Airport Search Unit - Complaint

D.McC

I am a regular traveller and therefore I am well used to the security procedures in many airports.

Indeed, my travels take me to places such as the Middle East and Asia, where the approach of airport security is far more dynamic.

Within the last 30 days, I was due to depart from Dublin. I joined the queue to go through the ASU control and enter the airside section of the airport.

While queuing, a colleague cracked a funny, and needless to say I still had a smile on my face as I placed my carry on, lap top, keys, change etc into the tray to be X-rayed.

All fine so far…………

While going through the metal detector gate, I somehow caused it to activate. (I still do not know what caused this, as I had removed all metal from my person)

Anyhow, I stood in line behind the person been searched and waited my turn.

Face to face with the ASU member, I said ‘Hello’.

His response, somewhat shocked me….

ASU: What’s with the attitude?

ME: Excuse me! I just said hello.

ASU: Wipe that smile of your face, you set off the alarm and that’s no laughing matter.

ME: Do you want me to go back through?

ASU: Are you refusing to be searched?

ME: No, I just offered to through the gate again.

ASU: I decide who goes back and who doesn’t. Now, lose the attitude or you won’t be going anywhere. (Loud enough for other too hear)

ME: I am not refusing the search.

ASU: I’ve had enough of you, you can either be searched or not travel.

ME: I ever said, I refuse to be searched. Now, please can we get on with this?

He then pulls out the small handheld wand and runs it over my body. As he is doing this, I try to catch his name on the ID clipped to his shirt pocket. He must have noticed this and said,” what are you trying to see on there?” and then turned the card around.

Unhappy the sweep of the wand hadn’t turned up anything; he then demanded I remove my shoes, which I did. As soon as my shoes were off, he told me to go. He didn’t even look at my footwear.

Does anyone know the direct address to complain about this guys behaviour, or has anyone else run into this before.

Run_to_da_hills

Pity you dodn't have a recording of this.

Some of these guys have an attitiute, they have failed their Garda entrance exam and became airport bouncers

n0brain3r

On a trip to London recently I think I got the same guy, 3 of us where heading to see a mate who's living over there and you can imagine we where having a laugh and in good spirits it's not that often we get together.

The first thing I noticed going though security was the metal detector went off when no one went throught it?? I commented this thing is rigged & que almost being strip searched by some OAP with an attitude :mad: He really lost it when I explained that the belt I was wearing part of my jeans a couldn't be removed and I got a similiar top of his voice drop the attitude talk!

Ham'nd'egger

D.McC wrote: »

I am a regular traveller and therefore I am well used to the security procedures in many airports.

Indeed, my travels take me to places such as the Middle East and Asia, where the approach of airport security is far more dynamic.

Within the last 30 days, I was due to depart from Dublin. I joined the queue to go through the ASU control and enter the airside section of the airport.…

He then pulls out the small handheld wand and runs it over my body. As he is doing this, I try to catch his name on the ID clipped to his shirt pocket. He must have noticed this and said,” what are you trying to see on there?” and then turned the card around....

Unhappy the sweep of the wand hadn’t turned up anything; he then demanded I remove my shoes, which I did. As soon as my shoes were off, he told me to go. He didn’t even look at my footwear.

Does anyone know the direct address to complain about this guys behaviour, or has anyone else run into this before.

I don't have a name but maybe contact the Airport Police first off on (0)1 814 4300 in case it was one of their guys.

Cookie_Monster

that didn't take long.

they watching us

foggy_lad

a horrible experience, people like that dont need retrainning as that would only make him feel worse and more of a victim, he needs a job where he will never interact with the public 9or anyone else).

Yggr of Asgard

The Airport Search Unit is at best a troop of amateur players in the big security theatre that is there to give us the warm feeling that we are safe.

Looking at the professional standards that are in place in other countries like Scandinavia or Germany our Airport Search Unit (which we as travellers pay for) is a more a theatre than a function.

It’s hard to believe but the TSA officers are friendlier and even more competent.

I travel frequently and only in about 10% of the cases the people that conducted the screen were either efficient or at least acceptable to deal with.

Most have no idea how to deal with a customer nor do they have an idea how to handle people from different cultures or that not behave like an underling.

