1 person serving F
Aug 27, 2017, 6:34 am
#91
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club, easyJet and Ryanair
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: UK/Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold (GGL/CCR)
Posts: 15,925
... A couple of days ago I got a call from BA replying to my feedback. It was a brief call where I was told they are sorry, it's all due to the strikes, they hope I will fly again with them and no I'm not getting any compo, not even a few avios to say sorry! Not surprised, but it's really made me not want to give them any more of my cash whilst they have this attitude. Am off to Miami soon and will fly someone else, even if the cost is higher or the route less convenient.
Aug 27, 2017, 6:46 am
#92
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 928
I think I can dispense with the usual greeting to new members! But if you are not happy with this outcome, and are prepared to take it further, you do have a few options open to you if you don't think you got the service you paid for:
- CEDR
- MCOL
- Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act
I appreciate it may be more hassle than it is worth, but if enough people did it, it may just swing the pendulum a bit over from its current position. I did detect a small amount of movement recently, but it is certainly difficult to detect in this case.
- CEDR
- MCOL
- Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act
I appreciate it may be more hassle than it is worth, but if enough people did it, it may just swing the pendulum a bit over from its current position. I did detect a small amount of movement recently, but it is certainly difficult to detect in this case.
Aug 27, 2017, 6:50 am
#94
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: London
Posts: 3,500
I'd either go and just fly other airlines, or go for a 50% refund of the journey affected (so a 25% refund in total). You've nothing to lose, it's just pocket money to file a MCOL claim and you'll get a decent arbitration hearing over the phone at no extra cost.
Aug 27, 2017, 6:55 am
#95
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,801
I always fight shy of "how much is it worth" line, since the only person that can answer that is you, this shouldn't be relative to anyone else's experiences. But if it helps, let us say, for the sake of argument you feel you only got 95% of what you paid for, then it would on the face of it be reasonable to pursue BA for the 5%. If you're coming at it with a view to exert revenge then I would say that is the wrong mindset and a judge will see through that. But if you asked for a reasonable amount to cover clear service failures then that is why MCOL exists.
Aug 27, 2017, 7:06 am
#96
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 928
I wouldn't say it's a totally robust case, though in your follow up post you have given a bit more information. I think you have to take a couple of steps back and say "I paid £x for this, I expected y and I got z. This mismatch was avoidable by BA and therefore I seek to recover that from the airline. Had I known I would get z I would not have paid £x". If this dispassionate analysis leads you to this conclusion, then I would say MCOL is probably the way to go, but you would need to persuade a judge (potentially) that you were being reasonable in your claim. I doubt it would get that far in reality.
I always fight shy of "how much is it worth" line, since the only person that can answer that is you, this shouldn't be relative to anyone else's experiences. But if it helps, let us say, for the sake of argument you feel you only got 95% of what you paid for, then it would on the face of it be reasonable to pursue BA for the 5%. If you're coming at it with a view to exert revenge then I would say that is the wrong mindset and a judge will see through that. But if you asked for a reasonable amount to cover clear service failures then that is why MCOL exists.
I always fight shy of "how much is it worth" line, since the only person that can answer that is you, this shouldn't be relative to anyone else's experiences. But if it helps, let us say, for the sake of argument you feel you only got 95% of what you paid for, then it would on the face of it be reasonable to pursue BA for the 5%. If you're coming at it with a view to exert revenge then I would say that is the wrong mindset and a judge will see through that. But if you asked for a reasonable amount to cover clear service failures then that is why MCOL exists.
Aug 27, 2017, 8:13 am
#97
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BAEC Gold, EK Skywards (enhanced Blue !), Oman Air Sindbad Gold
Posts: 6,399
I suppose their (narrow-minded) philosophy is that someone else will come along to take your place, hence the lack of initiative in attempting the sort of prompt service recovery which could so easily have won your loyalty.
FT-ers are reminded here time & again of the alternative options available, and of course it's a personal decision to weigh the merits of spending time & effort in pursuing some meaningful redress. However, I've always been of the view that once you find yourself having to put up a fight, then the relationship has effectively already broken down.
Aug 27, 2017, 8:32 am
#98
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold; FB Silver; SPG; IHG Gold
Posts: 2,984
This was sub par First Class service- no question. The CS response is par for the course I'm afraid. However I am not sure what value one would put on this service failing for MCOL purposes. I don't think there's any promise of fast service. Speed and attentiveness are necessarily very subjective concepts, though I do not doubt the OP at all, another person might not even have noticed it- so I think it's a tricky call to make. A small gesture of Avios or a genuine apology would have probably gone a long way here, but that BA is no longer unfortunately.
Aug 27, 2017, 10:19 am
#100
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: London
Programs: SK Gold, ITA Executive, Sixt Diamond, Hertz PC, Avis PC, IHG Platinum
Posts: 5,163
Aug 27, 2017, 10:34 am
#101
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: north of heathrow
Posts: 1,108
Aug 27, 2017, 12:24 pm
#102
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,523
I must say that I am the opposite of you - you say you mostly wanted an apology and I really couldn't care less about one when problems happen. Corporations are not human beings, they are just that: corporations. They do not have feeling, they cannot feel sorry. The person who speaks to you can, of course, but it is absolutely not their fault so they really shouldn't be.
If I write to CR, my main goal is usually to signal a problem in the hope that the airline will pick it up and if enough people notice it and signal it as a problem, will try to change their way. With BA, I have long abandoned any such hope: their promises to of course alert departments x and y are generally nonsensical. The only possible goal is to get some modicum of compensation (money or avios).
Neither BA changing their ways nor them offering compensation requires them talking to me, let alone in person and I would very much rather they wouldn't. If they find my experience useful and want to use it to improve the way they do something, great for them but quite frankly, I do not feel entitled to know. If they want to provide compensation, they can just send it through or deposit avios on my account. An email to let me know is useful but more than enough. Even when they thankfully choose email over phone, I particularly hate their tendency to repeat/plagiarise whatever I wrote in my complaint almost textually. I'm not gaga yet, I know what I wrote to complain about, I do not need them to remind me. I still think of it as one of the most ridiculous customer relations internal guidelines that I have seen.