Need help from BA guru please [change to award booking not reticketed]
Oct 25, 2016, 9:29 am
#1
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Location: La Jolla, CA
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Posts: 2,615
Need help from BA guru please [change to award booking not reticketed]
I am hoping that there is either a rep from BA here or an experienced guru who can help me with an issue I am having.
In April 2016 I booked an award 1st Class RT flight from SAN to AMS
In mid August I called to change our departure date (leaving a week earlier in Feb 2017) the agent was great, the change was made and I was told it would ticket in 5-7 days.
Weeks passed without ticketing and then I received an email from BA on Sept 5 requesting that I call. I did and the agent told me that they needed my CVC from my credit card again. I gave it to the agent and they told me we would ticket in 5-7 days.
More weeks passed and then on Sept 17 I had another email requesting that I call. The exact same thing happened. I asked to speak to a supervisor but was told tickets are issued in a "back office" that cannot take calls.
On Sept 18 and Sept 19 I attempted to contact someone through BA Twitter but received no response. I also emailed customer service and received this reply:
I am sorry you had to write back to us.
Unfortunately, we can't help with your request, as we do not have access to some of the systems used in our contact centres.
You will need to contact your nearest British Airways office where one of our agents will be able to assist you.
Of course, when I called I was told that they could not help me.
A friend tried to reassure me that this is not unusual for BA (although in over 40 years of flying I have never experienced anything like this). I decided to give it a few more weeks.
Then today I received the exact same email: "Please call British Airways at your earliest convenience, quoting the reference number detailed above"
and when I called they asked for my CVC number again and again told me that there is no problem and that it should ticket in 5-7 days.
Should I be concerned? Is there any way I can elevate this to a higher level of customer service? The agents in the call center seem nice but clueless.
Any help would be greatly appreciated !
BTW: The reservation shows as "confirmed" with seats online. It just has not ticketed yet.
In April 2016 I booked an award 1st Class RT flight from SAN to AMS
In mid August I called to change our departure date (leaving a week earlier in Feb 2017) the agent was great, the change was made and I was told it would ticket in 5-7 days.
Weeks passed without ticketing and then I received an email from BA on Sept 5 requesting that I call. I did and the agent told me that they needed my CVC from my credit card again. I gave it to the agent and they told me we would ticket in 5-7 days.
More weeks passed and then on Sept 17 I had another email requesting that I call. The exact same thing happened. I asked to speak to a supervisor but was told tickets are issued in a "back office" that cannot take calls.
On Sept 18 and Sept 19 I attempted to contact someone through BA Twitter but received no response. I also emailed customer service and received this reply:
I am sorry you had to write back to us.
Unfortunately, we can't help with your request, as we do not have access to some of the systems used in our contact centres.
You will need to contact your nearest British Airways office where one of our agents will be able to assist you.
Of course, when I called I was told that they could not help me.
A friend tried to reassure me that this is not unusual for BA (although in over 40 years of flying I have never experienced anything like this). I decided to give it a few more weeks.
Then today I received the exact same email: "Please call British Airways at your earliest convenience, quoting the reference number detailed above"
and when I called they asked for my CVC number again and again told me that there is no problem and that it should ticket in 5-7 days.
Should I be concerned? Is there any way I can elevate this to a higher level of customer service? The agents in the call center seem nice but clueless.
Any help would be greatly appreciated !
BTW: The reservation shows as "confirmed" with seats online. It just has not ticketed yet.
Oct 25, 2016, 9:56 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: LCY
Programs: Mucci des Ancients Matelots
Posts: 769
There are a number of things to be aware of here but the TLDR version is: Don't worry, this is normal for BA!
I've had this happen after each and every upgrade with avios I've ever done. They do usually re-ticket before you fly but twice recently I've had to chase them to ticket me as I've got to within 24 hours of departure. This can be a real pain as many CR staff will just try and claim it's a security issue you need to sort out at the airport or that they need raise a ticket and it will be resolved in 3 hours (it never is, they're just lazy) but if you hang up and call back enough times you will eventually get through to someone that will own it and fix it while you hold.
