My son , traveling last night Friday 14th on BA 043 from Heathrow to Cape Town, has been shockingly let down with the poor level of service from British Airways at Heathrow last night.
In brief this lad, after an expected 5 pm departure was finally put up in a hotel for the night at 1.00 am, having not been offered any food or even a drink, BA having lost his luggage and having been sent from pillar to post all night by unsympathetic ground staff.
In brief the 5pm departure was delayed for technical reasons to 9.30 pm, then after boarding he was told that because of another technical reason on this plane would further delay departure and finally the flight was cancelled .As if all that was not traumatic enough returning home from a school exchange, he was then giving a complete run around to try and locate his luggage and accommodation for the night.
He has been informed that he has to check out of the hotel today at 11.30 am, this will leave him with another 5 hour wait at Heathrow before departure.
I personally have in the past only had good service and many enjoyable flights with BA , this incidence last night has left me feeling rather disillusioned with British Airways , I would have expected that a lot more care and concern would have been shown to any young passenger travelling with BA.
Last edited by Laserchem; Dec 15, 12 at 7:33 am..
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In your two messages, you use the word 'young' no fewer than six times -- yet you never say how old he actually is. 10? 13? 16? In my view, just how bad BA's treatment of him was would depend a lot on his age.
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I think you need to be telephoning BA and asking to be put through to a Manager at T5.
I get the feeling you are hoping someone from BA will be reading this thread and will therefore be able to sort this out for your son. I really don't think BA monitor this site in that way though.
I agree that this does not sound good from your account and I think you need to call and speak to staff at T5 to get this sorted.
Hope he managed to get some rest and is looked after well today.
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This might also be better addressed to customer services rather than the Executive Club.
If he was returning home from a school exchange was he travelling as part of a school group, or as an unaccompanied minor? And as suggested up-thread you haven't mentioned his age.
The answers to these questions will all affect the correct level of response from BA.
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- As mentioned by Henry999, could you tell us more specifically what is the 'young lad's' age? Don't take me wrong, he should get help and support from the airline any way but what specific type of help and support will vary quite a bit depending on whether we are talking of a 7 year old or a 17 year old.
- You mentioned 'travelling unaccompanied', ok, but do you mean this in the technical sense of the airline industry word (as in that he was formally booked as an 'unaccompanied minor') or just that he happened to be travelling on his own?
- If the former, presumably there was a guardian adult who was named on the booking as responsible to bring the child to his departure airport (as presumably you would be to pick him up at his arrival airport). Was this person (presumably a teacher or member of a host family) contacted by BA when the problem occurred? Were they offered the possibility to come and pick up your son so that he would spend the night with them rather than at the hotel?
I think that Littlegirl's advice is, as usual, most sensible, and you or the person responsible for your son this side of the trip should ask and speak to a T5 manager but if you want more specific comments from this forum you will also need to give us more precise information as to your son's age and the nature of the booking (and therefore the contract with the airline) that was made.
Meanwhile, good luck to your son and I do hope that his trip will resume without any further issue. If it is of any comfort, for what it's worth, i was myself exposed to some relatively travel mishaps, on my own, from a rather young age - and I really believe that this has ended up making me a savvier and better equiped traveller in the long run.
I would be interested to know how the OP's son's age would affect the BA response. From what I have read, I would regard this as unacceptable treatment for an adult passenger never mind an unaccompanied minor.
edit
I think orbitmic may have answered my point.
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So did he travel as an unaccompanied minor (UM)? Or is he over 12 and travelling alone?
If he travelled as a UM, and BA treated him like this, I would be seriously upset too. But if he travelled on his own (and thus must be over 12), it is a grey area. Some kids are perfectly capable of handling this, other aren't. In fact, some adults wouldn't handle it either. The problem is that if he is travelling alone, there's not a lot BA (or any airline) would be expected to do (other than obviously providing a good service, as they do to other passengers). If he is between 12 and 15 you could have elected to still use the UM service.
I would be interested to know how the OP's son's age would affect the BA response. From what I have read, I would regard this as unacceptable treatment for an adult passenger never mind an unaccompanied minor.
Yes, unacceptable, but I think it would be norml to treat a child differently to an adult, even if they weren't travelling as a UM. You might expect somebody to notice a young boy and making sure they understood what was happening, etc., where they had to go to be rebooked, how to get to the hotel, etc.
So did he travel as an unaccompanied minor (UM)? Or is he over 12 and travelling alone?
...if he travelled on his own (and thus must be over 12)....
If he is between 12 and 15 you could have elected to still use the UM service.
Thanks, BBA. I noticed that the OP used the word 'unaccompanied' but I wasn't familiar with the specifics of the UM scheme, which you have now clarified.
I think this brings up a wider issue in the UK as to when a young person becomes responsible for themselves and can be treat like an adult. The cynic in me suggests that if it involves anything that society has a mild disapproval of the age is set as high as possible and if it is financial in nature eg fares it is set as low as possible.
However this is going a bit OT, I just wanted to illustrate that is difficult nowadays to differentiate when a young person should definitely be treat like a child and when they can be treat like an adult.
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I would be interested to know how the OP's son's age would affect the BA response. From what I have read, I would regard this as unacceptable treatment for an adult passenger never mind an unaccompanied minor.
Yes, unacceptable, but I think it would be norml to treat a child differently to an adult, even if they weren't travelling as a UM. You might expect somebody to notice a young boy and making sure they understood what was happening, etc., where they had to go to be rebooked, how to get to the hotel, etc.
Fair point.
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I think this brings up a wider issue in the UK as to when a young person becomes responsible for themselves and can be treat like an adult. The cynic in me suggests that if it involves anything that society has a mild disapproval of the age is set as high as possible and if it is financial in nature eg fares it is set as low as possible.
However this is going a bit OT, I just wanted to illustrate that is difficult nowadays to differentiate when a young person should definitely be treat like a child and when they can be treat like an adult.
Agreed, but in this situation it is also about perception. E.g an older person, whilst fully an adult, might be expected to be "looked after" differently in the event of IRROPS (nothing too special, just an extra effort made to make sure they know what's going on, where they should go, etc).
If my aged but mobile mother or my thirteen year old child was in the same situation I would expect pretty much the same level of service. (Hypothetically speaking, my mother doesn't travel and I have no children, so I freely admit I might feel more protective if this really happened).
Agreed, but in this situation it is also about perception. E.g an older person, whilst fully an adult, might be expected to be "looked after" differently in the event of IRROPS (nothing too special, just an extra effort made to make sure they know what's going on, where they should go, etc).
If my aged but mobile mother or my thirteen year old child was in the same situation I would expect pretty much the same level of service.
I think you have brought up a very valid point, that the level of care over and above the basic care that customers should expect, should be based on need.
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