FRUSTRATED A320 FO VENTS OVER POOR PERFORMANCE OF GND PERSONNEL DURING A DELAYED ARR AND DEP.

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FLT FROM WASHINGTON DULLES SCHEDULED DEP TIME XA30L. MEL: APU GENERATOR INOP. OUR FLT WAS INITIALLY DELAYED 1 HR 5 MINS DUE TO A LATE ARRIVING INBOUND AIRPLANE. THE INBOUND ARRIVED AT THE GATE AT XB06L BUT HAD TO STOP SHORT OF THE GATE AWAITING A GUIDE MAN. I WAS IN THE JETBRIDGE WITH THE CUST SVC REP AND AFTER ABOUT 2 MINS I CALLED RAMP CTL ON THE JETBRIDGE PHONE AND ASKED THEM TO CALL FOR A GUIDE MAN. I AM SURE THE INBOUND CREW WAS DOING THE SAME THING OVER THE RADIO. SEVERAL MINS LATER; A RAMPER FINALLY AND VERY CASUALLY STROLLED UP TO GUIDE IN THE WAITING AIRBUS. THE FLT BLOCKED IN AT XB13L. I STARTED MY PREFLT. WHILE PERFORMING MY WALKAROUND I NOTICED THE ONLY GROUPS MEETING THE AIRPLANE WERE THE CATERERS AND THE FUELERS; NO RAMPERS TO OFFLOAD THE ARRIVING FLT'S BAGS. AFTER SEVERAL MINS; THE CAPT NOTED THAT CUST SVC REPS WERE ON THE RAMP TRYING TO RETRIEVE ARRIVING PAX'S STROLLERS. I CONTINUED WITH MY PREFLT PREPARATIONS. SEVERAL MINS LATER THE CAPT SAID HE WAS GOING DOWN TO THE RAMP TO ENSURE THE PUSH CREW UNDERSTOOD NOT TO PULL GND PWR AND WE REQUIRED A GATE ENG START DUE TO OUR APU GENERATOR NOT WORKING. PAX WERE BOARDED AND CUSTOMER SVC CLOSED THE DOOR AT APPROX XC00L. CUSTOMER SVC DEPLANED AND LOADED TWO COMPLETELY FULL AIRPLANES 300+ CUSTOMERS; INCLUDING WHEELCHAIRS IN ABOUT 45 MINS. KUDOS TO CUSTOMER SVC! OUR FORWARD PIT WAS CLOSED BUT THE AFT PIT REMAINED OPEN. SHORTLY AFTER THE CABIN DOOR CLOSED THE CAPT ASKED IF I COULD SEE 'ANYTHING' ON MY SIDE. THERE WASN'T ANY ACTIVITY IN SIGHT. THE CAPT ATTEMPTED CONTACT WITH GND PERSONNEL BY PUSHING THE 'MECH' CALL BUTTON. NOBODY RESPONDED. I THEN CALLED AND ASKED THEY SWING A CAMERA OUR DIRECTION SO THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO ENLIGHTEN US ON THE SITUATION. RAMP CTL SAID THEY COULDN'T SEE ANY ACTIVITY AND WOULD LOOK INTO IT. A FEW MINS LATER SOMEONE BEGAN POUNDING ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE AIRPLANE NEAR THE EXTERNAL PWR CORD AREA. I LOOKED OUT MY WINDOW TO SEE A GENTLEMAN WANTING TO DISCONNECT GND PWR. I OPENED MY WINDOW AND VERBALLY TOLD HIM OUR APU GENERATOR WAS INOP AND WE REQUIRED GND PWR UNTIL AFTER AN ENG WAS STARTED. TWO MORE ATTEMPTS WERE MADE BY DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS TO DISCONNECT OUR GND PWR. FINALLY; ON THEIR 4TH ATTEMPT; SOMEBODY JUST PULLED THE CORD! BESIDES THE POSSIBLE UNKNOWN DAMAGE IT COULD DO TO AN AIRPLANE; PULLING GND PWR WHILE IT IS POWERING THE AIRPLANE IS DANGEROUS! ELECTRICAL ARCING COULD OCCUR AND SOMEONE COULD GET ELECTROCUTED. THE CAPT IMMEDIATELY ATTEMPTED GND CONTACT BY USING THE 'MECH' CALL BUTTON BUT NOBODY RESPONDED. I LOOKED OUT MY WINDOW AGAIN TO SEE 4 OR 5 RAMPERS STANDING AROUND BUT NOT RESPONDING TO THE 'MECH' CALL. