Why you should never travel with Blue-O-Two
Travelling to and from a holiday is usually quite grim and stressful. The trip out caused jennyh and I to leave Cambridge at 4 am, deal with the lemon sucking check-in clerk at 6 am, be rammed into cattle class for ~6 hours and then faced with 2nd world bureaucracy and queues for 2-3 hours at Hurghada airport on arrival before exiting and finding that our 'dive holiday rep' had decided to wait for everyone outside the airport in shadows at dusk making the hunt for the bus just that little bit extra special.
Returning with a leg injury under these conditions was not going to be good. I was very lucky that another diver on the boat was a nurse. After the incident boarding the RIB I had instructed the Dive Guides on preliminary first aid, the nurse took over when she returned from her dive. Afterwards I had repeatedly asked the Dive Guides, who are the English speaking 'reps' on the dive boat to contact my insurers since the accident happened on Monday. I was fobbed off with various claims that it would be dealt with, and when it became apparent on Wednesday that nothing had been done I used a webform to email their customer service team outlining events, and that I had wifi on the boat when it was in range of a transmitter but no phone access. On Thursday they replied, telling me to contact a different email address, which I duly did. That one replied telling me to go to an Egyptian hospital, get examined and that if I missed my scheduled flight home an alternative flight and accommodation would be arranged for me and jennyh as they were concerned I would not get the support I needed.
Unfortunately I only received this reply after we landed at Gatwick, but I am getting ahead of myself.
On Thursday afternoon the boat arrived back at Hurghada. Blue-O-Two's Office Manager, Fifi, came on board and talked for some time with myself and the nurse about what arrangements were needed to get me home safely. The nurse was adamant that I would need a wheelchair at the airports as my mobilty was severely limited, and also extra leg room as I would need to keep my leg extended. We were told that extra leg room seats were held back for medical emergencies, and allocated based on triage of casulaties at the check-in desk. She claimed that Blue-O-Two had requested one for me, and it would be allocated free of charge assuming no-one with a more serious injury had presented. We just had to remember to request one for me at check-in. I asked her about contacting my insurers and she said that was all in hand.
We stayed on the boat on Friday night, jennyh and I playing a surreal game of monopoly using the pirate version of the game held on the boat. Everyone else went off to Hurghada to party. On Friday morning we left the boat at 10am and were transferred to shared day rooms in the Mariott. There a different Blue-O-Two rep told me that I'd be met at the airport with a wheel chair and the extra-leg room was all confirmed. They tried to put me in an upstairs day room, but as I was hobbling and leaning heavily on jennyh to walk (who is far too tall to be a useful crutch) they rapidly switched us to a ground floor room. So far so good.
Some hours later, having said my goodbyes to the nurse and the rest of her BSAC club, we were put on the coach to the airport. The rep helped me up onto the coach reminding me that I would be met at the airport by a rep with a wheelchair. When we arrived the coach dropped us in the middle of a road outside the airport with cars zipping by on the other side. Our bags were unloaded into a patch of dirt between the two traffic streams, and other passengers crossed the lanes into the terminal. No wheelchair was in sight. I asked the driver for help, but he spoke no English and left. We stood on the dirst strip between the oncoming traffic, and I felt myself on the brink of tears as we fended off Egyptians who wanted to 'help us' with our bags for tips, trying to fight back panic. Eventually a rep from another company walked over and I asked him for help. He went into the terminal and eventually returned with the Blue-O-Two rep and a wheelchair, after about 20 minutes, by which point I was stressed beyond belief and jennyh was shouting "uitlander what do we do?" in tones of rising panic. I did not know. I could not cross the road safely unaided in the traffic, and we could not shuttle things across with the local Egyptians swarming over us looking for gainful employment. The Blue-O-Two rep offered no explanation for his ealier non-appearance. Things were not going well.
