But how can you be sure your spuds are accurate? Take a couple of 1 kg bags of sugar instead, less bulky and more reliable!

hi...being me ...just had an idea....why not have a carrier bag and using your scales at home put some of your stuff for hand luggage in it .....get it to weigh 2 or 3 kilos....then get a freindly shopkeeper to weigh it again for you.....if its under or over write down exactly the weight....the shopkeepers scales have to be accurate.....put the things in your hand luggage bag still in the same carrier bag.....just get it out at check in and pop it on the scales ....it should weigh same as before....if not ? things.....

or get your hand luggage weighed ....but remember not to put anything else in or take anything out....you could then say you just wanted to check the weight of your hand luggage....then you wont feel daft if the scales are OK at check in......tweetie

Steve,We dont use sugar so may go with Tweeties suggestion and put a few pairs of shoes in a carrier and get the local fruit shop to weigh it for me.

I am quite amused at the suggestions being put forward for checking airport scales but I do hope non of you try it in October when I go to Cyprus.

I agree that imposing charges due to the scales not reading correct is wrong, but there is also the ultimate deterrent they can apply. They my refuse to allow you to fly.

The problem you have is who is right. When they tell you that the weight of your luggage is over - you argue the point and then they produce a certificate from weights and measures that says it is right. What happens then?

At the risk of inflaming tempers perhaps some might resist the temptation to pack the kitchen sink.

fwh

We have dumbell bars and plates at home. I check my scales with a 5kg plate. Last time they were dead on. My luggage weighed the same at the airport as it did at home.

I have small travel luggage scales, the one with the hook and you lift it up from Argos. My luggage scales are exactly right. This has been the case at Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dalaman (an airport many people complain about being dodgy scales) and Monastir. best advice is to get proper luggage scales as weighing your bag on normal scales at home isn't always accurate as the bag may not be leaning on the scales correctly etc. With the hook scales it is easy to weigh them.

The important thing to remember is that if you do get charged and think it is unfair is to keep the receipt and phone Trading Standards ASAP - preferably from the departure lounge. If they find a fault then you have the evidence of what you were charged.

i have the luggge scales, never had a problem with the scales at manchester or zante, they always weigh same as my luggage scales

hi ....just thought Id share with you....this morning whilst shopping in tesco I spotted some luggage ditital scales for sale for £10......they looked good so bought one.....they are brilliant....Ive got one from argos same as green shoes with the hook and its been a great help....but have to find somewhere to hang it or someone else who can lift it so I can read it....these new ones from tescos are called travel buddy...they are ditital....they have a chunky easy to hold handle to lift them with and the display window faces up towards you so you can lift and read easily....underneath there is a luggage strap like fitment that you put round handle of case..........and they seem really accurate.....the only place I can hang the argos scales at the minute is my lads metal thing atached to the wall ...that he hangs his big punch and kick bag from....and its in the garden ....so have been carting the cases out there to weigh them....as we had been having rain I didnt fancy having to take the last case out there to be weighed....so as I already knew weight of the case I decided to use my digital kitchen scales....I wrote down weight of case....then each time Id ironed roughly a couple of kilos I weighed the pile before putting it in case ...and then wrote down the exact weight underneath the case weight ....when Id finnished I added it all up and left the paper in the case........today I reweighed all my cases with the new tesco ditital scales including that one....it was exactly the same as what Id written on the paper.....these scales are really easy to use and I love them...tweetie

You miss an obvious argument looming at checkin. They say their scales are accurate and yours are wrong - what next? Only Trading Standards can rule on that.

I understand where you are coming from but does the Polish checkin clerk (no disrespect intended) who earns the national minimum wage to pay her way through college really want a confrontation infront of all the other passengers?

At the end of the day all it takes is for one awkward git like me to cause a scene, and other passengers will start questioning them about the acuracy of their scales also.

What would happen if everybody kicked up a stink about these charges and the fact that scales can be nobbled to extort money from passengers. Would the airlines really risk a riot and stop people from flying becuase they dared to challenge them?

I think not, the check in clerk wants an easy life like the rest of us (that is of course supposing she is not on commission).

I'm not suggesting that you don't have a valid point but I think you would be more than likely to have the police called, a warning given and if you still caused "a scene" then the airline would refuse to carry you. There are notices all over the airports these days warning passengers not to verbally abuse staff.

