Heathrow Airport
reviews and complaints

Dear Sir/Madam,

We were flew to Tel Aviv from London Heathrow on LY316 24.8.2022 at 15:15.

One suitcase had been packed with dirty walking boots (there was a toiletry bottle in each shoe) and each boot was placed in a separate plastic bag as the shoes were dirty. When we opened the case it was in disarray. All the shoes were out of the bags the toiletries were thrown haphazardly in the case and a brand new football was missing. I am now not sure if anything else was taken as I do not have a full list of what was packed.

There was no note in the case that it had been opened by customs. The cases were in our hand only 20 minutes after the flight landed in Tel Aviv and would not have made it to the conveyer belt in time had someone opened and trashed the case. Therefore this happened at Heathrow.

Is there a problem with baggage handlers taking items from cases? Could customs have opened the case and taken the ball without leaving a note?

This is not the first time that we have had an issue at Heathrow. My husband travelled from Washington Dallas Wednesday March 7th 2018 at 10:30pm on British Airways BA0292 his luggage was opened at Heathrow and bottles of Maple syrup taken out of bags thrown in the case, one broke and seeped over his case and suit and 2 new shirts which were ruined. No-one took responsibility – a complaint was made to the TSA but no damage was paid for.

Is this a common issue in Heathrow?

Please advise re compensation for the football and the dirt from the boots spread all over the inside of the suitcase and regarding future travel through Heathrow Airport.

Lisa Revivi

[protected]@gmail.com

This trip was the worst trip we EVER had, there was NO Air Conditioner in the entire Airport, we had we juggle and run with the kids fast to catch a BUS that had no AC as well, wait a long time for the Bus, then when we got to the gate, they had NO AC, no Water given away by the staff members, the few vending machines had no water, no businesses around to get water for the kids. A REAL NIGHTMARE, we will AVOID hEATHROW on our next trips for a long time (forever, and tell everyone we know how poor was heathrow services compared to any other Airport/terminals we have been through by missing the basics like Air Conditioner for the Passengers, adding to that the poor service of BA as well. that was ridiculous and unacceptable. this same message will be posted on all Social media, and other feedback websites. Never heathrow AGAIN. (the H of heathrow is Not in Capital letter in purpose, just expressing how mad we were and how bad the service was). Thank you

Date: 04th July

Time: 18:20

Place: Heathrow Terminal 3

Airline: Virgin Atlantic VS354

Booking reference : EL58CX

Hi Team

With regret and disappointment, I writing for my mother (aged 65) who met with an accident by falling to the ground while waiting for her wheelchair assitance due to the chair breaking. She suffered from back and knee injuries and couldnt walk, post the paramedics examination had to rush to A&E for urgent care. I took her to Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading wherein she was checked and fortunately post Xray examinations there wasnt a Fracture, though as the back, right knee had severe inflammation and swelling and was advised bed rest and pain killers and OT assessment the following day

The Ortho team assessed her for mobility and was advised walker support and rest for couple of days till she can walk by herself confidently and wasnt fit to travel till then. She is still unwell, limited mobility, though recovering.

My daugther (15 yo) tried to fly from Heathrow to Madrid (Spain) using the unaccompanied minor service contracted through the airline (IBERIA). The airport staff providing this service were extremely unprofessional and due to their ineptitude my daughter finally missed her initial flight to Spain as well as her subsequent connection with another flight at the destination airport.

The person who performed this accompaniment service, and to whom I had the opportunity to remind by phone how important it was not to miss the initial flight, since this would cause my daughter to have to sleep at the destination airport, which being an minor is strictly prohibited by spanish law, neglected her functions and left my daughter abandoned in the middle of the airport so she finally missed her flight.

I cannot imagine what kind of staff they designate for this type of service, but what is certain is that this lack of professionalism has led to a lot of inconveniences both to my daughter and to ourselves that we have been forced to fly to Madrid to be able to accompany her there until the departure of the next flight, almost 16 hours later, the next morning.

