I’d like to clear a few points up in relation to some of the responses from some posters, and this time I’ll do it without my tongue in my cheek and without displaying anything that may be construed as a sense of humour as this is something which appears to be lacking.
On the subject of trim, when flying on Dash8 aircraft I have on several occasions when the flight has not been full, asked to move either across the aisle (same row) or one row in front or behind my allocated seat in order to have more room. Most previous posters seem to agree that moving laterally, or within the same “bay” should not be a problem. On my flight to SOU last week my request was referred not to the pilot but to another member of the cabin crew who subsequently allowed me to move 4 rows forward. However on a previous flight MAN to GLA I asked a member of the cabin crew if I could move laterally and was immediately refused without reference to the pilot or anyone else. I politely challenged this and asked if moving across the aisle would make that much difference. I was told quite tersely “yes this aircraft is VERY sensitive”.
On another flight – I can’t remember the destination but again flying out of MAN, four passengers from the front of the aircraft were asked to move from pre-paid seats by the despatcher. Myself and another passenger got up and moved, only to hear the other passengers refuse to move on the basis that they had paid for legroom. The despatcher just let them stay there. Nothing was done about it and they remained in their seats.
The instance above leads me onto the matter of claiming a refund after being moved from a pre-paid seat. Another poster has said that this can be done at the ticket desk on arrival. Incorrect – I tried it, and was told that if the flight was booked on-line you have to ring customer services. Good luck.
You can be as sarcastic as you like with your comments about paper planes with paperclips, see-saws etc. I absolutely understand that there are reasons why passengers cannot move around at will on these small aircraft, the important point here isthat Flybe crew do not appear to know what the rules are themselves and therefore do not apply the rules consistently. This soon becomes noticeable to those who fly with them regularly. I do indeed understand what VFR means and I do know it has nothing to do with the trim of an aircraft. The point I was clumsily trying to make was that compared with the potential dangers of flying VFR, moving a few inches to an adjacent seat seemed to pose a minor risk.
Back to the delayed SOU flight last week, my run down of events is factually correct and whether you like it or not I was told that a part was being flown in from Belfast and the flight would not be leaving for hours. 10 minutes later we were boarding. If I had not still been around when the phonecall came in (I had already been offloaded remember?) then I would have been out of departures and on my way home. I would have missed the flight, my meeting and would have been claiming a refund from Flybe. Not good for anyone concerned, and all becuase of mis-information given out by Flybe customer service reps.
In response to the person who thinks I am an “unreasonable customer” who should “part company” with Flybe, I would like to say that I am not unreasonable, however i do expect to get what i have paid for. I would indeed part company with Flybe if I had the choice of who to use. Sadly I don’t, so my employer continues to pay extortionate prices for me and my colleagues to use what is often a poor service, just because at face value Flybe is cheaper than others on the same routes.
As for the “youre one of those pax the crew talk about…. manners cost nothing… if it is your intention to be rude “ comments I can assure you that I have never been aggressive or rude to a member of Flybe crew or that of any other airline in my life. Neither have i been aggressive or rude to anyone on this forum. In fact I take exception to the suggestion that I have in some way "abused" Flybe crew or staff as there is nothing in my posts to suggests it. All I have done is report the facts albeit in a jokey way. I apologise to the person who was offended by my earlier joke relating to a pilots appearance as it clearly caused offence even though meant entirely as a joke.
So, be assured I am not a passenger from hell, am however a passenger who is tired of putting up with second rate service from Flybe. I’m sorry if this grates on some employees who are reading this thread but your aggressive defense of the company and lack of empathy toward a paying customer does little for your cause. As pointed out by other posters, my employer is paying your wages and in the current climate anyone who seeks to “part company” with paying customers, especially those who are paying business travel prices must have a very odd sense of business acumen.
To the person who has flown 238 flights over 6 months and only encountered 3 delays of more than an hour… I congratulate you. however I would ask this…. If you were going to a meeting by taxi or train and it turned up half an hour late, or 45 minutes, or just under an hour would you be happy? Do you build in an allowance for that kind of delay to all of your appointments? if you do then you are very lucky to have that luxury. I hope your relationship with Flybe continues to flourish. I’ll pass your experience on to the rest of my colleagues, all of whom consider Flybe to be a joke. This may or may not be justified in the opinion of flybe employees but the fact that we are of this opinion should be of concern to both you and YOUR employer.
Finally, whilst waiting at the gate for the SOU flight last week, as it became more and more apparent that we were going to be told there was a delay, a businessman next to me said to his colleague "what the hell are we waiting for?" "For the paint to dry" was the reply... "theyve just finished painting the picture of Mickey Mouse on the tail".