PUCCI GALORE

OK - High Horse time. Yesterday I converted a booking from a hold to a purchase as I have been persuaded to join some friends in Sharm El Sheik next year (I think that the destination may be irrelevant).

I did everything on the BA App and put in the names - HI has an odd spelling of his name due to his Social Climbing Mother and it won't accept hyphenations. (am I still making sense?).

I paid with the registered card and then came the shock after I got the confirmation - it wanted details for Galore 2. I nearly had a fit as I thought that the name had somehow gone wrong. I called the Gold Number and it was past the magic hour of 20.00 in the UK (21.00 in Juan -Les-Pins). I called anyway to ask what could be done and sat waiting on hold. I then kept my head and hung up and added all the details for HI (wondering what had happened to all those in his profile that I had copiously entered already). I sent this in - and it took my back to the start of the booking and there were both our names.

So my main irritation lies with the wretched Club number closing so early. AA route you round the world (Tahiti last time) but someone was there to answer my query. I do wonder if this cost cutting has just gone too far? Should Gold customers in particular and all passengers in general be made to wait all this time? At their expense in many cases which is another cause for complaint.

I have no idea how many people are employed to handle reservations but there are clearly insufficient. As for all this Galore 2 nonsense - what was that all about?

I think that another little email to the Chairman's Office is brewing. For heavens sake, people should be entitled to better service than this. I was lucky - others have far more pressing and urgent issues than mine.

hugolover

But dear Pucci, it closes at midnight .

starlight

My dearest Pucci,
I had exactly the same this weekend and was completely thrown by Starlight 2 but it transpired that when I actually went to pay the remaining amount it allowed me to enter a real name but for some reason on MMB the real names were there but on some pages Starlight 2 remains. It is all very confusing! I have decided, for the reasons you allude to, to stick primarily with The European or HKG call centres as they seem very capable?!

MrMutton

It does seem silly - and the cost point is valid too! There is no reason it should cost the customer so much or, indeed, anything to call up and spend thousands on fares (or hundreds on mistakes ) when telephony these days is so cheap. Redirecting a call is virtually free and being able to speak to someone is priceless when one is in a flap (not that I am suggesting that Pucci would ever be in a flap!)

Hope Juan-les-Pins is warm! I am popping down to near Antibes next weekend for a night to collect an ageing relative and would welcome a drop of sunshine! ^

ediyankee

I needed to call and book an Avios flight a few days ago that had one remaining seat with an itinerary that couldn't be done online. It was after 20:00 but I knew I couldn't wait or else the seat might have disappeared. So I phoned up the US number via skype and got connected to a nice young woman in Newcastle!! Clearly the call centre is still open at 23:00, it's absurd that you can't call it from a UK number.

Often1

It remains a major failing of BA that as a worldwide carrier operating in all time zones, that a simple IVR system does not permit one to call any BA number anywhere and wind up with at least the option of reaching the optimal person available at that point.

Other carriers manage this quite well, it's cheap and it actually encourages those who are less sanguine about booking online to spend when they are ready.

atmorris

The IVR can be free to setup, however routing calls in a follow the sun method is not.

To setup a good global telephony platform, including licenses, hardware etc, you would be lucky to get change out of Ł75K (CAPEX) plus an annual OPEX cost, and then there is the fact you have to recruit night staff in the UK to support the teams etc,..

I can see why BA don't do it, and tbh AF/KL and LH last time i tried at 2000 CET where all closed...

I would rather they spent the money on improvements to actual in flight and lounge services..

danielonn

When I book a flight I always check the e-maield itinerary soon after its sent to ensure that all names are spelled correctly. If something is wrong I'm on the phone straight away to fix any errors. I had a name spelling error and fixed it before it was ticketed and was not charged to make the change.

On flights especially international ones I have the Passports of the people traveling with me and enter their names exactly as it appears on the passport. Then after the trip has been booked I go into the Manage Booking page of the website to enter in the Advanced Passenger Information and Passport details.

Call me OCD but I just feel better knowing that everything is entered properly. Even before booking I ensure that all passports are valid and ensure that we meet the entry requirements of the countries we are visiting such as having a valid US Passport for 6 months. Even if the country requires a 6 month validity I'm renewing at the 9 month mark in case of a delay in processing the renewal.

Hope its gets fixed OP. Its good that the OP caught this when he/she did as I know some people who have waited until the last minute to review that everything is correct only to be charge with a hefty change fee.

One of my friends booked a British Airways Ticket and thought everything was good. But that was not so he showed up at SFO crying on the phone to me a year before the date he booked. He had to pay $200+the fare difference of $700 per ticket( 4 tickets in total) a very costly mistake that knock on wood has never happened to me in all of my travels. I told him to always double and triple check when booking and have another person next to him when he books.

I always have the traveler or another person with me to ensure that the booking is correct with the dates and spelling of names. Then I check this again after getting the emailed confirmation and call the airline to ensure it has been ticketed and they see the reservation.

I reconfirm the reservation 27-30 hours before leaving(about 3-5 hours before Online Checkin opens) by calling the airline to ensure the flight details are correct and there have been no adverse changes.

simons1

I didn't think BA would let you book that far in advance for exactly that reason.

PUCCI GALORE

What? I know that we are not allowed to put numbers on here but I called and it told me that it shut at 8.00pm. There was the new line that was open - and I held on that until I came to my senses. To the sweet person who said that I never get in a flap - I try to keep my head whilst all around loose theirs.

Shall I send a moan to the Chairman's Office? I really think that waiting like that is ridiculous.

What REALLY infuriates me is when this smug self-satisfied (tautology?) voice asks me if I knew that I could do all this on the internet? If ever insult is added to injury that is it. Do they really think that i'd rather sit on the phone to them than just deal with it myself on the net?

Honestly - I could run that wretched airline better than they could - I might not make as much money but I'd ensure that we had people wanting to fly with us again.

I'd save money on the fuel bill by throwing those stupid High Lifes in the bin. What must they cost to fly around the world?! No one who is not English fluent can read it, and no one who is English fluent would want to.

Tim1975

BA needs to sort out its call centres. For a huge international business, not having 24 hr opening and putting people on hold for hours is simply unacceptable. I can't believe it makes good business sense either given that a good proportion of those calling will be wanting to spend some money with you. And the rest are people calling with problems that BA will earn brownie points for solving.

corporate-wage-slave

Just in case someone else looks at this and gets the wrong impression, you can of course ring other BAEC centres 24 hours a day - that was a change done in October 2013. Nicci specifically handles the OP's position in paragraph 5.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/21653645-post1.html

All the numbers are in the Dashboard, and using Skype on a smartphone or other VOIP will keep the cost down.

henkybaby

I realise all this, but none of the call centres I ever set up, required the customer to prevent additional cost. We provided them with a local number, rerouted to wherever we want with a global VOIP contract... So easy. I spoke to several very nice Fiji ladies lately by calling a Dutch number provided by AA. Open 24/7.

simons1

I feel sorry for travellers who don't have immediate Internet access, Skype on their smartphone, BAEC membership and intimate knowledge of the dashboard (which is probably 90% plus of travellers).

Fully agree with OP's comments - most global companies would have long since have invested in a phone system that routed calls to the nearest open office and/or office with the shortest queue.

corporate-wage-slave

I am under the distinct impression this is a deliberate policy to prevent the Tokyo office being inundated at 01:03 UK time. It's the bog-standard CISCO router, which does seemlessly transfer calls between Entry Points during the "allowed" hours, but is then switched off at the witching hour. Don't shoot blah blah.