EasyJet wanted to fling me off flight for diss tweet, warns cyber-law buff A web-law tutor says EasyJet threatened to stop him boarding a flight because he posted a tweet criticising the bargain-basement airline. Mark Leiser, who teaches and studies internet law at Strathclyde University, was grumpy about a delayed flight from Glasgow to London, which made him miss a connection to the centre of the …
EasyJet paying money for reputation management that could instead be diverted into actual logistical improvements thereby avoiding the necessity for reputation management?
I suppose it's more likely that the queue were tittering about the twitter enough to catch the ear of the local mis-manager.
Got to laugh at his statement that he doesn't like flashing his Law Lecturer ID... But he did.
He'd have been stuffed if they had called his bluff.
If the aircraft is late, delayed or has technical problems, well that happens. My old DT school teacher missed his train and missed his ship and till the day he died he was probably thankful for it. He missed sailing on HMS Hood by three hours when she went after the Bismarck.
Using the soldier as an excuse to complain says it all sounds like he is just trying to big himself up.
He's a complete w@nker. Sh!t happens and in my experience of many years Easyjet have been very punctual in the past few years, far more so than BA. Seems that many of the youth of today think that simply bawling publicly is always justified and will get them results - well it's blackmail as far as I am concerned.
Non-practicing perpetual student, those that can do, those that can't teach.
"I'm a Law Lecturer don't you know!"
"You are, are you?"
"Yes, I am, here is my Law Lecturer ID!"
"I see, now fcuk off, I'm the pilot and you're not getting on with me!"
Now that would be proper customer service.
> My money pays your wages.
Only a tiny amount, unless by "your" wages you mean the first officer's, in which case no you don't, as he's likely to be on a pay-to-fly program (EZY essentially sell the right-hand seat to low-time trainees).
In any case, as has been pointed out, he doesn't seem to have exactly show a great deal of professional decorum if, as reported, he managed to get on a verbal scrap with a check-in agent. Certainly not someone I would be giving consideration should I need legal counselling in Scotland.
By the way, it is not in anyone's interest[*] for flights to be delayed, not the least for the carrier itself.
[*] Except perhaps for the soldier in question, who will hopefully get an extra R&R day or two.
It's worse than it looks. Here's a dude who teaches law, but somehow has failed to understand that the UK doesn't have a right of free speech and even if they did, the protections apply to govt. censure, not private corporations.
Anyone in his class should ask for their money back.
... but the HRA provides that public institutions, including courts, may not contravene ECHR rights. Which has been used in cases like Campbell v Mirror Group Newspaper to import additional criteria onto existing civil wrongs — once you've established standing for an action and are in court, the argument goes that the court can't act so as to contravene your convention rights and hence those rights themselves become enforced against a third party.
You'd therefore expect that, if the professor was making a threat at all, he was meaning to say that he'd go to court on contractual grounds and, once there, could likely use the HRA to bolster his argument.
What it actually sounds like to me is not so much that anyone was disputing the right to free speech so much as that the Easyjet employee tried to divert the conversation and failed miserably.
@ThomH - I quote '‘It wasn’t a threat, it was a criticism. It’s called free speech' ...
If he's said something like 'if you deny me boarding I'll sue for breach of contract' then what you cite may come into play. That isn't what happened tho'.
He thought he had some right to say what he liked. He should have known better.
The guy's a douche. Simple as that.
though easyjet are in the wrong here, the bloke does appear to be right up his own arse according to his webpage.
" I am currently researching what “activates” the active dot in the active/pathetic dot matrix within the context of cyber-legitimacy"
uhu. that's very interesting sir, we have upgraded you from this flight - you will now be departing in our brand new Golgafinchan aircraft, and will be one of the first to fly it... step this way.
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But, but. There was no water boarding as the soldier did indeed miss the boat.
Personally I would put the soldier on jankers for 7 days due to his bad planning and lack of real world experience. I used to travel on leave by train and boat. Leave a town in Corsica in 4 tonner and get to boat, take boat to Marseille or Nice, take train to Paris. Sit outside Metro until it opened and then take Metro to Gare de Nord, take train to Calais, take boat to Dover, take train to Victoria station, take undergound to Wimbledon and walk home. I used to do the same in reverse and give myself an extra day to deal with the vagaries of the transport system. A good distance and I was never late thank (insert deity).
Nahhh, squaddy was a muppet.
