your luggage is overweight - step up to the excess fee.

angel

A couple of times I've noticed that the scales weren't set to zero before putting my luggage on, both at Gatwick and Calgary. I didn't question it as I was under the weight, I did find it odd though.

I hadn't thought about it since but this thread has reminded me.

Sam_Bee

Quite simply if you need to ensure you are both under the weight restrictions, then make sure you pack your girlfriends / wifes bags for her.

Remove her 17 dresses and matching shoes apparently required for a weekend trip, the family-size packs of shampoos / conditioners, travel irons (plural), hairdryers, complete works of Tolstoy and the lucky horseshoe, and I guarantee you will be comfortably under the weight limit.

brodev

Sam_Bee wrote: »

Quite simply if you need to ensure you are both under the weight restrictions, then make sure you pack your girlfriends / wifes bags for her.

Remove her 17 dresses and matching shoes apparently required for a weekend trip, the family-size packs of shampoos / conditioners, travel irons (plural), hairdryers, complete works of Tolstoy and the lucky horseshoe, and I guarantee you will be comfortably under the weight limit.

You will probably have an extra seat as well as she won't be able to travel without these essentials

ynot2005

bagand96 wrote: »

Can I ask how many were wrong in the other direction, i.e. favouring the passengers?

That seems like a gaping whole in the report? I would expect that sentence to read something more like "62 out of 321 scales were in the favour of the airline, while XX were in the favour of the passenger..."

The fact that this is not even mentioned says to me that it has just been left out... and for a reason. maybe it might just show that just as many favoured the passengers, as these bits of equipment will have a deviation BOTH ways?

Or am I a cynic?

i tend to agree with you bagand, in ryanairs situation they dont charge for being over 15 kg and under 16kg, well i have not known them to charge for half a kilo, so potentially millions of travellers are getting away with excess fees., are those scales that are wrong adjusted to catch those who know they are under 1 kilo over the limit on the low costs desks?

the beauty of ryanairs boarding policy and the scrum/mayhem that occurs especially abroad where the mob is on the verge of an all out fist fight whilst trying to get on first , means that overweight bags and oversized ones pass through with no problem

fly hand luggage only ryanair, you know it makes sense

i think on the basis of my own experience, the weights business has been in my favour so many times with just being overweight and under 1 kilko, or the check in staff abroad cant be bothered to charge you for say 1 half kilos over.

its hit and miss , bad scales cost you as the report says , and all those wrongly adjusted in your favour benefit you

fuss about nothing

mogwai

chuckley wrote: »

hows that when they show the scale number facing you? if it says anything above 0, its the customers fault for accepting if its over.

i dont believe any if it to be true.

I think the point is the '0' is not set to true zero..weighing machines have to be calibrated, its not like the machine 'knows' what 0 is.

headpin

If these scales are being used to charge for excess baggage then they need to be calibrated and tested at regular intervals to comply with weights and measures legislation.

If these are tested and checked at regular intrevals by Trading Standards then there should be no problem. Clearly at Gatwick there is though. In that case Trading Standards should have put a prohibition n otice on using those scales until they were checked , recalibrated as necessary and certified accordingly.

This is no different to getting 0.98 of a litre at a petrol pump when the display and charge made is for 1 litre. There is legislation covering this and Trading Standards clearly need to get on top of what looks like a massive problem. Additionally, I would suggest that check in counter scales are required to clearly display when they were last checked, calibrated and tested for accuracy and when they are next due for the same.

MrSmartprice

headpin wrote: »

If these scales are being used to charge for excess baggage then they need to be calibrated and tested at regular intervals to comply with weights and measures legislation.

If these are tested and checked at regular intrevals by Trading Standards then there should be no problem. Clearly at Gatwick there is though. In that case Trading Standards should have put a prohibition n otice on using those scales until they were checked , recalibrated as necessary and certified accordingly.

The issue with scales such as this is whether or not they are 'in use for trade'. If they are just checking that bags are below a certain weight, or to work out the total baggage load on a plane, they are not. But when they are used to charge passengers by weight, then they certainly are. This is now clearly the case in all airports.

There is no obligation for scales to be checked and stamped by TSOs if they are not in use for trade. Once they are, they must comply with the legally set out standard for weighing machines, and bear a stamp of approval. If a TSO finds it is inaccurate it will be rejected and the stamp obliterated until repaired and retested. It is a criminal offence to use such a machine, and the scale can be seized and destroyed.

My advice is that if there is an issue with any scale in a UK airport, report it to the local TSD, quoting the check-in desk number. They are obliged to go and check it. TSDs generally have reduced the number of staff they have to check weighing and measuring equipment and it gets far lower priority than it used to. This is largely down to the fact that it is seen as mundane, and they only get TV coverage for the 'sexy' stuff like counterfeiting etc. And TV time means funding due to publicity-seeking councillors.:rolleyes:

As a former TSO, in the game for 25 years, it is my view that the priorities are hopelessly wrong. There is far to much effort put into protecting big business, and not enough into protecting the consumer. But maybe that's for another day.....:o

LesD

nearlyrich wrote: »

I have noticed that a lot of the package carriers have reduced the weight from 20kg to 15kg and then add on a £10 charge for an extra 5kg...makes the holiday look cheaper till you add all the extras on.

Apart from Ryanair, can we start a list of other carriers at 15kg please.

daveyjp

LesD wrote: »

Apart from Ryanair, can we start a list of other carriers at 15kg please.

No, because as soon as you get a list it's out of date. Budget airlines change the allowance with alarming regularity. Jet2 was 20, then dropped to 15kg, then back to 20kg now I think it's 18kg!

Only advice is to check the limits before booking.

LesD

daveyjp wrote: »

No, because as soon as you get a list it's out of date. Budget airlines change the allowance with alarming regularity. Jet2 was 20, then dropped to 15kg, then back to 20kg now I think it's 18kg!

Only advice is to check the limits before booking.

Now, you see, there's some useful information (I've just checked and Jet2 is 17kg.). Personally, I'm not aware of any other low-cost carrier that is, or ever has been, other than 20kg.