Originally Posted by
Tobias-UK
This part of the forum can be a little misleading in that respect, when you read through the topics of poor BA service you will quickly realise that much of the noise in each of those topics is emanating from the same group of people! BA has its faults and its failings but it also does some things right and the vast majority of trips are uneventful with service delivered to the expected standard.
BA is certainly left wanting in its Club World (and to a lesser degree First) catering and it's ability to answer phone calls is hit and miss. Like many other airlines (and airports) it is struggling with staffing levels coming out of the covid restrictions but hopefully that is in hand and we should see some improvement as we move through the summer.
I second every word that he writes. It is always a particular group - who should be with you now at AA as they are constantly flouncing out the door for all sorts of reasons. This is no excuse for poor service but I read just as many complaints here about PDBs, Horrid food when there is food at all, cancellations, and anything else major or trivial. Two wrongs do not make a right but one needs a little perspective.
Yesterday I discovered that a MAD-LHR-ORD-LHR-MAD all AA ticketed on AA codeshares had, for some reason had the MAD-LHR sector vanish from a booking.. At first I thought that it was my addled, aged brain that was not processing information but a check at BA revealed the same. I was certain that the flight concerned was a cancellation as that is practically de riguer chex BA these days if there is a Y in the spelling of which ever day was concerned. However, even though this was just over two weeks away, I had not heard a word from AA. There was no email - I checked my junk box as well. So I poured a large glass and started on War and Peace expecting to peruse half the Classic before someone answered. I have no status AA phone numbers just the regular. After the usual blah about how I could do this so much better on aa.com - the phone was answered. I nearly spat and choked as what I was drinking was fizzy and the bubbles nearly choked me. The agent confirmed that it was a cancellation - bless him - and I told him which flight would suit me and he did it. Reader, I was not even put on hold. I then asked him to sort out an AA flight from BOS - ORD which he did in a friendly and cordial manner.
I do however ponder what would have happened had I not kept my eye on the booking as I thought that not telling me was distinctly off. Maybe I jumped in too quickly, but I suspect not. So, I am not sure that BA needs to learn too much from AA as they seem to be neck-and-neck in the customer experience. I am flying to ORD and back with AA and have low expectations unless Transatlantic service is better than Domestic as there things have gone totally west from my own experience. We will see - I am keeping an open mind