Feeling p1ssed at KUL

Old May 25, 2016, 8:18 am
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Feeling p1ssed at KUL

Begin Rant ...

On return F flight for wife's birthday. Couldnt OLCI so went to The check in desk at KUL to be told we are now in J. Original explanation was that flight overbooked and we are on a redemption flight so we are downgraded. During further conversations the duty manager changed his story several times. Broken seats and various other problems wee raised.

I phoned GGL line and asked for their help. I was told and so was the duty manager that we should not have been bumped because of our status - I am G4L and GGL and my wife is GCH. The kind lady at GGL said that the KUL station manager had misinterpreted the BA rules but the people at KUL wouldn't budge.

They then gave us two pieces of paper with a previous pax details tippexed out. I assume they are for compensation but there was no explanation so we didnt sign them.

Really annoyed because the reason for going to KUL was the 789 F experience, because it was a treat for my wife and because the KUL staff repeatedly lied to us.

I am told that a complaint has been raised by London and that the KUL station manager will be spoken to but the whole experience has left a bad taste in my mouth. To be honest I am not bothered about getting the Avios back as we have millions already.

Rant over .....
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Old May 25, 2016, 8:23 am
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Was the station manager trying to avoid bumming "locals" out of FC? Were you able to see who got the FC seats on your flight?

OTOH I would put part of the blame on BA for overbooking their FC cabin by two.
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Old May 25, 2016, 8:26 am
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Was the station manager trying to avoid bumming "locals" out of FC? Were you able to see who got the FC seats on your flight?

OTOH I would put part of the blame on BA for overbooking their FC cabin by two.
Definitely the former
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Old May 25, 2016, 8:30 am
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Rather poor show from BA, it appears that being GGL does not provide any true priority in such situations. I'm sure a big gesture will be forthcoming but I for one would feel mightily peed off too in your circumstances.
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Old May 25, 2016, 8:37 am
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Sad, and the days of palm trees are sadly over.

Was it a simple F return to KUL ticket? Time to claim your EU261 (which may be what drives the decision, as the compensation is 75% of your ticket price - the lower priced the ticket, the lower the compensation).

If you're not bothered about Avios, if BA don't offer up the 75% refund in full (they like to pay out only per sector) you can start an online MoneyClaim to sue them for what you're due, at which point you translate the Avios spent in to cash (based on what it'd cost you to buy them). Of course, once you have the cash you can spend it on whatever you like.
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Old May 25, 2016, 8:39 am
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Wonder if it's ZBKC - and the reading light is still broken in 2K

Joking aside - I feel for you BAGoldBoy especially when you have no need for the Avios you'll get offered. It's a shame you couldn't get F on Malaysian A380 or shuttle over to SIN for a different F ?
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Old May 25, 2016, 8:46 am
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I find it extraordinary that a GCH and a GGL would be bumped, irrespective of how you bought your tickets.

Understand that the local station manager is put in a very difficult situation when the cabin is overbooked but surely there must be guidelines about the order in which downgrading of passengers is managed?

If they had known in advance that the cabin was likely to be overbooked, surely this could have been effectively managed in advance by proactively calling passengers to see if anyone would mind waiting till the next flight (and BA pays to extend an existing hotel stay etc.), or would mind being moved to another carrier. A better situation all round and possibly a very happy passenger who can extend a holiday for free.

I do know that humdinger GGL complaints are taken very seriously and I do think that this probably qualifies for that status!
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Old May 25, 2016, 8:47 am
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Really poor service. Beggars belief that a GfL+GGL can be bumped like that.
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Old May 25, 2016, 8:52 am
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75% refund under EU261 + a generous amount of service recovery from BA here I'd expect!
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Old May 25, 2016, 8:54 am
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Originally Posted by paul4040
Beggars belief that a GfL+GGL can be bumped like that.
Not unbelievable at all if MSPeconomist's suspicion is correct!
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Old May 25, 2016, 9:02 am
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Originally Posted by Globaliser
Not unbelievable at all if MSPeconomist's suspicion is correct!
But surely the Station Manager realised this would come straight back to him? I can't believe he has no knowledge of the BAEC tiers??
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Old May 25, 2016, 9:04 am
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Originally Posted by ThatT1Feeling
But surely the Station Manager realised this would come straight back to him? I can't believe he has no knowledge of the BAEC tiers??
But importance is not always measured by BAEC status ...

Which is not either to suggest or to exclude the possibility that the station manager's decision on priority was illegitimate. But as past discussions have demonstrated, some people do actually think that it is fine for decisions to be made on the basis of who you know.

Either way, it would not seem to me to be beyond belief that someone else might have been prioritised ahead of the OP, extremely aggravating though that would inevitably have been.
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Old May 25, 2016, 9:07 am
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Originally Posted by Globaliser
But importance is not always measured by BAEC status ...
Of course - however much BA at the centre may wish for that to be the standard... It's possible that the Station Manager was between a rock and a hard place, with status pax jostling with full F fare pax and passengers with local influence. This is where the proactive phone call wouldn't have gone amiss...

Last edited by ThatT1Feeling; May 25, 2016 at 9:12 am
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Old May 25, 2016, 9:10 am
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Isn't this why the DUT process was implemented, or is that only for upgrades? Decisions made centrally, not locally
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Old May 25, 2016, 9:13 am
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I'm going to put a flame suit on here, or worse, risk getting called a BA apologist, but...

Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Was the station manager trying to avoid bumming "locals" out of FC? Were you able to see who got the FC seats on your flight?

OTOH I would put part of the blame on BA for overbooking their FC cabin by two.
Although the first reason sounds most likely in this scenario, is it possible that the excuses given were valid? i.e., cabin was not oversold, but due to broken seats [that may have been broken on the outbound], it was now oversold?

Originally Posted by 710 77345
Was it a simple F return to KUL ticket? Time to claim your EU261 (which may be what drives the decision, as the compensation is 75% of your ticket price - the lower priced the ticket, the lower the compensation).
Originally Posted by clarkeysntfc
75% refund under EU261 + a generous amount of service recovery from BA here I'd expect!
and 75% of $0 base fare is....

While I agree it is unfortunate they'd choose to downgrade someone of such commercial importance to BA, it's possible the duty manager had a much narrower view of the business, i.e., keeping "his" route afloat & filled with paying "locals". I can't help but feel a little DYKWIA here -- this repeated statement of status, however high it may be, is exactly what lands people in that thread, but when it's our own, we're much more forgiving.

How would this thread have ended if one of the paying passengers were bumped and came here to rant? No sympathy, "these things happen, claim EC 261" because he's non-status but may have shelled out $7k for the seat in this particular instance?

It's also unfortunate that the ground staff were unable to come to a mutually agreeable course of action, and I think this is where BA['s staff] dropped the ball on this one, and in turn, reflects poorly on BA's training.
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