I travelled with Malaysian Airlines from Heathrow on 6th February this year with my wife and her 2 children. We knew our luggage would be overweight. The 4 of us all had a suitcase for the hold and carry on luggage plus laptops , my wife's handbag etc. They weighed every single piece of luggage we had and it cost us £300 excess. As if that wasn't bad enough after we paid another lady came over and said our hand luggage looked heavy and wanted to weigh everything again..I told her we had just paid excess but she knew better..eventually she let us through.

While checking in they told us my wife and kids needed insurance but we had been told because they are Malaysian they didn't need it..we were flying to Langkowi.They insisted so we had to go online and buy insurance but when we got to Malaysia they said we didn't need it..So we spent about £500 before we left the airport

Terminal 5, Flight AA137, 21 May 2022 11:40AM, was boarding plane when I got called aside as I had been "randomly" selected for security screening. Out of approx 300 passengers a few of us were selected and patted down and all the the items in the hand held bags taken out and thoroughly checked. All the other passengers of similar age to me were not selected, I was the only person of color in that age. They offered no explanation as to why I was selected and what the purpose of the check was (I had already been through the 3D X-ray scanner earlier). I was expected to believe because they had badges (they were third party contractors ) that they had authority to perform this additional security and they did not deem it necessary to prove it. They wouldn't say who requested it and what they hoped to achieve by it. They wouldn't entertain a complaint and gave no information as to how I could. I believed I was racially profiled as to why I as chosen. Its a pattern I have seen over the 5 odd years during my 4 flights a year and is most frustrating and an ordeal. If they the airport/airline are that concerned for security then they should perform additional security checks on all the passengers. I am getting fed up of the ritual humiliation of being treated differently at this airport.

Sunday 22/5

Arrived at POD parking at 13:30 to find PODs are not running.

One of the main advantages of PODs and the premoum paid for the service is to avoid Havign

1) wait for a bus

2) get stuck in traffic

3) get transferred to T5 in 2 minutes

4) the transfer bus provided had no luggage storage and my suitcases went flying.

5) transfer bus service running every 15mins - not ok should be every 5mins to deliver a similar POD service,

This really is substandard service and a substandard productwhen PODS are out of action.

I also saw an engineer who said there is EMERGENCY remedial work needed on the PODs that LHR are delaying investing in but quite happy to charge full POD parking fees. It’s not good enough. Why wasn’t this needed overhaul done during lockdowns ?

Booking reg WN22EKK

Gareth Roberts

+[protected]

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am writing to you to raise an issue about: Airport

The issue that I have experienced was: I was at the airport and the people were so rude tl me and my husband. We went to the bathroom and I was sprayed in the face by a faulty sanitizer pump. I washed my eyes and face immediately. My glasses were covered as well in sanitizer. I asked someone who worked there for a first aid station. She said to go to Boots pharmacy. I was told no first aid or eyewash station existed. This was not true information. We had to reschedule our flight. We had a different connection which got us in late and held up in customs. So we had to get a hotel and pay ourselves. Nobody was helpful at all. I asked for a refund since December and they have denied me that an an apology. My purse was left in a taxi in Dallas. So I no longer have a receipt. I provided a proof of the pharmacy bag and the proof of the incident pics. They have held me up for a receipt. They just asked for it in April after wasting so much time. What confuses me is they have proof this happened but will not reimburse me for my troubles. I already am upset because we had to travel during a time I was going through a miscarriage and these people have no compassion or professional skills. I really want an apology for the issue and the sanitizer machine being faulty.

It occurred on: 2021-12-16

This meant that I had to reschedule my flight. I had a different connection and ended up needing a hotel costing $80. I had to buy my own first aid supplies costing $13.77.

I was only requesting a formal apology letter and $13.77 refund.

I look forward to your prompt response on this matter. As recommended by Trading Standards, I would like to keep a complete record of my case, so please reply to this email address.

