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Illegal and improper fines and charges
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Eugene Gold Thursday 9 September 2010 |
When I was at school, only the headmaster could cane you. Of course, you could still get a cuff around the ears from a policeman, and Dads of that era still tended to be a bit corporal in their punishment. But, it was well ordered, usually deserved and you knew whom to respect.
Equally tellingly, my headmaster used to say “this hurts me as much as it hurts you”. He was wrong of course, but years later I do understand what he was getting at and just how disappointing I must have been as a pupil. One thing is for sure, he was not getting a commission on the punishments that he dished out.
Roll forward forty odd years and it seems that anyone can dish out fines and many are on an ‘earn-as-you-fine’ bonus scheme. So now, punishment is neither fair nor deserved and there are not many people left to respect.
This rant is prompted by the news that bmibaby have been caught cheating on baggage charges but it is also a delayed reaction to the nonsense of rail passengers being ‘fined’ for getting off the train two stations too early.
What both these stories have in common is that employees of ordinary companies have assumed the power to impose what they call fines on their customers and to earn extra commission as they do so.
How can this be? How can we, the British public, have allowed ourselves to be treated in this way?
In the bmibaby case, they stipulated maximum sizes for carry-on luggage with over-sized bags needing to be stowed in the hold at additional cost.
So, here is the scam. You provide a measuring device at the checkin desk that measures correctly and another at the gate, which is a bit smaller. The unsuspecting customer passes the first check but, at the second, is told that he will have to pay £60 to have the bag stowed or miss the flight. Unsurprisingly, a lot of people have paid up.
Bmibaby say that it was all a mistake. Staff whistleblowers say that the problem has been known about for a long time. I hate to say this but, if you are getting a cut on the income from the mistake, there is perhaps less urgency in getting it fixed.
Perhaps more worryingly, just how difficult can it be to have measuring devices that measure correctly? Why are they different and whose job was it to check? Are the weighing scales used for excess luggage charges right? Or is the same person responsible for those as well?
My local fishmonger has regular visits from the weights and measures people to check his scales. If he were found to be under weighing and overcharging, he would be fined by a properly authorised body, in accordance with the law.
I sincerly hope that they now take a close look at bmibaby.
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Jenny Smith, Brighton 11 September 2010, 04:00PM | |
How can they get away with this? If it is really true that they have smaller boxes at the gate, then someone in the company must have known and simply allowed it to go on, and presumably carried on getting the bonus of whatever. | |
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Peter Barber 11 September 2010, 06:54PM | |
This is obscene and it seems that the managers knew about it. Does no-one check these things? is it really that simple to set up a scam like this? Even if this was not intentional, it has been going on long enough for the company to be guilty of theft. | |
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They caught me too. This is criminal and I want to get my money back. I am writing to the Company Secretary putting in a demand for a refund. I will post a comment when I get an answer. | |
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Fred Carter, Birmingham 11 September 2010, 08:15PM | |
Oh yes this is true, I have been caught by it. They told me that I must have added things to my bad but I knew that I hadn't. I had no choice but to pay. It was either that or miss the plane. How do I get my money back? | |
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I also read the story about the couple getting charged extra for getting of the train too early. How have we become a nation that is so easily conned? I really do not think these people have the right to 'fine' us. I think that is something that only the courts can do. | |
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Cheap Flights, http://www.directtraveller.com London 16 September 2010, 08:12PM | |
This should be a eyeopener for every one.to get rid of these things government should take appropriate measures to sort out of these things which are some what difficult to bare for a common man. | |
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Louis Perry, Southampton 17 September 2010, 12:39PM | |
This is a disgrace and I actually wonder how many other airlines are scamming us too? I agree with Jenny from Brighton, it is theft. | |
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I really cannot understand how this situation has been allowed to develop. If we assume that it was a mistake (read massive management cock-up) then one would have thought that they would have taken some very public action to fix the problem. | |
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Christine Pennington 4 October 2010, 10:06AM | |
There are too many people that have 'power' over our lives. Tis ranges from council officials who forget that we employ them to help manage our communities though to the 'customer service' people in call centres that make our lives a misery. | |
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Maurice Blencowe, N Wales 2 November 2010, 10:16AM | |
I have just come across this website.It is a fundamental of British justice that only a Court of Law can impose fines.So how is it that all these petty organisations from Counclis downwards are trying it on without their actions being challenged by the so called " Ministry of Justice"?.As regards the BMI fiddle over baggage surely this is fraud and the Managing Director ( or whoever the highest officer is in the firm) should be personally prosecuted and,ideally,jailed.Guaranteed you would soon see a change in procedures. | |
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Hilary, Milton Keynes 18 November 2010, 12:12PM | |
Damn right deception. I have been one of the innocent travellers that have been ripped off. What is this country coming to? | |
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Zoe, Kent 4 April 2011, 01:58PM | |
Damn right criminal. Once again the paying customer is ripped off! I would be interested to see if Andie gets a reply, nut I bet they probably wont even have the decency to reply! | |
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