josie79

Ok, So following month and months of missing Avios points (see my earlier post) I had an interesting conversation with Trading standards who agreed I potentially had a case for Breach of Contract! Having told me what to say to BA I contacted yet again and this time I was actually taken seriously and have been promised that my missing Avios will be in our account within 24 hours and been given a name of a manager to handle the points for future booking.com bookings that have not been added onto pending. I know points have not yet actually come through but it is the most promising conversation I have with them in five months! Fingers crossed now!!!!

groenroos

Good on you! Given my most recent interaction with eStore's miserable customer service, it's very satisfying to hear that someone's putting them in their place!

Out of interest, what did they tell you to say to them? I want to learn the magic incantation that makes them honour the offers they publicise on their website, too!

josie79

They told me to say that it looked like they were in breach on contract and whether they were part of/or be willing to use an Alternative Dispute Resolution Scheme, and that I should tell them that I would give them a response of 14 days max to settle my dispute to my satisfaction or I would take the matter further. They also gave me a reference number and told me I could ring them with an update and of not satisfied they would tell me what to do next. They were actually very helpful.

josie79

Following my previous posts, I can confirm that my missing Avios points that I should have accumulated through booking.com for trips I have been on have now been added into my account. Not only have they been added, but have been placed straight into my BA blue executive club account NOT my BA estore account so can not disappear at a later date! It's been a very long road but looks like finally getting somewhere! We are going away for 3 nights next week and I have a specific name to give and email address to send my confirmation of stay too and have been told to do this straight after my trip, and promised that those points will then be added too! Fingers crossed!

dewsburyborn

Does anyone have a UK mailing address for estore, please ?

I still have about 20 transactions - mostly with hotels.com - which have not tracked, I've email supportdesk and have received no reply.

I feel the need to copy them my spreadsheet showing the missing avios - circa 15,000 - and let them know I'm on the verge of escalating it to Trading Standards.

Added to that In the next couple of weeks I need to book a 21 night reservation with hotels,com and I really don't want to lose c8,000 avios ....... (or more if I can hit on a 8x)

grantsteve

This won't help with previous bookings but why not use Topcashback for future Hotels.com bookings - 8% cashback which you can payout as Avios with a 5% bonus.

dewsburyborn

I used TCB for many years but the incidence of 'not last referer' got ridiculous - despite me using one browser for TCB stuff exclusively.

Also the higher % is only due when hotels.com Rewards is not used - and that has been pretty good to me over the years. Avios are still due when Rewards are accruing, albeit at a lower earnings rate.

mike&co

Wozza2404

TCB at 2 or 3% isn't worthwhile for me any more.

You can regularly get 15% on TCB or Corporate Perks for Expedia/Ebookers/etc. so even with the Rewards nights on Hotels.com, those sites work out cheaper.

MrM2016

Data point: Did most of my Christmas shopping during a Fortnum and Mason promo last November. Netted me over 5000 Avios. Goods were delivered on time without issue and no promo codes were used. Saw today that points were reversed in March and transaction says cancelled in the shopping portal.

I have filed a request for reinstatement. Have little confidence in it succeeding.

Now I am aware of this being an issue, reading the other responses in the thread, I will steer clear from this portal. Having this many avios being taken from me without communication is appalling. Will likely do an executive escalation if they are not returned.

MrM2016

Duplicate

tigertanaka

I am not sure if the people behind the BA e-store are the same as the folks who run the avios e-store but I can report that a pile of Hilton stays from December and January finally posted this week.

However, I have just noticed that Hilton has finally returned to TCB (4.04%) and the BA e-store (6 avios per £).

Bophopper

dougzz

I heard Martin Lewis (I think) on Radio 5 a couple of years ago respond to a TCB question, and he said something along the lines of their T&Cs protect them from any sort of comeback, and you don't really have any legal recourse. Given the widespread issues with cashback and points referrals for shopping I'm quite surprised there's never been any sort of larger Trading Standards type investigation. My own experience is almost always along the lines of the retailer, Hilton well suspect with reversals ages after, Hotels com mostly good but always a lower rate when you take rewards without making it clear what that rate is, Apple always good. Microsoft mostly good, but I did have one issue for about 7000 Avios that was reversed after about 6 months, after some to and fro Avios did eventually restore the points, but this required a lot of effort trying to contact a company that dealt with it by ignoring emails.

tigertanaka

I don't have a problem with Pizza Hut Delivery reversing 15 avios for a Saturday night pizza for the kids (and lets face it, it is not worth anyone's time investigating) but the lack of transparency and customer support when you are due potentially thousands of Avios is extremely frustrating.