Arrived at JNB (note, now it's often called by its political name ORT for O R Tambo by locals) to check in for first legs of AONE4 to learn that our BA flight to LHR was canceled. And since we were flying AA code-share, the BA agent said we'd have to sort it out with them.

I did my best very-inconvenienced-customer bit, and then tried 'it's an xONEx ticket, so I'm allowed to change the carrier free and hereby request BA ticketing' which may or may not apply to the very first segment, and might have exposed me to the BA charges I was seeking to avoid. For whatever reason, after a couple of phone calls and consultation with another (probably senior) agent it got sorted painlessly except that we ended up on the later flight instead of the earlier (of three originally scheduled).

Not obvious that anyone from BA or AA tried to contact us ahead of time. 3 pax with phones and emails on record with both carriers, someone might have given us a whisper, but maybe its an AOG situation and they had just found out themselves.

Not sure what this means to anyone but little else is going on here...

If you were delayed by more than 4 hours, you may be entitled to EUR600 compensation

Your flight was cancelled. And ... ... and everything was sorted out painlessly. I'm trying to understand the problem here or why you posted this, but I just can't. Flights are cancelled all the time. Airline employees misunderstand things all the time, like all humans. Your situation was sorted out "painlessly" and apparently within a reasonable amount of time.

Have I missed something?

When a flight is cancelled and the airline check in counter tells you that they can't help you I think that is a completely valid thing to be concerned about and report here.

Rather than complain about the post just skip it. I'm trying to understand the problem here or why you posted this, but I just can't....

Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear. I read the OP as something along the lines of 1) flight cxld; 2) agent initially said that s/he couldn't/wouldn't help; 3) JohnAx said, "Well, wait a minute...."; 4) agent called someone for clarification and then 5) worked with JohnAx to get everything sorted. IME this happens from time to time. I saw nothing unusual. Very few agents know and understand all the rules. Sometimes clarification is necessary.

IMO one of the rules that all agents handling BA check-in should know is that if they cancel a flight then they sort it out, not tell the passenger to go and sort it out with the non-operating carrier which has absolutely no representation at JNB and only GSAs in the entire continent of Africa. To me the initial response of the agent was not due to lack of knowledge but absolute lack of interest in providing essential customer service to one of their passengers.
Of all the things that are posted as complaints/heads-up for FTers this seems to me to be one of the more reasonable ones.

It's always prudent to assume the absolute worst about airline representatives and slam them at every opportunity.

No, only when the facts presented indicate the need for that.

It is however always prudent to use Flyertalk for editorialising without any reference to the facts.

Were you with the OP at the airport? No, of course you weren't.

I just don't understand how you would know this to be true? Unlike a lot of airlines (AA in particular), BA is very regimented in the assignment of duties and providing training and authority to perform tasks (including ticketing). If the issue was solved painlessly then I'm not sure why the need to think the worst about this encounter when none of us (other than JohnAx) was there.

Involuntary changes waive the usual fees and rules that would apply to voluntary changes. I've had xONEx where my first flight (CX JNB-HKG) was cancelled, and the AA RTW desk simply shifted me to the next flight and reissued the ticket. On other trips, I've had a QF ex-LHR flight cancelled and was moved to BA with no BA fuel charges imposed.

I can empathize with the OP and BA's regimentation.

There's nothing painless in being told "no we can't" and then have to argue, and wait, in order to get them to do what they are supposed to have done in the first place [as per the facts in the OP] (it's the operating carrier's responsibility to reaccommodate you).

Pretty frustrating and a waste of time. And in OP's experience [as per the facts in the OP], BA's incompetence and aversion to customer service made him/her miss the flight he/she should have been painlessly reaccommodated on. Without argument.

Well, I think this gets us back the recommendation made by many others: Please, do always check your itinerary on an appropriate tool (e.g. Viewtrip if the travel agency used Galileo) and get back to them with any anomalies you perceive.

While I quite often get notified about 5 minute changes in schedules, I also quite often don't hear anything if an entire segment is cancelled ...

I can tell you of a similar experience with LAN 2 years ago in AKL on a DONE04. 5:50-am flight AKL-SYD (to LHR-CAI). LAN couldn't find my reservation & was decidedly UNHELPFUL. She told me to wait, but clearly was not working on my issue - was helping other PAX. The clock was ticking & I realized: I am not going to make the flight & will miss my connection in LHR. I went to the QF ticket counter where Lionel, an ANGEL, tried to help me sort it out. (Not a QF issue, he was just being nice). But I had to call AA RTW desk in US on my dime to sort things out. And I had to be rushed & escorted thru security. When I got to the check-in counter they tried to give me an economy seat. I insisted I had revenue J, please accommodate me, which they did.
I avoid LAN like the plague.

I'll +1 that sentiment, but they be the OneWorld carrier in South America. A third-world airline in many ways. And the OneWorld "Visit..." fares are a bargain.

On one of those, we missed a connection at SCL and were accommodated on the next flight to BA. End of story. Next flight was AEP-USH, no problem. Excitement came some time later when attempting to check in for USH-AEP; the missed connection had cancelled the rest of our reservations. In the Christmas-New Year's period.

LAN res was unsympathetic to the point where I'm sure I heard "F... you" subvocalized. Go talk to AA. (the RTW desk handled/handles these fares). I could have called back hoping for a friendlier agent, but since the desk was open and was staffed with known-helpful people I called them. "Shouldn't be our problem, but we'll take care of it and get right back to you." And so they did, grabbing available space as required, above the booking class.