As for our PHD. student. He probably mentioned he had tweeted, as given the time frame Easyjet could not have responded that quick.
I do Easyjet at least once a month and Volcanoes allowing they are OK in my book, I do however prefer Etihad ;)
Seems like the headline is 'I wasn't denied boarding after tweeting'.
And seriously, do you really think a manager in Glasgow (one of the smallest easyJet bases) is gonna be spending all day checking for moany tweets from delayed passengers? Probably more like the guy was being a prick and was threatened with refusal cos he was making so much noise. If head office had seen it and called the Glasgow manager and sent him down there it would have been more likely that they would have been sent to placate, not wind up the annoyed tweeter.
The whole things sounds like a load of bull. I know easyJet and they wouldn't be able to react that quickly to a tweet.
What were the easyjet employeees doing on Twatter
Shouldn't they have been out front coping with a 90 minute late flight
And this modern thing of companies denying it afterwards is getting tiring, I bet someones looking at policy and someones been sent for training and some kind of memo has been sent out, I bet, I bet.
> You know...the more you post here...the more of an arse you make of yourself.
And you know, I don't really spend enough time here to follow who posts what, but...
> You are quite obviously totally clueless when it comes to the subject of CUSTOMER SERVICE.
Perhaps he is. May I now ask how intimate is your knowledge of the airline business, my dear Sir?
> Back under your rock bozo.
Is there a need to be childishly rude?
"What were the easyjet employeees doing on Twatter"
All large companies now employ comprehensive "reputation management" software, that continually scan the internet, with a particular focus on live social media, for mentions of the company. The good software will immediately classify the message and forward it to the appropriate manager. Twitter and facebook are quickly becoming the first port of call for customer complaints - who wants to fill in a form or call an 0845 number or speak to some bottom-tier supervisor when you can attach your complaint to the company's own public profile? That needs to be managed, and the good software can be frighteningly good.
However in this case it's just as likely the staff member in question saw him tweeting - he sent it immediately after/in the midst of a verbal exchange.
Criticising an airline on Twitter is one thing. This guy, despite his law credentials, should have realised that calling everyone to 'get into em' could be read as tantamount to inciting trouble, physical or otherwise.
It seems we have our first company fighting back in the nastiest way against internet criticism. I really, REALLY hope that this news goes further and that people censure this company for their behaviour.
Of course, the downside here is that people vote with their wallets, and people's votes are managed by the potential damage to their wallets, so EasyJet is likely to retain their customers regardless.
Criticising an airline on Twitter is one thing. This guy, despite his law credentials, should have realised that calling everyone to 'get into em' could be read as tantamount to inciting trouble, physical or otherwise.
Think he got off lightly ... from my recollections on the BBC documentaries on Heathrow then a comment like that there is more likely to have ended up with him being escorted by the Police to the station to receive a caution. (That certainly happened to one traveller on that program who when complaining at the check in desk said that the checkin clerk "needed a good slapping")
As I assume you are not a lawyer then you will be perfectly ok if you wake up one day no one serves you in any shop, bar, restaurant, denies you to board a train, stop and searches you, locks you up for 72 hours under section 7, stops you attending any sporting activity...the list is endless
So yeah a guy sticking up for himself with the ultimate result of letting Easy Jet know their bullshit is bullshit..... thank fuck for a typical lawyer...
The point is, the employee didn't know if they were legally allowed to deny him access or not. Nobody has commented on this. But being a typical arrogant lawyer he uses this as a threat. Lawyers do this all the time and since the person they're doing it to is rarely a lawyer, they can get away with anything. Nobody dares deny a lawyer.
I knew you lot were a bunch of whinging sad-cases, but seriously sticking up for a LAWYER?
"The point is, the employee didn't know if they were legally allowed to deny him access or not." I completely agree - that is the whole point. The EasyJet employee still did actually threaten to deny him access, not knowing whether they had the legal ability to do so or not. The customer stood up for himself, as, I assume, you would too. The fact he apparently has a Law Lecturer Badge to flash is incidental. You say "nobody dares deny a lawyer" - I say "nobody should dare deny anyone without an actual proper reason".
So why did that employee do this? Why did the employee take it upon themself to make such a decision. You can be sure that there is no such training within EasyJet to say it should be done. Likely, what has happened is one more-seasoned employee has told a new employee that since 9-11 they can kick whoever they want off their planes for whatever reason (to be possibly created after the incident), to be investigated by whoever, have nothing proved against them and be released without any charge, only to realise they have missed their plane and are not able to get a refund. The person be interviewed and not getting on the plane is their own fault.