8:30 am. Line 4 (north) screening. One lady screener diverted a whole slew of bags to be screened manually. It took 20 minutes to get to my bag. Then, they took everything out of my bag. They were particularly interested in my one laptop, my two iPads and my Kindle. Oh, they were also interested in some forceps that are used for tweezers.. Not scissors, forceps. All of these passed a 10 minute long inspection. I am traveling a lot these days. All of the United States, Asia and Europe. I have the same bag, and no one tags it for a manual screening . No one. Clearly, the world is not allowing a bunch of terrorists on airplanes. For some reason, however, Heathrow has taken on themselves to have either bad equipment or bad screeners or both. This airport is one of my least favorite when it comes to security. Today, however, took the cake.

Myself and partner were transferring from our flight to our glasgow flight from Heathrow airport flight number BA1496.

Going through to have our hand luggage checked I was asked to step aside due to having my phone in my hand (completely forgot to place in box). I was then required to place phone in box which I did and apologised for absentmindedly forgetting. I then stepped through the scanner again to no consequence but your 2 younger (clearly untrained staff proceeded to search which again I was annoyed but accepted but I did specify to be careful as I had recently had emergency surgery on my stomach for her to proceed to wave her wand like a 5 year old child playing dress up and knocked my stomach to which I stated again to be careful but yet again she did this. She informed me that I may have to take my protective cover off my surgery area to which 1. Absolutely no chance I had been scanned numerous times 2. In front of other passengers absolutely not!. Her and her male counterpart found this quite funny. They also humiliated a young child who had a colostomy bag in front of everyone (her carer was was irate but the young girl looked terrified and upset. I understand the need for security but surely there is also the need for passenger dignity. The young gentleman that was behind and pulling out items and swapping for drugs I believe took joy in opening a perfume that an elderly lady had purchased from duty free, again I understand the need for security but it was the twisted grin the gentleman had. If I’m honest up until that point it was stress free but because of your 3 incompetent staff members I am humiliated and also sore from that young ladies actions. The older staff were compassionate and kind but they 3 were absolutely despicable. I want to raise a complaint and I strongly recommend that these staff members be given the appropriate training to deal with situations like this in future and not do it from what I could see out of boredom and fun. I don’t think any passenger was impressed passing through here. It has soured my whole experience with your airport and I can honestly say I hope I do not need to use the services of Heathrow Airport again!.

During security checks at Lane 6, the security officer confiscated a plastic gun toy that I have bought to my son, it was clearly a plastic toy - not even imitating a true gun and I told him specifically that Austrian Airlines doesn't count gun toys as forbidden item, he insisted thought on confiscating it and told me to speak to airline desk and put it with my checked luggage, I didn't have checked luggage in the first place

He wouldn't even tell me how name

BA317 from Seville. 4 April 2022. Standing in baggage hall, waiting for bags for 50 minutes, so far. Wby are you unable to inform pasengers of the cause of delay - or what you are doing about it?

I have lost a baggage at Heathrow airport terminal 5 or at parking level 3. I arraived via BA 138 flight number on 5th Feb at around 7 AM. After immigration and colecting the baggage I took a cab from Level 3 parking.

The bag is a small hand bagage suitcase of dark blue colour and has got all my original certificates. Incase found please keep me informed at [protected]@gmail.com or call me at 0044 [protected]

Hi. I'm raining a complaint about the multi faith prayer room being closed, not in excess of 5 months.

This is beyond a joke that our country's main international terminal has been closed for this duration when the rest of the works prayer room are open and managed safely.

Please get this sorted now as it is a national embarrassment and highlights the incompetence of the management of the airport.
Regards
Faraz

