“A full 747 unloaded and we found one Immigration booth open”
Dear Barbados Free Press,
My wife and I are looking to revisit your lovely country again later this year, but have been put off because of the delay we experienced ‘clearing’ immigration earlier this year.
We queued for 1hr. 45mins, during which time there was shift change, and for a significant period of time just one booth was open.
It was a shambles.
I wonder, have things improved?
Thanks,
(name withheld by BFP editor)
Since my first trip in 1982 there has been no improvement. Especially on Saturday afternoons when all the big carriers land together. I get the impression the staff enjoy keeping the tourists waiting. How long does it take to stamp a passport. But do it in slow time and the q is endless
I am sorry , but I find it hard to believe this story.
well we have been coming to barbados for 14 years and all i can say its getting worse, people don’t need to have to stand in line for at least an hour after spending 8 hours on a flight, last year we decided to it was our last time until something is done about it
we have been coming to Barbados for 6 years and it is getting worse. No less than an hour anytime we’ve been there in the past two years. Some people get upset but we take it in stride. You need better and more washrooms if you keep two hundred people cooped up for an hour!
A 30 minute wait might be acceptable but no longer. Then when you reach the government official they scowl at you. Never a smile or a welcome. Miserable people every one.
I have to agree with UK Tourist 4 times. I have been going to Barbados for years and spends a month at a time. It is terrible to say the least. It seemed almost better when the airport was under so much construction or maybe that was because there was a destraction while standing in line. When you finally get to the offical there is NOT a kind word………..hell not a word at all most times. I just kill em with kindness because my adpoted family and friends I have on the other side keep me comming back!! They are worth all the sour pusses in the world to get back to them!!
This has been going on for so long, its just not funny any more.
The late Sir Harold St. John came up with what I think was a good idea, many years ago. He suggested employing some of the retired Immigration Officers for the peak periods (ie: 2 or 3 hours during the afternoon). This would help not only help with the very busy periods but also help train new young officers.
Its not rocket science. Its simple common sense.
@ RC
Of course it’s true. We’ve all experienced it – the delay. And yes – the miserable faces, the grunts, the ‘I am godness’. It’s no better at the Immigration Office. I have never understood why so many visitors pay tribute to the friendliness of Bajans. Perhaps they never move out of Broad Street – the Broad Street of the plastic smiles, the American twang and the ‘guvs’ of rapacious taxi-men. BUT hidden in all that are pearls of great price….though it takes more than two weeks to find them.
Come to think of it, what HAS improved around here in recent times? Any suggestions?
I’ve been travelling in and out of Barbados for the last 10 years, it has improved in certain areas. In the old days there was only a few orange concrete desks, and people used to be lined up out the door. Then they put of the plastic barriers and you could barely communicate with them.
Now is much better facilities wise, but the attitudes of the immigration personnel has not improved, the airport is not good, the wharf is abhorred.
I’ve said it again and again, these are the people visitors have first contact with, they don’t have to act like your a long lost friend, but when you say good day to them, the least they could do is respond!
I don’t see them ever getting any better, its a shame as new tourists would feel wow whats the rest of the islands services going to be like?
My first visit in 1953, a slow but repectful process, my last visit in October 2011, a slower and disrespectful process – maybe it’s just the times
Com’on people, not a single good comment about immigration? I travel quite frequently and am very pleased with the professionalism and speed with which the staff processes so many so quickly. Admittedly there is the occasional “sour-puss” but I’m sure you’ll find some like that in heaven too. Here’s a suggestion, take a leadership role and try being pleasant first; usually works for me.
Yet another easily fixed well-known Bajan problem. How many Immigration officers are employed at the airport and elsewhere, and who is the genius in charge of the scheduling for the 3/4 hour window when 70% of incoming flights arrive and depart? @30, point taken, there are times, many times, when the entry process is perfunctory and effortless. I have received smiles through the glass booth on more than 1 occasion.
However, nearly everyone, resident and visitor alike have experienced the insanity of waiting for more than an hour while the Immigration staff is either on a go slow, not properly staffed, or simply incapable of doing the repetitive task they are trained to do. What matters is that the negative PERCEPTION of Barbados has become the Internet reality for the tourists we seek and that is impacting our ability to EARN money. Barbados is slowly but surely committing economic suicide, and once we dead, we dead dead.