And don't even think about complaining. The last time I complained about an agent bare faced lying to me that I couldn't check in because of security issues when the truth is that I hadn't been ticketed, the CR response thanked me for feeding back that I was happy with the service the agent gave me to resolve my issue!!
I've had this happen after each and every upgrade with avios I've ever done. They do usually re-ticket before you fly but twice recently I've had to chase them to ticket me as I've got to within 24 hours of departure. This can be a real pain as many CR staff will just try and claim it's a security issue you need to sort out at the airport or that they need raise a ticket and it will be resolved in 3 hours (it never is, they're just lazy) but if you hang up and call back enough times you will eventually get through to someone that will own it and fix it while you hold.
And don't even think about complaining. The last time I complained about an agent bare faced lying to me that I couldn't check in because of security issues when the truth is that I hadn't been ticketed, the CR response thanked me for feeding back that I was happy with the service the agent gave me to resolve my issue!!
Oct 25, 2016, 10:07 am
#3
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Göteborg Sweden
Programs: SPG GOLD / BA GOLD/Club Carlson Gold/AMEX Plat.
Posts: 1,043
I am hoping that there is either a rep from BA here or an experienced guru who can help me with an issue I am having.
In April 2016 I booked an award 1st Class RT flight from SAN to AMS
In mid August I called to change our departure date (leaving a week earlier in Feb 2017) the agent was great, the change was made and I was told it would ticket in 5-7 days.
Weeks passed without ticketing and then I received an email from BA on Sept 5 requesting that I call. I did and the agent told me that they needed my CVC from my credit card again. I gave it to the agent and they told me we would ticket in 5-7 days.
More weeks passed and then on Sept 17 I had another email requesting that I call. The exact same thing happened. I asked to speak to a supervisor but was told tickets are issued in a "back office" that cannot take calls.
On Sept 18 and Sept 19 I attempted to contact someone through BA Twitter but received no response. I also emailed customer service and received this reply:
I am sorry you had to write back to us.
Unfortunately, we can't help with your request, as we do not have access to some of the systems used in our contact centres.
You will need to contact your nearest British Airways office where one of our agents will be able to assist you.
Of course, when I called I was told that they could not help me.
A friend tried to reassure me that this is not unusual for BA (although in over 40 years of flying I have never experienced anything like this). I decided to give it a few more weeks.
Then today I received the exact same email: "Please call British Airways at your earliest convenience, quoting the reference number detailed above"
and when I called they asked for my CVC number again and again told me that there is no problem and that it should ticket in 5-7 days.
Should I be concerned? Is there any way I can elevate this to a higher level of customer service? The agents in the call center seem nice but clueless.
Any help would be greatly appreciated !
BTW: The reservation shows as "confirmed" with seats online. It just has not ticketed yet.
In April 2016 I booked an award 1st Class RT flight from SAN to AMS
In mid August I called to change our departure date (leaving a week earlier in Feb 2017) the agent was great, the change was made and I was told it would ticket in 5-7 days.
Weeks passed without ticketing and then I received an email from BA on Sept 5 requesting that I call. I did and the agent told me that they needed my CVC from my credit card again. I gave it to the agent and they told me we would ticket in 5-7 days.
More weeks passed and then on Sept 17 I had another email requesting that I call. The exact same thing happened. I asked to speak to a supervisor but was told tickets are issued in a "back office" that cannot take calls.
On Sept 18 and Sept 19 I attempted to contact someone through BA Twitter but received no response. I also emailed customer service and received this reply:
I am sorry you had to write back to us.
Unfortunately, we can't help with your request, as we do not have access to some of the systems used in our contact centres.
You will need to contact your nearest British Airways office where one of our agents will be able to assist you.
Of course, when I called I was told that they could not help me.