I was wheeled through various security scanners unscanned, whilst jennyh struggled with both my bags and hers. Eventually we were pushed into a queue for the Manchester flight, with some shouting from disgruntled passengers who had been queuing a long time. They started to check us in, and then an argument erupted in arabic as jennyh asked for the extra-leg room seats. After some fuss in arabic the Blue-o-two rep told me they were putting me in a window seat. I refused as I cannot walk sideways and it would be too cramped. This was not what they had promised. There was shouting, mostly in arabic. The check in guy would not talk to me, he shouted at jennyh. The Blue-O-Two guy told me no special arrangement had been made, I would have to take the window seat. I refused again and insisted he call Fifi, his office manager, who had made the arrangements that seemed to not be in place. He did. He walked away, talking on his phone. It appeared that Fifi didn't want to talk to me.
People continued to check in around me. My bad leg was hit, repeatedly, by people swinging bags nearby. People were angry and unhelpful. The Blue-O-Two rep returned. There was more shouting in arabic, another check in guy appeared from Thomson. More shouting, then the Blue-O-Two man waved two boarding passed at me saying thatn jennyh and I could have aisle seats and I could stick my injured leg into the aisle. I refused. He said there were extra leg room seats but I could not have one. I asked why not and there was more shouting, he told me that Fifi had arranged for an aisle seat for me so that was OK, yes?
NO IT WAS NOT! I was in pain, having had my damaged limb hit repeatedly by random strangers and now stressed out of my skull. They were going to do what they had promised and I was going to go home safely with my injured limb protected from further damage.
There was more shouting. I kept pointing at my leg; the check-in guy (whose name was Hussein Mohammed Ibraheim, IIRC) waved dismissively. The row continued and the Blue-O-Two guy wandered off again talking on his mobile. He came back. Aisle seats or nothing he said, the extra leg room seats require payment. So that was what the row was about! "HOW MUCH?" - £20. I threw £20 in the face of Mr Ibrahiem and suddenly he was all smiles. The boarding passes were issued and we were on our way. Blue-O-Two had said the seat would be free as it was a medical emergency, and Thomson Airlines wanted £20 for it, so we had an hour of appaling screaming row and I suffered further injuries because Blue-O-Two, a so called "LUXURY DIVE HOLIDAY OPERATOR" was too cheap to keep its promises and would not spend £20 of a diver it had crippled with its negligence.
By this point I was feeling physically sick, had been battered by other travellers and their bags and was extremly distressed. I spent the journey home feeling my anger and my outrage rising and trying to control it and tears. I had been loaded onto the plane in Hurghada via a platform as they had decided I could not travel in the bus to the plane or make my way up the stairs in the crush of passengers. I asked the stewardess on the plane whether she could find out whether a wheelchair had been arranged at Gatwick for me. She told me it had not. Blue-O-Two had lied again. The air crew arranged for wheelchair pick up and a buggy ride through Gatwick en route, and I confirmed that was the case with the buggy driver at Gatwick.
After we landed at Gatwick I received the email from my insurers offering assistance. I emailed them back saying thank you but we had now arrived in the UK. We drove back to Cambridge and got in at 1.30ish am. When we woke up jennyh drove me home to collect the cat from the cattery, dropped her back and then on to Addenbrookes. Some hours, X-Rays and a brief discussion with a doctor later he has confirmed what I already knew - severe trauma to the knee including ruptured ligaments. He has put me in a leg brace and issued me with crutches (both things I requested of the triage nurse on arrival). I have an MRI scan scheduled for Friday and cannot drive. I do not know how long it will take the joint to mend (if it does), and am almost controlling my fury towards BLUE-O-TWO and what they have put me through so far, as well as what is to come in terms of recovery, not to mention a ruined holiday and planned diving trips in the next few months that will have to be cancelled.
My insurers have confirmed that they have had no contact from Blue-O-Two regarding my accident. They tell me that with my injury I should have been given a row of three seats to myself, so that the leg could be elevated and streched across these. They say the 'assistance' Blue-O-Two gave was atrocious. Blue-O-Two's repeated failure to contact my insurers and trigger the emergency assistance that was available is unforgiveable and unacceptable in a company that markets itself as dive travel experts.
