Hi Ryan,
It would be easy for me to respond to your PM via PM but I'll do so in the open as I'm not too big to apologise if I feel I may have offended and I do so unreservedly for my use of the word 'oik' although I really did not mean it in it's literal context.
I have always been very complimentary of the services received at Cardiff and I'm also not suggesting that you personally or your colleagues at Cardiff aren't interested in your job - it was a generalisation based on personal experiences (but not at Cardiff I should add, although waiting southside for nearly 2 hours for fuel, during which time only one other aircraft landed, which was 20% more expensive than anywhere else locally didn't exactly endear me to the service - funnily enough the aircraft didn't fly 20% faster!!).
I also appreciate that the guy on the ground has no control over fees, however, I will qualify my statement regarding handling fees for GA as being a total rip-off as there appears little if any justification for them. There are stacks of aerodromes all over the UK where the tower gives a simple instruction "Park on Line 4, Space B" and we can manage that by ourselves quite easily. On the flip side, every time I have been 'handled' in the UK I have been directed towards a space big enough to park a battleship in which did not require marshalling.
Draw a comparison with the USA where the marshaller will direct you into a tight space, chock the aircraft, tie it down, arrange your fuel, give you a lift to the FBO, arrange a hotel and taxi or even take you there himself, generally all for the pricely sum of $ 0.00. That is a service worth paying for and they charge you nothing whereas in the UK we get charged the earth and don't get anything remotely resembling the same service.
Recently, in Corfu, the Handling Agent picked us up at the aircraft and took us to the terminal, arranged the hotel, taxi and fuel for the following morning then met us the following day and accompanied us all the way through the booking out and FPL filing (including a visit to the tower to discuss the best route with ATC) and took us back to the aircraft again - the service was first class and cost about £ 40 for the landing, overnight parking and exceptional handling service. The landing fee alone in most UK aerodromes would have been more than that.
The point I am making is that in the UK we get virtually nothing for our money and I resent that. Where a decent value-for-money service is provided I have no problem with paying for it but I do not feel this is the current status quo with handling fees for GA.
Please tell me I'm wrong - what do we get at Cardiff for our £ 65.00?
How much will you charge me for handling at Cardiff if I have to divert there at 10 o'clock at night owing to bad weather or an unexpected problem?