knoydart

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could give an insight to the costs that BA incur when performing the refund of taxes on a non refundable ticket? Plans have changed beyond my control (and I thought they were within my control) so bought a new ticket for the new journey - that I can accept. But getting hit with a decent chunk of the taxes being taken off as a surcharge into BA's pocket gets a wee bit frustrating. Their online web feedback people came back saying they couldn’t explain...

which brings me onto a tangent of they don't take quires from NZ, and the UK customer service webform goes back to the place I submitted the question in the first place.

Anyway any help in understanding this would be most appreciated.

Knoydart

nux

What fare did you purchase (route and price) and what were you refunded?

Note that a large component of the taxes, fees and charges will be BA Carrier Surcharge (YQ) which is not a tax. The refundable tax on a non-refundable ticket will usually be quite small.

You can call the UK or US BAEC number free using Skype.

Flexible preferences

Nifty little piece of buck-passing from the web team. They couldn't have found out the answer?

Globaliser

It's probably quite difficult to work out exactly what the OP was asking about. The admin fees are clearly stated on ba.com, but I share nux's suspicion that the real question is why the YQ was not refunded. However, without knowing what the OP was originally charged, what was refunded and what was not refunded, it's hard to give a definitive answer.

All this is underlined by one thing that I'm pretty sure about: Neither the web team nor FTers will be able to give a reliable answer to the OP's actual question, namely what costs are incurred by BA when processing a refund.

JAXBA

Quote:

Originally Posted by knoydart

Their online web feedback people came back saying they couldn’t explain... which brings me onto a tangent of they don't take quires from NZ, and the UK customer service webform goes back to the place I submitted the question in the first place.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flexible preferences

Nifty little piece of buck-passing from the web team. They couldn't have found out the answer?

The web team sit in India; they are outsourced agents who have little training - they simply use the BA.com search function for you, or forward your query on to the appropriate department if there is one. If there isn't one, they suggest you go somewhere loosely relevant, like the call centres.

If search result=null, then send 'call us' email...

Quote:

Originally Posted by nux

Note that a large component of the taxes, fees and charges will be BA Carrier Surcharge (YQ) which is not a tax. The refundable tax on a non-refundable ticket will usually be quite small.

As nux said, YQ surcharges aren't tax but considered part of the fare. If the fare is nonref, so are the surcharges. They just appear with the other taxes, fees and charges - it is possible for some actual taxes to be nonref too, but probably not the case here.


What costs are incurred to process a refund? Variable, but there's manpower, system use, credit card processing, etc. Overheads; none that will be quantified but are contributed to by the processing fee deducted from any residual. Like any service provided, there's the cost to the provider and the value to the customer, and they aren't necessarily in tangent. We're just not going to get an answer as to how much each transaction costs to process.

Non-refundable amounts are profit though, not costs...

flatlander

My guess at the cost of processing the refund is an average of 1 hour of worker time plus a couple of GBP for credit card or bank costs. Which is a gross cost of about GBP35, in line with their admin fee for refunds.

Charging "carrier surcharge" for a passenger not carried seems less defensible.

simons1

If it really takes an hour to process a refund BA has a serious productivity issue. What could be involved that takes an hour?

On the carrier surcharge, isn't this really just part of the fare but charged by the back door to keep the base fare down?

MichaelBaku

To be fair to BA, some refund calculations can be complicated and I imagine some do take quite a long time. However, I imagine that most refunds don't take that long.

Globaliser

And however you look at it, it is clear from the base fare's rules that if it's non-refundable, so is the surcharge. And if you signed up to a fare whose rules say that both the base fare and the surcharge are non-refundable, then it's merely arguing the toss to debate whether or not the non-refundability of the surcharge is or isn't defensible.

JAXBA

An simple refund should only take about 5-10 minutes to process, including any documentation required. Longer if a more complex recalculation is needed.

I could process an Amadeus refund the wrong way in just a few seconds...

Flexible preferences

Fair enough. Web team, I take it back!

henkybaby

Wasn't there a ruling a short while back, where a judge decide that for EC261 downgrade compensation, carrier surcharges were NOT part of the fare and therefore no 75% refund was due on those?

Seems to me that BA cannot have its cake and eat it too.

EDIT: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/26853225-post206.html

JAXBA

I believe this distinction is only when there is no difference in the TFCs for the original cabin purchased and the one downgraded to - e.g. the YQ for F and J are the same, so there wouldn't be a 'loss' - although I do see what you mean, that 75% of Fare+YQ is more than 75% of Fare alone.

Yes, this is where the cake is eaten yet is still available for BA to contemplate enjoying...

knoydart

The fare was UK domestic non refundable from LGW - GLA for late next month.

From the booking confirmation (cant see the booking class anywhere obvious but suspect its the lowest possible...)

• Government, authority and airport charges Per adult
• Air Passenger Duty - United Kingdom GBP 13.00
• Passenger Service Charge - United Kingdom GBP 12.72
• Total government, authority and airport charges* GBP 25.72
• British Airways fees and surcharges
• Credit Card/PayPal Surcharge GBP 5.00
• Total British Airways fees and surcharges GBP 5.00
• Total taxes, fees and surcharges per person GBP 30.72

The refund breakdown was as follows:

Fare refund Tax refund Less cancellation fee Total refund due

Ps Mods if someone could fix the formatting, it would be appreciated

Dave Noble

The refund calaculation looks reasonable

When cancelling a non refundable ticket online, BA has a service charge of GBP15 ( see http://www.britishairways.com/travel...s/public/en_gb )

The taxes/charges of GBP30.72 are the only amounts due to be refunded on the non refundable ticket ; take off the GBP15 service fee, will be left with a GBP15.72 refund