bostontraveler

I don't understand why the BA Avios Shopping portal is such a mess. I never have problems with other airline portals...

With BA:
There is a 35 day wait for credits to be posted (ridiculously long as it is) though they do have a few "speedy partners" (ok thanks...) Guys- get your contractual agreements in order... 35 days for credit is simply unacceptable. People forget (and they count on that!)
....Transactions often don't automatically post. One has to file a claim and then wait another 90-120 days (mark your calendars or else...)
Oh, but that's not it... in the meantime (or well after) transactions are reversed! Yes, reversed. File a claim (mark your calendars again for another 90-120 days for resolution and don't hold your breath)... So 8 months before you can be sure you've received credit. IF you have.
Pathetic.

Just went through this with 3 different vendors. Of the last three, two were *permanently* reversed. Bed Bath and Beyond and Groupon... calling you out here.

When I asked for a reason I was told the following:

"We have investigated your missing Avios request for your purchase at Bed Bath & Beyond and we are sorry to inform you that your transaction was rejected as the merchant reported that your last click for your purchase was not made via British Airways Avios eStore site but another marketing source, hence making the transaction invalid to earn Avios. We kindly ask for your understanding that the investigation result is advised by the retailer and that Avios are rewarded on a last referral basis. We’re sorry that we can’t offer you any further help with this."

Right. Because just as I was about to complete my purchase I navigated away from the site, opened a new window and started an entirely new, identical purchase, entering my information a second time... Not quite, people.

Clearly the vendors (Apple, Groupon, Bed Bath and Beyond and others) pay a commission to the Avios store for a referral and want to avoid doing so at all possible costs.

Why is this such an issue with BA? And what recourse does one have?

SxMan

Agreed – and, some retailers never seem to post points at all. Among them is Wilko. I’ve had at least 10 transactions in the last six months with them – none of which are posted and all, when queried, have been rejected. For the last one I’ve taken video of the whole process– I’m waiting to see what happens.

HIDDY

Is using it worth the hassle? When UK based I never used it.

bostontraveler

Perhaps- depends on one’s use of it- but it shouldn’t be a hassle…that’s my point.

Other portals actually function properly without these shenanigans.

bisonrav

It's an affiliate marketing site, the rules on when amounts credit aren't set by the BA Portal, but by the underlying schemes.

And you need ad blockers turned off and you need to accept cookies, and you need to ensure you haven't left cookies hanging around from previous visits. I tend to use topcashback mostly, but essentially the rules are the same there too.

Greenpen

TCB is not immune to failure to track correctly.

:D!

TCB works as intended far more often than the BA portal so I only use BA if other sites offer nothing or close to it for my merchant. Never had a TCB (or any other site) cashback reversed 6 months after being paid, unlike reportedly happens with BA

fdem

I don’t bother with the BA website as points never post. Have been using Virgin and they are great, they email you to confirm transaction then advise once the points are being posted. I buy a lot from Net a Porter so these purchases yield lots of points ( only problem now is that there is nowhere to spend them as BA and Virgin have virtually pulled all award availability in premium cabins!

xenole

Can't say I've had any real issues.
One transaction reversed months later as I had cancelled it.
One for a few 1000 Avios that was refused, but chased it up and got them.
Possibly 1 or 2 IHG hotel stays, but never sure on these anyway, so anything that appears out of the blue months later is a bonus.

I have had a couple of things where I've got Avios and Nectar points, so somehow both have tracked.

Missed put on a few things recently as I cannot log into the e-store on my phone since the "3 day updategate". Only on my PC.

dougzz

Are BA and VS portals not near identical and run by the same underlying company?

In my experience they're all less than reliable, and that includes TCB. Generally I find the more genuine the underlying seller the better your chances of getting the stated offer, Apple excellent, Hotels.com very good, PC World, forget it.

carrotjuice

In fairness, the equivalent shopping portals for Asia Miles and Krisflyer Spree also have similar non tracking issues.

It comes down to which merchants within these portals that you buy from, at the end of the day whether to approve or not is up to the merchant itself - someone there needs to manually verify the sale and press a key.

bisonrav

There's probably a confirmation bias effect, which is that if you have a bad experience and move, and where you move to seems better, you no longer have experience of the underlying problems at the first site.

I tend to use TCB because generally the amounts are better, and the customer service is great. Also the periodic global bonuses of £2 are good.

xenole

Just had 260 Avios taken back for a hotel stay. Paid out a couple of weeks ago.
Might be something I changed, or a reward night. Not sure, but it's not a major loss.

Iamnotlost

In the more recent past, probably last 12 months or so, have found the BA store has worked pretty well for me. Most of purchases have been from John Lewis and have tracked really quickly. Wickes has also been fine in recent weeks. I also use TCB and they are generally ok for me.
In more distant past both have been unreliable and infuriating!

Don't know about the slow tracking but I think alot of the problem with transactions being disallowed comes from logging into the BA store (or other site) after browsing more generally.. Then any left over cookies will get you. In the past I tried clearing my cookies/disabling ad blocker before logging in but didn't always remember etc etc. My current solution - which I acknowledge is a bit extreme - is to use a different laptop than I use for my pre-purchase searches; this also has ad blocker switched off for BA store etc. I also reset, ie lowered, my expectations so any avios or cashback seen as a bonus.

rolandrat

I consider anything received via the estore a bonus and nothing more. Half the time I forget to check if the company is on there until afterwards anyway. I dont really do that much anyway as most of my online activity is with Amazon, but when I have followed procedure it seems to work quite well.