Typical, a lawyer trying to scare people to get what he wants.
Typical, a pissy employee of a substandard airline trying to play God because someone had the temerity to not worship the ground they walk on.
Take a look at what happened here. The guy might be a shark, but he's also incidentally happened to defend your rights as well as his own. Or, do you think that somehow a shit airline should not be criticised?
OH GOD I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET ON AN EASYJET FLIGHT NOW!!!!
what rights ?
plane was LATE not cancelled
read the ticket - all the T&Cs- & the EU directives
Until the plane is cancelled or over x hours late they don't have to re-route you or do anything
if a plane is late - it's late - fog/snow/ice/incompetence happens - quit bloody moaning & making everyone else's life a misery (fog in Luton yesterday morning over an hour & a half late on site - shit happens).
Some poor slob of an underpaid pseudo manager trying to keep a couple of hundred people only moderatley unhappy; with no authority or tools to help him ..
What do YOU do when your project is late and some stupid client demands cancelletion/late delivery charges/free upgrade to supper dupper extra special all bells & whistle when the contract EXPLICITLY says said client has no redress ? And then starts publically slagging you & your company off ?
The plane was only LATE - surely in this day and age no one serriously excpects an airline to never be late ?
And then starts publically slagging you & your company off ?
A few years ago, I was a PC World employee.
Try "suck it up and get on with it"? There is a marked difference between criticism and abuse. Actually, I kept my job there for so long despite not having the best sales figures because dammit, I had so few complaints. Customers liked me. Tended to come back more often because of that. Partly because I didn't respond to criticism with "right, fuck off, out of the shop, you." In fact, in many cases I would agree wholeheartedly with some of the stuff that customers came out with. Why act like a pissy jobsworth? Life's too short, and the company certainly isn't going to reward blind loyalty anyway. Yes sir, you are absolutely right, that is a terrible price for a USB 1.1-rated cable. Unfortunately there is little I can do about it, however my figures for today are not too bad. If you're buying a printer and ink, I can probably discount it for you.
Professionalism. Something an Easyjet employee or two might do well to learn about.
> The plane was only LATE - surely in this day and age no one serriously excpects an airline to never be late?
Those happily slagging off the airline as if they wanted to be fashionable by being late... please raise your hands those of you who have heard of the CFMU.
And if I were the airline employee then I might have risked a quip about getting the cattleprod out, depending on the humour of the situation. That or just quietly smirked. Maybe even side with the customer whilst also admitting that there's little that I could do about it. Give them a complaints number perhaps. Really, giving someone the 3rd degree over "moo"?
Internet Law Student, has all the cachet of an ISO9001 auditor.
He flashed his uni lecturer's badge, not something he likes to do, you know, on account of it being the highest symbol of authoritah in the land, and the crowds parted. Imagine the fawning if he'd been an internet barrister, or an internet judge, they might have bumped him to a window-seat.
Get back, you budget airline weasels, he's Mark Leiser, PhD student, and he has a smartphone and a twitter account and he's not afraid to use them.
Anonymous in case an internet law student flashes his badge and sics the internet plod on me.
How do you know the manager didn't call him on his claim to be a law lecturer and his Uni ID with 'Faculty of Law' on it was all he had? You use what you can and have to hand.
I have had my PhD for 20 years and I'm always Dr. when I'm complaining and it often works too.
It's the human societal equivalent of puffing up your fur and making yourself look too big and nasty to fuck with.
In this case he was going into bat for someone else using his BigMan persona (noting this is Scotland he was in).
Tweet away, be as rude to and about airlines as you like.
Just don't make the newby mistake of using an account with your real name. Surely everyone (everyone who uses twitter, or any other social media for that matter) has many, many accounts under different names, guises and personas (wot! it's against the rules? Oh no! what shall I do) so just use one of them, instead.
Be prepared.
The wife and I have driven round-trip from Atlanta to Texas, Connecticut , and Wisconsin to avoid flying. It takes longer, but yanno? Plenty of legroom, no crying babies, complete choice of meals, more than one application of shampoo, good sound system with tunes we like. Fresh air and scenery. No TSA poking at us and stealing our luggage. Luggage not lost, no delays or being told we won't travel Today. Half the cost.
And definitely no snotty airline nazis trying to ruin our day because we're upset with the crappy service.
