Hello Elaine,
Finally found the review of your painful trip.
Only once in 10 trips have I not been met at the airport, Birmingham to Malpensa, Milan in June 2011. There was 2 of us travelling, the rest from Gatwick and Manchester. My seat had been booked next to the other man without me knowing, I was able to change this at the desk as I like a window seat. I did not meet up with him till Milan when a Rep met our 2 hours late flight, putting us into a minivan for the 2 hour journey to Lake Garda.
On the way back, Manchester and Gatwick left in the morning, we stayed till after lunch which the hotel kindly gave us. No rep again. Did use the computer at the hotel and found my daughters on Facebook with a picture of a barbecue the night before and the message about cleaning up the house before Mum came home 😃
Jan