Originally Posted by lorath (Post 29527188)

For a website dedicated to travel and a forum particularly focused on maximizing BA benefits and otherwise providing guidance on keeping a step ahead of BA, surely the sentence ‘you have been severely over compensated’ does not belong?

Originally Posted by mjh0 (Post 29527246)

It seems to me that there's really two "problems" here:

1) The OP was told there was no special meal loaded for them, despite the fact their actually was. There was some sort of failing (oversight, laziness?) on the part of the crew. It is also conceivable that by the time the SPML was discovered as having been available, it may have already been heated and subsequently allowed to cool and was unfit for service.

2) The second problem is that if we assume the veracity of the OP's account, a colleague of the FA that made the original error then attempted to coerce the OP into not complaining, to conceal their dissatisfaction by offering bribes of premium alcohol and premium cabin swag. That, in my opinion is more unforgivable than the original mess up, and is possibly why the OP is as upset as they are.

The CSD/CSM did a reasonable recovery of the whole farce - 10k is without a doubt reasonable - 4k for the failure to provide the SPML, and 6k as an apology for the ham-fisted way their flying colleagues dealt with it.

I don’t think the SCCM was trying to bribe the OP, we can offer other things as compensation before offering Avios or vouchers, I can see the way OP describes the situation it does.

You need to know that I can see what they should have been given in compensation and the OP has been overcompensated according to our matrix, I would keep quiet.

Originally Posted by bamba70 (Post 29525679)

I ordered a special meal but the FA told me I'm not appearing as having any special meal, pointing to some hand-scribbled note with some seat numbers that didn't include mine..

I took some regular meal instead, and asked the FA to check whether it was a mistake in how I order the meal, or that it wasn't loaded for some reason. She promised the check and get back to me. Around 3 hours later, no word from the FA. I asked another FA and it turns out that my special meal appeared in the manifest and was loaded on the plane - it was some human error of the first FA (and maybe others as well).

I asked for a complaint form, but the FA tried to persuade me not to file a complaint and asked how she can make it up to me, offered me a "bottle of something" or a "wash kit from first class". I politely declined. The purser later came up and offered me 2,000 avios (ridiculous, I know). I said the minimum I would even consider as decent compensation is 20,000. The purser then said she can give me 10,000 and if I want anything beyond that I would need to contact customer support. I agreed to take the 10,000 for a start, and entered my email on her ipad for it to presumably auto-post to my account.

Now I'm wondering - what is the chance of getting a significant additional compensation and how to best go about getting it?

Originally Posted by Flame3601 (Post 29527910)

If OP finds that the bare minimum they would expect, I wonder what they would deem a generous offer in their view for such failure.

Originally Posted by bamba70 (Post 29528713)

I was in WTP on a nearly $2k ticket when I could have flown the same route for about half of that with another airline offering lower overall standards/convenience.

In my company we charge very high prices for premium service, and generally offer very generous compensation whenever anything goes wrong. It seems to me like all self-respecting businesses should adopt such practice, even in their own self-interest (see where it got Amazon..)

Originally Posted by bamba70 (Post 29528713)

I was in WTP on a nearly $2k ticket when I could have flown the same route for about half of that with another airline offering lower overall standards/convenience.

i think your missing the point you consumed an alternative meal, the crew made a mistake but you seemed to be more concerned in getting more compensation then 10,000 offered which is generous

how much the ticket cost is irrelevant, where was you flying too

most people would not have received anything but an apology

im not sure what the nature of your company is but im sure it cannot be compared to the aviation industry
have you received the 10,000 avios already? A call to CR would raise eyebrows as this is very generous service recovery

Originally Posted by bamba70 (Post 29529228)

My notion of what would be appropriate, not to mention generous, was affected both by expectations due to past experience (getting 20k avios for an IFE malfunction, when I couldn't care less about the IFE...), the low valuation I personally attribute to avios, the relative value I give to having a special meal, and the general context.

If BA had charged you $140 for a special meal, would you have paid it?

Originally Posted by bamba70 (Post 29529245)

No, but how is this relevant?

Think about it this way: EU rules define a €600 compensation if a flight is over 4 hrs late. If airlines would reduce the rate by €600 for a flight that often arrives 4 hours late, then offer customers to pay €600 in order to somehow ensure that they arrive on time, how many do you think would pay that €600? And yet, the EU thinks that €600 compensation is fair... why? The passengers got to where they needed to get, got the meals, and even IFE, so why shouldn't an apology suffice?

again your missing the point - you’ve stated you don’t value avios but then you stated onboard you wouldn’t accept less than 20,000

i think everyone has been giving you a consistent message and been trying to illustrate the value of avios

Originally Posted by bamba70 (Post 29529295)

It's like you're trying to make the point that €50 is a generous compensation for a 4 hour flight delay, whereas the EU ruled that €600 is fair.