Flying: only if an ocean intervenes.
You were lucky. This time.
New York Times - TSA Expands Duties Beyond Airport Security.
Checkpoints at Tampa Bus Station.
Cop at Suspicionless Checkpoint Starts Barking Orders, But Then Flees from Camera.
DHS/Border Patrol (inland) Checkpoints.
DHS Inland Checkpoint - Detained "BECAUSE" of the Constitution?
Land of the free?
Here you have a publicity hungry law student claiming an airline tried to stop him boarding because of tweet and everybody believes him!
Whilst Easyjet are perfectly capable of refusing service for any number of reasons I'm sceptical of anybody who self-publicises to this extent. Lets have some verification from other passengers who saw the alleged incident.
I'm with you here. It seems very unlikely that any of this was because of his tweet and far more likely that he was being a loud dick and was asked to calm down (or be refused boarding). And seriously, flashing some card that means nothing and means even less to someone who couldn't give a fcuk would not have been the magic bullet he seems to think it would be.
Hey Andy, 5 people apparently were there and as eyewitnesses have downvoted you.
Or, the typical Reg commentard believes it is their right to be a complete prick to anyone and that being called on this in anyway is a breach of their freedom.
Doing a lot to dispel the angry social-inadequate nerd stereotype guys.
Shame the airline did not in the end kick him off the plane.
Shows all the tell tale signs of being a cowardly SOB - "it's solely about meit's all about the valiant soldier!", "I'm a wannabe lawyerlecturer!", "I absolutely lovedon't like flashing my ID!".
They should have at least unloaded his bag for "security reasons"...
P.S. The ship was going to a war zone? Did I miss something, are we at war with a naval power? Is invasion of Spain imminent?
Right, so no one is allowed to complain, regardless if they think they're right or wrong? Bollocks! If I wish to make a complete bellend of myself in public then I have the full weight of "public free speech" behind me! You think we should all simply bow down, toe the line and behave like good little automatons and do as we are told, never complain, never step out of line?
There may well be consequences to actions such as an argument or being hauled away to calm down but attitudes like yours are exactly why fecking jumped-up security guards are full of it, their tiny addled brains barely able to cope with putting a leg in leg-hole of their trousers in the morning but give them a high-viz jacket with SECURITY written on the back and they think they're the last bastion of order in a world of lawless chaos! To them, they are always right and you are always wrong. If you like that way then I suggest you move yourself to a country that excels in curtailing freedom of speech, you'll feel right at home.
On internal flight to a provincial Nigerian airport. I was delighted to see how well things can go -- passengers waited in a lobby, man appears with a handcart full of luggage, passengers reclaim luggage, leave. Not all that different on a flight from Southampton to the Channel Islands.
All seemed to work, without the delay dramas, herding and bullying which are the main features of the endless Airport themed reality shows on TV. Never mind the ghastly website booking procedures, these shows have made me completely budget-airline-averse.
"If a plane is late, is this actually EJ's fault? They don't run traffic control..."
True, but they can build in realistic contingencies and plane turnaround times. Budget airlines aim for high aircraft utilisation and minimal turnaround between flights. I'd heard it was about 30 minutes to unload, prep, reload which is highly sensitive to any delays. They then compound through the day.
Not a criticism, just a consideration that people have to make when choosing to fly!
Honestly people are always whinging about Easyjet and Ryanair, but you get what you bloody well pay for! For example, it's cheaper for me to get from Bremen to London with Ryanair than it is for me to get from Bremen to Berlin by train, which in my opinion is brilliant.
But I dont expect good service with Ryanair, I dont expect good seats, and frankly I dont expect to get their on time, because if I want those things I'll pay extra and fly with one of the expensive airlines (Lufthansa, etc.), and then if the service is bad, the seats uncomfortable or the plane delayed, THEN i have a right to bitch and moan and complain.
The people complaining about Ryanair and Easyjet service would also be the first ones complaining if the prices of those airlines went up, which is what would need to happen if you want the good service, comfortable seats and ontime flights. You cant have it both ways.
Oh and as for the sailor boy who by being delayed 90mins on a flight would miss his ship sailing from Portsmouth. What the hell is he doing leaving it to that late stage to get back in time (and using an airline like Easyjet when time is so critical!). If I was his CO, whether he made it or not, he'd be copping one hell of an earful. When you have something as important as a sailing to catch, you do not fly in with minutes to spare BECAUSE you will ALWAYS get delays...