This post is intentionally unlocked. Divers should know what Blue-O-Two who trade on a 'high quality'reputation and charge a premium for their trips are really like. Please circulate it.
Returning with a leg injury under these conditions was not going to be good. I was very lucky that another diver on the boat was a nurse. After the incident boarding the RIB I had instructed the Dive Guides on preliminary first aid, the nurse took over when she returned from her dive. Afterwards I had repeatedly asked the Dive Guides, who are the English speaking 'reps' on the dive boat to contact my insurers since the accident happened on Monday. I was fobbed off with various claims that it would be dealt with, and when it became apparent on Wednesday that nothing had been done I used a webform to email their customer service team outlining events, and that I had wifi on the boat when it was in range of a transmitter but no phone access. On Thursday they replied, telling me to contact a different email address, which I duly did. That one replied telling me to go to an Egyptian hospital, get examined and that if I missed my scheduled flight home an alternative flight and accommodation would be arranged for me and jennyh as they were concerned I would not get the support I needed.
Unfortunately I only received this reply after we landed at Gatwick, but I am getting ahead of myself.
On Thursday afternoon the boat arrived back at Hurghada. Blue-O-Two's Office Manager, Fifi, came on board and talked for some time with myself and the nurse about what arrangements were needed to get me home safely. The nurse was adamant that I would need a wheelchair at the airports as my mobilty was severely limited, and also extra leg room as I would need to keep my leg extended. We were told that extra leg room seats were held back for medical emergencies, and allocated based on triage of casulaties at the check-in desk. She claimed that Blue-O-Two had requested one for me, and it would be allocated free of charge assuming no-one with a more serious injury had presented. We just had to remember to request one for me at check-in. I asked her about contacting my insurers and she said that was all in hand.
We stayed on the boat on Friday night, jennyh and I playing a surreal game of monopoly using the pirate version of the game held on the boat. Everyone else went off to Hurghada to party. On Friday morning we left the boat at 10am and were transferred to shared day rooms in the Mariott. There a different Blue-O-Two rep told me that I'd be met at the airport with a wheel chair and the extra-leg room was all confirmed. They tried to put me in an upstairs day room, but as I was hobbling and leaning heavily on jennyh to walk (who is far too tall to be a useful crutch) they rapidly switched us to a ground floor room. So far so good.
Some hours later, having said my goodbyes to the nurse and the rest of her BSAC club, we were put on the coach to the airport. The rep helped me up onto the coach reminding me that I would be met at the airport by a rep with a wheelchair. When we arrived the coach dropped us in the middle of a road outside the airport with cars zipping by on the other side. Our bags were unloaded into a patch of dirt between the two traffic streams, and other passengers crossed the lanes into the terminal. No wheelchair was in sight. I asked the driver for help, but he spoke no English and left. We stood on the dirst strip between the oncoming traffic, and I felt myself on the brink of tears as we fended off Egyptians who wanted to 'help us' with our bags for tips, trying to fight back panic. Eventually a rep from another company walked over and I asked him for help. He went into the terminal and eventually returned with the Blue-O-Two rep and a wheelchair, after about 20 minutes, by which point I was stressed beyond belief and jennyh was shouting "uitlander what do we do?" in tones of rising panic. I did not know. I could not cross the road safely unaided in the traffic, and we could not shuttle things across with the local Egyptians swarming over us looking for gainful employment. The Blue-O-Two rep offered no explanation for his ealier non-appearance. Things were not going well.