Johnny86

DAA Customer Relations wrote: »

To D Mc C - Please contact us directly via the link below, in relation to your complaint and we will be happy to investigate.

Look forward to hearing from you

http://www.dublinairport.com/contact/

Kind regards

DAA Customer Relations Dept

first ever post for this....im skeptical:rolleyes:

BenShermin

Well I've never had a problem with Dublin or Cork Airports but I always have serious problems in UK airports.

If anybody wants to see a real farce of an airport security try the outsourced G4 Securitas run sercurity in East Midlands:rolleyes:.

If almost smashing my €500 worth camera wasn't enough they actually told the woman in the wheelchair behind me to stand up to be frisked, and they wern't joking either, two security women held her up:eek:.

After 20 minutes the security man throwing my dirty clothes literally all over the place and swabbing my bag for cocaine they found nothing, I wan't expecting an apology rather a simple "thanks for your patience", but all I got was a snarl.

In Gatwick last year after queuing for 45 minutes I was asked to let five women ahead of me as they were late for their flight, I politely refused and went through the search before them. I was fuming at being asked such a question after having to endure such a disgraceful queue. Throughout the search I had to put up with the mumblings of other passengers and security staff, I managed to ignore it!

JHMEG

Johnny86 wrote: »

first ever post for this....im skeptical:rolleyes:

Had to start somewhere, and didn't give an email address like journo@sunday-world.ie

Victor

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

that didn't take long.

they watching us

Yes they are.

BenShermin wrote: »

If anybody wants to see a real farce of an airport security try the outsourced G4 Securitas run sercurity in East Midlands:rolleyes:.

I'm not sure who was doing it at the time, but a friend was picked out for having a spent bullet case on his key ring.

Security "What is this?"
My friend "A deactivated [it was drilled through to fit on the key ring], spent NATO 7.62mm bullet case."
Security "And what if you were to wave this about on the plane in a threatening manner, what would people think?"
My friend "Won't he need the rest of the bullet ... and a gun?"

He got done.

patrickmooney

That is horrid. I too am a heavy Dublin Airport user, passing through it at least 6 times in the last two weeks. The new security areas are improving but the staff certainly aren't. They must be really stressed or overworked. From the pink customer care reps shouting and hustling passengers through like animals or the massive confusion from the very tight laneways before you scan your items. Terminal 2 should improve this. Flying is stressful. But Dublin Airport Staff could make this so much better for all involved by smiling and treating us like paying customers just wanted to get from A to B to get our own jobs done as quick as possible. I hope I don't ever have to encounter your security official.

Victor

Victor wrote: »

He got done.

For what? :eek:

foggy_lad

bluewolf wrote: »

For what? :eek:

carrying ammunition

homerjay2005

i go through dublin on average of once a week and im sick of them at this stage, they are all on some ego trips.

the "officer" mentioned in the first post sounds like the same smart lad that gave me a world of abuse one day for shaking my head instead of saying no.

dublin and gatwick have the most ignorent security, with the most ineffecient being liverpool airport. try getting out of there in a hurry on any week morning flight about 6.30.

kravmaga

Hamndegger wrote: »

I don't have a name but maybe contact the Airport Police first off on (0)1 814 4300 in case it was one of their guys.

Aiport Police have not operated the Frisking area since 2001.

The ASU were brought in by Aer Rianta (now DAA) and they alone operate the X-Ray machines and walkway metal detectors.
The Aviation Security Unit comes under the supervisory control of the Chief Airport Police Officer.

This would not have happened back in the day when Airport Police operated the frisking area at all Piers. Professional training and good customer care skills plus plenty of role play scenarios.

The ASU were brought in on a composite pay rate and were a cheaper way of running the increasing security budget back in the day.
I am not surprised the OP had this bad experience as I have found some of them badly need re-training on how to deal with the general public.

ardmacha

The searchers job is not the easiest one, with a variety of smart alecs and people who say that their knife is harmless.

That said discipline in the Dublin Airport hasn't always been the best. A few years ago (before the general smoking ban, but when smoking was generally prohibited in the airport) I came upon the guy at the entrance to security having a a fag, in plain sight of both the passengers and all of those manning the scanners. I asked if this was appropriate and he replied "that it was my birthday".