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AS WE COULD BE EXPERIENCING AN EMER 'PIT FIRE; HOT BRAKES; APU FIRE; ETC' REQUIRING GND NOTIFICATION OR ASSISTANCE. I OPENED MY WINDOW AND INSTRUCTED THE RAMPERS TO RECONNECT OUR GND PWR. DURING THIS TIME; DOOR 1L WAS CLOSED AND NOBODY ON THE RAMP WOULD RESPOND TO OUR COM ATTEMPTS. WE CALLED RAMP. ALL THE RAMP CTLRS WOULD SAY IS: YOU AREN'T MY FLT. REPEATEDLY WE ASKED TO TALK TO THE CTLR RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR FLT; WE ASKED FOR A PHONE NUMBER; WE ASKED FOR THE PROJECTED DEP TIME. IN SHORT WE WERE DESPERATE FOR ANY INFO BUT ALL WE COULD GET WAS: YOU AREN'T MY FLT! WHEN PRESSED FOR ANSWERS THE RAMP PERSON SAID IT 'MIGHT BE SHIFT CHANGE.' I ADMIT I WAS A LITTLE CURT AND RESPONDED WITH 'FOR THE LAST HOUR AND 15 MINS.' OUR FRUSTRATION LEVELS NEARLY MAXIMIZED; WE SENT ACARS MESSAGES TO IAD STATION AND DISPATCH ASKING FOR IAD PHONE NUMBERS WHILE ALSO LOOKING FOR THEM IN THE FOM. THE CAPT AND I BOTH CALLED DIFFERENT NUMBERS AND BOTH RECEIVED THE SAME ANSWERS: YOU'RE NOT MY FLT. AMAZINGLY; WE COULD NEVER GET XFERRED TO THE PERSON THAT WAS CTLING OUR FLT! FINALLY; AFTER THE AIRPLANE HAD BEEN ON THE GND FOR 1 HR AND 37 MINS; THE PITS CLOSED; WE RAN A CHKLIST; STARTED THE #1 ENG AT THE GATE; TAXIED AND DEPARTED 2 HRS 10 MINS LATE...MOSTLY BECAUSE OF RAMP'S SNAFU. WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? WHY DIDN'T ANYONE MEET THE INBOUND AIRPLANE? WHY DID CUSTOMER SVC AND CATERING KNOW ABOUT THE ARRIVING FLT BUT RAMP DID NOT? WHY WASN'T THERE A CREW TO OFFLOAD THE AIRPLANE? WHY WASN'T THERE A CREW TO LOAD THE AIRPLANE? WHY DO RAMPERS NOT FIRST CHK WITH PLTS BEFORE DISCONNECTING GND PWR? WHY DO RAMPERS NOT READ THEIR PUSHBACK PAPERWORK? WHY DO RAMPERS NOT RESPOND TO MECH CALLS? WHY WAS IAD RAMP ABSOLUTELY CLUELESS? WHY WOULDN'T RAMP PROVIDE A SUPVR AS REQUESTED? WHY WOULDN'T RAMP PROVIDE A PHONE NUMBER? IF A SHIFT CHANGE WAS OCCURRING; WHY AREN'T OVERLAPPING SCHEDULES USED TO ENSURE PROPER STAFFING FOR ARRIVING AND DEPARTING FLTS? WHEN NO INFO IS BEING PROVIDED THE CAPT WHAT INFO/COM SHOULD/COULD HAVE THE CAPT PROVIDED TO THE CUSTOMERS IN STATUS UPDATE PA ANNOUNCEMENTS? WERE ORD'S SIMILARLY NATURED PROBS 'FIXED' BY SENDING THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR ORD'S MELTDOWNS TO IAD? WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO BE WRITING THIS RPT? IS THIS PART OF MY JOB DESCRIPTION? WOULD ANY PROGRESS HAVE BEEN MADE OR THE FLT EVEN DEPARTED HAD THE CAPT AND I NOT BEEN PROACTIVE? IS THIS THE WAY TO WIN CUSTOMER CONFIDENCE? IS THE AIRLINE REALLY PROPERLY STAFFED IN ALL AREAS? WOULD YOU BE EMBARRASSED TO HAVE BEEN A CREW MEMBER ON THIS FLT? WOULD YOU BE PROUD OF YOUR COMPANY?