Discrimination on Boarding / Additional Travel ID

AlphaQ

EASYJET REPLY:

Case to be investigated further with local airport and staff

The thought of having our passenger's face such difficulty is in fact a terrible thought and we assure you this matter will be dealt with.

I can confirm that I have raised a discrimination case for yourself with the airport and had forward your complaint to our airport for investigation.

We do expect feedback as soon as possible but I do not want to set a time frame I cannot commit to, but once again this is considered a serious matter so feedback will be a priority.

I have also created a case for our correspondence, reference xxxxxxx.

As soon as I receive a reply, you will be the first one to know.

I would like to thank you for your patience in advance while we are handling your query.

For anyone dealing with a complaint I would recommend using Resolver (.co.uk) which is a MoneySavingExpert tool to help customers go through complaint procedures. So far it seems to work rather well

mgdavid

AlphaQ wrote: »

....... A passport is deemed to be a sufficient travel document and I do not usually travel with other documents (if I lose my wallet, get mugged etc. I'd like to have some sort of ID somewhere)............

anyone else notice the stunning lack of logic here?
OP - if you lose your passport you'd be best to have some other form of ID about your person - like most other people do. Or better still, a scan of the passport on email or phone, or even just a photocopy.

lush_walrus

Don't understand the issue here. Rudeness of staff, I am yet to come across a gate attendant for Easy Jet that isn't, shall we say lacking polish. I rarely choose to travel with them, however if forced through destination, I expect a very basic level of politeness in amongst their very pressured turn around times.

Additional ID, I wouldn't mind at all other than a rummage in q bag or wallet to find something doesn't everyone carry something of use for that purpose while travelling?

eDicky

AlphaQ wrote: »

- also do you think that a forged passport would pass through border control?

So you did in fact pass through border control and have your passport examined by Police aux Frontièr prior to arriving at the boarding gate? I don't think you confirmed this previously and it seems a relevant point.

Interestingly, several people are reporting here that border control is not always, or no longer, in place between some Schengen and non-Schengen countries, despite the normal requirements under the treaty. So it's possible that there is no check at Nantes, apart from that of the airline staff.

Even when there is official border control leaving France for the UK, it may be considered by airlines to be only cursory, with French authorities putting no particular effort into preventing illegal migrants' attempts to depart their country and enter Britain (as we can see is the case in Calais). This would help explain the extra checks by airline staff in any slightly dubious case.

However, if the gate staff's attitude in this case was completely devoid of respect and politeness from the first instance of their request for additional ID, that is indeed out of line and the complaint is justified. As mentioned above, some easyJet staff are particularly uncouth - but then again so are many of the passengers they have to deal with.

mgdavid

AlphaQ wrote: »

........ I passed my passport to the member of staff, who then requested a second proof of identity (in addition to a perfectly valid EU passport that had just been checked by the French border control). When I inquired why, .............

going back to the OP, I now see where they went wrong.
Why do a tiny minority of people find it necessary to make waves when dealing with officials instead of just producing the 2nd ID and getting on with it, getting on the plane as efficiently as possible?

FBaby

AlphaQ wrote: »

EASYJET REPLY:

Case to be investigated further with local airport and staff



For anyone dealing with a complaint I would recommend using Resolver (.co.uk) which is a MoneySavingExpert tool to help customers go through complaint procedures. So far it seems to work rather well

I'm confused. You say your issue was with the rudeness of the check in staff i.e Easy Jet staff so why would they pass it on to the airport? I can see how they have already decided to pass the buck hence the very sympathetic tone. I expect they will come back to say airport is taking no responsibility and therefore they had to close the case....

k3lvc

FBaby wrote: »

I'm confused. You say your issue was with the rudeness of the check in staff i.e Easy Jet staff so why would they pass it on to the airport? I can see how they have already decided to pass the buck hence the very sympathetic tone. I expect they will come back to say airport is taking no responsibility and therefore they had to close the case....

Because they're highly unlikely to be Easyjet staff - it may say Easyjet on their badges/uniforms but at the gate they're more likely to be from one of the handling agents in which case if my experience with BA is an example the OP is now going to fall between a rock and a hard place. EZY will say we'll pass your complaint on but can't advise you of any outcome, handling agent will say they didn't have a contract with OP and therefore they will have no direct communication.


OP - as others have said just suck it up - if you'd actually been denied boarding you may have a case but you weren't and wasting time/energy on this isn't going to do your blood pressure or future travels any good

The thought of having our passenger's face such difficulty is in fact a terrible thought and we assure you this matter will be dealt with.

Very surprised that phraseology such as this would be used by EZY - especially on a subject that may have security/safety aspects. The whole response from them is far from believable and throws real doubt on your story

Nick_C

I have often travelled with friends who have EU (non UK) passports issued in London. They often attract close scrutiny, particularly so when they don't match the normal traveller profile for that route. For example, my Portuguese partner gets a lot of scrutiny if we are returning from France, but none if we are returning from Portugal. I would say that the small minority of people who were not French or British flying from Nantes to the UK would be more likely to be singled out for further checks.

When we have (politely and respectfully) questioned the extra checks with UK immigration in the past, we have been told that "foreign" passports issued in the UK are more likely to be forged or stolen. I've seen immigration officers try to pick the picture off my OH's passport in the past. My OH took to using his national ID card when travelling in the EU, as it attracted less problems than his passport.

Airport security has been tightened up recently, and understandably so. I flew from LHR to the States in December. I have a UK passport. At check in, I was asked

- how I had travelled to Heathrow that morning
- what was the make of the car
- what was the colour of the car
- where I had travelled from
- what I did for a living.

My OH was asked where he worked, what his job was, how he travelled to work, what station he travels to work from, and who the train operating company is!!!

I think in these difficult times, we just have to accept that security has to be more rigorous. You will make life easier for everyone if you just co-operate.

Archergirl

I better take notice of the colour of our taxi next week.
They can ask me as much as they like, they certainly will when we arrive in the USA.

Yolina

Nick_C wrote: »

When we have (politely and respectfully) questioned the extra checks with UK immigration in the past, we have been told that "foreign" passports issued in the UK are more likely to be forged or stolen. I've seen immigration officers try to pick the picture off my OH's passport in the past.

Yeah I used to get that too with my French passport issued by the Consulate in London. Though now that my old non-biometric one finally expired last year, I can just use the automatic gate thingies with my shiny new one (plus anyway it's not like they can pick at the picture on a biometric passport :rotfl: )