Have you ever been invited to do something really exciting, only to hear nothing about the opportunity for a while? Have you ever been invited to do something exciting, only to hear that the opportunity was taken from you only after you contact them for updates?
On September 28th 2021, I was invited to do a piece for the BBC show Rip Off Britain: Holidays, a holiday specific spin-off of Rip Off Britain. Usually running on a weeknight after The One Show (and running live shows after BBC Breakfast on weekdays), the show seeks to highlight extortionate costs to consumers, from utility bills, food costs, housing and travel.
I received a Facebook and, as I later discovered, Twitter message from two people who worked on the programme. Their team had discovered the article I'd written in the Metro regarding accessibility issues in hotels. Admittedly, I thought it was a joke or a scam at first; I didn't expect people who work on TV to message you on social media for potential opportunities. But the message also seemed professional enough not to believe, so I sent a Facebook message in return the next day with my contact details to talk things over properly.
One of their colleagues phoned around an hour after my message and, a few minutes later, it was agreed that the piece would be filmed in a week at a third party location (I live with my father, so having a living room full of filming equipment wouldn't be appreciated, and my disability restricts me from working). They would also be in touch closer to filming day to finalise things.
The day before the film crew were due to arrive, however, I received no call or message. Filming day arrived, still nothing. I gave them the benefit of doubt at first. Maybe they were a bit busy, maybe they were having trouble getting a filming location sorted.
I wouldn't receive the truth until the week after filming day. I sent an email to the same person who called me two weeks earlier, asking if there were any updates on the piece. As it turned out, the piece had already been filmed. I was disappointed, but incredibly angry.
I wasn't angry that I was replaced in the piece as such. Unfortunate things happen, especially in film and TV. And there are fuel shortage issues across the country thanks, primarily, to Brexit. Besides, I'm glad that hotel accessibility is being talked about a bit more (not that I trust the BBC to do it anymore. If they're willing to do hit pieces on Stonewall solely because the LGBTQ+ charity supports trans and non-binary people, I dread to think how they'll bastardise this discussion in the name of "impartiality").
No, I was angry at the fact that I had to get in touch with them to find out what had happened. It felt really unprofessional on their part. But on a human level, it was rude and insulting. I can imagine that keeping a programme running efficiently takes a lot of time, but how long would it really take for them to send a message saying plans had changed? I had three separate contacts from the same programme. I doubt that it would've taken long for one to send me an update. If they had, I'd have been more than happy to travel wherever they wanted to film.
While I'm glad that they're open to getting in touch with regards to future opportunities, I'm not sure I'd even want to accept the offer even if I was given one. I mentioned in my last post that multiple failed dates have made me not want to go on another one. This is a similar situation: how can I be sure that the opportunity won't be taken away again if an easier alternative becomes available?
This time, however, that hesitation could have some awful consequences. Disability issues are incredibly important to talk about, but so few disabled people are actually approached to talk about them. Because of this, I've secretly been pushing myself the last few years to accept more opportunities, especially when it comes to talking about issues that affect disabled people (from my perspective).
This has worked tremendously well for me. I worked with the former Virgin Trains to help improve accessibility for them. I was once on local radio to talk about the rise in disability hate crimes. And, of course, there was the Metro article which led to the most recent opportunity with Rip Off Britain.
I don't want to let the disabled community down based on one bad experience. But I know that my mind may want to reject future offers because I don't want to go through this frustration again.
