Horizondave Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 Well, from disembarkation at 1840 we finally stood in front of an immigration desk at 2115. The families were directed to desks as the Egates were not available for children aged 11 and under. The queues were terrible and was an embarrassment for the UK government. Staff were handing out drinks, crisps, biscuits and ice cream but not a lot of people appeared cool. Made it to my car at 2155. As I was exiting the barrier wouldn't recognise my registration and I was asked to pay £495.40. After nearly having a heart attack a call to the office confirmed I had prepaid the 15 days parking at just over £100. That gate opened and then saw me driving 3 hours home to Wales. Nice to be back. 2 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJSP Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 Sounds horrendous- glad you made it back safely and into glorious sunshine 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillearly Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 What do single travellers do if they need to use a toilet ... go to the back of the queue ? crazy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john luke Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 6 minutes ago, Horizondave said: Well, from disembarkation at 1840 we finally stood in front of an immigration desk at 2115. The families were directed to desks as the Egates were not available for children aged 11 and under. The queues were terrible and was an embarrassment for the UK government. Staff were handing out drinks, crisps, biscuits and ice cream but not a lot of people appeared cool. Made it to my car at 2155. As I was exiting the barrier wouldn't recognise my registration and I was asked to pay £495.40. After nearly having a heart attack a call to the office confirmed I had prepaid the 15 days parking at just over £100. That gate opened and then saw me driving 3 hours home to Wales. Nice to be back. A pretty awful experience. Only ten days ago I landed in Manchester; the flight landed at 1730 hours and I was in the back of a taxi heading for the M62 at 1800 hours. All UK passengers were directed to the E Gates. I don't know the position with juveniles. I always try to avoid Heathrow airport; even though this deprives me in most cases of direct flights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizondave Posted August 28, 2021 Author Share Posted August 28, 2021 24 minutes ago, john luke said: A pretty awful experience. Only ten days ago I landed in Manchester; the flight landed at 1730 hours and I was in the back of a taxi heading for the M62 at 1800 hours. All UK passengers were directed to the E Gates. I don't know the position with juveniles. I always try to avoid Heathrow airport; even though this deprives me in most cases of direct flights. We were told children under 12 could not use the e gates and so every family was inconvenienced, it was a disaster. Could so easily have got out of control, there were a lot of very disgruntled people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizondave Posted August 28, 2021 Author Share Posted August 28, 2021 28 minutes ago, Stillearly said: What do single travellers do if they need to use a toilet ... go to the back of the queue ? crazy There were so many babies in the queue, the mother in front of us changed the nappies of her two 15 month old twins whilst in the queue, it was a nightmare for some. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freee!! Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 1 hour ago, Horizondave said: [...] was an embarrassment for the UK government. Impossible, the UK government is incapable of being embarrassed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boydeste Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 Glad you are home safe and sound, what a cluster f**k. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butch Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 Agree with ^^^^^^ @boydeste glad you're home safe and sound. The situation is fucking appalling and it's a shocking example of the shambles immigration at LHR has become lately. As for the car park, I had the same thing, it was with Heathrow long stay T3 when the machine read my plate wrong on entry, I called the office and they put a flag on the system for my car, so another potential cock up avoided but Jeez, you really don't need that after waiting in immigration for that long. Grab yourself a stiff drink, and welcome home. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butch Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 3 hours ago, Stillearly said: What do single travellers do if they need to use a toilet ... go to the back of the queue ? crazy I'd hope that the person behind would do the decent thing and save my place, I'd certainly do it for someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillearly Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 1 minute ago, Butch said: I'd hope that the person behind would do the decent thing and save my place, I'd certainly do it for someone. That person maybe ...but what about the 500 behind them ... 555 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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