There are notices all over the airports these days warning passengers not to verbally abuse staff.

The problem as I see it is there is no way you can register an official complaint at that point. Here on HT we keep pushing the idea that you must complete an official form in resort. So where is the form at check in?

As far as abusing staff is concerned I always take the point of view that they are only doing as they are instructed by their superiors. If the scale reads more than your allowance then they charge you because they have been told to do so. I think in many cases they are probably told that not doing so will result in them losing their jobs. During my time in customer service I often had sympathy with the customer but could not do anything about it.

fwh

Would the airlines really risk a riot

no, they would have you arrested for behaviour likley to cause a breach of the peace before it got to that, somewhere around Sect 5 of the Public Order Act last time I used it.

The basic point has got lost here. There was, some months ago, an allegation that the scales at Newcastle were wrong and people were being overcharged. It was said that Trading Standards had visited after that occasion and found some were wrong. And there the news ended. What has not been said is whether the problem still exists or whether the original issue is just being discussed over and over. Or whether anyone ever found out if Trading Standards have instigated any regular inspections. Can we have some up to date facts?

The notices about not being abusive to staff are everywhere and don't seem to mean much these days, try putting "steve hilton" "birmingham new street" into Google - he still has the job he had on that day, only now you pay for him.

I think you have misunderstood me. You can NOT get arrested for complaining about excess baggage charges in an airport. Fair enough if you are being abusive and threatening then you deserve to be locked up but I have never verbally abused or threatened anybody.

As you have no doubt gathered I am a frequent and quite successful complainer, I will not tolerate poor service and I refuse to be ripped off by anybody. From my experience you are far more likely to have a complaint resolved satisfactorily at the first point of contact if you have an audience. This is very embarrassing for businesses because everybody who is in earshot knows that their customer service is poor this inturn then makes the business far more happy to satisfy the customer there and then and from my experience they will do anything (within reason) to resolve the situation.

Standing up for yourself is one thing, but being abusive and threatening to staff who are just doing their job (even if they know you are being robbed) is unacceptable.

they would have you arrested for behaviour likley to cause a breach of the peace before it got to that, somewhere around Sect 5 of the Public Order Act last time I used it.

Steve 8482 your use of the legal jargon makes you sound like a jobsworth PCSO. Complaining may have been an arrestable offence in Soviet Russia pre 1990, we in Britain value our freedom of speech and heaven help you if you ever arrested me for standing up for my rights in the way that I have described.

Steve 8482 your use of the legal jargon makes you sound like a jobsworth PCSO. Complaining may have been an arrestable offence in Soviet Russia pre 1990, we in Britain value our freedom of speech and heaven help you if you ever arrested me for standing up for my rights in the way that I have described.

I don't see anything wrong with Steve's reply, in fact I think he is rather supportive of what you have said, I agree arrests would be made if it ever looked like a riot may be brewing, prevention is better than cure.

I agree with you however that there is a way to complain while still remaining polite, I have always found keeping calm and pleasant always gains better results.

Dave

Couldn't agree more, there is a difference between being assertive and being agressive.

I was merely predicting what the jobsworths would do and since Breach of the Peace is way less than riot it doesn't need much of an excuse to use this as an easy way out - the power exists to prevent an offence from occuring so you don't have to gone beyond the law first. And since the area would also be covered by the Aviation and Marine Security Act there may be other short cuts they could use. You would be surprised just how few rights you have in this country which is why you have to thoughtfully use the laws that are on your side and not just make a scene.

And you still haven't answered to basic question - does the problem still exist or are we going around in circles arguing about something from April?

Your missing the point Steve,

When I say making a scene I am not talking about an all out affray or riot I am merely saying that the most successful way to complain in my experience is to assertively argue your point to the point where you exhaust the person dealing with your complaint and ultimately get what you want. And rule number 1 is you never complain unless you are 100% in the right. I am not talking about swearing, threatening, or assaulting people. THERE IS NO LAW AGAINST THAT, if there was I would spend most of my life in prison.

And just because an airport has special arrangements regarding security, it does not mean that that all within forefeit their basic human rights as they walk through the door.

And in answer to your question yes, it is still happening at Newcastle Airport because hand my luggage was weighing 8Kg when I left for Turkey on 4/8/10 (even though they didn't charge me). The independent scales at the terminal enterance weighed my hand luggage case at under 5Kg.