Unpleasant Pax comments!

[DELTABOY]

I was recently talking to a cabin crew friend of mine who has been flying for many years now. We were discussing how on some flights you can feel like a punch bag for pax to direct nasty & sometimes hurtful/cruel comments at. One incident she explained was how a middle aged well presented woman turned on her when she demanded an alcoholic beverage as the crew were serving breakfast. She explained that she would serve her drink as soon as she got back to the galley, to which the woman replied it would be too late by then & wanted to be served immediately. As my friend moved away the woman turned to her husband & said quite clearly & deliberatley so she could be heard,"Common little tart, no doubt off of some council estate" Another incident she said a man called her a 'Weirdo' because she asked him if someone was sitting in an empty seat next to him (who may have gone into the washrooms) during a head count!
I can also remember male cabin crew collegues having a hard time with pax shouting out 'bender' or 'gay boy'.
I sometimes wonder if these really are isolated comments or are pax getting more out spoken & think they can say what they like these days.
Has anyone else had similar incidents which they would like to share?

[Joe'le'Toff]

Must be rather frustrating, seeing as how you guys are there to save our lives should anything happen.

Some people need a good shake.

[fernytickles]

The morning after the Concord accident, when the photos were all over the front pages of the newspaper, we had to cancel our flight and disembark our passengers due to a tech problem. One of the passengers pointed to the photo, while saying to the CA "This'll be you lot next".
Nasty little sh*t.

[chuks]

I went along for the ride last weekend on a business trip from Luton to Italy and back.

On the last leg the guy who had hired the aircraft was quite rude to the Captain because we had to carry our bags from the kerb to the apron, a distance of about ten metres. He acted as though this were some deep, personal failing on the Captain's part. Then we climbed into a shiny-new Falcon 2000 and went blasting off a short runway into the night-time skies over Florence.

I thought the guy was a total jerk. But for the amount he paid he gets to act that way if he wants to, I guess. People who live on the ground, ehhh.

[I.R.PIRATE]

No quite cabin crew, but i guess in a smaller plane with no cabin crew, the pilots gotta be that too.

Myself and the co-pilot were loading the baggage in the hold, when a change of route came from ops. We had to take on a whole lot of extra fuel to complete the mission. In doing so, we would have to go over our maximum take-off weight, requiring us to offload two or three massive bags of luggage. The pax were obviously very miffed to see their baggage being unoaded, and threw up quite a stink. The last comment made by one of these sods, before he was escorted with his bag back to the terminal. "Look at you two....If your company hired smaller bloody pilots, i wouldnt have to be going through this bull****." Haha, I guess its not his fault that me and the co, both belong in the tight five of a rugby scrum. So sorry Sir, please take your bag and leave the apron. To all those others who's bags were being offloaded, you will be pleased to know the problem has been solved, and your bags will accompany you on your journey.
:hmm:

[OZcabincrew]

i'm sure there has been instances, but i find that male F/A's of the gay kind in Australia don't cop really anything from what i've seen unless they're acting overly camp and feminine, which is just asking for trouble, but even then nothing's usually said. There are A LOT of straight male cabin crew aswell, but usually it is very tame, compared to the UK airlines that get every man and there dog travelling as i've seen on that tv show Airport etc.

Oz

[Squawk7777]

It happens to me all the time since I am flying the Brazilian sewer pipe. "This plane is soooo small" has become a regular comment right after the f/a's greeting. We always make comments on the remarks such as "if you rub it, it'll get bigger". :rolleyes: One day the CA actually turned around to a middle-aged woman who was on a constant rant and told her that "Greyhound runs all day long!" :}

[OZcabincrew]

hahaha!

i love it, passengers know what they're going to be flying on etc, i love it how they carry on!

[EI-CFC]

Has anyone else had similar incidents which they would like to share?

To be honest, you get jerks like this everywhere - on the ground and in the air. You can't always (in the service industry) answer back in the way they deserve, so I tend to ignore them and move on. There are plenty of nice people out there to assist.

Of course, sometimes there are those subtle little ways you *can* get back at them...;)

[OZcabincrew]

If someone is being unecessarily rude, i will tend to be a bit blunt back to them while also being nice to get the point across. As soon as they start swearing, it is the end of the conversation.

There is no excuse for being rude no matter what the situation.

Oz

[lexxity]

We have been commenting for a while now how much ruder pax are getting. We think it's 'cos of that airline programme too, people watch the jerks on there get away with murder and then think that is what really happens and none of it is set up at all. Obviously the louder and ruder you are the more I am going to help you.