@ 30
Leadership roles indeed….very funny. The Raj ended in, when was it, 1948? Actually it would be nice to hear from a Jamaican ‘visitor’.
Man just say hello give them your Pass (immigration)card and passport and ignore them !!That is what we are taught from youth in Barbados IGNORE THEM !
Tourists: Take note Barbados is not immigration friendly, quick or courteous. Remember that nearly 35% of everyone employed in Barbados is a Civil Servant LIMING their time away, who gives a dam for a tourist!
The other thing that really bugs me is the queue to get out through Customs. When the green channel is open (which seems to be seldom these days) there is usually one Customs Officer posted at the exit and a long queue waiting to get through.
And what is the Officer doing? Checking the blue Customs form for two things. Firstly to see if you have declared any drugs, firearms etc. Duh! Secondly, that you have the same number of pieces of luggage as you declared on the form.
This achieves nothing. Why not get them to do something useful like spot-check a few people who look suspicious.
Everytime I go to London, New York or Miami I have to wait at least an hour in an immigration line.
Let’s not pretend…Miami is ATLEAST and hour…and they are the most UNFRIENDLY!!
Wait/bajeabroad,
Never waited more than 10 minutes at either Heathrow or Gatwick.
Miami/ New York and when we had a Dallas direct flight, yes agreed.
But you both know the BIG difference.
NONE of them are tourism dependent.
But hey … known fact that tourists and tourism is not wanted in Barbados…seems like Barbados want the $$$ but dont like the white man (white trash…like canadian murdered at long beach) want the $$$ but why should we give anything much back for them want the $$$ but dont seem to wanna earn it. we got chip on shoulder and dont need you…maybe you could just give us the $$$ for nothing
Time to realise now the world can can commincate with each other very quick and easy and other places in the world offer better welcome, and pleased to see tourists on their shores
so soon your goverment will have no tourist $$$ to steal or tourists to look after…things go back to like they used to be
enjoy whilst you can
BTW I a white, but colour dont make any difference to me to be nice to me , I nice with you colour just packaging
I manage to get through customs quickly, by various methods I have refined over the years, like making sure you don’t dawdle once you get off the plane but yes, the staff are so rude and off-hand, never a smile, they seem to revel in their power over you which is the Barbadian version of customer service wherever you go on the island, from supermarket to bank. “We NEED your money, we WANT your money but give it here, and don’t expect politeness. We DON’T like you”
Don’t get me started on the red-caps at the airport, they are like feral beasts pouncing pon you. Who’s idea was it to stop providing self-use baggage trolleys for the visitors? At most airports in the world these are available but oh no, not in Barbados anymore where they start trying to grab your money the minute you arrive. A friend arrived with 8 bags after a long trip away and when she gave $20 to the red cap he sneered and demanded more. It’s about putting 8 bags onto a trolley with the help of her husband, wheeling it out to the taxi rank and that’s it. $20 not enough? It was about 8 minutes work. I could happily do it by myself without having to pay $20 for a crap experience lasting 8 minutes if there were trolleys available to passengers to use.
I’m sorry to be back again but to Wait, coming into London airports is not quite the same as arriving at Grantley Adams. Heathrow’s the busiest airport in the world and there are hordes coming in. Gatwick’s not as bad but in both airports there is a long walk from plane to baggage collection as the airports are so huge. Hundreds queue to get through immigration from all over the world with hundreds of flights coming in every few minutes from all parts of the globe; unless they are EU and for obvious reasons, passports have to be checked and recently have not been properly checked owing to industrial action. Whereas Barbados is mainly a holiday destination, focussed on tourism, London is a hub for dissidents and terrorists as well as businessmen and tourists.
I don’t recall people in Barbados being blown up on their way to work on the bus, or bombs in peoples shoes on flights to and from. Yes, Barbados could be a target just because of the number of white tourists coming in and out but it’s not comparable.
So given that it takes about 20 minutes to walk from plane to baggage collection (WITH your own trolley,might I add) to immigration, it’s not surprising that it might take over an hour to get out. At least you get a smile and decent treatment by the officials involved and no red cap type behaviour.
