Another fun (not) experience on Tiger

[FlyboyAl]

Yeah, yeah, I know - I should know better than to fly Tiger, but until tomorrow, they are the only ones going ADL-HBA.
Checked in yesterday at ADL with carry on only. Weighed at home with my Balanza at 5.6kg.
Got to airport and after the usual wait in the queue got told I was over the limit (7kg) and they would have to charge me extra.
Had an incredulous look on my face when I saw the bag on the scales at 7.2kg!!!!!!
I told her I did not believe the scales which got me nowhere, and then she asked me for my credit card.
I said to wait, took the bag off the scales, removed a novel, netbook power supply and power cord and put the bag back on the scales.
Guess what - 7.2kg again!!!!
I told her the scales were faulty and refused to pay. She then "waived" the proposed extra cost, which I never actually got to see how much it would be.

Does anyone actually police the accuracy of the weight scales at airports?

Going home tomorrow, and that will be the last Tiger flight I do.

 

[anat0l]

Does anyone actually police the accuracy of the weight scales at airports?

Yes and no.

Yes - probably they do have one. After all, isn't there some consistent thing about scales used in supermarkets that have to be maintained and calibrated?

No - we might not see them, and in this case you caught them out.


You'd think taking out those items would at least give a 100g difference in reading (I'm assuming a novel, netbook power supply and cord weighs more than 100g). Perhaps you should've taken out something more obvious and checked again (then again, had you done this and there was a change in weight, she might've said, "There! Not faulty. Pay up." (or rather, "Bend over"))

 

[markis10]

I would be making a complaint to the new federal body that took over matters regarding accurate weights etc, I would not be letting the matter rest as it sounds like fraud in the way the experience has been described:

Home - National Measurement Institute

 

[medhead]

Does anyone actually police the accuracy of the weight scales at airports?

Yes there is a weights and measures legislation that applies to all weights and measures, such as drink sizes, petrol pumps, scales etc. I'm not sure how actively weight and measures are policed as there is the case of some, supposedly, upmarket pubs around darling harbour and Martin Place in sydney that serve beer in a glass that is mid sized between a schooner and a midi, if you ask for a schooner. I'm talking about a proper schooner here which would be called a pint in South Australia.

As for who polices these things, IIRC in South Australia it is the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs - OBCA They call it trade measurement. Of course, being an airport it might come under Commonwealth jurisdiction. I would strongly suggest sending them something. At the very least they might go out and test the Tiger Scales. Or maybe refer you to the Commonwealth regulator of weights and measures.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

took the bag off the scales, removed a novel, netbook power supply and power cord and put the bag back on the scales.
Guess what - 7.2kg again!!!!

That is a genius scam...I want to book a flight just to see if I too can experience these 'magic' scales.

All jokes aside, how many poor customers got screwed by this one scale? How many more faulty scales are there in the Tiger group...hell how many could ANY carriers have?

 

[drron]

It is a well known fact that the further south you go the heavier a bag gets.TT had obviously adjusted the scales to Hobart weight.
Early this year I weighed in a bags with DJ at MCY-12.6 and 13.5kg.With JQ in SYD they were 13.6 and 14.6kg.By the time they were weighed by Rex in MEL they were 14.3 and 15.3kg.Nothing in or out of either bag.Got a bit annoyed when Rex said as 1 bag was over their 15kg limit there was no guarantee it would make the flight-fortunately it did.No excess though.

 

[markis10]

Send a complaint to the Government Body that MUST investigate this ([email protected]), with a CC to your current MP. If baggage scales are used to generate revenue then the user must be licensed just like supermarkets etc and the scales certified on a regular basis, I suspect the recent trend to charge for baggage rather than excess has left our regulatory authorities sleeping when it comes to checks and balances!

 

[Australian]

allo - today tonight/current affair would LOVE this

 

[docjames]

It is a well known fact that the further south you go the heavier a bag gets.TT had obviously adjusted the scales to Hobart weight.
Early this year I weighed in a bags with DJ at MCY-12.6 and 13.5kg.With JQ in SYD they were 13.6 and 14.6kg.By the time they were weighed by Rex in MEL they were 14.3 and 15.3kg.Nothing in or out of either bag.Got a bit annoyed when Rex said as 1 bag was over their 15kg limit there was no guarantee it would make the flight-fortunately it did.No excess though.

More gravity further south....

 

[PaulC83]

Yes there is a weights and measures legislation that applies to all weights and measures, such as drink sizes, petrol pumps, scales etc.

Not entirely disagreeing with you, but from my LIMITED experience in terms of trade measurements (bulk fuel transfer), I believe that the basis for the legislation for these measurements are for the measurement for custody transfer (e.g. you transfer ownership of 10kg of meat, or 100,000L of fuel).

The baggage one is an interesting situation because you are paying for a service of carriage for the bag, you are not measuring a quantity for ownership.