The worst I have been called is a f*****g c**t. The "gentleman" in question spent some time with the boys in blue after that.

(he'd missed his flight, which was obviously my fault.)

[OZcabincrew]

they can get as rude as they like, but they're going to get nowhere.

[chuks]

One morning we were delayed due to wx at destination, when this one fellow was going a bit spare. Bright sunshine at Myrtle Beach, so why were we going nowhere? Umm, thick fog in Charlotte, perhaps?

He accosted me to say that he was proceeding onwards from Charlotte to CHICAGO, on BUSINESS, so that he DEMANDED to know when we would be departing.

I just fixed him with a mild glance and told him that 'Man proposes and God disposes.' He probably figured me for a religious fanatic and left me alone after that.

When I would have pax giving me sh*t about delays on arrival in the Bahamas I used to tell them that I was delayed because 'Miami International had been closed due to an armadillo stampede.' No one ever questioned that one!

[apaddyinuk]

I can take whatever anyone wants to say about the company I work for but as soon as that person gets personal....They have crossed the line and god love them after that cos they will have the book thrown at them!!!!

I thought the best I ever saw was when a passenger (she was a right chav) was really giving a grilling to one of my Pursers, She immediately turned around to the passenger and quite loudly but firmly and as polite as she possibly could " Do you see any cameras onboard the jet dear?".....obivous response of no came...."good dear, cos the louder you shoud wont mean you will get on TV...Now, lets sort this out like mature adults"!!!! And what do you know, the lady shut up and she eventually even apologised!!!!

[ManfredvonRichthofen]

Ahem… allow me to play devil’s advocate

The only thing that annoys me as much as the people described above is those who work for a company that take the “what’s your problem, it’s not my fault” line with paying customers in say delay situations, other cock ups etc.
The customer knows it is not personally your fault. He has, however, paid £x to your employer for a service. You work for organisation X, so damn well step up, apologise and take some responsibility (on behalf of your company, of course) for the inconvenience caused to said paying customer. I believe that is “customer service”. For an extreme example of how not to do it see London Underground workers.

[sinala1]

You work for organisation X, so damn well step up, apologise and take some responsibility (on behalf of your company, of course)
If the company is at fault for whatever reason (technical delay, inbound a/c delay etc) then yes absolutely airline employees need to "step up and take some responsibility on behalf of the airline". There are ways and means of doing this. However, no one should have to "accept responsibility" for fog or other delays that no one has any control over - of course you apologise and explain why the delay is occurring, but no way in hell should the airline or its staff have to take the responsibility for the delay!!

[ManfredvonRichthofen]

obviously

but it is still your duty to "apologise" for the delay and explain to the passenger why etc.
And it is not your right to expect the passenger to be a nice guy about it.

like i said this is customer service.


I hasten to add that i am one of the nicer type passengers. Most people are.
but even i get annoyed sometimes at the attitude i described above.

[speed freek]

Flying as a PAX the other day, for a change. I knew the crew so spent most of the time in the forward galley chatting. The intercom kept chiming about half way through the cruise.

It was the cabin crew in the AFT galley complaining about a certain gentleman. He was demanding something (can't remember what it was) and he was given the reply along the lines of "as soon as I go to the galley I can get it for you" - similar to something said earlier. This wasn't good enough and the gentleman, about 60 years of age and with his wife, started to get very abusive.

This I took a bit personally, as in "How dare should anyone speak like this to the crew?" and was seriously ready to don my knuckle dusters and explain the finer points of life with the gentleman, like any good FO should.

It was a bit of an eye opener. We're a bit too comfortable up front and forget what you have to deal with.

Hats off to you lot. I couldn't do your job at all.

Cheers.

[sinala1]

but it is still your duty to "apologise" for the delay and explain to the passenger why etc.
And it is not your right to expect the passenger to be a nice guy about it.

like i said this is customer service.
Absolutely, hence why I said we would explain the delay, apologise etc for it, do everything that is in our power to make the pax more comfortable, informed etc. Whilst we don't have the right to expect the pax to be a "nice guy", we are not required to accept abuse if they refuse to be reasonable.