A friend tried to reassure me that this is not unusual for BA (although in over 40 years of flying I have never experienced anything like this). I decided to give it a few more weeks.
Then today I received the exact same email: "Please call British Airways at your earliest convenience, quoting the reference number detailed above"
and when I called they asked for my CVC number again and again told me that there is no problem and that it should ticket in 5-7 days.
Should I be concerned? Is there any way I can elevate this to a higher level of customer service? The agents in the call center seem nice but clueless.
Any help would be greatly appreciated !
BTW: The reservation shows as "confirmed" with seats online. It just has not ticketed yet.
Im troubled with the fact that the 1st BA Rep did not mention about the *hold* time...It would have make more sense..Oh btw..My trip leaves on this Thursday 27 Oct...
We shall see what happens within the next hour..I will report back..
MODS..Dont know if this is the correct space to put my thread. I did a search and found this. Please move it its needed..
Thanks
Oct 25, 2016, 10:31 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: La Jolla, CA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador, Lifetime Titanium, Delta Plat, Hilton Diamond , Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,615
Thanks for the responses- You have made me feel a little better in the "misery loves company" way
This is very disappointing to me as I have been planning to shift to BA now that they have direct flights from San Diego. Our first flight with them was last May RT from San Diego to Berlin and we were very pleased. When we fly VA we have to fly out of LAX and flying out of SAN is way more convenient.
But this is giving me pause. The worrisome part is that there doesn't seem to be any escalation to a higher department when one has an issue. And this is my first experience with an airline simply ignoring tweets.
I am new to this forum but I assume this also means there is no BA rep in this forum to help with CS issues?
I can't understand why they would delay ticketing so long. It seems like such an easy transaction.
On one hand I feel slightly better knowing this is par for the course, on the other hand it worries me about an airline I was planning to shift my allegiance to.
This is very disappointing to me as I have been planning to shift to BA now that they have direct flights from San Diego. Our first flight with them was last May RT from San Diego to Berlin and we were very pleased. When we fly VA we have to fly out of LAX and flying out of SAN is way more convenient.
But this is giving me pause. The worrisome part is that there doesn't seem to be any escalation to a higher department when one has an issue. And this is my first experience with an airline simply ignoring tweets.
I am new to this forum but I assume this also means there is no BA rep in this forum to help with CS issues?
I can't understand why they would delay ticketing so long. It seems like such an easy transaction.
On one hand I feel slightly better knowing this is par for the course, on the other hand it worries me about an airline I was planning to shift my allegiance to.
Oct 25, 2016, 10:59 am
#6
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,804
Genuinely, unless your flight is in the next 48 hours, you really do not need to worry, particularly if you have the seats you want. Believe it or not, nothing is wrong.
Let me explain the system: there are three ways a ticket can be issued on BA: via a travel agency, via BA automation - more or less immediate, and via manual ticketing. If you ring up to change a ticket it almost always have to go to manual ticketing, via a back office process. This office works on priority order (with the exception of some top status passengers), the priority being mainly date, with a few other complexities relating to mixed airline bookings. So when the agent said it would take 5 to 7 days, that may well have been correct at the time - or near that time. However if there was a bad event - such as mass irrops - then it's not unusual for the back office to be snowed under for weeks.
Now there is really no point in ringing in, if it's all BA metal then nothing is actually wrong and there's nothing to fix. Just so long as you are ticketed by T-24 then everything is fine. However personally I would check at T-48, and then ring if it's still not ticketed, there is a mysterious black hole where some bookings seem to end up and need action from you to resolve, but that's very much the minority of cases. But until then I'd get out of the misery stakes, that's a waste of brainpower.
Incidentally the same process applies for revenue bookings with the critical difference that if unticketed it can usually be resolved at the airport - takes 10 minutes or so. Redemptions cannot be so resolved and the time difference on SAN means you may not be able to resolve it at check-in, hence the 48 hour suggestion. Also some small airports can't resolve ticketing very easily (e.g. the Greek islands).