Davidth88

I have a number of issues with the airport security in Dublin

A) The design of the runways for the trays to be returned is the most stupid I have ever seen , its never going to work correctly.
Charging for bags..... need I say more ( I know Luton and others do as well but why drop that low ) ..... I have never used them by the way ...

However I have never had a problem with the staff there .. maybe I am lucky

I do however remember arriving in NY one time to find a 10 inch screwdriver in my laptop bag that I had forgotten was there ...... and I had just flown from DUB !! .. that was about 2004/5

Made me laugh a bit

OP do complain about that abuse , thats not on , let us know how you get on

markpb

Davidth88 wrote: »

Charging for bags..... need I say more ( I know Luton and others do as well but why drop that low ) ..... I have never used them by the way ...

My gripe is charging for bags but only taking coins. It might be fine if you have the right coin(s) on you but if you get there at 5.30am for an early flight and all the shops and cafes are open....

KC61

Surely most regular travellers nowadays just buy them in the supermarket? I have a stash of them at home for this purpose.

The last thing I want to be doing at the airport is fiddling around repacking my bag.

Davidth88

KC61 wrote: »

Surely most regular travellers nowadays just buy them in the supermarket? I have a stash of them at home for this purpose.

The last thing I want to be doing at the airport is fiddling around repacking my bag.

It's not the regular travellers that have issues , it's the occasional traveller that gets caught out

You or I know that you have to put your liquids in a placcy bag.

D.McC

DAA Customer Relations wrote: »

To D Mc C - Please contact us directly via the link below, in relation to your complaint and we will be happy to investigate.

Look forward to hearing from you

http://www.dublinairport.com/contact/

Kind regards

DAA Customer Relations Dept

I wonder is this a windup

Qualitymark

I rarely fly any more. It's not the flying - I like flying. It's the deeply unpleasant experience of using airports.

I like my interactions with others to be calm, kind and courteous. The barely suppressed air of bullying, especially in Gatwick, is very stressful.

The way passengers are rushed like cattle along endless corridors, then have to wait for an age before the plane boards is just rude. And the lack of information, knowledge and expertise among staff is unsafe.

corktina

i fly cork to heathrow quite often and I have never ever had a single problem at security, in fact Id like to praise them for the professional way they do a not very nice job.

jack presley

Davidth88 wrote: »

It's not the regular travellers that have issues , it's the occasional traveller that gets caught out

You or I know that you have to put your liquids in a placcy bag.

How are they getting caught out? Everyone traveling these days, even first timers, should be aware of this rule. Have they not read a newspaper, watched TV over the past few years?

Qualitymark

jack presley wrote: »

How are they getting caught out? Everyone traveling these days, even first timers, should be aware of this rule. Have they not read a newspaper, watched TV over the past few years?

I thought that nonsense about liquids was gone?

Just drove out to Dublin Airport. The horror. Had to start at five to get a passenger to a flight leaving at eight, since I was going to be driving through rush-hour traffic. (Why did they drop the sensible idea of a west Dublin airport?)

The road signage is terrifying: on the way from the south, you're heading for the M1 and find yourself driving into a road marked M50; 150 or 200 metres later it turns out it *is* the M1 and is about to route people for the M50 off to the left.

On the way back south after leaving the airport, you're driving happily along on a road with the actual roadway marked M1, then this disappears and you see an offramp that says "M50" and "City Centre". I had to drive around the roundabout again.

And that's nothing to the maze that is the airport parking system.

Then when we got inside we went for a quick cuppa. A paper cup of chocolate, a cardboard Danish, a coffee and a muffin: €12. Thank goodness I'd packed a good homemade sandwich for the passenger; next time I'll bring a flask of coffee with us to drink at the airport.

Kinky Slinky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G6URhJTvVg

Davidth88

jack presley wrote: »

How are they getting caught out? Everyone traveling these days, even first timers, should be aware of this rule. Have they not read a newspaper, watched TV over the past few years?

Believe me not every one is aware of this as you or I

go through security a few times you will see people confused by this

Actually , go through security , you will see people confused still by the whole process.

Cookie_Monster

I got caught with it too weeks ago. Though I'd just left stuff in my bag and forgot about it.

