Feeling p1ssed at KUL
May 26, 2016, 4:09 am
#76
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Sorry for the delay am now back at my office in London after a long flight in J. To add a bit of meat to my tale and also to thank BA crew who were wonderful.
The GGL line were adamant that we shouldn't have been bumped but she said that as KUL was a new route the staff may not be familiar with the rules - I said that as a new station they should be very well trained.
The piece of paper we were given at KUL was apparently for compensation but was a piece of paper with tipex all over asking for personal details. My wife is head of cyber crime for a retail bank and she would not give those details to someone she didn't know in a country where data protection laws are less rigorous in the UK.
The crew knew exactly what happened and the CSD (JS) was waiting for us at the door. The BA duty manager had promised us the best Club seats but according to seatguru and from my experience they are the worst as there are next to the lavs so lots of disturbance and lots of noise from the galley. The story that the BA duty manager told the crew put us in a very poor light. When my wife explained what we had encountered JS said she would submit a complaint as well. Her view was we were selected to be bumped because we were a couple on holiday not business people - not sure what difference that makes?
Apparently we were flying the newest 787 - shame seats are already broken! She made sure that all of the crew knew we were to be well treated and even one of the captains came down to apologise. We had First wash bags and First champagne but that doesn't really make it right.
I found the 787 J bed too short for me and also too narrow. The bed was also very hard. I had booked F as I had been in London at 9AM this morning and wanted to sleep which I didn't achieve last night.
My biggest problem is that I don't like being lied to. The duty manager kept changing his story, ignored us when we asked questions and in effect played chicken with us for 1/2 hour by walking away and leaving us.
The GGL lady who was very helpful, but helpless really, promised to raise a complaint. I am not going to wait for BA to come back to me so will compose a suitable complaint when I get home tonight.
The GGL line were adamant that we shouldn't have been bumped but she said that as KUL was a new route the staff may not be familiar with the rules - I said that as a new station they should be very well trained.
The piece of paper we were given at KUL was apparently for compensation but was a piece of paper with tipex all over asking for personal details. My wife is head of cyber crime for a retail bank and she would not give those details to someone she didn't know in a country where data protection laws are less rigorous in the UK.
The crew knew exactly what happened and the CSD (JS) was waiting for us at the door. The BA duty manager had promised us the best Club seats but according to seatguru and from my experience they are the worst as there are next to the lavs so lots of disturbance and lots of noise from the galley. The story that the BA duty manager told the crew put us in a very poor light. When my wife explained what we had encountered JS said she would submit a complaint as well. Her view was we were selected to be bumped because we were a couple on holiday not business people - not sure what difference that makes?
Apparently we were flying the newest 787 - shame seats are already broken! She made sure that all of the crew knew we were to be well treated and even one of the captains came down to apologise. We had First wash bags and First champagne but that doesn't really make it right.
I found the 787 J bed too short for me and also too narrow. The bed was also very hard. I had booked F as I had been in London at 9AM this morning and wanted to sleep which I didn't achieve last night.
My biggest problem is that I don't like being lied to. The duty manager kept changing his story, ignored us when we asked questions and in effect played chicken with us for 1/2 hour by walking away and leaving us.
The GGL lady who was very helpful, but helpless really, promised to raise a complaint. I am not going to wait for BA to come back to me so will compose a suitable complaint when I get home tonight.
M
May 26, 2016, 4:32 am
#77
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May 26, 2016, 5:02 am
#78
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I asked the query though, because that therefore elminates some of the discussion regarding whether your seats were actually given to other people. While it may happen, it doesnt seem to have happened on this flight.
In terms of the other passengers, what is the policy? Does the OPs status allow him to gazump others in the cabin? Should BA move non-status passengers, out of F, and into CW? Surely this is what the past few pages have stated should NOT happen.
I look up to him etc...Where do the Top Trumps end?
M
May 26, 2016, 5:10 am
#79
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But if only one seat was broken and BA does not oversell F on the 789, who occupied the other seat the OP had?
May 26, 2016, 5:33 am
#80
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Be aware of the law of multiple simultaneous transactions. I had an invol upgrade to First to HKG a year or two back. I went down to the CW kitchen in the latter stages of the flight, more to stretch my legs than to gloat at the offerings. I encountered a grumpy passenger there who had been downgraded from First to CW! He was on a tight connection and I think his First seat got caught in the fog of last minute changes, I managed to keep my mouth shut. Unlikely to apply in this case, but every passenger will have their own story to tell as to why there were on that 787.
May 26, 2016, 5:45 am
#81
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Thanks for the quick response. Highly irritating I can appreciate, especially when you have meetings on the ground straight after the flight.
I asked the query though, because that therefore elminates some of the discussion regarding whether your seats were actually given to other people. While it may happen, it doesnt seem to have happened on this flight.
In terms of the other passengers, what is the policy? Does the OPs status allow him to gazump others in the cabin? Should BA move non-status passengers, out of F, and into CW? Surely this is what the past few pages have stated should NOT happen.
I look up to him etc...Where do the Top Trumps end?
