Originally Posted by
Leaping_Deere
I will apologise first because this is not a BA compensation question but flybmi, however I hope you can forgive me, looking for advice on what I should do.
I was due to be on BM1508 on 06/07/18 and it was cancelled 5 minutes before scheduled departure time (it had been delayed already)
No one from BM was at STN to assist and after waiting 20 minutes on hold to BM, the line was cut and when we called back it was after 8 so the office was closed.(quite a few passengers at the same flight did the same)
Had to be in NI asap so with no other option or assistance I rebooked returns flights on BA for the next day to BHD.
a few days after I sent both a copy of my BM ticket and my BA ticket asking for the EC261 compensation and reimbursement for my BA tickets.
Now after 3 1/2 months of sporadic calling (and emailing the CEO three times) I have been made an offer.
The EU compensation has been offered and they have offered to refund the outbound fare to LDY and pay the difference between the BA fare and the BM fare.
They say because I didnt take the return flight I am not eligible for reimbursement for that cost. Now I can see some logic in that (in hindsight I should of perhaps only booked a one way) however saying that I don't know how I would of dealt with the logistics of getting my car from LHR to STN in such a short space of time, all off which are caused by BM.
Also the return flight 08/07/18 was late departing and leaving, only about an hour late so perhaps not relevant.
The total amount they have offered me including the compensation still leaves me out of pocket, (the BA fare was high) and I've not even bothered to count the other costs, extra car parking at LHR for example.
My question is do I have any grounds to demand the full reimbursement for the BA tickets? please ask if you need any more information.
You should have been given three offers when you were at STN. Since you couldn't manage to contact anyone from the airline, you were not offered either of them and they would then be required to pay compensation to you for this reason.
You should have been offered rerouting as soon as possible. It's unclear if you're entitled to travel on a different carrier. If an offer is made by the airline, then it may be subject to an interpretation of the words "comparable transport conditions" in the regulation. I don't think that this has been tested in court, and it could go either way. You may have better grounds for compensation given that you were not given any rerouting offer at all - I'm not sure what information you're expected to have about "comparable transport conditions" for rebooking purposes if the airline chooses to remain silent. They could maybe choose to say that you have to wait until tomorrow before you can request a rerouting, but in that case they would still have to provide a way for you to contact them to get a hotel voucher.
In other words, they may have to refund your BA outbound leg while keeping the money for the original ticket and not refunding the BA return leg. They would probably also have had to compensate you for Stansted Express+Heathrow Express train tickets (or taxi costs) had you taken that route, and then the return ticket would have been useful as your car could have remained at STN. They confused you by providing no information whatsoever about your rights although they were required to provide that information. I'm not sure if this lack of information entitles you to some extra compensation (for example amounting to the rest of your extra costs).
You should also have been offered to have the original BM ticket (outbound & return) refunded in full, or to change the dates to some later dates (maybe useful if you often travel on this route). Note that you would in both cases have to pay all your BA + parking costs, so this might not be your best option.