Pity, I'm sure I could have found a way to blow up the plane with 150ml of shaving gel :rolleyes:

markpb

Qualitymark wrote: »

The road signage is terrifying: on the way from the south, you're heading for the M1 and find yourself driving into a road marked M50; 150 or 200 metres later it turns out it *is* the M1 and is about to route people for the M50 off to the left. On the way back south after leaving the airport, you're driving happily along on a road with the actual roadway marked M1, then this disappears and you see an offramp that says "M50" and "City Centre". I had to drive around the roundabout again.

The road signage is (mostly) correct. The M50 now runs from the south entrance of the Port Tunnel, through the tunnel, along what used to be the M1 to the slip lane at Turnapin onto the old M50. The M1 runs from Turnapin north to the border. The rest of the old M1 (from the north entrance of the tunnel to Whitehall) is now the N1. Unfortunately the NRA never bothered removing some of them old M1 signs or telling TeleAtlas and other map providers to update their maps.

mickoneill30

Davidth88 wrote: »

Believe me not every one is aware of this as you or I

I agree that charging for bags isn't great but what's the alternative. No charge so quite a lot of people will just grab handfulls. I've seen people do that and most of those bags probably go in the bin when they realise they didn't need 20.
I suppose they could employ somebody to sit there handing out bags but a machine that sells bags to the low percentage that forgets them is a lot cheaper.

I'd prefer to pay a quid or two for a bag the odd time I forget one rather than throw my stuff away because it's a terrorist threat if it's not in a plastic bag.

Qualitymark

markpb wrote: »

The road signage is (mostly) correct. The M50 now runs from the south entrance of the Port Tunnel, through the tunnel, along what used to be the M1 to the slip lane at Turnapin onto the old M50. The M1 runs from Turnapin north to the border. The rest of the old M1 (from the north entrance of the tunnel to Whitehall) is now the N1. Unfortunately the NRA never bothered removing some of them old M1 signs or telling TeleAtlas and other map providers to update their maps.

It may be correct, but the purpose of road signage is not only to be correct, but to guide road users.

As for the rip-off plastic bags, the ridiculous overcharging for checked-in bags, the tiny size for a carry-on bag, the area of creepy aggression at the security gates, the lack of courtesy and kindness from airport staff in general - well, I just take ferries now. Staffed by eastern Europeans with the courtesy of princes.

If I, a native Dubliner, am confused at leaving a road with a sign pointing to "M1", thinking "Great, I've avoided that bloody M50", and arriving on a road signed "M50", what's it like for foreigners and country folk?

The danger is that a driver will see the sign "M50" and swerve off that road at the start.

And I had to go around the roandabout again on going south, looking for a sign saying "M1", before I realised that while the *road* said "M1" earlier, and the *sign* said "City Centre", they meant the same thing. Again, if I, a native Dubliner, am confused, what about foreigners who are told at the airport "Just stick to the M1 and you'll be fine"?

keithclancy

In fairness the Airport security are pretty inefficient,

I fly home a good few times a year from Schiphol and they handle security checks pretty efficiently.

Dublin was a fuppin joke a few times, queue out to the bloody door and the car rental dropoff is pretty far from the airport !!

I fly from the small airports when I can, much less hassle and less of a walk.

its a 20 minute walk from one terminal to the other at schiphol, completely freaked when they moved the Cork flight !

maggot12345

I laughed at Heathrow airport when being asked did I pack my own luggage-I laughed 'cus I was giddy. The guy without saying much just sent me straight off to have my luggage searched which was an annoyance and inconvenience. I am glad airport security is strict and really people have to learn not to mess about when going through as it's a serious business.-Myself included.:)

I.S.T.

maggot12345 wrote: »

I laughed at Heathrow airport when being asked did I pack my own luggage-I laughed 'cus I was giddy. The guy without saying much just sent me straight off to have my luggage searched which was an annoyance and inconvenience. I am glad airport security is strict and really people have to learn not to mess about when going through as it's a serious business.-Myself included.:)

Airport security is mostly just window dressing to make the passengers feel safe. If someone really wants to get something on to a plane they will.

Yggr of Asgard

The Dublin Airport Search Unit is one of the worst in the world, I even would go so far to say that on most US airports that TSA folks are better than the Dublin folks.

