BABY in BHX--WATCH OUT

[Adola69]

:mad:

Watch out Birmingham, don't roll too much red carpet out for BMI BABY as they'll eventually bite yer back.

Why do I say this, well I've just been bitten by the little sh*tes.
Back in July I booked to fly MAN CDG on 24th Oct returning on 30th. Today I heard a nasty little rumour about a previous posting on pprune concerning the fact that BABY were to drop CDG from MAN this winter. Emmm better check this. Telephoned them and had a ten minute dull dull wait before being connected to a Girly with a Jock accent. " Eyye, ye flight as bin transferrred to Nottingham" Eventually she disconnected me as she could no longer stand my pleasure at being told this exciting news!!

I know it was a call centre, and those that work within have not a lot to do with the company they are taking calls for, BUT it was SUNDAY and I knew that no Management from BABY would be buisily working their arses off informing passengers that flights had been CANCELLED or giving a valid reason as to WHY??? ( I've checked load factors on this flight recently and found that they are normally around 80 -90% each time, so why the sudden change? - I suspect they're trying to woo Birmingham and have no crews or a/c, so SOD the Manchester passengers).

I've flown 4 times this year with BABY, but alas they will no longer be getting anymore money out of me when that's the sort of crappy little game they are capable of playing.

HEY BABY,- IT'S TIME YOU HAD YOUR NAPPY AND MANAGEMENT CHANGED AS THEY ARE BOTH FULL OF ****E.

[EGAC_Ramper]

Well I booked a Baby ticket fo my friend and his flight times were changed by BMI Baby.Though with plenty of time to spare i.e. a couple fo months I recieved the e-mail about the flight changes and if there was any problem get in touch.To me who booked the tickets online/and the guy I booked them for this seemed a decent service informing of the changes.October is still quite a way off and perhaps had you given it little more time then you would have been contacted.:ok:


Regards

[pwalhx]

I have to defend Baby to, I have flown with them on several occasions and the 1 time there was a schedule change I received an email advising me in plenty of time. Along with a link to confirm I had received the information.

Having said that I am dissapointed Baby have dropped some routes from Manchester, will be interesting to see if Mainline pick them up.

[Bagso]

this might be more to do with the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing !

All the BM Baby flights Ex Manchester are running full so cannot see any reason to pull them !

BMI Mainline is supposed to be operating the flights ex Manchester by October so you s/b ok ...

BUT maybe nobody told BM Baby staff ..........

[ALLMCC]

Are mainline taking over all Manchester ops - if so, what will happen to the BFS service - will it operate to BHD as mainline currently do?

[LTNman]

You might count yourself as being fortunate :

A low-cost airline took passengers on a one-way trip to misery after leaving them stranded at the end of their holidays.

BMI Baby managed to get over a hundred sunseekers to their destination in the Spanish resort of Malaga easily enough.

But they cancelled the return flight to Teesside, leaving flyers fuming in the departure lounge.

And when were they going to lay on a replacement flight? Six days later.

No wonder passengers felt they were left holding the baby and that many of them decided to make their own way home.

Now they have launched a fight for compensation from the airline.

Among the passengers were Thomas and Maureen Williamson, of Wallsend, North Tyneside, and family members Bob and Carol Williamson.

Bob said: "We checked in and went to the departure lounge. Our aircraft was in on time as it was standing on the tarmac.

"We were told there was a slight problem and we would be informed of what was going on within half an hour. After half an hour we were told there was a fault and the flight had been cancelled. We were told we were going to be put in a hotel overnight and things would be sorted out in the morning."

So far, so good, but Bob - and other passengers faced with the same problem - would find that things were not be sorted out in the morning after all.

He said: "We were left to make our own way to the hotel by taxi. We also had to pay for our hotel and the taxi and were told it would be refunded later.

"We were given a phone number to ring the next day and told that we would have a flight sorted out. We thought that was wrong as there should have been a representative at the hotel to guide us. But in the morning we were told the next available flight to Teesside was six days later.

"I asked who paid for the hotel for the rest of the week and was told it would be me. They only paid for the first day."

BMI offered a flight to Cardiff four days later, but Bob found a flight with another operator to Leeds Bradford Airport at a cost of £741 for four.

He said: "I phoned BMI Baby when we got back and once again they were very unhelpful. They said I can't claim my fares back because I didn't fly with them.

"That's a silly argument as I could not stay in Spain for another week because of the cost. I find myself very annoyed at an airline that is supposed to care for their customers."

Equally annoyed was John McGonnell, of Lakeside Village, Sunderland, who was on the same cancelled flight.

He said: "We rang BMI after one night in the hotel, expecting to be advised that our flight would depart some time that day.

"To our disbelief we were informed that the next available flight would be on the Saturday, six days later. I explained that we had very little money and no accommodation. The operator `kindly' advised us that this was not BMI's problem.

"They simply were not interested in the fact that we were stranded in a foreign country and felt six extra days in Spain at our expense was perfectly reasonable.

"We were left with no option but to arrange flights home with another airline at a cost of £900."

So how did BMI, apparent specialists in one-way trips, explain themselves?

A spokeswoman said the flight was cancelled because of technical problems with a fuel pump.

But did it really have to be almost a week before a replacement plane could be provided?

The spokeswoman said: "Yes, I believe that's right. There literally wasn't a spare plane.

"There is a flight from Malaga to Teesside four times a week, but most of them were fully booked. It's not an everyday occurrence. There would have been space on the one leaving six days later."

So what would happen in the meantime?

I was told: "We suggest they wait a week or find their own way back and claim on their holiday insurance.

"They could also have flown to other destinations - mainly Manchester or East Midlands - and made their way home that way."

The airline added: "We are in the process of actioning the compensation claims of Mr McGonnell and Mr Williamson.

"Until this is done and we know they are happy we don't usually comment because of it being ongoing."

Customers have been offered the portion of the flight charges relating to the return journey but not the full costs of the flights taken with other airlines.

Mr Williamson said: "I have been given £300 for the unused BMI flight, £60 compensation and £50 per person vouchers for future flights with BMI. I am still £700 out of pocket."

[Vuelo]

There is a meeting with BMO Mainline and MAplc on Mobday to discuss the new BD takeover of some of teh WW routes. However, BMI want to move all their services to T3 to make it easier for Tranfer passengers.