A short lady wearing a muslim hijab looked at my passport and went:
Her: "Have you filled out the Landing Card?"
Me: "I'm an EEA Family Member, I'm not supposed to." and showed her the RC.
Her: "it doesn't matter, you still need to fill one out and go to the NON-EU queue"
Me: "I am NOT!!! are you new or something?"
Her: "NO! (rolling back the eyes) you're new, just got your RC recently!"
Me: "Listen, can you at least call your supervisor or someone who is more competent? and give me your name, need to complain"
Her: "No, we don't give names and I'm not calling a supervisor" So she started to shut her booth and just walked away!!!
At that stage I heard another guy shout from another booth smth like, "this is for EU only, go into the middle queue".
I saw another guy on the left, went up to him, he looked like he'd help. He just told me: "you've been dealt with sir, go into the NON-EU queue please."
Me: "are you ALL incompetent!!! I can't believe it!!!, I want to speak to someone, make a complaint"
Him: "after you've been rude, I'm not gonna serve you, you can make a complaint after and if you go through passport control"
Me: "I WILL make a complaint and I'm not being rude, saying that you're all incompetent and had no training is just stating the fact and not being insulting! And in any case, it's not as if I'm in a restaurant, if you guys don't serve me I can't just go to another restaurant, I still need to enter the country and what you're doing is ILLEGAL!"
Anyway, I decided to get through first so was looking at the endless middle queue. As I was approaching the queue I just decided to call one of the immigration officers there. I asked the guy if I could speak to a supervisor and when he'd approached me, explained what had happened.
He knew the law as it was and that I'm not meant to fill out a landing card (Art.24 Directive 2004/38- equal treatment) nor get a stamp in the passport (Reg.11 I think of 2006 Regulations) and got me through without queueing up.
The funny thing was, he wasn't logged in to his computer so asked a colleague to check my passport, that colleague guy checked the passport nd before I managed to say a word (presuming he also knew the rules) STAMPED it
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Long story short, the supervisor came, we went up to the guys at the EU queue to sort out what'd happened. As the immigratino officer girl wasn't there (prob on her break) I first called up the guy who shouted from the side booth.
In front of his supervisor I had a go at him smth like:
Me: "You were not even dealing with me, you never saw my papers and you're making a scene by shouting across the fllipping hall as if we're at a market. Whenever you see this RC in the future, let them through without a stamp or landing card"
He replied, struggling to speak English at all, I started to wonder how he'd got the job and if they employ HIS type, who do they reject???
Him: "I was just supporting my colleague who you'd been rude to, all I said was this is EU queue only"
Me: "Well, I don't have anyone to support me here, and moreover, she should be competent enough to handle situations on her own without your or anyone's intervention."
The supervisor stood there all this time and whenever I'd try to tell the guy off, he'd stop me and tell me to just explain what'd happened and he'd do the ticking off.
When done with this idiot, I asked him to find that short girl in a hijab. He brought her out, she apologised (don't think sincerely). I told her not to treat people with non-eu passports like 2nd class citizens and to call a supervisor if EVER in doubt, and at least listen to what people are telling her. Again, the supervisor stopped my telling off and just said that he'd deal with it. She rolled her eyes back again and walked off... just shows what she thought of all the fuss, but am sure she'd know what to do in the future. I took his shoulder number 2158 and he'd advised me to take Imm. Officers' numbers if I wanted to make complaints.
So, that was it today at Heathrow, sorry for the long post, got pissed off big time, NOT because I can't be asked to queue up with other people or fill out that landing card, or can't bear a stamp in my passport... No, but because that is how people's incompetence can mess up others' lives in any walk of life. Where they are in the position of authority and can blindly tell you to eff off, without listening. And you'd think this is not a new rule, it's been around since 2006, when UK implemented the Directive...
Anyway, don't know if it's worth to write a complaint to the UKBA and receive an apology AND carry that letter with me in the future...
The funny thing was that I had a copy of Directive & Regulations with me... but in the ckecked in baggage
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)