Crap Customer Service - Manchester Airport


Stephen Coates' Website - stevecoates.net

Created: October 2014


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First up in my new series on crap customer service, is Manchester Airport (in the north of England). I recently visited there on my way to Amsterdam (in The Netherlands), where I went for a short holiday.

At Amsterdam Schipol airport, the Dutch security staff, who worked for the very poorly regarded G4S company, spoke good English, were polite, and carried out their silly and pointless duties with respect, and a smile.

We should be astonished that they actually made G4S look good.

Of course, at Manchester Airport (in England), I was served by a security person who was rude and whose English was rather poor.

The particular person I saw could not come up with meaningful requests or questions, and seemed unable to understand what I said to him.

Manchester Airport's personnel department should remember that here in England, we speak English, and we are normally polite to our paying customers.

This seems to be a common problem in the so-called 'security' industry. Just last month, I went to Sheffield Magistrates Court, to be greeted by a G4S person who couldn't speak much Engligh. The same situation occurred at Meadowhall Railway Station a few months ago when the Northern Rail 'revenue protection inspector' lacked fluency in English.

Here is Manchester Airport's response. No mention of English language fluency, but apparently they are expected to be polite, and there are supervisors who have a different uniform and are located on a raised podium.