UKtravelbear

Had a call from customer services yesterday about my refund. I'd done a letter before action to BA legal advising if I hadn't been paid by yesterday then it would be MCOL.

The agent was very apologetic- genuinely I felt - and said she could see the history of my contacts.

She stated they had let me down but she could see that refunds had authorised it earlier this week and I confirmed I'd got it.

There were two things I told her

1. Agents say 14 days when they really mean business days though that shouldn't be an issue as BA is a 24/7 operation.

2. BA should look here for examples as there are dozens and dozens of people reporting issues with refunds taking months and months.

She then said that BA realised refunds were an 'issue' and wanted to get better at doing them as they knew it upset customers.

Of course this could be nonsense but she did appear to be genuine when she said this to me.

t4wine

I totally agree - refunds are taking far too long, in a recent case of mine 2 months! Also I have never had the Avios which I part paid with refunded; apparently I am not entitled to this unless I fully paid for a flight with Avios...

The real issue is that you can never actually talk to the refunds department, it all has to go through customer relations who always have to get back to you.

BA are definitely going downhill.

HereToHelp

All refunds are handled by a company in India called WNS. They are the most useless and pathetic organisation, as the agents there never seem to read notes and they never respond to chaser emails. More people need to complain about this so that critical work like this can be brought back for UK agents to handle.

Flexible preferences

I was under the impression that around 2 months is an industry norm for air ticket refunds - when I was a travel agent around 10 years ago this was the time-frame guideline we gave all customers, no matter which airline.

Dave Noble

If a refund hasn't been received in a week or 2, rather than chasing the airline up, why not just lodge a dispute with the credit card company ( assuming paid by card )?

That way it will be processed we next to no effort and a lot easier and quicker than using things like MCOL

After 2 weeks waiting for an airline refund, that is what I would do

simons1

The only fool in that scenario is the one who waits 2 months to get back something that it took 30 seconds to take.

14 days then a chargeback on the credit card is the model. If more people did that the CC companies would force BA to sort it out.

UKtravelbear

because of other factors I'd missed the chargeback deadline. I checked with them as well as that would have indeed been my first and preferred option

UKtravelbear

BA told me (twice) 14 days so they should be held accountable to that deadline.

subject2load

And therein lies the very problem where BA is concerned.

The world has moved on in the intervening ten years. The business of travel is fast-paced, in every sense of the word, and few businesses are as dependent on advanced technology as airlines are.

BA really should get their admin act together, and show more respect to its customers.

But then again, that sometimes involves spending money.

corporate-wage-slave

There is a note on BA.com that relates to seat reservation fees being refunded when the flight is cancelled, there they suggest 3 weeks, so 14 working days and 3 weeks somewhat coincides. I think that's a reasonable timeframe, then chargeback or MCOL/CEDR can be considered. CEDR would only work for delays of 8 weeks but it's free. Note that chargeback and Section 75 aren't quite the same thing. If you've missed a deadline there may be other remedies.

WNS also process USD denominated manual payments, and we regularly see stories of woe regarding that too. I don't think I've encountered a single BA ticketing agent who has a good word to say about them.

This is different to automated refunds, which normally take under a week. If you did the booking online, it's BA metal only, no complex amendments, not cancelled at the last moment, then the auto-cancel should work, and you can tell if this is going to happen by whether you see the refund amount online or not. If you have to fill in a name and address form then it's going to WNS.

I notice that Avios.com still processes their refunds onshore, as far as I can tell. They don't have an online cancel facility but their service level is 10 working days and they usually beat that comfortably. Bookings with them have a £35 cancel fee, for free if done within 24 hours of booking.

BA or bust

+1. ^. I really don't understand why people accept an organisation taking their money in seconds, but getting it back takes weeks!

Jimmie76

Had an issue with a hotel on a BA Holidays holiday recently that was the fault of BA. The hotel were rubbish at issuing a refund and required BA to give them a call to remind them. BA Holidays who were responsible for refunding the foreign transaction fees on my card were far quicker and required no reminding.

beetlebum

I have raised this point for further accountability from BA in my thread 'Broken First Seat'.

I think that is a disgrace that we are paralysed by speculation on customer service issues, when there should be clear lines about problems faced

Ber2dca

What a surprise that outsourcing work such as that to a third party at the other end of the world would lead to a lot of hassle and difficulty in the practical implementation. But I'm sure the exec who came up with it got a bonus for coming up with that 'saving'.

subject2load

Indeed that's what the BA.com note says.

And yet once again - as in so many BA-related issues - we find passengers having to resort to external mechanisms to secure a resolution where the airline has failed them badly - and, often, needlessly.

It's always interesting to consider the level of disconnect between what is promised & referenced on the BA website (along with its wider advertising) and what is actually delivered. The discrepancy can involve several different aspects - whether it be boarding arrangements, onboard catering facilities & options ; or even something as basic as .....er ..... a seat.

All airlines remind passengers of potential variances between what might have been booked & expected versus what might happen on the day of travel : a very common example, I guess, would be equipment changes /substitutions due to unforeseen operational requirements. Totally understandable. But I do wonder whether in the case of BA it might be an idea to include a very clear all-encompassing caveat & qualification on the home page of the website .....perhaps something along the lines of
"Please note that any facilities described on our website in relation to your particular booking may - or may not - be provided to you when you fly with us"

It might just help to manage expectations of those unfamiliar with the modus operandi of BA under current management.