Welcome to FT!
I do hope you stick around even though most replies here will not offer you much sympathy in this matter.
Originally Posted by
haylefarm
Have had a very disappointing time with BA. My PA booked business class to DC and does not recall seeing any warning that this was a strictly "no changes" booking. My email confirmation makes no mention of "no changes." It does say as an endorsement, "not refundable" - but this is not the same thing; many flights are non refundable. I need to go to NY now instead of DC the same day - and then go on to DC - but BA have said even if I paid for a NY return ticket (i.e., and didn't use both the flight out to DC and NY return) they would automatically cancel my return to London from DC.
You have a discounted business ticket. It comes with restrictions. You could have had your PA book you a fully flexible ticket, but that would probably be at least 2x what you now paid, so if you are smart, you can still get away with a cheaper total fare even if you ditch half the ticket and buy a new one.
Originally Posted by
haylefarm
Other airlines do not do this.
Wrong. Almost all airlines use this practice.
Originally Posted by
haylefarm
What is really the issue here is that the written booking confirmation is legally - I am a lawyer – wrong.
I wouldn't advertise that fact too much. You are in the wrong here as you did not read the T&Cs properly. (And by "you" I mean your PA that acted as a proxy for you here)
Originally Posted by
haylefarm
Yet BA just stonewall and say it says "no changes" in their system. Of course it does, but this misses the point entirely. To have a valid contract you need both parties to agree and an "offer and acceptance." How can the customer ever prove they did or did not agree to a term or condition when using an on line booking process? They can't, and so the customer is always wrong according to BA.
I suggest you do what others have already done for you - make a dummy booking on BA.com and go thru the processes. You will find that there are numerous indications as to the fare rules and T&Cs.
Originally Posted by
haylefarm
Separately, I have just been charged $45 for a seat selection for a flight last month (my son’s seat in WT) I am sure I never selected or agreed to. I do recall that the BA web site froze 2 or 3 times and said “unable to continue on line check in.” When I finally was able to continue with on line check in, a seat, randomly, had been selected - certainly not by me – I remember thinking this was strange. I also could not then move the seat, so my son could sit with my family (on a different booking). The rest of us were able to select seating for no extra charge in the normal way so it not occur to me my son's seat was for an added fee. I did not see any message that I would be charged or asked to give payment instructions. I had no idea until an email from BA arrived several days after the flight saying it had charged my credit card account.
I would call BA up and explain that you did not intentionally select any seats and that you had issues with the website. I can't say I've heard of this before and it is hard to prove that you did not select a seat as the system seems to think you did, but it never hurts to try.
Originally Posted by
haylefarm
Same point again. Because there is no practical means for customers to preserve a record of each on line choice made, if the system has a hiccup or glitch and does something without the customer's consent, there is never any way to challenge BA. This hardly seems fair.
I'll have to agree with you here. It is much easier to keep a record of actions you take than those you don't take. However, this is not a very common problem. Most people actually just click thru without reading and then complain. Not saying this is true in this case, but for most reports it is.
Originally Posted by
haylefarm
The CR people I spoke with could only read from their set hymn sheet, were totally unable to grasp the legal significance of the absence of customer consent, and generally seemed to not care in the least about loss of goodwill. So if I decide to take my company’s business elsewhere, I guess they won’t mind that either.
Well, the fact of the matter is that you PA did consent. I refuse to believe that BA didn't have the check box which you must tick to move the booking process forward.
Again, you are the lawyer, not your PA. If you want to be 100% sure of all the terms and conditions, I suggest you book the ticket yourself instead of asking someone else to do so.