Originally Posted by
corporate-wage-slave
It's probably worth be repeating here that after 2 hours delay for trips under 1500 km (LHR-FCO sort of distance) then EC261 does mandate refreshments, so in my view passengers should use the BoB service and reclaim afterwards. Avios payments would be easier to process. BA would be legally find it difficult to deny such claims, unless they had made other provision. For longer flights the delay needs to be 3 hours. Unlike the compensation element, which is based on arrival time, the delay Right to Care is based on departure time. BoB doesn't change that requirement (but does make it easier to resolve, ironically).
I must say that I agree with
BA6948 on that one. Whilst what you suggest would probably end up solving the situation, I do not think that passengers should really be put to the further aggravation/wasted time of paying and reclaiming the price of their drink. BA should have a proper procedure in place to offer all passengers the required refreshments in cases of extended delays without passengers needing to know what to do. It would be basic common sense and organisation for an airline to plan that and indeed most do. In fact, I believe that BA used to have proper procedures in place before BoB, but somehow, nobody bothered to replace/adapt them after BoB was introduced and that is simply not acceptable. Similarly, whilst such delays occur on the ground, one could always buy their own food or drink at the airport and seek reimbursement, but any decently organised EU airline, even the FR's and VY's of this world has procedures in place to give customers vouchers at airport so that passengers needn't go through such hassle. Onboard should be even easier and I know that U2 and any EU legacy carrier on which I have experienced such issues know what to do.
So yes, in the current context, passengers could/should do what you suggest to not suffer further and by the way, they should complain to BA in no uncertain words that they had to do that in the first place, but in my view it is a significant and unacceptable service failure on BA's part not to have planned for such events which are, after all, hardly unusual (major weather disruption or mechanicals or strikes with pax on the plane, etc)