[apaddyinuk]

Manfred, Its all very good saying that we should apologise for whatever the situation is and explain to the passengers whatever!!! But sometimes that is just not enough for certain passengers.
Sometimes the passengers want to make more of it than is neccassary OR make more of it to the point the crew cant deal with the situation and further methods are required. Airlines are not placing "Zero Tolerance" policies and handcuffs on board aircrafts as a threat to tell passengers to stop moaning! They are being placed onboard because some passengers and thank god only a teeny tiny minority will go head for leather given half a chance.
To be honest, most problems I have encountered on flights have not had anything to do with delays or problems of same such nature, it usually starts with pax argueing amongst themselves, or pax being refused more booze etc etc, these are the passengers to be worried about and who will make most of the unpleasant comments.
Others who may not go far enough to do that will get personal with a crewmember to the point where they are not getting enough satisfaction out of abusing the name of the airline so instead they will abuse the crew member personally....now like i said before, you can scream bloody murder at me about the airline I work for and the uniform I wear and I will stand there patiently, listen and apoligise when I get a chance to get a word in, BUT I WILL NOT TOLERATE A PERSONAL VERBAL ATTACK OR OTHERWISE (Sorry to shout) Nor should anyone else, this is completely unacceptable from any human being!!! And as far as Im concerned, a passenger slagging my profession to me while I am trying to serve them is a personal attack at me.
Obviously I will weigh the situation on the day to see if its worth going out of my way to give the passenger his/her commupance but it really is not acceptable and the book should be thrown at people like that.

Now boy....1.2.3...Breath and exhale!!!

[OZcabincrew]

i agree,

we are there for customer service, not to kiss a**e!

[DeBurcs]

Must be rather frustrating, seeing as how you guys are there to save our lives should anything happenNot really. More like, open the doors and stand back before the wave of humanity all climbing over each other to "save themselves"... :rolleyes: Let's be realistic.but it is still your duty to "apologise" for the delay Why should I? Not my fault the previous lot were late or the field's congested and we can't push or the headwind is stronger than planned or whatever... :rolleyes:

Duty? It's my "duty" as you put it to fly their sorry arses from A to B. It is NOT my "duty" to put up with garbage from the endless numbers of filth we fly around this tragic part of the world. And so I don't!! Perfect!

[SkySista]

I've been called "Stupid trolley dolly" before (which is priceless considering I'm not even an F/A - think it was the pax that was stupid that time, perhaps?! :})

Also had a really obnoxious pax try the "But I'm a pilot" line on missing his flight, really made a fuss and got abusive. I just said to him "Well sir, if you are a pilot you will understand the procedures and that you can't just turn up at pushback time."

He shut up.

There's too many to list, the things people come out with never ceases to amaze me!!

Yes, we should apologise for the delay, and make them comfortable as we can, as Sinala says, but there is NO reason for people to get ABUSIVE or PERSONAL. I

have had MANY passengers get their dissatisfaction across regarding delays/tech faults quite well without resorting to acting like 5 year olds. A quiet comment about the degree of your annoyance and a request that a complaint be logged will get you much further than screaming like an idiot at someone who can't even control the problem you are having...! :p

[N5528P]

@ DELTABOY

About two years ago I returned from SYD to VIE with OS. I was sitting in a D-seat (first seat right of the left aisle in the T7 of OS) an on ABC one row behing me was a coulpe (he approx.40+, she roughly 35 years) with a boy which I would put into grmmaer school.

Anyway, approx. 2 hours into the flight, the man starts into business class and grabs a seat there. Politely, the purser informs him that he would either have to pay for this upgrade or have to walk back to economy.

After arguing he walks back and tries something else: The boy is seated in C, the wife is sleeping in the seats A nd B with her legs on her sons ap. Man sleeps on the groun between the rows (nota aisle).

Again the cabin crew is forcd to inform him that this is against the regulations and asks him very friendly to return to his seat.

Another drink (he had some Jack Danils and Bailey's) is refused by the stewardess since he has had his share and since she fears that more alcohol will make him even more aggressive.

After calling here a "bitch" and some other things I rose from my seat, flash my ID (which was star alliance back then) and ask him politely to calm down. Also the 1st officer arrives and we were able to cool the sitaution down and made it to KUL without any more troubles.

In KUL the crew is changed and the new captain did something very wise from my point of view. After consulting with his crew and the old crew, he talks to the man without his wife aside and tells him that he is not interested in anything which has happened before, as long there is no problem between KUL and VIE, he does not care. Athough he mentioned that India has a rather low standard in its jails and landings like this would be paid by the pax... "But I think we all do not want this much paperwork, do we?". Furthermore, he changed the cc and our section was served by a stewart who was slighty over six feet and in perfect shape.

