disgrace and setting an appalling example to the youth of this country?

I saw your performance at PMQs the other day and I left it far from thinking that you had wiped the floor with the Prime Minister but that you had demeaned yourself. Your language and the way in which you used it added nothing to the debate on the economy, the state of politics in this country or indeed to any reasonable aspect of life in Britain today.

Appearing to be angry and in the right is all an act of course; but your aim is clear: to launch and attack and to appear to be the stronger of the two. You behaved like a bully: a common or garden school ground bully.

I have read that article of yours in the Sunday Times of 7th October 2007 and was saddened that they wasted so many trees and so much of a carbon footprint in printing it. It was a complete waste of time. Why not write something substantive instead?

I would far rather see you asking the Prime Minister about specific issues and specific policies. You know better than I do that what has happened in political terms over the last month or so has been nothing more than unadulterated Party Politics. You have played your part in that charade and the British people were sickened by it. No one I know has come away from the last few weeks feeling happy with what you in Westminster have been doing. It's a disgrace.

Yours sincerely

DW

Shelved?

I have built some shelves and whilst I paid a relatively large amount of money for them I did it myself, didn't need the skills of a carpenter, didn't need to drill or screw any walls ...

Take a look for yourself:

DW

Parking Fine Appeal

I am in the wars at the moment on lots of different fronts. Here is a letter of appeal I have just sent to Islington Council.

Dear Sirs,

I received the above PCN on 18th August 2007 and immediately said that it should not have been issued. I set out my reasons in writing and have been dealing with xxxxx xxxxx.

After a while I received a letter that included photographs of the van that I was driving and had parked.

I paid the fine in response to the letter dated 20th September 2007 and I did so because I work away from home a lot and didn't want to return home one day to find that I'd landed in even more trouble. However, I still want to appeal against this notice but in spite of my calls for my appeal to be heard, I am being ignored.

I have been offered the documentation to allow me to appeal but it has not arrived: PLEASE SEND IT NOW AS I AM ABOUT TO GO AWAY ON BUSINESS AGAIN SHORTLY and want to settle this business before I leave.

One of my defences is that I was parked in a resident's bay since the footpath near where I parked is shaped like a bay! xxxxx says I wasn't in a bay. If I was in a bay then the parking attendant failed in his duty since he didn't leave me a note which would have told me of the reduction in fine for a resident without a parking permit having parked in a resident's bay. Look at your photograph for proof of the bay shaped part of the pavement near where I had parked.

I also maintain and have checked that there is NO INFORMATION SIGN near to where I parked. A single yellow line, yes, but no information sign telling me of any restrictions. If there is a sign there, it is extremely well hidden as I didn't see it and I asked someone else to look for it for me a couple of weeks later and they couldn't see it there either.

I said immediately when I tried to appeal that you have failed to apply your own common sense charter and the photographs that your attendant took prove my case: the street is half empty at the time s/he issued my PCN. Just take a look at the very large gaps all along the street. COMMON SENSE supports my decision to park there to help my resident son to move his goods and chattels as I was causing a problem for no one at the time.

Have you ever issued a Notice to Owner in this case? I was driving a hire van and xxxxx knows that so it should have come to me here.

I am formally telling you AGAIN that I want to appeal against this decision and I want my money back.

Yours faithfully

DW

Some side lines

I was walking from my car in a car park in Halifax last week when an elderly lady in a BMW drew up beside me and said, "Is it me or are they packed in like sardines these days?" I replied, "Sardines, isn't it!" I walked on and she drove off!!

I had a nightmare journey driving from Halifax to Heathrow last Tuesday: don't ask why I felt the need to drive! It took SEVEN hours from my front door to leaving the final security clearance at the airport. Down the M1 and they closed it between two junctions. This was outside Nottingham and it took me one and a half hours to manoeuvre round the motorway to get back on it around 5 miles lower down. There were thousands of us affected by this problem. The problem being an accident between a car and a motor bike. Of course these incidents are tragic for the people directly concerned; but I've said it before, the knock on effect for the rest of us is phenomenal. Because I am very wary of driving to Heathrow I had allowed myself eight and a half hours to catch my plane even though the optimal time for getting there is just four hours according to the RAC.

I picked up a hitch hiker en route and whilst the chap looked clean and tidy, as soon as he got into the car I realised my mistake. Personal hygiene was not his strong point. Fortunately he was only with me for 20 minutes or so and leaving the windows open for a few minutes once he'd left me cleared the air!

