As I said, my partner is LGW based hence the comparison with charter airlines due to the nature of the routes flown from that base specifically. Of course on high competition routes there will be more choice but I still maintain that the best course of action is to contact the airline directly. Of course if you aren't too bothered, choosing a different airline may be an option but then the same could then happen with that airline too.
I guess it's partly down to luck of the draw with regards to the crew on the day and it will happen within every customer service industry unfortunately. All airlines will have customer complaints due to bad customer service. It doesn't make it right and it shouldn't happen but if people just use a different airline, things won't change but hey, everyone has their own opinion. Some will complain, some will just walk