Matthew_22

After several years of loyal BA patronage, I think I've finally stumbled upon an EC261 applicable situation, would somebody who is a bit more familiar with this mind running the numbers to confirm?

On Sunday I took BA11 from Heathrow to Singapore and the departure was delayed due to an engineering issue. Arrived in Singapore at 7.28pm (via flightaware) against a 3.55pm scheduled, for a delay of 3 hours and 33 minutes.

So am I correct to assume this should qualify for for the 'reduced amount ' compensation of €300 for delays between 3 and 4 hours.

corporate-wage-slave

Seems like it to me.

Matthew_22

That's what I wanted to hear!

Thanks for the quick response CWS!

strichener

[Not BA but interesting in the context of the thread]

I was looking through some recent court cases and this one caught my eye

Airline Delays

The basis of the case was that a flight was missed due to the lack of check-in desk staff wherein the judge ruled that based on the contract wording, all liability rests with the passenger even when staffing is under the control of the airline.

However, they were awarded EU compo for being denied boarding.

I am only surprised that the persuer did not use unfair terms to counter the first part.

corporate-wage-slave

Thanks for posting this, I hope Tobias and NickB have a chance to enjoy the Sheriff's eccentric references to Dante's la perduta gente, this being a flight that started from Italy.

It's actually useful in that the second half of the judgement covers references to a whole host of cases which may assist others in their research. BA come out of this rather well, in comparison to easyJet - part of easyJet's case was that they were unable to speed people through security when BA did precisely that.

bluemoon68

Use one of the NWNF firms instant checkers

serfty

Of course, if it's not a claimable event ...

lorcancoyle

I know CWS answered this already, but FlightAware is a handy resource for this sort of thing (with the caveat that I think it shows landing time, not gate arrival time, hence the 10 minute difference vs. CWS's (accurate) timing)

https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/BAW459

Jollyjak

Hi, I wonder if you could help with a bit of a battle that has commenced with BA. I was in a party of 5 who had travelled from LHR to Dammam in Saudi Arabia. The BA part was in Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus) from LHR to Bahrain (and the return a week later). The BAH to DAM section was with Gulf Air in Business Class.

The flights out were no problem, however for the return, 4 of us were unable to check in online the day before. On arrival at DAM airport, I checked in first but was only given the boarding card for the first flight to BAH, and told that the other boarding pass would be issued at BAH. This was the same for two others in our group, the remaining two (one bronze and one silver) were given both boarding cards (even though they checked in after me).

On arrival at check-in for the BAH - LHR leg, the three without cards were told that we were being downgraded to economy due to BA overbooking the flight. No amount of reasoning would change their stance, and reluctantly we had to be downgraded and were paid £75 on a credit card as compensation and given a letter explaining the right to a refund once we had gotten home. (all standard stuff I am now aware!).

On contacting BA via their Customer Service website to ask for a refund of the difference in costs (and am now aware that compensation should be 75% of the ticket price), I have been given the run-around by BA for 3 weeks and they are insisting that the funds can only be refunded to the Travel Agent.
I have pointed out repeatedly that the contract was between me (the customer) and BA (the supplier) and that I do not wish to involve the Travel agent in the process as he has nothing to do with BA's decision or actions in downgrading me, and my complaint is with BA and not the travel agent.

Where do I stand at the moment? I have asked for contact details of a Senior Customer Care representative but nothing has been forthcoming. I gat the feeling that they think the longer they refuse payment, then perhaps I will forget it or not bother.

I am incredibly frustrated, as all my previous experiences with BA have been good, yet on this occasion I am left fuming. It does not bode well for future business trips that I will have to make in my new job!
Any advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks,
Jollyjak (not so Jolly at present!)

corporate-wage-slave

Welcome to Flyertalk, Jollyjak, and welcome to the BA forum. Please stay around here and hopefully the jolliness will return in due course.

Did you specifically mention EC/261? As mentioned in some of the initial posts here, unless you directly claim for that then you have been given the right answer - refunds, full or partial, go via the travel agency, that is what they are there for.

EC261 is handled mainly by a specific team in the UK, and needs to be invoked. If you have not already done so, claim for a specific amount of 75% of the ticket price, in writing, as per the initial set of posts in this thread. Given them say 22 days to reply if you haven't already mentioned EC261, 16 days if you have already. BA pay on the basis of sector, the Regulation says ticket price, so you may want to claim on the higher basis and be prepared to compromise later on if you feel so inclined.

Jollyjak

Thank You,

Yes, when I messaged the complaints department I attached the wording of article 10 and asked why they were failing to comply with the regulation. Their response was that it had been passed on to their refunds team (still no contact as of today), and when I contacted them again yesterday to press again their refusal, they responded by saying that the money would be 'automatically refunded' to the travel agent by their refunds team.

I have now asked them for proof of how much was refunded and when it was refunded, as well as contact details for a manager for me to escalate the complaint to. I have also attached article 7 and 10 to the latest e-mail.

I await a response from them..... I will keep you informed!

corporate-wage-slave

As I think you've seen, EC261 is payable to the passenger in all circumstances. So while this causes problems to airlines including BA (due to refunds going to the sales channel, and most refunds have nothing to do with EC261), the answer is that they still need to ensure you get the money.

Since you did assert EC261 earlier, I would now keep it simple. You don't really want to talk to a manager, that slows things down, but you do want your downgrade compensation. Claim a specific sum of money, mention EC261, say you have not received payment, deduct the £75 aspect and give 16 days to pay, with a view on day 17 initiating the MCOL process. Having a more complex dialogue won't help.

Jollyjak

Many thanks. Will await their response.

Swampz64

Jollyjak - Calling/messaging too much and asking to speak to managers does nothing to expedite the matter, human nature says it will probably delay the process. As you are not physically out of pocket, stay patient and wait for the issue to resolve itself. Others will be out of pocket after delays, strikes, etc and they should be dealt with first.

Jollyjak

Many thanks Swampz, will do. just very frustrating that they know their obligation, yet will try everything to avoid meeting it. I have only messaged them 5 times over the last 3 weeks via their website and not called them at all.