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Stupidity regarding paying for an upgrade then not accepted.

Stupidity regarding paying for an upgrade then not accepted.

Old Jun 6, 2018, 6:05 am
  #16  
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No landline at home. At work I can only make local calls to local non-mobile numbers. At my work landline, long distance is blocked and so are calls to some local mobiles.

Last edited by tmac100; Jun 6, 2018 at 6:32 am
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Old Jun 6, 2018, 6:12 am
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by tmac100
As I said, I don't have twitter nor facebook.
In the time it's taken you to start and contribute to this thread, you could have set up a Twitter account, sent BA a DM, and received a call back, providing them with the required CC CVV (or whatever other information they need).

I understand it's annoying that you have to do that, but at this point it might be an idea to focus on how best to get the result you need quickly, rather than on how to complain to the CEO of IAG. By all means complain, but it's probably better to do that after you've got BA to fix the issue at hand.
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Old Jun 6, 2018, 6:31 am
  #18  
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I fear the GDPR regulations (or at least the general interpretation of them) are going to trip you up here.

I would guess, if you've received a letter, the change was made some time ago - and it was on a direct booking through BA (i.e. not a Travel Agent).

If you'd been able to get through before GDPR came in, the checks and access to someone else's personal data may well have been a bit less onerous. Now - well, I can easily see why BA is not unwilling but unable to call you back, because there's a good chance they'll be in breach of the regulations by discussing someone else's booking with you.

Frustrating though this might be, it is the reality of the brave new world we and BA find ourselves in - and, indeed, there are some national companies that are still feeling their way through this and changing the arrangements day-by-day.

As an example, before GDPR arrived I could send my wife into Screwfix (a national distributor of ironmongery) to collect an order placed online as long as she had my card and knew the PIN. Now she's no longer allowed to do that - but she can collect refunds on the same card for returned orders placed prior to the regulations becoming law. At first she was allowed to collect if added to my account as a nominee. Two days later that changed again and she was no longer permitted to do that. It's a complete mess, and it's hardly a surprise that a company such as BA is taking the most conservative approach possible.

I can foresee that you will need a three-way call with your friend and BA also on the line. Writing to Willie Walsh won't change anything about that - you are dealing with the law here, and I can almost guarantee his response will be that IAG airlines always act within it (EC261 claims notwithstanding sometimes!). Given the confusion at the moment, it's difficult to argue against that.
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Old Jun 6, 2018, 6:40 am
  #19  
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Originally Posted by newyorklondon
In the time it's taken you to start and contribute to this thread, you could have set up a Twitter account, sent BA a DM, and received a call back, providing them with the required CC CVV (or whatever other information they need).

I understand it's annoying that you have to do that, but at this point it might be an idea to focus on how best to get the result you need quickly, rather than on how to complain to the CEO of IAG. By all means complain, but it's probably better to do that after you've got BA to fix the issue at hand.
Want to donate a "Smartphone" to me? I have 2 Nokia mobiles that allow me to send/receive sms texts to anyone on this planet with a mobile. I can also call and receive telephone calls from anyone on this planet on them. One even has wifi capability but I never use it.. I have computers (desktops and laptops and tablets) comming out of my ying-yang and get along very nicely. I see no need for twitter, facebook nor any other social media to interfere with my meaningful life. If folks cannot contact me by voice, sma or email then perhaps they have nothing important to discuss with me.
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Old Jun 6, 2018, 6:47 am
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by tmac100
I see no need for twitter.
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
Alternatively do a DM via Twitter and someone will call you back within a few hours.
---

Originally Posted by tmac100
Want to donate a "Smartphone" to me?
Why do you need a smartphone?
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Old Jun 6, 2018, 6:54 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by newyorklondon
---



Why do you need a smartphone?
All my friends with smartphones use twitter. Is there a way to use twitter on a computer and still have my priivacy concerns addressed. With the recent broo-haaa about "mining" folks personal data by facebook, I am QUITE SKITTISH about having any social media account on any of my computers.
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Old Jun 6, 2018, 6:54 am
  #22  
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Originally Posted by tmac100
Want to donate a "Smartphone" to me? I have 2 Nokia mobiles that allow me to send/receive sms texts to anyone on this planet with a mobile. I can also call and receive telephone calls from anyone on this planet on them. One even has wifi capability but I never use it.. I have computers (desktops and laptops and tablets) comming out of my ying-yang and get along very nicely. I see no need for twitter, facebook nor any other social media to interfere with my meaningful life. If folks cannot contact me by voice, sma or email then perhaps they have nothing important to discuss with me.
I can certainly sense the frustration!

Generally VPN + Skype does work when calling BA, just sometimes it doesn't work out for one reason or another. That's my personal experience. But if you ONLY want BA to call you then Twitter is the solution unless you have serious status with BA. If you don't want the upgrade then yes, don't bother calling (however the risk is the reservation will remain unticketed so it's not an approach I would take). In your shoes however I would just call BA on the UK or perhaps Canadian Skype number. The Contact Centres you could be speaking to are physically located in Newcastle, Manchester and New Delhi. Again insufficient specifics to be sure, but it looks like a tedious CVV issue and a short call will hopefully resolve. You can write a letter of complaint to the holding company of BA, but personally I think that's a waste of time.