Arriving at the security queue at Heathrow Terminal 3 last Tuesday evening and as I arrived the man at the end of the queue I joined said, "I haven't seen so many people since I went skiing at half term."! "Welcome to modern Britain", I said.

I flew with EVA Airways to get me to Bangkok and as we were in the departure lounge being organised to board the aeroplane, two men forced themselves to a position very near the front of the queue. The airline staff then took control and started boarding in the way that many airlines do: families and wheelchair bound passengers first ... then by row numbers, starting at the back of the plane. These two men then barked that this was a silly way to board and since people had already got to the front of the queue, like them, why not just allow people to board as they wished ... well, boarding by row is as efficient as it gets. I have seen the rugby scrum approach and it is a mess. Anyway, I boarded immediately following these two men and, far be it from me to cast any nationalistic aspersions, but I heard them speaking to each other in a language spoken by the vast majority of people inhabiting rather a large region of Europe contiguous to the southern shores of the English Channel. Typical! I have to say, however, that their English accent was more South African than Gallic.

At breakfast on the final day in Bangkok I saw a more mature gentleman in jeans and tee shirt, sporting shoulder length and LACQUERED hair. For goodness' sake!

One very odd thing at the hotel, by the way, is that they put the cereals in a different place every day!

Like many people I share a fear of a single Magpie: one for sorrow and all that. On the plane, there was a welcoming video on the big screens and along came a Taiwanese blue magpie ... a very beautiful bird. Then we took off and they switched on the entertainment system only for 12 of us in the area around where I was sitting to find that our personal video screens didn't work. Magpies! I was at that time in a seat in row 45 which is an emergency exit seat with LOADS of leg room. Since I was on a 12 hour flight, I moved to a spare seat to watch a few films. I was pleasantly surprised to find, though, that the seat pitch on an EVA 777-300ER is around 2 - 3 inches bigger than on any other airline I have flown with. Well done EVA!

DW

Fly BMI? You must be joking

Here is a warning to anyone who thinks that flying with BMI is a good idea.

 

I took a flight with them from Heathrow to Manchester on 11th September, 2007 and checked in with a bag weighing just 24 kg. That suitcase contained all of my business shirts, a suit with two pairs of trousers, a blazer, a pair of shoes ... plus loads of other things that someone having just been on a three week trip might need. Total value around £1,800.

 

The bag didn't arrive in Manchester. More than that, the bag still hasn't arrived.

 

So, you might say, calm down, lost luggage is a fact of life: I agree, it is. However, what is not a fact of life is the abuse that I am now suffering.

 

Firstly, their representative LIED to me by saying that after 24 hours of the delay I could claim £25 for essential items such as toothpaste and toothbrush, shaving tackle ... I went to their site anf found that I was entitled to £50. So I told them that and they said, OK, spend £50 then. I have claimed for this with receipts but so far have had not so much as an acknowledgement from them. I sent the letter recorded delivery and know they received it.

 

Secondly, as per BMI's rules, I submitted my claim to BMI's luggage loss adjuster's organisation THREE WEEKS AGO. Again, no acknowledgement that they have so much as received my claim. Nothing. They don't give out a phone number either so the only way to talk to them is by mail or by fax. That loss adjuster's offices is near London so I can't just pop in to see them either.

 

I faxed them after a while and said, please help as I am about to go on another trip so could they pay me an interim amount so that I could buy some shirts ... THEY FAILED TO RESPOND.

 

I then sent a fax to BMI's head office: to their Chairman, CEO, CFO and COO and have heard NOTHING from them. I sent a copy of my claim to them and said that I was going on a trip shortly and need some shirts, a suit, shoes etc.

 

I have only ever used one no frills airline before and that experience with easyJet was fine. BMI, however, is a different story. They take your money and offer a dreadful level of service. I am writing this as a warning to you all and to help you to appreciate one of the ways in which their service is no frills:

 

they lie about your allowances

they can't wait to charge you excess amounts for services they will not provide

they don't deliver your luggage

they don't help you in any way when you submit a claim except that their representative in the baggage hall at Manchester was very helpful

they don't compensate you in a reasonable time

they provide no follow up service in any way

 

Fly BMI ... never again! NEVER.

 

Duncan Williamson