No problems 'til VIE.

Regards, Bernhard

[lfdlfp]

Quote from Ozcabincrew:

"i'm sure there has been instances, but i find that male F/A's of the gay kind in Australia don't cop really anything from what i've seen unless they're acting overly camp and feminine, which is just asking for trouble, "

ASKING FOR TROUBLE??? so an effeminate gay man should butch it up and pretend to be someone else while at work? it takes all kinds to make the world an interesting place, and if being yourself is asking for trouble you are too narrow minded to be in a customer service job.

And by the way, I am neither gay nor male, but on behalf of my gay friends, I take offence at your comment.:*

[feet dry]

Speed Freak - perhaps your 60 year old chap could see crew chatting in the galley and was a bit peeved at having to wait - fare paying passenger and all that......ho hum.

De Burc - I think I recognise you from your attitude........first class customer service skills displayed (hint - irony).

In a previous life I worked in customer services - there were those passengers who were unreasonably rude these I ignored; there were those who were reasonably rude these I helped. There were also many members of staff with the interpersonal skills of Herr Flick - a lot of folk end up in customer services who quite simply should not be there.

[OZcabincrew]

lfdlfp,

wasn't intending it to be offensive and no, no one should change the way they are simply to satisfy someone elses opinion (and i work with a lot of gay people), but if a male F/A is going to board a flight and walk down the aisle throwing his arms everywhere and calling people darl and honey (inc. men which i have seen), then they should only be fully expecting to be spoken to by a disgruntled passenger. Male F/A's that act in this way, yes should be themselves, but they should also respect the opinions and rights of passengers/other crew who may not feel comfortable with this. I'm sure they wouldn't like it if a passenger referred to them as something they didn't feel comfortable with the whole flight.

All i'm saying is, definately be yourself and don't change for anyone you are who you are just as much as the next person is who they are aswell, however be aware of the position you're putting yourself in and your passengers and how they may not feel comfortable with the environment that is being created around them.

Everyone has the right to feel comfortable within themselves and their environment and everyone should respect this, whether it be gay, straight or the man from the moon!

[A2QFI]

It is my limited experience of passenger flying, in the last 5 years, that one result of being able to fly across Europe for a few £s is that you are catering for people who are strangers to personal hygiene, good manners and a basic education. They are also well versed in tattoos, strange hair containing assorted repellent life forms and body peircings, many visible and some (luckily) not!

[RevMan2]

Crikey A2QFI - that's not very PC (but you're bl**dy right about all these below stairs types....!)

[OZcabincrew]

hahaha,

well i guess the whole idea was to make flying accesible to everyone, but maybe at check in along with asking the usual questions about lighters, security etc they should ask if they'd showered and used deoderant aswell! that may stop the odd complaint we get every now and then from passengers complaining the person next to them stinks!

It takes all sorts! It's what makes the world go around and keeps it interesting!

Oz

[ManfredvonRichthofen]

de burcs

It is precisely that kind of attitude which I am afraid gives some of your number a bad name. I think you prove my point.

“It’s not MY fault”. Well, no it isn’t, but if an aircraft is late in and you need to leave late it is, not matter how remotely, your company’s “fault”. You represent that company. Take it on the chin.
If I displayed that attitude to my clients I’d be out on my arse in a second. And believe me I regularly get worse abuse than what’s been posted on here and it is never usually through any “fault” of my own.

[A2QFI]

OZcabincrew. It is love that makes the world go round and marriage that makes it flat!

[sukigirl]

Chill out manfred, they are just having a laugh. With your last outburst me thinks you are not the nicer type of pax that you like to think you are.

[sinala1]

Well, no it isn’t, but if an aircraft is late in and you need to leave late it is, not matter how remotely, your company’s “fault”.
With all due respect I disagree - and comments like that make you appear to be someone who has never been involved with aviation in any form other than as a passenger (this may or may not be correct).

Infinite numbers of factors could result in a delay (eg a/c 1 on finals for landing, a/c from opposing airline rejects take off on runway, a/c 1 has to go around and gets stuck in holding queue, lands 1/2 hour late due to go-around and holding queue, a/c 1 then subsequently delayed - in no way at all a/c 1 or a/c 1's company's fault). There is a difference between accepting blame or 'fault', and doing the best you can to deal with the fallout of a situation that is completely out of yours and your company's control.

[DeBurcs]

Well if it isn't my fault we're late, I certainly don't apologise for the delay.