M
I asked the query though, because that therefore elminates some of the discussion regarding whether your seats were actually given to other people. While it may happen, it doesnt seem to have happened on this flight.
In terms of the other passengers, what is the policy? Does the OPs status allow him to gazump others in the cabin? Should BA move non-status passengers, out of F, and into CW? Surely this is what the past few pages have stated should NOT happen.
I look up to him etc...Where do the Top Trumps end?
M
That said the main issue here (for me at least) is that BA's representative managed to deliver all of this with a customer service experience that fell way below the standards anybody - regardless of status or cabin - would reasonably expect.
May 26, 2016, 6:21 am
#83
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That station manager would negatively 'brief' the crew on you is absolutely unacceptable - I would certainly mention this in your complaint including that (from what I understand) this was reported to you by the crew. Station managers represent the company and as such have a responsibility to behave in a way that is beyond reproach.
May 26, 2016, 6:34 am
#84
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May 26, 2016, 6:52 am
#85
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... or Prem, as suggested above. Whilst unlikely, it is possible that the rest of the cabin had higher CIVs (or the family members/travelling companions of higher status pax). The problem is, we are told the checkin agent told the OP they were downgraded due to oversales and they were selected because they had used Avios to pay for their tickets. It appears the status of the other passengers was not taken in to consideration, only the fact that the OP was on a redemption ticket. If that is the case, then that is wrong in my view.
I'd be less miffed if I was bumped because someone else had higher status, I'd feel as aggrieved as the OP if I was downgraded for the simple reason I'd paid for my ticket with Avios.
I'd be less miffed if I was bumped because someone else had higher status, I'd feel as aggrieved as the OP if I was downgraded for the simple reason I'd paid for my ticket with Avios.
I would certainly be extremly pi*#*#ed if being told it was because one was travelling on a redemption ticket!? Excuse me!? As others have already stated, this shouldn't make any difference at all and yes, there is an operational procedure in place with BA for downgrades! And if this policy is followed, this ensures that such a situation shouldn't happen. I was once told by a station that this even covers the case of a non-workable seat of a GGL (if known in advance) on a full flight, as then the GGL should be moved, but not be the one downgraded.
And yes, this is also the service one would expect on the GGL level!
Overbookings and technical faults may happen, but important is, how the situation is being handeled. And in this case it has been handeld with absolutely horrible!! No common sense and not taking any BA procedures into account.
If this has been known in advance, why did one not phone the passengers and ask them if they would be willing to be rerouted via SIN, or booked with another carrier. Depending on the final destination of the passengers, the latter might even be appreciated. For example, on another carrier from Asia was once offered a re-booking on the direct flight to ZRH with Swiss. Saved me the transit. Easy to be done and in those rare cases AF/LH/LX try to put every effort in resolving this.
So poor show of KUL station! I do not fault BA as a whole as I've only experienced good handling of irregularities so far, so definitely something fishy with regards to this new station! And the way the station manager dealt with this is absolutely unacceptable, the "negative briefing" of the crew is the icing on the cake IMHO!
May 26, 2016, 6:56 am
#86
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May 26, 2016, 7:08 am
#87
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On shorthauls the person who booked last is typically on the radar for offloading (or not getting the meal for that matter). This strikes me as the fairest system, unless it was a mercy dash of some sort, and I guess it would make it unlikely for a redemption passenger to be the victim of this. If booking late, on a full flight, the passenger may well be on a flexible ticket and thus able to transfer to alternative services, which can't happen on redemptions so easily.
May 26, 2016, 7:10 am
#88
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If this was last night's BA34, It's probably not related to the OP's downgrade, but just to throw in a bit of info: 2 of the F pax were board members of the British PLC where I work, And they were both returning to London after a visit to our KUL office. The more senior of the two is Prem (I'm assuming it's still valid from his luggage tag), and I wouldn't be surprised if the younger (relatively speaking) one wasn't also a Prem.
May 26, 2016, 7:21 am
#89
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I will mail BA tonight and will let BA know that this isn't a one off occurrence and will post the reply.
On the negative side the guy at KUL was so rude and disrespectful
On the positive side the BA crew were brilliant and very sympathetic and couldn't have taken better care of us so will definitely mention that in my correspondence
On the negative side the guy at KUL was so rude and disrespectful
On the positive side the BA crew were brilliant and very sympathetic and couldn't have taken better care of us so will definitely mention that in my correspondence
May 26, 2016, 8:33 am
#90
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I will mail BA tonight and will let BA know that this isn't a one off occurrence and will post the reply.
On the negative side the guy at KUL was so rude and disrespectful
On the positive side the BA crew were brilliant and very sympathetic and couldn't have taken better care of us so will definitely mention that in my correspondence
On the negative side the guy at KUL was so rude and disrespectful
On the positive side the BA crew were brilliant and very sympathetic and couldn't have taken better care of us so will definitely mention that in my correspondence
I'm not excusing their behaviour in any way by the way, as I think it was handled appallingly, (especially the crew briefing) and it most definitely needs to be flagged up to HQ for rectification.