Let the downvotes commence...
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It's not even just that.
I can tolerate Easyjet, but Ryanair are just a step too far in the pikeyness stakes.
However, that doesn't mean I want them to disappear. I remember before the budget airlines shook things up that it used to cost hundreds of pounds to fly to pretty much anywhere (national or international). Now lots of the 'good' airlines are very reasonably priced and the whole market is more consumer friendly.
Why anyone except BA shareholders would want the cheapies to go away is beyond me.
You're wrong to lump Easyjet in with Ryanair. I have no problem with cheap airlines -- fly with Flybe or Aer Lingus every week, and they're fine -- and Easyjet generally try to give pretty good service (though this incident sounds bloody stupid). They used to have chronic lateness across the board on their evening flights due to (as another commenter has mentioned) allowing insufficient turnaround time, but they recognised that, increased the turnaround times, and are nothing like as late now. They changed their queuing procedures to make it far less likely that passengers who were in the airport would miss their flight. They do actually value customer service and have made some effort over the years to improve it. As well they should, because of course customer service isn't even expensive, contrary to what Ryanair and Ikea would have you believe.
Ryanair, however, are just shit. They are cheaper than the other low-fares airlines by about a pound, if that, but are run by bastards who insist that they have no choice but to treat their customers appallingly. I used to work for a company that worked with them and had to deal with some of their managers. It's not just O'Leary: they're all just terrible, terrible people, apparently incapable of viewing other humans as anything but a horde of enemies to be vanquished.
I take your point about the cost of flying from Bremen to London, but have you had a flight cancelled yet? Ryanair's policy is that if a flight is cancelled, it's simply cancelled, never replaced or rescheduled. If you were on a cancelled flight, they'll put you on one of their other flights, if there's room -- which there won't be, because all your fellow passengers are trying to get booked on flights too. If the other flights are already full, tough, you just have to wait until there's one with enough space on it. A friend of mine was stranded in Paris for a week by this policy. So you have to balance the low cost of the flight against the risk of losing a few days' work. And this risk doesn't exist with the other low-fares airlines: if they cancel a flight, they get you to your destination as quickly as possible. Flybe put me up in the Hilton at Gatwick recently before flying me out the next day on a specially laid-on flight to replace the cancellation. Flybe are dirt cheap. But of course, there's no good reason for them not to do this, as the cost is covered by their insurance. It's only Ryanair who refuse to replace flights, apparently out of some bizarre twisted pride in how badly they can treat people.
If this same incident had happened on a Ryanair flight, would it even have made the news? The very reason we're hearing about it is that we expect better from Easyjet.
Treat your customers like shit, bully them around, and when they complain, throw them off the flight or have them arrested for some trumped-up "disruptive behavior".
The CEOs of corporations in other lines of business must be madly envious of the air travel industry.
And disruptive behavior has to be witnessed by other passengers in writing (and there are usually no end of volunteers for this when someone has been disruptive enough to get arrested for it). So unless you have any examples of the trumped up charges by airlines you wish to share...... And hitting a staff member when your plane is an hour late doesn't count.
I twatted praising Easyjet no end? WIll i get upgraded, window seating, free flight next time? A blow job enroute?
These cheap airlines are behaving Nazi-like these days. Thanks to Bin Laden (Actually Bush/Blair), all the airlines now have a god given right to refuse travel to paying customers on the slightest pretext whatsoever and are elgibile for their own interpretation of "threat". As for the US homeland security and TSA agents, Less said the better.
ABout time the travelling public use Social Media more than ever in criticising bad behaviour.
Tin foil hats all around, please.
First off, +1 for the Free Speech bit. Unless he's breaking any laws (in which case you should involve Plod) then he has every right to criticise as much as he wants.
My own experience with Squeezyjet was similarly crap. A family group including myself were checking in for a flight from Gatwick to Ireland for a funeral and rocked up to the check-in desk at some ungodly hour of the morning.
Me: "Good morning, we're on the "oh whatever it was" to Dublin this morning".
Squeezyjet Gimp:"Good morning sir, hmm, I'm afraid I have some bad news for you this morning" (wink,chortle)
Me: "Really, and just what might that be?" (starting to get annoyed)
SG:"Well sir, I'm sorry to have to tell you that not everybody will be able to get on the flight today!" (pause for effect, then laughs).
Me: (fixing him with a Paddington Bear stare): "I don't find that especially amusing, particularly as we're all travelling to a funeral today. Are you denying boarding to any of our group?"