I was wheeled through various security scanners unscanned, whilst jennyh struggled with both my bags and hers. Eventually we were pushed into a queue for the Manchester flight, with some shouting from disgruntled passengers who had been queuing a long time. They started to check us in, and then an argument erupted in arabic as jennyh asked for the extra-leg room seats. After some fuss in arabic the Blue-o-two rep told me they were putting me in a window seat. I refused as I cannot walk sideways and it would be too cramped. This was not what they had promised. There was shouting, mostly in arabic. The check in guy would not talk to me, he shouted at jennyh. The Blue-O-Two guy told me no special arrangement had been made, I would have to take the window seat. I refused again and insisted he call Fifi, his office manager, who had made the arrangements that seemed to not be in place. He did. He walked away, talking on his phone. It appeared that Fifi didn't want to talk to me.
People continued to check in around me. My bad leg was hit, repeatedly, by people swinging bags nearby. People were angry and unhelpful. The Blue-O-Two rep returned. There was more shouting in arabic, another check in guy appeared from Thomson. More shouting, then the Blue-O-Two man waved two boarding passed at me saying thatn jennyh and I could have aisle seats and I could stick my injured leg into the aisle. I refused. He said there were extra leg room seats but I could not have one. I asked why not and there was more shouting, he told me that Fifi had arranged for an aisle seat for me so that was OK, yes?
NO IT WAS NOT! I was in pain, having had my damaged limb hit repeatedly by random strangers and now stressed out of my skull. They were going to do what they had promised and I was going to go home safely with my injured limb protected from further damage.
There was more shouting. I kept pointing at my leg; the check-in guy (whose name was Hussein Mohammed Ibraheim, IIRC) waved dismissively. The row continued and the Blue-O-Two guy wandered off again talking on his mobile. He came back. Aisle seats or nothing he said, the extra leg room seats require payment. So that was what the row was about! "HOW MUCH?" - £20. I threw £20 in the face of Mr Ibrahiem and suddenly he was all smiles. The boarding passes were issued and we were on our way. Blue-O-Two had said the seat would be free as it was a medical emergency, and Thomson Airlines wanted £20 for it, so we had an hour of appaling screaming row and I suffered further injuries because Blue-O-Two, a so called "LUXURY DIVE HOLIDAY OPERATOR" was too cheap to keep its promises and would not spend £20 of a diver it had crippled with its negligence.
By this point I was feeling physically sick, had been battered by other travellers and their bags and was extremly distressed. I spent the journey home feeling my anger and my outrage rising and trying to control it and tears. I had been loaded onto the plane in Hurghada via a platform as they had decided I could not travel in the bus to the plane or make my way up the stairs in the crush of passengers. I asked the stewardess on the plane whether she could find out whether a wheelchair had been arranged at Gatwick for me. She told me it had not. Blue-O-Two had lied again. The air crew arranged for wheelchair pick up and a buggy ride through Gatwick en route, and I confirmed that was the case with the buggy driver at Gatwick.
After we landed at Gatwick I received the email from my insurers offering assistance. I emailed them back saying thank you but we had now arrived in the UK. We drove back to Cambridge and got in at 1.30ish am. When we woke up jennyh drove me home to collect the cat from the cattery, dropped her back and then on to Addenbrookes. Some hours, X-Rays and a brief discussion with a doctor later he has confirmed what I already knew - severe trauma to the knee including ruptured ligaments. He has put me in a leg brace and issued me with crutches (both things I requested of the triage nurse on arrival). I have an MRI scan scheduled for Friday and cannot drive. I do not know how long it will take the joint to mend (if it does), and am almost controlling my fury towards BLUE-O-TWO and what they have put me through so far, as well as what is to come in terms of recovery, not to mention a ruined holiday and planned diving trips in the next few months that will have to be cancelled.
My insurers have confirmed that they have had no contact from Blue-O-Two regarding my accident. They tell me that with my injury I should have been given a row of three seats to myself, so that the leg could be elevated and streched across these. They say the 'assistance' Blue-O-Two gave was atrocious. Blue-O-Two's repeated failure to contact my insurers and trigger the emergency assistance that was available is unforgiveable and unacceptable in a company that markets itself as dive travel experts.
This post is intentionally unlocked. Divers should know what Blue-O-Two who trade on a 'high quality'reputation and charge a premium for their trips are really like. Please circulate it.