Supersax

We had a few days in Nice at the end of March which were affected by BA's latest IT problems. Our return flight arrived late at night at Heathrow which meant that we had to book an overnight hotel as there were no trains back home (we live in the East Midlands). When we arrived at Heathrow a BA staff member told us that BA would not be booking hotels for anyone, nor would they me arranging onward transportation, but that we should book our own hotel-up to the value of £200- and then reclaim it. So this we did.

BA have agreed the statutory claim under EU261 (the flight landed 4 hours late) but have refused to refund the cost of the hotel, stating that because they were incurred after the flight had landed, they were 'outside our contractual agreement' , despite the fact that we booked it on the advice of their staff member, and were left with no alternative.

I asked them to reconsider, but they've re-iterated their stance, adding 'You arrived in London at a reasonable hour, therefore your remaining expenses are not to be reimbursed' (we landed at 21:30 instead of the scheduled 17:30, however the baggage wasn't delivered until 23:15-not what I'd call a 'reasonable hour').

Is it worth pursuing the claim to arbitration? Or am I on to a loser here? Does an airline's duty of care end once they've delivered you to your destination, even if it leaves you having to pay for an extra night's accommodation?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Fwiw -the booking was with BA Holidays, not BA

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, it would be worth taking this to CEDR, though MCOL would be better. The relevant wording just says "hotel accommodation in cases where one or more nights becomes necessary" and at 23:15 the options for getting to the East Midlands won't be numerous. Moreover BA only pays taxis up to £50. So you need to make the case that the hotel was necessary, and BA to prove how it's not necessary, given their taxi limitation.

JeffBHD

Involuntary downgrade F to J due to equipment change on the LHR-SFO route.
After several weeks of Customer Service webform/email back and forth, BA have taken zero cognisance of EC261/2004 and refused my postflight claim for a 75% refund of the avios (plus allowance for the Amex241 and GUF2 redeemed) and carrier imposed surcharge and have just refunded me the 25k avios difference between the First and Club World rates for a LHR-SFO for one passenger.
CEDR application being crafted.....

Supersax

Thanks for the prompt response. I must admit that never having been in this situation before, I wasn't aware of the alternatives. My better half is a part-time CAB advisor, so I'll get her to assist with the MCOL.

rjn21

Sounds familiar. I was denied anything back at all in similar situation. So MCOL.
Their defence claims that
1. a GUF is an upgrade and that the regulation only applies to the "original" ticket pre GUF - not true the GUF'd ticket is the original ticket, it isn't issued, then later upgraded with a GUF.
2. A GUF is a benefit of a frequent flyer programme, so they have no liability whatsoever to reimburse anything at all on a downgrade as the regulation only applies to the class for which the ticket was purchased and not
to any advantages offered through a frequent flyer programme - again not true the ticket was purchased inc a GUF, not later upgraded by BAEC.

Anyway, I look forward to my day in court.

corporate-wage-slave

Both points are obvious rubbish to anyone familiar with EC261 (Article 3.3). But if 2 was true, why do BA charge additional carrier surcharges (and recalculate taxes) when using a GUF? If that's a mistake, perhaps they would like to refund them all?

Butts

Following BAH refunding the cost of my Holiday yesterday which was kyboshed by the IT Meltdown on February 25th BA have today informed me my EU261 and Expenses Claim are also to be met in full within 21 Days,

Don't give up there is hope !!

250 Euro for the EU261 (£210) and £100 odd for my Train and Easyjet Flight from BHX back to EDI.

They didn't even quibble the fact I booked a 1st Class Train Ticket from London to Birmingham

sayling

Would you mind posting what you put into the claim, or sending me a copy (redacted if required) via PM, please?

JeffBHD

Certainly, happy to PM you.

zanderblue

Latest update on this one.
BA have finally responded after more than 9 weeks. And have agreed that we are due compensation.
I have noted that they are saying 600eur times 2 and converted it to a sum that is less than the £1040 I was expecting. Funny how it is in their favour.
I will revert and let them know I expect the GBP amount, hopefully it won’t take another 9 weeks.
I’ll also need to go back to CEDR and withdraw my complaint.

decowie1903

A general question -: I am still, waiting on expenses and eu261 from the feb 25th IT melt down.
I have submitted a claim and have a reference number, but otherwise - no feedback or response from BA.
At what point & how do I escalate this?

corporate-wage-slave

You can esclate the matter either to MCOL or CEDR. CEDR requires giving BA 8 weeks to resolve the complaint, which has presumably passed by, and MCOL has no such requirement, but 10 working days is considered good practice. As you will see from other recent posts, you are by no means alone.

HHarry

Shouldn’t it be £220 under the UK261 regs, rather than 250 Euro’s converted to £’s?

DYKWIA

I'd be tempted to claim for the hotel as well

Butts

Not sure, but I'm so relieved to be paid that I'm not going to quibble over a tenner !!

Plus to be fair they greenlighted my 1st Class Rail Travel claim from London to Birmingham.