If you are losing sleep on this issue, your other escalation route is Twitter, but I don't think it's worth the finger energy frankly. Have another look after Christmas, you are in no danger of losing your booking even if this is done on the day of departure.
Oct 25, 2016, 11:14 am
#7
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Location: La Jolla, CA
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Posts: 2,615
Welcome to the BA forum damon88.
Genuinely, unless your flight is in the next 48 hours, you really do not need to worry, particularly if you have the seats you want. Believe it or not, nothing is wrong.
Let me explain the system: there are three ways a ticket can be issued on BA: via a travel agency, via BA automation - more or less immediate, and via manual ticketing. If you ring up to change a ticket it almost always have to go to manual ticketing, via a back office process. This office works on priority order (with the exception of some top status passengers), the priority being mainly date, with a few other complexities relating to mixed airline bookings. So when the agent said it would take 5 to 7 days, that may well have been correct at the time - or near that time. However if there was a bad event - such as mass irrops - then it's not unusual for the back office to be snowed under for weeks.
Now there is really no point in ringing in, if it's all BA metal then nothing is actually wrong and there's nothing to fix. Just so long as you are ticketed by T-24 then everything is fine. However personally I would check at T-48, and then ring if it's still not ticketed, there is a mysterious black hole where some bookings seem to end up and need action from you to resolve, but that's very much the minority of cases. But until then I'd get out of the misery stakes, that's a waste of brainpower.
Incidentally the same process applies for revenue bookings with the critical difference that if unticketed it can usually be resolved at the airport - takes 10 minutes or so. Redemptions cannot be so resolved and the time difference on SAN means you may not be able to resolve it at check-in, hence the 48 hour suggestion. Also some small airports can't resolve ticketing very easily (e.g. the Greek islands).
If you are losing sleep on this issue, your other escalation route is Twitter, but I don't think it's worth the finger energy frankly. Have another look after Christmas, you are in no danger of losing your booking even if this is done on the day of departure.
Genuinely, unless your flight is in the next 48 hours, you really do not need to worry, particularly if you have the seats you want. Believe it or not, nothing is wrong.
Let me explain the system: there are three ways a ticket can be issued on BA: via a travel agency, via BA automation - more or less immediate, and via manual ticketing. If you ring up to change a ticket it almost always have to go to manual ticketing, via a back office process. This office works on priority order (with the exception of some top status passengers), the priority being mainly date, with a few other complexities relating to mixed airline bookings. So when the agent said it would take 5 to 7 days, that may well have been correct at the time - or near that time. However if there was a bad event - such as mass irrops - then it's not unusual for the back office to be snowed under for weeks.
Now there is really no point in ringing in, if it's all BA metal then nothing is actually wrong and there's nothing to fix. Just so long as you are ticketed by T-24 then everything is fine. However personally I would check at T-48, and then ring if it's still not ticketed, there is a mysterious black hole where some bookings seem to end up and need action from you to resolve, but that's very much the minority of cases. But until then I'd get out of the misery stakes, that's a waste of brainpower.
Incidentally the same process applies for revenue bookings with the critical difference that if unticketed it can usually be resolved at the airport - takes 10 minutes or so. Redemptions cannot be so resolved and the time difference on SAN means you may not be able to resolve it at check-in, hence the 48 hour suggestion. Also some small airports can't resolve ticketing very easily (e.g. the Greek islands).
If you are losing sleep on this issue, your other escalation route is Twitter, but I don't think it's worth the finger energy frankly. Have another look after Christmas, you are in no danger of losing your booking even if this is done on the day of departure.
If this is SOP then I will try not to worry; I just never have run into an airline that works this way. I also wouldn't have worried so much if the BA agents had told me- "your change has processed but your actual ticket probably won't be reissued until the week before your flight." When an agent tells me that my ticket will be issued in 5-7 days then I assume there is a problem when it doesn't, especially when the airline keeps emailing me to call them. This does seem like a very strange system.