Originally Posted by tmac100
All my friends with smartphones use twitter. Is there a way to use twitter on a computer and still have my priivacy concerns addressed. With the recent broo-haaa about "mining" folks personal data by facebook, I am QUITE SKITTISH about having any social media account on any of my computers.
Yes, go off to Incognito and VPN via somewhere like Iceland or Switzerland, set up a disposable email account, then set up Twitter using minimal information (perhaps not all of it accurate....) and validate via the disposable email address. BA doesn't care about any of the details anyway. Then delete both when happy so to do. Many people I know keep a shadow account for this.
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Old Jun 6, 2018, 6:56 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by tmac100
I call the UK call center. God knows where it is actually located. I start out calmly, but the bottom line is they have security issues and they won't call me back (to my mobile) from a call center.
They have NO IDEA what British telephone number is not actually switched to overseas...
It sounds like they wont call you back because you simply arent named on the booking so it cant be discussed with you !
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Old Jun 6, 2018, 7:01 am
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by tmac100
If folks cannot contact me by voice, sma or email then perhaps they have nothing important to discuss with me.
BA would probably agree. If you're friend doesn't take the seat someone else probably will. Someone form ticketing may call your friend at some point, but unless you are nearby that may not solve the issue.

BA's inability to quickly process payments promptly is very poor, and has led to lots of similar threads here. If you don't have the means or perseverance to battle through making the payment it may however it may leave your friend's booking in an odd state.
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Old Jun 6, 2018, 7:02 am
  #25  
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Originally Posted by tmac100
All my friends with smartphones use twitter. Is there a way to use twitter on a computer and still have my priivacy concerns addressed. With the recent broo-haaa about "mining" folks personal data by facebook, I am QUITE SKITTISH about having any social media account on any of my computers.
Yes you can use a computer, go to twitter.com create a new account, contact BA through it and then delete the account when it's dealt with.
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Old Jun 6, 2018, 7:07 am
  #26  
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Originally Posted by Anonba


It sounds like they wont call you back because you simply arent named on the booking so it cant be discussed with you !
Funny that you say that. My information wrt sharing info with the passenger's booking is on BA's file. I have the passenger's passport number etc that BA wanted me to have.

AND, besuides, why is BA willing to accept upgrade payment from me on MY credit card, yot they don't want to call back ...

Sounds like I will follow CWS's suggestion. I'll wait until midnight here in Qatar and keep trying to contact BA...

Hell of a way to get an upgrade for someone. and and
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Old Jun 6, 2018, 7:14 am
  #27  
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Originally Posted by tmac100
Funny that you say that. My information wrt sharing info with the passenger's booking is on BA's file. I have the passenger's passport number etc that BA wanted me to have.

AND, besuides, why is BA willing to accept upgrade payment from me on MY credit card, yot they don't want to call back ...
The correct way to sort out that aspect is
- get your friend to join BAEC if not already
- ensure BAEC number is on the booking - changing it later on if needed
- Your friend goes to Manage Third Party Nominees under My Executive Club to enter your details.
Then you will have full access to the booking.
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Old Jun 6, 2018, 7:30 am
  #28  
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
The correct way to sort out that aspect is
- get your friend to join BAEC if not already
- ensure BAEC number is on the booking - changing it later on if needed
- Your friend goes to Manage Third Party Nominees under My Executive Club to enter your details.
Then you will have full access to the booking.
Yes, I have full access to the booking. She is also Silver. I select her seats etc when she does not have the time....

BUT the issue still is the payment not going thru and contacting BA in the UK. The booking does not show anything about the payment not going thru BUT it does show a confirmed CW upgrade - WHICH IS BOGUS according the the later info we both get.

CWS gave some suggestions and I'll try them. I also set up a twitter account and sent BA a tweet to call my mobile here in Qatar. It seems there is no getting around speaking with BA in the UK ...
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Old Jun 9, 2018, 1:32 am
  #29  
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The Twitter account did not help because BA did not contact me, so I will delete it.

I contacted BA on the 7th and their call center in Germany took all my card details again - but nothing showed up on my credit card account as of this morning (Saturday, June 9th).
So I called the BAEC Silver number in the UK again this morning June 9th, and got through to a CS agent. This time it took 40 minutes and Skype did not drop. ^

The agent took all my credit card details again and called BA Ticketing as he was in England. Ticketing put the payment through, but it did take about 20 minutes for the CS agent to get through to them. I checked with my credit card account in Canada and SURE ENOUGH the money went to BA.

Lucky that for 40-ish minutes Skype did not drop off from here in Qatar. I used a laptop with a different VPN, but doubt that had any effect. SO, it is done.

Thank you especially to CWS for useful advice on FT and by PM, and to others who gave advice too. I use two different VPNs with Skype with 2 different computers. I must say that this upgrade cost of over 1600 GBP was the hardest amount of money to spend - and this "spend" for the upgrade took from May 25th with my other card until this morning. BUT, persistence...
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Old Jun 9, 2018, 2:09 am
  #30  
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Originally Posted by tmac100
BUT, persistence...
Absolutely, I think that's a perennial and essential quality when dealing with air travel, if one is being realistic. Thank you for reporting back, it's always interesting to know how things worked out in the end, and unfortunately sometimes those of us who follow this forum never finds out what happened. I'm surprised that the Twitter DM wasn't followed up, generally it gets good results for this sort of thing, but at least in the end it was clearly resolved with you online.
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