Thanks for the update. I think you were surprised, but I was not, hence the HUACA advice. The reason being is that though BA contact centres (or engagement centres as we are supposed to call them) often get a bad rap here, it's usually just on the fact that no-one likes waiting in a phone call. There is also an issue that training and experience can vary hugely between agents - and it is genuinely complex, sometimes even with a lifetime of experience with BA I get things wrong (admittedly I've never been trained) - BA does all sorts of options which simply don't exist on other airlines. But the one thing that generally does work on BA is that staff are helpful, the selection process almost always does weed out the completely hapless and in fact usually BA agents do all they can to help customers, particularly if the customers are being nice to them.