Giving that I pay an Irish Airport Security Charge of 3.90€ it is clear that I pay these folks and hence they should provide a service to me and not treat me worse than a farmer treats his cattle.

Sure some of the commotion is down to the tourist type travellers that are not ready for security (be it because of the liquid joke or the laptop out of the bag stuff), a good airport sorts regular travellers our from those types. The TSA diamond lane concept for example makes a real difference.

But that does not change the fact that the screeners in Dublin are rude, unprofessional and mostly on an ego trip.

That does not change the fact that even if you have access to the fast track you end up in the same machine area because the machine directly in front of the fast track is only operational in 10% of the cases I had the pleasure of using fast track. You essential end up joining queues in front of the machines with the other travellers accusing you of queue jumping.

Most of the times the screeners are shouting “take out laptop, liquids in the bag” in a tone that would make a drill sergeant proud, why shouting, clear info beforehand and a friendly tone make a difference.

Not to mention that the rules change daily, some days they want shoes off, next day the belt, than they even want the watch, sure changing rules deter terrorist (as if) but say it friendly.

And if one sets of the alarm than treat the person with respect and not as if he is an inconvenience to the staff because he interrupts the chatting.

I travel very frequently and Dublin Airport ranks as the 2nd worst airport, right after Heathrow for me.

I have been through security where the officer apologized to me with “sorry sir, you set up the detector, could you please step over here for a search unless you prefer a separate cabin for the search” (Muscat, Oman) and it makes a difference if the tone is right.

I hope that when the new T2 is up and the facilities are better (hopefully) that than maybe it get’s slightly better. But with the DAA again being allowed to make a mess by running the terminal I’m not sure that it actually will improve.

Cookie_Monster

IrishSpeedTraps wrote: »

Airport security is mostly just window dressing to make the passengers feel safe. If someone really wants to get something on to a plane they will.

too true. A laptop battery is all you need to take down a plane and they are allowed no bother.

Qualitymark

The whole security business is just so badly handled.

Nobody objects to efficient security, obviously. But there's no reason it can't be polite and kind. After all, we're all in this together.

RATM

On a stag recently and one of the lads placed a pretty large pigs leg bone into anothers carry-on luggage whilst having a pint before security. The bag went through the X-ray no problems, in fact I could barely hold in the laughter as I craned my neck to get a gander of the X ray screen.

I couldn't believe it got through. Like it was a good foot long ffs. Still funny nonetheless

Our man in Havana

Just goes to show how the training is severely lacking.

silverharp

I remember once or twice some of them being a bit more gruff then I'd prefer but not too bad, and noticed last week there was no asking to take shoes off, which I always found ott.

I remember in Glasgow once that some bright spark though my Dell laptop didnt look like a Dell laptop (inside) from his x ray machine and proceeded to swab it. Was curious where he got his IT degree from

Alun

silverharp wrote: »

I remember once or twice some of them being a bit more gruff then I'd prefer but not too bad, and noticed last week there was no asking to take shoes off, which I always found ott.

Don't worry, next week they'll change their mind and then get pissed with you because you didn't take them off. It's the inconsistency from day to day and from airport to airport that pisses me off big time, and the assumption on behalf of the security staff that you're au fait with their own little foibles and can remember exactly what you can and can't do in each and every airport.

foggy_lad

their biggest problem is trying to look like they are actually doing something. they do so very little in reality they must hassle passengers to make the powers that bee think they are needed.

Terrontress

maggot12345 wrote: »

I laughed at Heathrow airport when being asked did I pack my own luggage-I laughed 'cus I was giddy. The guy without saying much just sent me straight off to have my luggage searched which was an annoyance and inconvenience. I am glad airport security is strict and really people have to learn not to mess about when going through as it's a serious business.-Myself included.:)

I can imagine that the airport security guy felt having you laugh in his face as he attempts to do his job was an annoyance and an inconvenience.

As would people in most jobs.

Qualitymark

Airports are just badly designed, anyway. Why on earth do we need to have these 1km walks to the gates - couldn't they build the airport in a wheel shape so all the gates are the same distance from the central check-in hall?

Though I love the new Dublin Airport terminal, with its witty jetplane-like structure.