If you arrive from Barbados in London it will usually be at around breakfast time. The tubes and trains will already be running, there are buses into town and plenty of free help and advice from Information about how to get to all parts of the UK from the airport. Getting a taxi, however, puts you in red cap terriitory – it’s a big rip-off, costing a fortune, metered though the cabs both black and mini are, you willl pay through the nose. So best idea is to get on the tube, go into town and get a cab from there if you are staying in London otherwise a train to your more distant destination eg Birmingham, Liverpool or another large city.
All of the above applies to Paris as well as the major European cities. It’s different in the US because of the vast distances involved; you need to research and plan ahead.
Yes, the huge difference between now and many years ago is something called “Internet” and electronic communication. In the past bad unfriendly behaviour was remaining an isolated fact and the only way to let the mass know about a bad experience was the media. NOW? Now just in minutes you can spread the word to hundred of thousands people. Unfortunately some people here on this island are so arrogant and dummy they do not get it! The results are there: less arrivals and more complaints. And competition clapping!!
Gulliver, totally agree. When you have the most senior Barbados tourism officials being quoted verbatim in the worlds largest circulation travel trade publication calling TripAdvisor a ‘menace’ , that tells you everything.
Never mind the 75 million reviews and opinions and the 56 million unique monthly visitors.
If I had my way, two or three existing BTA staff would be used to create a ‘watch’ department to track, monitor, read and response to ALL the positive and negative comments posted on the internet about our tourism product.
I doubt anyone could convince me that it wouldn’t be cost-effective and demonstrate graphically that ‘we’ are listening, we do care and we do want every cherished visitor to come back.
Adrian I get your point about analysing the data but Gulliver unwittingly raised a point; in the past, the RECENT past, internet or no internet, you got treated like a human being at arrivals.
At a crisis time for tourism, like this, can’t we have some Customer Service training, for heaven’s sake? It’s not rocket science, stop scowling at the visitors, get rid of the feral red caps and make arrival in Barbados a pleasurable experience, instead of the nightmare it is today.
Why spend all that money on upgrading the airport when visitors are treated like the other word for dung?
Curiously, on departure, one is met by civility and friendliness. Why? Airline staff, trained abroad, bend over backwards to be helpful and kind. At least visitors have a fond memory of their departure experience, apart from when they get the usual Bajan treatment of petty individuals lording it over them as they pass through the metal detectors and face demands to remove their shoes, etc.
I don’t know what it is about Bajans, always trying to get the upper hand on harmless tourists who are the main resource of this island’s income.
Another fantastic example of how the civil service departments work…seems its just been widely accepted that once you deal with any government department expect to meet underworkded, overpaid, discourteous and generally uneducated people. This is a big issue for most of the Caribbean islands. The fact that they schedule a shift change at the busiest time shows the level of competence of those in charge. Unfortunately when the people who run these departments are appointed on there time served and not ability there will always be an issue. This is a problem across every government run department in Barbados.
Just heard a very nasty behaviour happening at “Passport front desk”, a woman with despicable attitute treating people like dogs! Is she going to be fired for her attitude? Those are the people that keep this Country in the “third world” limbo….
It’s starting to enter their brains that tourists might dry up, big time or is it? How long will it take for the Unions to realize that the few tourists that are left are sick and tired of this greedy and off-hand treatment? Let’s watch and learn as they are layed-off and have to scrabble around to find a new job. May we hope that the ones that hold on to their jobs get a better attitude. Most tourists complain about the way they are treated on arrival. It’s a negative experience which clouds their first taste of Barbados.
Barbados immigration officers are there to do their job, not be a firendly pal to the passengers. They are border and security for their country, so of course they are going to have their game faces on. They work for the Barbados Government not the tourists.
I have been coming to Barbados for 10 years and may not come back. It seems like a 90 to 120 minute wait is now the expected “service standard” if you arrive during the afternoon. When I complained at the airport I was told that several flights had arrived at the same time and there was nothing that could be done (as if the two big London flights and the two smaller Toronto flights have not been arriving at about the same time for th least 10 years).
There is nothing accidental or inevitable about making people stand in line, whether it is at a supermarket check out, an airport check in or at immigration at Barbados. It is a choice made by the people in charge that it is an acceptable way to treat people. A 90-120 minute line is not acceptable and in a tourism market in which there is more and more competition it is not very smart.
As a foreigner I have no redress or remedy here other than to complain (and vote with my feet).