SG : (looking suitably crestfallen): "No sir."
Me:"Good, then perhaps you'd like to give your pathetic attempt at humour a break and get on with what you're supposed to be doing which is checking us in for the flight, if that's not too much trouble?".
I didn't feel sorry for him at the time and I still don't. Some things just aren't funny and boy did he pick the wrong group of passengers to joke with about denying boarding .
"In a statement, the airline said: “EasyJet has never denied boarding due to comments on social media."
But, apparently, it has threatened to do so.
I do hope my parents don't meet a jobsworth when they go on their holiday in a couple of week's time. They're useless at this sort of thing, so routinely ask me to book flights for them and print the boarding passes.
I take exception to the annoying full-colour advertisment that takes up the bottom half of the boarding passes, so this time I took those out before printing, and replaced them with a piece of text saying something like "Annoying, toner-wasting adverts removed. Adverts can be printed in future for £10+VAT"
Well done on your sense of humour bypass operations, chaps, I'm glad to see they went well.
I was originally going to simply remove the adverts and leave a blank space. I added the text more to amuse myself than anything else, and would hope that whichever Easyjet employee's see it would be mildly amused by it. However, this article does leave that small niggling doubt, and suggests that the passes could instead be seen by a jobsworth.
(And they would have to be a jobsworth to object because, technically, the actual boarding pass is only on the top part of the page.)
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Too may of the above comments seem to miss the point. WTF has this got to do with delays????
I'm not usually paranoid but are these posters shills?
It is to do with someone posting something on twitter, which is legal and not defamatory, but only negative and then being threatening with being denied boarding. If true - and I trust the reg - then this is absolutely damming. Like giving a bad review to a film and then not being allowed to go to the cinema.
That is all.
1) We only have this person's side of the story
2) Most companies don't comment on individual complaints, as they have to gain the complainants permission before releasing that information
3) Any provider of goods or services has the right to refuse service to anyone being a dick. While a 90 minute delay might be annoying, they're under no obligation to do anything about that. Judging by the response of "we're not helping the Army guy", it sounds like a very exasperated employee retorting to someone who was being a bit of a plum, and shouting/ranting/tweeting
4) A threat of not offering to fly someone, that was reversed upon seeing their lawyer credentials? Who knew that law lecturers had such recognisable badges to flash about.
I'm smelling a large dose of bullshit, or at the very least a hastily rewritten version of history.
Any provider of goods or services has the right to refuse service to anyone being dick.
Really? Kindly cite the relevant legislation or portion of Easyjet's conditions of carriage that basically state they can deny boarding if they don't like what you're posting about the company.
Take your time...
If he was being a pain in the arse to staff, and they could see him being what *they* considered to be trouble (strictly speaking, probably described as a potential safety risk if he riled up or distracted the staff, etc - there'll have been something they could use) on the flight, then I'm pretty sure they can twist their own rules to deny boarding.
Same for pissheads, loudmouthed gits, etc.
The devil is in the detail though - and frankly Mr Easyjet should made the decision on whether he *could* deny boarding rights, then decided, all things considered, whether he *should*. Then stuck to it.
The trick is to ensure he has the right to deny boarding in the first place, not to make empty threats then back down because the other person is an 'expert in internet law'. If you think a customer is likely to be troublesome (Assuming that's the reason for denying boarding) then whether he was tweeted about it is irrelevant. Internet law has nothing to do with it, company policy is everything. Providing company policy breaks no relevant laws, then deny him and take the PR flack, and be able to back up the decision.
Frankly, it sounds like someone who doesn't know how to deal with customer service staff, and a member of the customer service team who doesn't know much customer service - or forgets it when under pressure.
Anyway, an interesting distraction for my tired mind at midnight.
Steven R
Feel free to select any or all subsections that may or may not be deemed to apply from the Easyjet Terms and Conditions [1], section 19.1.2 (special interest on point d perhaps). Which is not to say I agree with this sort of thing - in fact, it pisses me off to no end to see the various "we reserve the right to select our customers" in all sorts of venues, down to the seediest ones. Erm, no, you bozos. You're not suposed to have that right, whether you legally actually do have it or not. You may officially file a complaint against me and THEN throw me out if you think you have a case, or else you should be legally obliged to offer me service once you publicly set out to offer said service to the general population. "Only if we like your mug" is NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
[1] http://www.easyjet.com/terms-and-conditions
"we reserve the right to select our customers"
From among those who have already paid for their flight and had their baggage checked? Give me a piece of that business! I'll sell hundreds of tickets to people who want to fly here and there, then simply tell them at the airport that I am exercising my right to select my customers.