Will try and be patient
Oct 25, 2016, 11:15 am
#8
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Oct 25, 2016, 12:52 pm
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Brighton. UK
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There is someone from BA who does post items for information from time to time but flyer talk is not a recognised customer service route into BA for dealing with problems.
In the past there was some push back from the lurker because people were using her as a line of first contact rather than last resort.
Oct 26, 2016, 6:54 am
#10
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I am happy to report that my e-tickets magically appeared in my inbox this morning.
As I mentioned, I would have saved a lot of worry if CS had advised me from the beginning (or on any of my subsequent contacts) that it could take a few months for tickets to issue rather than promising me 5-7 days each time. The 3 email requests for me to call in my CVC number were also odd IMHO.
We had a really lovely flight in May and we are looking forward to our February trip. We have more international travel coming up and with direct flights from SAN we are hoping BA can become our "go-to" airline.
Thanks for your help.
As I mentioned, I would have saved a lot of worry if CS had advised me from the beginning (or on any of my subsequent contacts) that it could take a few months for tickets to issue rather than promising me 5-7 days each time. The 3 email requests for me to call in my CVC number were also odd IMHO.
We had a really lovely flight in May and we are looking forward to our February trip. We have more international travel coming up and with direct flights from SAN we are hoping BA can become our "go-to" airline.
Thanks for your help.
Oct 26, 2016, 7:16 am
#11
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
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I wonder if someone's ears where burning. Anyway thanks for reporting back, odd coincidence that it happened so soon after your post, but I'm glad it's been sorted out. I'm quite a fan of San Diego, I'd probably prefer to spend February there rather come over to Europe at that time of the year!
Oct 26, 2016, 7:28 am
#12
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Göteborg Sweden
Programs: SPG GOLD / BA GOLD/Club Carlson Gold/AMEX Plat.
Posts: 1,043
I am happy to report that my e-tickets magically appeared in my inbox this morning.
As I mentioned, I would have saved a lot of worry if CS had advised me from the beginning (or on any of my subsequent contacts) that it could take a few months for tickets to issue rather than promising me 5-7 days each time. The 3 email requests for me to call in my CVC number were also odd IMHO.
We had a really lovely flight in May and we are looking forward to our February trip. We have more international travel coming up and with direct flights from SAN we are hoping BA can become our "go-to" airline.
Thanks for your help.
As I mentioned, I would have saved a lot of worry if CS had advised me from the beginning (or on any of my subsequent contacts) that it could take a few months for tickets to issue rather than promising me 5-7 days each time. The 3 email requests for me to call in my CVC number were also odd IMHO.
We had a really lovely flight in May and we are looking forward to our February trip. We have more international travel coming up and with direct flights from SAN we are hoping BA can become our "go-to" airline.
Thanks for your help.
I hope that everything worked out for you...
Oct 26, 2016, 9:21 am
#13
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: JAX
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Posts: 3,587
As an explanation, as well as the long time it takes for e-ticket reissues to be processed (high volume/low staffing), BA is very cautious with credit card information, especially the security code, which isn't permitted to be stored in the PNR at all. It can only be entered in an encrypted database, which auto-purges the info after a set time - usually before anyone has a chance to process the reissue... If the reissue agent gets the PNR on queue but doesn't have the security code, they can't process it - so back around it goes...
Oct 26, 2016, 10:40 am
#14
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As an explanation, as well as the long time it takes for e-ticket reissues to be processed (high volume/low staffing), BA is very cautious with credit card information, especially the security code, which isn't permitted to be stored in the PNR at all. It can only be entered in an encrypted database, which auto-purges the info after a set time - usually before anyone has a chance to process the reissue... If the reissue agent gets the PNR on queue but doesn't have the security code, they can't process it - so back around it goes...
But as the bard observed: All's well that ends well.