But if it is possibly something to do with me, eg:

-Spent too long chatting with the off-going lads or

-Nice-looking hosty in front galley who wanted to yack when I should've been paying more attention to the airways clearance or something or

-Was goofing off in the briefing hut for longer than appropriate or

-Could've gone faster in a short-turn-around and ended up being the one we were all waiting for, or

-Whatever....

Well, then, in that case I simply blame the ground staff. When the door is closed and they're standing around the bridge like stale bottles of ****, they have absolutely no idea what we're up to. So why NOT blame them???

It's kind of like that game-show "The Weakest Link". I'm hardly going to pick myself, now am I?????

Another classic is to make a PA blaming the last few late paxes as you see them shuffling down the aerobridge toward the a/c.

:ok:

[feet dry]

De Burcs

You are a credit to yourself, your airline, your industry and the human race.....well done stout fellow.

[EAAFA]

How's this for rude? A colleague with a receding hairline was handed a hair replacement therapy brochure by a passenger during disembarkation!:O

[Sailorgal]

This doesn't really fall under "unpleasant" pax remarks, but i have to share as it's the best laugh i've had for ages..

the airline i check in for gets a LOT of excess baggage problems, so it's something we're used to dealing with all the time. The staff member next to me was checking in a pax in economy tonight and the pax had 19kg of excess baggage. He was very surprised at this, despite it being pointed out as usual that the baggage limits are clearly printed on the ticket, and the airline allowance is significantly above the standard IATA limit, blah blah etc etc. What made me double over laughing was when he indignantly suggested - in all seriousness i swear - that he therefore ought to be upgraded to business class as he needed to check in more baggage than the other economy pax....

[TSR2]

No doubt about it, there are a lot of obnoxious passengers these days ............ but ............. I would suggest that the overwhelming majority are decent and friendly who do not always get the respect they deserve from cabin crew ............. just as the overwhelming majority of efficient, friendly and professional cabin crew are not always recognised as such by the travelling public.

The underlying tone of some of the comments on this thread however, clearly shows that there are cabin crew out there who have a negative attitude to customer service and who are blatently unsuited to the job. Thankfully they are the minority.

[rej]

First of all I would like to state that I have yet to experience rude cabin crew. I have flown with many different airlines and have always been provided with good, friendly service. One thing which does irritate me are parents who allow their children to continually use the 'call button' (sorry, I don't know its technical term) every few minutes do demand a drink etc.

However, the main point of my post is to add my view on the reason why pax are unpleasant to cabin crew. Do we (and I mean we as a nation) in the UK have a tendency to look upon service providers, whether they be cabin crew, restaurant staff, transport drivers etc as second class citizens? In my experience, other countries such as the USA, Canada and some european countries realize that in a society that encouranges quality of life and the pursuit of leisure time, those who provide the service are entitled to respect. After all without them we could hardly enjoy our leisure time as much.

Next time pax are rude, politely state that the cabin toilets are u/s and invite them to use the outside ones!

[apaddyinuk]

Rej you make a very valid point. However I fly all over the world I must admit, the further west you go the worst it gets....Im talking about americans here! They tend to be the worst (in my experience), Brits are generally easier to deal with. Travel East towards Pakistan, India, Asia and the passengers are wonderful and polite in return. Even further east, if a passenger is not happy they will still remain polite, they wont fly with the airline again but they wont be rude to the crew!!!

[cwatters]

I can understand why some pax arrive on the plane slightly miffed though...

We had to make a transatlantic flight with 4 week old twins once. At check-in on the outbound leg we were told we could use air miles to upgrade our return flight to business class. When we came to make the return this was denied so we paid quite a large sum to upgrade to business class (I recall it was more than our car was worth at the time). What really annoyed us was that on bording the plane we found business class was almost empty.

Oh and don't get me started on cots.

[exmax]

I remember I was on board a flight to BEY, it was one of my last ones as I was leaving to go 'the worlds favourite'. Anyway, the aircraft was late departing and of course, apologised profusely and assured the pax that we would do our very best to make up time/make the flight as enjoyable as possible. With that, he told me that he hoped the airline would go bust. I didn't dignify that comment with a response, it was downright rude and uncalled for!

I recently worked for a call centre for an airline and one can imagine the abuse an employee would receive from irate pax:rolleyes:

[DeBurcs]

UK Paddy, that sounds like a beautiful dream you were having. Alas, i operate into those regions and have never experienced the "wonderful and polite" passengers to which you refer.