In this situation the weighing device simply needs to be a registered type, and in calibration, and unfortunately for the OP, I would bet that Tiger would have more chance proving their scale is calibrated (given that the check-in equipment may very well be owned by the airport, and of the same type used by say QF), than the OP and his home luggage scales.

 

[munitalP]

Send a complaint to the Government Body that MUST investigate this ([email protected]), with a CC to your current MP. If baggage scales are used to generate revenue then the user must be licensed just like supermarkets etc and the scales certified on a regular basis, I suspect the recent trend to charge for baggage rather than excess has left our regulatory authorities sleeping when it comes to checks and balances!

and additionally to this, if income is being generated from the said device, a current certificate of calibration must be displayed (usually as a sticker on the device) in plain view.


munitalP

 

[FlyboyAl]

I just got home from the return HBA-ADL leg of the weekend away.
I did figure how to avoid the tiger scales completely - I used web check in! No one even knows you are there until you present the boarding pass to get on the plane.
Good grief, even the 2 hours pre departure check in might go out the door!!!!!!!

Just for the hell of it, and because the attitude was so slack when I checked in, I'm going to send an email to all the departments that have been given to me in this thread. And then, lets see what happens.

By the way, I'm told the last Tiger HBA-ADL flight which was tomorrow has been cancelled. So I guess I have the enviable situation of being on a "last flight".

Last Tiger flight from Hobart, and my last flight on Tiger.

 

[medhead]

Not entirely disagreeing with you, but from my LIMITED experience in terms of trade measurements (bulk fuel transfer), I believe that the basis for the legislation for these measurements are for the measurement for custody transfer (e.g. you transfer ownership of 10kg of meat, or 100,000L of fuel).

The baggage one is an interesting situation because you are paying for a service of carriage for the bag, you are not measuring a quantity for ownership.

Of course, yes, that is a key difference with the measurement of qualities etc. I didn't really think about it in great detail. I guess however, that the purchase of carriage of baggage is a financial transaction that could be adversely effected by the accuracy of the scale.

Given the uncertainties I think it would be really informative for us if the OP did refer it to the national regulator at least to give us an idea what rights we might have in this situation.

 

[FlyboyAl]

I'll keep everyone informed on results as they come in.

 

[kamchatsky]

I just got home from the return HBA-ADL leg of the weekend away.
I did figure how to avoid the tiger scales completely - I used web check in! No one even knows you are there until you present the boarding pass to get on the plane.
Good grief, even the 2 hours pre departure check in might go out the door!!!!!!!

Just for the hell of it, and because the attitude was so slack when I checked in, I'm going to send an email to all the departments that have been given to me in this thread. And then, lets see what happens.

By the way, I'm told the last Tiger HBA-ADL flight which was tomorrow has been cancelled. So I guess I have the enviable situation of being on a "last flight".

Last Tiger flight from Hobart, and my last flight on Tiger.

Yep. I would do OLCI these days for Tiger. Avoid all the potential traps for them to charge fees on us

I have more flights for TT in October. So far my experience with TT has been good. Hopefully the streak will continue.

 

[JohnK]

I would not be surprised if the "faulty" scales were a scam by Tiger or the check-in person for more money.

Do Tiger check-in people get commission from "any" excess fees collected at the airport?

I'm talking about a proper schooner here which would be called a pint in South Australia.

What is the definition of a proper schooner?

In New South Wales we have a midi, a schooner and a pint. From memory a midi is 285mL a schooner is 420mL and a pint is 560mL.

In Queensland they have the same but a midi is called a pot.

In Victoria I can only recollect schooners and pints but unfortunately a schooner is the same as a midi.

It does not really matter what the other states call glasses of beer.

 

[Saab34]

The last ADL-HBA was today, as well as LST, there was never a service tomorrow intended. So you were on the last flight.

How was the load?

 

[nlagalle]

Of course, yes, that is a key difference with the measurement of qualities etc. I didn't really think about it in great detail. I guess however, that the purchase of carriage of baggage is a financial transaction that could be adversely effected by the accuracy of the scale.

Given the uncertainties I think it would be really informative for us if the OP did refer it to the national regulator at least to give us an idea what rights we might have in this situation.

Think about Australia Post charging you for postage a package - that is weighed and part of the pricing is based on weight. To me that is the same thing.

 

[odysseus]

For what it's worth, when I last checked in in Sydney, there was some mix-up with the bags and Tiger said I couldn't remove things from the bags to lighten them as it would delay other passengers at check-in. It also seemed a bit of a lurk given what's been shown on tv (and said here).

 

[medhead]

Think about Australia Post charging you for postage a package - that is weighed and part of the pricing is based on weight. To me that is the same thing.

Yes that's what I thought. I guess the point was that weights and measures have traditionally been strictly enforced in relation to buying qualities of something. Anyway, I'll look forward hearing how the OP gets on.
If tiger create similar problems when I fly with them in September I'll also send in a complaint to NMI.