Dear Sir or Madam
Etihad Airways
London
During the 15th of January at 7:15 pm I arrive at Heathrow T2 airport from London in Underground Service which took longer than normal to get to the airport. When I arrive I try to locate the people from the Etihad Airways airline but No one was there to guide me and catch my plane on time. I have security witnesses and the security manager who has a shift from 10 am to 10 pm that no one from the company was there to offer me the service.
I want to ask for a refund about this situation because I arrived at the airport earlier and could take the plane but no one provided me with the orientation service to be able to get to my flight and be able to get to Dubai on time. additional with you to be able to travel since I arrived early to board and Etihad did not give me the help to be able to go to my destination.
The experience was not really good because they did not offer me the minimum service to be able to take my plane on time. From the cleaning people through the security people they have no commitment to the people who come to the airport. Unfortunately, because of that kind of people there is no true team that represents the true service that the airport should offer. In my opinion, I wish to make a complaint to its logistics and processes within the airport, which did not provide the minimum commitment to provide service or connection with the airline with which problems occurred today.
I add to this complaint the supports of the previous booking and the new booking, I wish a refund because the error has been from the people of your company who did not offer me the service at the company's desk. Also, in the morning of January 15 when I call To ask for a boarding pass, the operator Maya who attended me told me that she had sent the boarding passes, which is not true, she only sent the booking what kind of telephone attention she provides.
I hope you take this complaint into account and make the payment of the first ticket taking into account the arguments set out above
I appreciate her response.
Regards,
Cristina Pena Miranda

Why oh why are there baggage size restrictors when EXITING customs? Has someone gone mad? I cannot fathom any reason why, after someone has completed their trip and their bags have travelled half way around the world with them, there are width/size restrictions on the exit gates when leaving customs and entering the arrivals halls? Even your own BAA and security staff have no idea why these restrictors are in place! They are massively inconvenient, cause delays (when you have to unload baggage cart and man-handle the bags through and then reload) and chaos and are totally pointless. Please explain?

I arrived at LHR T3 and saw the sign for assistance and made my way with difficulty via entrance A to the assistance area on floor 1 only to be told I had to book in on the ground floor first. Signage not clear.
I made my way to isle E and waited 15 mins to be booked on at BA assistant desk although the member of staff was away from the desk.
When finally taken in wheelchair to the waiting area which is a long lounge away from other services I noticed destinations were shouted out by staff from the desk who then told clients to make their way outside to waiting buggies. This did not take into account either the ability of the client to walk to the buggy or whether they could hear the instruction. Very patronising.
When finally I was driven with 3 others to the departure gate the driver drove so fast over bumps that it was very uncomfortable at the back of the buggy.
Overall not a good experience - beaten but a long way by that at Barcelona when I arrived.

Hello,
     I have flown to London many times and never had an issue with Heathrow but today my flight was an hour late from Nashville and we were automatically booked on a flight an hour later by BA. Got in in plenty of time to get the flight but your escalator didn't work and worse yet had a bar on it so we couldn't even walk.   Only 2 of 3 elevators worked and 500 or more people wasted 30 minutes trying to get through. We missed our flight and the next available flight was 8 hours later. Made it a longer layover hanging around the airport than our flight from the US. I tried talking to your people. Everyone passes the buck. British Airways say its your fault and I agree. It ruined our first and second day in Copenhagen. I have tried calling but you have no provisions to speak to anyone for a complaint!

   Best KF

AA Flight 733 to Charlotte on 9 Nov 2019.
Three large travel kits were stolen from my checked bags. I transited through Heathrow.
I am afraid these thieves in Heathrow will place dangerous or illegal objects in our checked bags since no one is watching them.
How do they walk out from the baggage transfer area with my kits and each kit is a third of a meter long?
Why are workers allowed to carry items into and out of the baggage handling area?

I boarded a flight T5, on 28/11. As l was going though security and placed my items in the grey box provided. The grey boxes backed up. All my items fell on the floor, including my sunglass, landed face down. The lady behind the counter was rude and was not pleasant. She picked them up and said 'sorry'! I released my glasses had new screeches on them, and pointed this out, she said speck to 'Steven Barniele' known as 'Billy' head of security. He said I can go on to the web site and put in a claim. He lied! You can't. I put in a complaint by e-mail, and this is the answer l got back..

We are unable to offer a reimbursement, as the Manager on shift noticed that the sunglasses were in a severe scratched state which is not consistent with the tray drop that occurred. He believes that the sunglasses had scratches prior to security.
We appreciate that this is not the response you were hoping for, however, we are unable to assist further in this matter.

Gayle Holland
Customer Service Advisor
Heathrow
Bookings and upgrades: [protected]
Airport enquiries: [protected]
w: heathrow.com sm: twitter.com/heathrowairport