As for call centre employee abuse, that's probably true but I've no dout it is more than offset by the sheer grief and rage those staff and the very system inspire in customers who are left to navigate the options and endless, enforced holds and other forms of deprivation of satisfaction.

Ho hum, nothing will change......:rolleyes:

[OZcabincrew]

cwatters,

I don't mean any offence by this, but just my opinion. As much as i don't have anything against children, i don't think children under a certain age should be allowed to travel in the business class cabin. Most passengers pay A LOT of money to travel business class and shouldn't have to listen to children screaming and crying and running up and down the aisles etc (with some parents seeing no problem with letting their children do this). I'm aware that the parents of these children probably pay A LOT of money aswell, but i think until children are old enough to be able to know what's right and wrong then they shouldn't be in the j/class cabin.

Oz

[apaddyinuk]

Deburcs, It was when I was flying for Qatar so I assure you it was no dream, simply a long nightmare.....let me clarify, they were rude to any crewmember who came from the east, nice as pie to me!!!! And in the airline I fly with now, well they are not half as bad as westerners!!!!!

[exmax]

After years of flying, it certainly did help working in a call centre, why? Well because irate pax warm to you when you actually know what you're doing about when it comes to issues relating to 'in the air'. Some of them think you're stupid and have never been on a plane before, then you tell them of your experience relating to their problem and they are then your friends. As for navigating around telephone options and 'holding online' - you deal with it on a case by case basis and use humour (where arppropriate) and add some personality. I can assure you, it works.

Of course, there are just some people you can't please no matter how hard you try but similiar principles apply when you fly as crew aswell.

[flightclub]

on a flight from Milan to Cancun, shortly before landing, a pax asked one of the flight attendants for more orange juice.
When my colleague replied that it was not possible anymore due to our final approach, he told her: you awfull bit**
Her reply was: bit**? yes..may be... Awfull? I don't think so.
This actually happened a year ago!

[EurofleetLHR]

Yes, Manfred - l quite agree that our approach may sometimes be a factor to the attitude of a customer .... but I think here we are discussing the numerous times when we have to bear the brunt of outrage when all we have done is be civil, and have probably been asked by the customer to perform a task that is quite impossible at that exact time.!!!!

Sadly, a minority of customers think that their airline ticket has actually bought them the whole airline.

I have witnessed customers going ballistic because a colleague could not "magic up" a freshly brewed cup of tea from the rubbish cart they were manouevering down the aisle, have an armful of trays and are physically unable to take the empty glass being thrust at them in the aisle, or are expected to get a 15kg wheelie bag that has been "smuggled" on board and the overhead lockers are already full of them !!!!!!

I am not condoning that smart or sarchastic retorts should be administered in every case - but l would hazard a guess that most of us, whatever job we do, have said the wrong thing at the wrong time.

As an aside, my favourite quote (which sadly, I never witnessed) was made to a gentleman who, when told that his handbaggage was far too big for the locker and should be checked-in to the hold, suggested that the female flight attendant "shove it up her a**e". Calmly, and politely, she knelt down beside the pax, and replied "I'd love to sir, but I already have one up there from the inbound flight"

[justwannabeapilot]

I have been reading all the posts with interest ..... having been both pax and CC I can appreciate both sides of the proverbial coin.

There are unfotunately bad apples in both groups. Some pax who are rude and obnoxious and equally some CC who are ignorant and impatient.

I do agree with some of the quotes dealing with verbal abuse though and stand by the notion that regardless of the pax's reasons there can be NO justification for personal abuse of any kind. That said sometimes (and I am speaking from experience of observing these things first hand) some CC have been asking for it by goading pax and not taking the time to simply listen and find out the problems/compalaints before assuming the worst and just categorizing the pax as difficult/obnoxious/rude etc etc.
Sometimes all it takes is for someone to stop and listen .... most pax just want to get things off their chest and then calm down and come to an amicable resolution.

My feeling (and its only a personal opinion) is no matter what anyone says I simply kill them with kindness. The more they rant and rave the more I compliment them and inform them I will do my best to resolve their complaints. IMHO this approach has never failed because as I said before once people have ranted and raved and seen that I am not going to "rise to their taunts" they soon calm down and appreciate my efforts. Of course should the confrontation become physical then boundaries have been overstepped and I have no hesitation in ensuring that the fullest force of the law is brought to bear.

As someone much wiser than me once said : "There would be no war if man refused to fight!"