Personally, I find UK check-in staff to be the most surly of any country in western Europe, often lacking in the most basic of customer service skills, not even picking up on the importance of simply saying hello or goodbye. Falling standards in customer care seem to be systematic in the UK and I've experienced it in hotels, restaurants and even banks, just to name a few. It's important never to blame the staff themselves, where a service is inadequate the blame always lies with the employer. High turnover of staff is often an indicator of poor pay and conditions, poor customer facing skills may equal inadequate training, etc, etc. The Buck always stops with the employer.