I had cause to request compensation for denied boarding and a consequent 24 hr delay ex-EDIin 2007. Ground staff (Aviance?) made no mention of compensation or assistance, and when I asked for a statement of my rights as I was entitled to under the EU regs, they professed ignorance, said they did not work for BA and there were no BA staff/managers available to talk to, and I would need to claim via BA.com.
To cut a long story short I did get compensation in the end, slightly over the EU minimum, but only after 2-3 months' worth of pressure from both myself and Amex PTS who had booked the tickets. And needless to say the compensation was offered as a goodwill payment, on the basis that BA believed that the EC regs did not apply, and with a gagging clause - since I am not identifying myself here, hopefully I am not breaching it
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I wonder how may other people are fobbed off. I suspect it is only the persistent who get any compensation. The fact that BA staff and agents pretend to know nothing about the EU regs is slightly galling - you have to jump through so many hoops when assistance/compensation should be your right under law.