XL v West Ham

[+Gringo]

I wonder if the fans will get a refund from the club for buying their teams strip this season. I fear though that they too will lose out after the collapse of XL, just like all those poor folk that were stranded on holiday. An awful mess.

[caley100]

Maybe its a good thing that XL will be removed from the shirts, most people though all West Ham supporters were fat B4stards.

[Yngwie]

Talking about failing organisations, Newcastle and now Man Utd are now sponsored (indirectly) by the UK and US governments respectively.

[RowdyBey]

I wonder if the fans will get a refund from the club for buying their teams strip this season. I fear though that they too will lose out after the collapse of XL, just like all those poor folk that were stranded on holiday. An awful mess.

Let's hope the same doesn't happen to Flybe

[Scotty]

Let's hope the same doesn't happen to Flybe

If I had a viable alternative to using Flybe for my forthcoming trip, I would have done. They are possibly the worst ever company I have had to deal with in terms of customer service in my entire life .... and thats before I have flown with them. Unfortunately, EasyJet flight times dont work for me in regards to catching my flight back to Toronto or I would quite happily have switched to them.

[caley100]

Why was that Scotty? i've used Flybe a few times to London and they were fine, apart from the little add-ons that is, certainly better than my experiences with Ryanair.

[Scotty]

Why was that Scotty? i've used Flybe a few times to London and they were fine, apart from the little add-ons that is, certainly better than my experiences with Ryanair.

Heard good things about the airline itself - Big Stew said it was decent enough when he used them for his trip to/from London on his way here - but the customer service (ie. call centre) are horrendous.

Have had to phone them three times to either tweak things or check they have been done and each time it has taken +20 minutes to get through ... not so bad if phoning locally, but thats internationally. Then, when I did get through, the people have been rude and unhelpful on each occasion. first time was to change Christe's flight back to London as she is going back earlier than me so she can spend a few days sightseeing in London with a friend who is studying there. The change fee and such like was expected so no big deal there but the woman was pretty unhelpful. Also, she didnt send me a new confirmation number so I had to go looking on their website a week later and when I eventually found it after searching using my original booking, I found that they hadnt booked her seat number and the confirmation said no luggage ! Phoned again and was assured that all was fine and that they would email me a new adjusted copy of the confirmation. After several weeks, I phoned again last week as nothing had been sent and was told that it did show luggage but no seat number. Doesnt seem there is any record of earlier calls and of course the computer is always right. If the call centre person had coughed, the whole thing would have been straight out of Little Britain "computer says nooooooooo" !!! Again, they said a new confirmation would be sent at least showing Christe's luggage (thus avoiding a 16 quid ding at the airport) but still waiting ..............

Not expecting much for the flight - its only a bit over an hour so can deal with the budget aspect of it, but their call centre has made me certain that I will only use them in the future if there are no alternatives that fit into my timescales. If they went bust tomorrow, I would have sympathy for their customers, but certainly not their call centre staff.

[+Gringo]

Interesting Scotty, what happened? We've used FlyBe many times between B'ham and Glasgow / Edinburgh and never had a problem.

[Scotty]

I am sure the flight itself will probably not be a problem ... it was just the call centre thats the issue for me. If we hadnt had to change our booking slightly, I would probably be blissfully unaware of the "customer service" attitude. Not going to sweat it, if we have problems in the end, we will deal with them later. It certainly isnt going to be allowed to spoil my trip

[Tug]

i still find it quit interesting that no one has mentioned that with all these large financial companies that are going bust or close to it, nobody has thought to bring about the link that many are in multi multi million pound deals just to get there name splashed accross a football shirt.

if i remember right AIG paid something like 50 million odd for the man u deal.

[CELTIC1CALEY3]

Probably as a result of Scotty's phone calls

'REGIONAL airline Flybe, now the second-biggest operator in Scotland, has announced a record set of profits despite the tough trading environment.

The firm has overcome rising fuel costs to record a pre-tax profit of ?35.4 million in the year to the end of March.'

See http://business.scotsman.com/transport/Fue...fits.4468116.jp

So we currently have sound sponsors.

[Scotty]

To be fair to them, I phoned again yesterday to ask why my confirmation had not come through and spoke to someone quite nice this time so thats one good one out of 4 calls !!! The person couldnt guarantee me that the confirmation would come (takes several days for it to go through the system apparently) but I do have their name and an assurance that the instruction re: luggage has been added to the booking and will be visible to staff at Dalcross. We will see !

[MissICT]

fabulous news!

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

West Ham are really struggling - they even have been offered mega bucks by a leading Dog Food Company but the deal was vetoed by the Trades Description Act - Apparently it was stated that they couldnt have Winalot on the front of a West Ham shirt.

[+Gringo]

West Ham are really struggling - they even have been offered mega bucks by a leading Dog Food Company but the deal was vetoed by the Trades Description Act - Apparently it was stated that they couldnt have Winalot on the front of a West Ham shirt.