HELP- a call to arms!

**Riverkilt** · 14th March 07, 11:21 PM

Sent my email. Titled it: Son of an RAF Pilot who protected Dumfries

My father was an American boy from Montana who flew Hurricanes for the RAF during War II. His letters home mention flying sector protection over Dumfries. He joined the RAF because our family is from Staffin, Skye - sent to Canada in the clearances.

I am one of those loud mouth Americans who wear kilts. I own over 50 kilts. Most sewn from material woven in Scotland or Great Britain.

I wear the tartans of my ancestral clans proudly.

And, I'm a freind of the gentlemen your Mr. Kerr Mathews insulted in January that your agency has not seen fit to apologize for you.

While at age 62 I am unlikely to visit the country my ancestors were cleared from - and the country my father protected as an RAF pilot, it was a possibility, a long term goal.

Knowing I would be so insulted by the local tourist agency has made planning a trip to the homeland much less of a goal for me.

I am taken even more by the lack of response, than the insults.

Ron Macdonald
Page, Arizona USA
by way of Skye Glen, Nova Scotia and Staffin, Skye.

**Pour1Malt** · 15th March 07, 02:31 AM

Success!

(well... in part... we will soon see… and a step in the right direction in any case....)

last night... just as we were about to get into our taxi to go to Emma's birthday dinner...

I got a phone call from a very polite sounding English woman named Delia Holland of VisitScotland...(head of the Dumfries office)

A malevolent bit of me wanted to tell her that this was a bad time and to phone me in the morning... but I thought I'd better hear what she had to say....

(I may have missed a bit of the conversation... because I had the phone diverted to my mobile phone... and I was getting in a taxi... riding across town.. getting out of the taxi and paying the driver... while this conversation went on....)

She said she had heard from Elaine Murray MSP...

and... that the very day my letter of complaint was received it was acted upon... Mr. Matthews was 'spoken to'... according to Ms. Holland- he was very upset and had not intended any harm... he was joking, she said.... it was not like him to be insulting, she said…

she also said that an apology letter was drafted by her staff... (around March 1) and given to her... she made a few changes to the letter... and gave it back to her staff to be finalized... a few days later (around March 5)... it came back to her to be signed... she said she did not want the staff to use the electronic signature and that she wanted to sign it herself... then somehow it got misplaced by her... she took full responsibility for the letter not being sent...

she apologized to me for Mr. Matthews comments, for VisitScotland giving a negative impression to me (and Dee, Hamish, Derek), and also for not sending the apology letter to me.... she also asked if she should still send me the letter… I said yes. I expect I will receive it today… or at the latest tomorrow… I will update on this thread when I do receive it….

She asked if she should send copies to Dee, Derek, and Hamish… I said no… that I am in email contact and will keep them posted…. I did not mention that Derek had called her office and could not get a hold of her…

She said she hoped to meet me some day… I said she would… I said that I often am in the Dumfries VisitScotland office and will continue to use their literature for our guests to find things to see in the area…. I said that I was sure that I would run into her at some point….

I thanked her for the apology and the phone call… I told her I was actually more upset about “being ignored” after I sent the letter of complaint than I was about the comments Mr. Matthews made…

She apologized again for the letter not being sent and said that the phone call from Elaine Murray MSP was the catalyst to get her to realize this matter was unfinished….

She was very polite and apologetic throughout the phone call and we ended it by both saying thank you…. and I said I was looking forward to receiving the letter.

…

And I am looking forward to reading the letter… I hope it is exactly what I asked for…

“I expect a written apology from both Mr. Matthews and the VisitScotland Dumfries & Galloway Network Office for these malicious and hurtful statements. The apology needs to be address to me personally and also to Mr. Bicknell, Mr. Gibbs, and Mr. Kellett.”

if it is not… I will follow up with Ms Holland…

.

**thescot** · 15th March 07, 07:01 AM

Bob C is absolutely dead on. There was not a joke in any of that; it was vitriol fo whatever reason.

I am only interested in VisitScotland explaining their position clearly and trying to make it right. That is not the sort of treatment one should expect from that outfit, and, more importantly, it is not what other travelers should be listening to.

**barbara clark** · 15th March 07, 07:40 AM

Dear all

We are currently investigating this incident and will post a full reply as soon as we possibly can. We apologise for any upset this may have caused members of this forum and want to make it clear that this type of action is not representative of the staff at VisitScotland or Scotland as a whole. I can assure you that a warm welcome awaits you all!

Barbara Clark
Head of Communications, VisitScotland

**cavscout** · 15th March 07, 07:57 AM

Thank you Barbara for your attention to this matter. This group appreciates the kilt and it's heritage a great deal. Mr. Matthews message was one of total contempt for the heritage of Scotland and anyone who chooses to celebrate it. It is this contempt that has so many of us stirred to action on this incident. Whatever his motivations or sentiment we cannot truly know. We each will have our own interpretation on that. We do appreciate you looking into it and hopefully ensuring that your employees value and encourage the appreciation of Scotland by educating the public and celebrating all the reasons that Scotland's culture and history are so great.

**ckelly327** · 15th March 07, 07:58 AM

Originally Posted by barbara clark

Dear all

We are currently investigating this incident and will post a full reply as soon as we possibly can. We apologise for any upset this may have caused members of this forum and want to make it clear that this type of action is not representative of the staff at VisitScotland or Scotland as a whole. I can assure you that a warm welcome awaits you all!

Barbara Clark
Head of Communications, VisitScotland

Just a word: "Wow"

We got through to someone and congrats Robertson.

**GMan** · 15th March 07, 08:31 AM

This is so nice to hear!

**Ialtog** · 15th March 07, 08:48 AM

I just have to say I was pretty surprised that Ms. Clark not only contacted those directly affected, but she visited XMarks as well. I can't say I've seen that kind of effort expended too often by agencies I've dealt with in righting a wrong. Also, kuddos to Elaine Murray. If she wants to spend some time in the sunny Southwest of the USA I'd be happy if she'd be my Representative for awhile! Nice job everyone.... Nice to see a happy ending.

**Riverkilt** · 15th March 07, 09:00 AM

And, I shall contact the spirit of my late father and tell him its okay to resume his ghost patrols over Dumfries in his phantom Hurricane.

Ron

**Caradoc** · 15th March 07, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by barbara clark

I can assure you that a warm welcome awaits you all!

I do have to say that I've never met quite as many friendly people as when I was kilted in Edinburgh (for my wedding) and in Dumfries (to go visit the Globe with Robertson and Emma).

The commentary referenced above was a bit shocking, to say the least.