Originally Posted by
strichener
Compensation isn't subject to the judgement of a court. BA pay compensation all the time without being ordered to by a court.
I would also argue on the point of authority as someone with the authority to refund or change bookings and have the discretion to waive fees thus amending the contract with the company could be deemed to have implied authority.
Apologies, poorly worded - whilst I appreciate that they do pay compensation all the time, they do not necessarily have to if they feel they are not obliged to under law, hence my reference to judgement of a court.
On the second point, I do agree that there would be implied authority in terms of contractual obligations, however if I were BA's inhouse counsel, I would certainly not want agents committing to EU261 compensation without proper consultation.
Also, where a conversation such as this happens some time scheduled departure, I don't believe it would be appropriate for any airline to commit to EU261 compensation, as there is potentially still time to get the passenger to the destination before the delay threshold for compensation (though in the OPs case this would have required divine intervention)