I'm waiting for Michael O'Leary to get the idea of running one of those little buses like they have in the zoo, charging people €1 to ride it down to their boarding gate. I'd pay!

D.McC

It saves on jet fuel when you have the passenger walk the 1st 1km to their destination

:D:D

muppet01

kravmaga wrote: »

Aiport Police have not operated the Frisking area since 2001.

The ASU were brought in by Aer Rianta (now DAA) and they alone operate the X-Ray machines and walkway metal detectors.
The Aviation Security Unit comes under the supervisory control of the Chief Airport Police Officer.

This would not have happened back in the day when Airport Police operated the frisking area at all Piers. Professional training and good customer care skills plus plenty of role play scenarios.

The ASU were brought in on a composite pay rate and were a cheaper way of running the increasing security budget back in the day.
I am not surprised the OP had this bad experience as I have found some of them badly need re-training on how to deal with the general public.

The Airport Search Unit (not Aviation Security Unit) does not come under the control of the Chief Airport Police Officer.It has its own management structure and is subject to national and international standards.It is in charge of passenger screening which includes x ray of hand baggage and walkthrough metal detectors (not walkway)
The majority of its staff operate in a professional and courteous manner.

Yggr of Asgard

muppet01 wrote: »

The Airport Search Unit (not Aviation Security Unit) does not come under the control of the Chief Airport Police Officer.It has its own management structure and is subject to national and international standards.It is in charge of passenger screening which includes x ray of hand baggage and walkthrough metal detectors (not walkway)
The majority of its staff operate in a professional and courteous manner.

I completely disagree; the majority of staff is bad. In fact if I get someone who is actually friendly or efficient, that is the exception. I have done about 100 security checks in the last 18 month with our friends at the DAA and believe me the amount of times where there was no chaos or the staff actually managed to do a good job does not exceed single digit figures.

This is not only the actual staff’s fault; it’s also the facilities of the DAA with the fact that shopping is more important than security. I was really surprised that they finally managed to convert some shopping space into security screening area, but that might been only facilitated because Hughes and Hughes went out of business.

Again, I pay for the screening service. My 3.90€ pays part of their salary; it’s not that they do this for nothing. In fact, these people are actually very well paid for the job they do with a supervisor earning up to €57,414.

Now I actually think that most of the passenger screening is for show anyhow, the danger comes from access to aircrafts by unauthorized people or checked bags/cargo. Most of the rules are based on extreme reactions of the state to phantasies for wannabe terrorists.

Yes the ASU provides a service that is part of a larger concept, but that does not mean they need to treat customers with disrespect, shout at them or treat them like criminals or cattle.

And when it comes to T2, the facilities for screening have improved but if the process will be better will heavily depend on the staff they are using, if I understood it right the regulator finally got some sense and made targets for the DAA that makes sense including a major reduction in salary, current pay rates seem to be up to €20,000 higher than what the regulator allows. So maybe they will hire some new staff and make sure the profile of candidates is better than want to be Gardaí on a power trip.

I said it before and I say it again, most of the TSA encounters are better than the ASU encounters not to mention that in countries where even stricter rules apply there is less chaos, shouting and more courtesy.

DAA needs to get a grip on it in my opinion. They have improved so much over the last couple of month and made some steps into the right direction, maybe the new targets for T2 will turn the airport into something which we deserve.

Empire o de Sun

What I don't get is that isn't the security check supposed to be secure, but all the time I see airport staff walking through the metal detectors and the alarms going off and nothing done about it. I've even seen them bring drinks over. Now aren't liquids one of the big no nos

parsi

It's only your bottle of tanora that's considered dangerous.

They'll bring a cage full of riverrock through without searching....

Carawaystick

muppet01 wrote: »

The Airport Search Unit (not Aviation Security Unit) does not come under the control of the Chief Airport Police Officer.It has its own management structure and is subject to national and international standards.It is in charge of passenger screening which includes x ray of hand baggage and walkthrough metal detectors (not walkway)
The majority of its staff operate in a professional and courteous manner.

Link to back up any of these assertions please?

Why are certain items not allowed to be brought through security yet Continental airlines hand out steel cutlery onboard their flights?

Can anyone provide evidence of liquids being a threat? apart from a zippo and a few litres of 50% abv vodka?