> Really? Kindly cite ...
If I may intervene, http://www.easyjet.com/terms-and-conditions. Article 19 refers.
I am sure our hero would have been well aware of the aforementioned.
The first question in my mind: how is this possible?
Presumably it would require automated systems monitoring twitter. Oce a post is found it would need to be matched to an existing ( or future ) passenger. Then reviewed for content and forwarded to a local representative who would also need to review it prior to taking action. Potentially turning it over to local law enforcement.
All of this is predicated on the airlines ability to match the twits account to their passenger lists.
Assuming that's possible and reliable ( which I wouldn't ): it seems like the best way to screw someone over would be to open a twitter account in their name and post something properly defaming ( or hostile ) about the airline they are about to use.
The alternative ( and more likely ) explanation is that this isn't going on and the guy was simply a dick. At which point the counter agent called their manager over to resolve it.
Yeah, if this guy was being a twat, then I can see kicking him off.
Kicking him off over a tweet? Hell no (which ultimately they didn't, but they shouldn't have even threatened it to begin with if he just sent a tweet.) They probably can reject any flyer for any reason but they would have gotten a hell of a lot of bad PR (more than the bit they are getting now.)
From The Independent...
"He asked an attendant at the gate when the last train from Gatwick airport into central London would depart"
Idiot!... a couple of minutes online with the National Rail Timetable or TheTrainline would have told him that trains run from Gatwick to London right through the night.
From Strathclyde University's PhD student profiles (http://www.strath.ac.uk/internetlaw/staffandassociates/currentphdstudents/)
"Mark's PhD research focuses on asking whether there are identifiable democratic values found across the global Internet community and are these compatible with the current democratic processes of individual States. The research encompasses appropriate areas of Internet governance and the role of democracy in the online world as well as public/private international Law, freedom of expression in cyberspace, IP, and human rights."
Can't help thinking he might have provoked all this so he's got something to write about in his thesis!
> These are cowboy airlines
Actually they're not. They are extremely efficient (if inhuman) operations with an impressive focus on safety (given the impact of any mishaps on their brands).
> whose business model is to deny boarding and charge unexpected extras.
Again, actually not. Their business model is to sell visitors to regional chambers of commerce, local governments and other interested parties. The passengers are *not* the customer, they (you) are the product. One of Easyjet's top men is on record as saying that on an article in Le Monde Diplomatique of, IIRC, November 2010 or thereabouts.
I was invited to give a talk at a conference in Berlin. I was booked on a Lufthansa flight from Heathrow. I arrived at the airport on time - but Lufthansa told me the flight was full and to effectively 'do one'. Apparently, booking a ticket with Lufthansa is no guarantee of getting on the flight. No other flights available from any other airline to get me there in time. So I missed the talk. The organisers announced to the 1000 strong audience that Lufthansa had let them down and the audience should think carefully who they book flights with. Lufthansa - never again.
AFAIK, pretty much all airlines overbook like that, depending on the flight. If you average 5% no-shows, book at 105%, and you save quite a bit of money. But if you calculate wrong people get pissed... Usually they ask for volunteers to be bumped and then give 'em free tickets though; not sure why they'd just boot you off summarily.
Yeah, overbooking is standard practice with airlines (and hotels). Usual way to deal with the rare event of all their passengers turning up, though, is to bribe them to take a different flight. Most airlines ask for volunteers, offer them one or two hundred quid to take a later flight, and find the problem solved and everyone happy. God only knows what Lufthansa were thinking.
Except, ironically enough, low-cost carriers. The real ones like EZY and RYR, not "pretend" ones ran by former national carriers like "Hop! (through the loops)".
They sold that seat already and nobody is getting their money back, so they have no need to overbook anyway, plus they also have less no-shows.
"The organisers announced to the 1000 strong audience that Lufthansa had let them down and the audience should think carefully who they book flights with. Lufthansa - never again."
Thanks for that story - it's made my day. If a lot more people took action like that, corporations would be a little more careful about giving free rein to their arrogance.
i.e.
Someone tweets something unflattering about them, and within minutes they not only detect that tweet has been made about them, but actually located the person responsible from all the airports they operate out of. Awesome detection work - unless, ermm, the story isn't quite as reported.
