Help and advice please: GGL team messed up my booking and cost me a Joker
Jul 17, 2019, 9:13 am
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2005
Location: TLV/LHR
Programs: BA GGL, IHG Diamond Elite Amb, HH Diamond, Avis PC, Hertz PC, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 12,948
Help and advice please: GGL team messed up my booking and cost me a Joker
Guys, some advice please...
BA have messed up a space release booking and at the moment lost me a Joker.
I called up on the last day of my year to use it. made a two leg booking. first leg in CW and the second one in F.
Couple of hours later I noticed the second leg was gone, and I realised it must have been because I had a duplicate booking for that which I immediately cancelled (I didn't want to cancel that before I knew the space release was cleared).
I called up the following morning, and the agent I spoke to said she can see the history of the booking and the second leg that was cancelled and no problem she’ll reinstate that.
The following day I noticed she booked the second leg in J instead of F (that’s when in hindsight I should have left it at that…), so I call again and I speak to a different agent who after ticking away and putting me on hold, said I should leave it with her and she will sort it out. She said she would call or email me once done.
Then I get an email from her to say she has cancelled the previous booking and made a new one. That’s when alarm bells started ringing because of the Joker…
I called back the following morning to confirm and pay for the booking, but asked the agent I spoke to this time to double check they did not take one of my new space releases for this one, which he then confirmed they did.
Since then I have had a couple of calls back and forth with the last one in the past hour when the agent I spoke to last called me back to say the team she emailed to try and get this sorted say they can’t do it.
So what am I missing here? And is this in any way my fault? First mistake was made by the agent I asked to reinstate the second leg of my journey when she booked it in J instead of F despite clearly discussing it should be in F, and she should have been able to see it was originally booked that way. And then the second and more crucial error was made by that agent who decide to just cancel the original booking despite having a joker used for it which has now expired and make a new one.
What would you do at this point?
BA have messed up a space release booking and at the moment lost me a Joker.
I called up on the last day of my year to use it. made a two leg booking. first leg in CW and the second one in F.
Couple of hours later I noticed the second leg was gone, and I realised it must have been because I had a duplicate booking for that which I immediately cancelled (I didn't want to cancel that before I knew the space release was cleared).
I called up the following morning, and the agent I spoke to said she can see the history of the booking and the second leg that was cancelled and no problem she’ll reinstate that.
The following day I noticed she booked the second leg in J instead of F (that’s when in hindsight I should have left it at that…), so I call again and I speak to a different agent who after ticking away and putting me on hold, said I should leave it with her and she will sort it out. She said she would call or email me once done.
Then I get an email from her to say she has cancelled the previous booking and made a new one. That’s when alarm bells started ringing because of the Joker…
I called back the following morning to confirm and pay for the booking, but asked the agent I spoke to this time to double check they did not take one of my new space releases for this one, which he then confirmed they did.
Since then I have had a couple of calls back and forth with the last one in the past hour when the agent I spoke to last called me back to say the team she emailed to try and get this sorted say they can’t do it.
So what am I missing here? And is this in any way my fault? First mistake was made by the agent I asked to reinstate the second leg of my journey when she booked it in J instead of F despite clearly discussing it should be in F, and she should have been able to see it was originally booked that way. And then the second and more crucial error was made by that agent who decide to just cancel the original booking despite having a joker used for it which has now expired and make a new one.
What would you do at this point?
Jul 17, 2019, 1:37 pm
#2
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,248
Let me try to summarize. It sounds like you booked a ticket using a gold guest list redemption (joker). For some reason the second leg disappeared and you were advised it would be reinstated. It was reinstated incorrectly and the next person who tried to resolve the problem decided that the best option was to cancel it and start again. This resulted in your original joker expiring and a new one was used instead. Is that right?
If so, I would call again and suggest that they leave the current booking exactly as it is but provide you with a replacement joker.
If so, I would call again and suggest that they leave the current booking exactly as it is but provide you with a replacement joker.
Jul 17, 2019, 2:11 pm
#4
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: ±38,000 feet
Programs: LH HON, BA GGL, AF Plat, EK Plat
Posts: 6,428
I have similar issue to you.
ba applied one of my new annual jokers instead of the (back then) soon expiring 6000 tps one.
now they claim I have none left
i gave them history of all jokers and they agree I should have one but that because the 6000 one is difficult to track they don’t know what happened. They said they are awaiting to hear back from Rev man to see if they give me one back (which I am supposed to have)...
ba applied one of my new annual jokers instead of the (back then) soon expiring 6000 tps one.
now they claim I have none left
i gave them history of all jokers and they agree I should have one but that because the 6000 one is difficult to track they don’t know what happened. They said they are awaiting to hear back from Rev man to see if they give me one back (which I am supposed to have)...
Jul 17, 2019, 2:16 pm
#5
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,248
I have similar issue to you.
ba applied one of my new annual jokers instead of the (back then) soon expiring 6000 tps one.
now they claim I have none left
i gave them history of all jokers and they agree I should have one but that because the 6000 one is difficult to track they don’t know what happened. They said they are awaiting to hear back from Rev man to see if they give me one back (which I am supposed to have)...
ba applied one of my new annual jokers instead of the (back then) soon expiring 6000 tps one.
now they claim I have none left
i gave them history of all jokers and they agree I should have one but that because the 6000 one is difficult to track they don’t know what happened. They said they are awaiting to hear back from Rev man to see if they give me one back (which I am supposed to have)...
Jul 17, 2019, 3:05 pm
#6
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: ±38,000 feet
Programs: LH HON, BA GGL, AF Plat, EK Plat
Posts: 6,428
You've probably learned the hard way but it's really important to keep track of these yourself. I have a spreadsheet of my own that I maintain that tracks the awards of jokers and usage against specific PNRs. When I use one I am very careful to ensure they understand which one to use based on the date of the award.
Jul 17, 2019, 8:41 pm
#7
Join Date: Mar 2003
Programs: BA GGL; AA LT Gold; AS 100K; DL MM GM; Hyatt G*list, Hilton Diamond; SQ silver
Posts: 3,806
Just to add an other experience, I had a different but related experience.
When I qualified the first time for GGL, I had two jokers for 2 weeks. So I used one immediately to book an award for myself and my husband.
Later, after the joker is expired, I needed to make a change to the tickets' date and cancel my husband's portion.
The ICC team that answers the phone when it's night time in the UK suggested they cancel the booking and made a new one. Alarm bells rang and I let the lady know that the used joker was expired and thus canceling and restarting would most likely make me lose it. So I told her to please never cancel the original booking. She said she'd ask for help to get it done and to leave it with her.
I don't know if she made a note of that comment, but at the end, they were able to do it and I didn't lose the joker.
In conclusion, maybe it is wise to mention it to whomever one talks to when a joker used is expired, so they don't go for any approach consisting of canceling and starting over.
When I qualified the first time for GGL, I had two jokers for 2 weeks. So I used one immediately to book an award for myself and my husband.
Later, after the joker is expired, I needed to make a change to the tickets' date and cancel my husband's portion.
The ICC team that answers the phone when it's night time in the UK suggested they cancel the booking and made a new one. Alarm bells rang and I let the lady know that the used joker was expired and thus canceling and restarting would most likely make me lose it. So I told her to please never cancel the original booking. She said she'd ask for help to get it done and to leave it with her.
I don't know if she made a note of that comment, but at the end, they were able to do it and I didn't lose the joker.
In conclusion, maybe it is wise to mention it to whomever one talks to when a joker used is expired, so they don't go for any approach consisting of canceling and starting over.