I've flown with Easyjet a lot and, by and large, they're fine. The planes are fine, the people are fine and the process is ok. It's a short haul flight operator and that's what you get. I wouldn't choose to fly with them long distance but then it's a different type of flight.
Ryanair are another company altogether. The flights are badm the people are awful and you feel like you're getting ripped off constantly.
I refuse to fly ryanair for that reason.
This story reads like that scene from Anchorman when Will Ferrel kicks back and says "Well that escalated quickly..."
No one in this story comes of particularly well but for easyjet it's win-win because nothing truly awful happened but folk are still talking about them.
I am a little puzzled though... How did the EJ staff make the connection between his tweet and him personally? Does he walk around with a sign saying telling everyone who his moniker is? I find that bit really odd.
"I am a little puzzled though... How did the EJ staff make the connection between his tweet and him personally?"
The smug SOB boasted about it right in front of the airline staff...
@timanderson @easyJet Relatively simple. I told girl I was speaking 2 I was going 2 tweet 2 see if we could help get the guy to Portsmouth. Mark Leiser (@mleiser) September 25, 2013
No such thing as free speech when your in someone else's house and your critising your host...
on the small print T&C's there will be a paragraph stating something along the lines of... Easyjet reserve the right to boarding if the passenger is or appears to be under the influence of drink or drugs, poses a threat to staff or other passengers, has a ridiculous haircut or is just a cock...
The bloke is a 'cyber law' buff... so he should know better... His tweet was inciting the mob... if that was sent by a football hooligan/religious zealot/thug, etc then they would be explaining their actions in the comfort of a police interview room....
His tweet was inciting the mob
Really? The massed fellow travellers/self loading cargo were all avidly glued to Twitter to see what they should do as they passed through the airport? FFS, give me a break.
What exactly was he inciting them to do? Complain, or for those that were British, just sort of grumble a bit or tut under their breath?
Oh and for those of you pointing out the section of Squeezyjet's conditions of carriage that allows them to deny boarding, the most relevant bit I can find is:
19.2.7 You have used threatening, abusive or insulting words to, or have behaved in a threatening, abusive or insulting manner towards, a member of easyJet staff, crew or Airport Staff or a fellow passenger;
From what I can make out, the comment he tweeted was directed at the company, not at any particular individual (eg staff member, crew or Airport Staff). As the company is a legal entity in its own right, it doesn't fall within the definition of individuals given above who may be insulted/abused and cannot therefore be relied upon as grounds to deny boarding.
Oh and for the individual who downvoted the funeral story, you weren't the SG on the desk that day were you?
> Really?
Yes, unfortunately. It only takes one passenger to start being a dick for the whole mob (for it is a mob, in the behavioural sense) to join in and create a situation which, beyond being merely disruptive, can very quickly spiral out of control. :-(
1) Why did he feel the need to Twat the fact that his plain was late? Does he think that:
1a) His audience are actually hanging on to every tweet that he sends?
1b) Anyone in the fucking world actually cares that *his* flight is delayed?
2) Looks like the EJ employee missed his calling. To the Stasi.
Someone could well be telling porkies here, think about it, all of the following needs to be true:
1. The manager or staff needs to be on Twitter
2. If it's not the manager then one of his staff needs to admit they were on Twitter to their manager during work
3. Said manager or employee needs to actually give enough of a crap to make more difficulty for themselves
4. They identified the bloke in the queue from his Tweet
So far we've only heard one side of the story. Here's another:
Self-important lecturer wannabe is flying from Glasgow, his flight is delayed 90 minutes, oh noes! He might lose his connection using Gatwick Express (which he doesn't bother to check on his smartphone). He complains and the staff tell him that they can't do anything. He hears that a soldier might miss his connection too. How dare they? Soldiers are super-people entitled to extra effort!
So our hero fires up his Twitter app and complains about it to his thousands of followers! A soldier (and me) might miss connections, come on Twitter, show your rage!
He goes back to the rep and tells them that he's complaining on Twitter, and shows her the tweet.He tells them that unless they pay for a taxi or hotel he will continue causing a stink on Twitter. The manager is called and loses his patience, threatens to throw him out of the flight for being disruptive. Our hero continues to tweet this, assumes victimhood, and watches Twitter explode in rage. One of his journo friends asks him his version of events and prints the story on The Independent.
Internet rage ensues.
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