Hand solo
I'm going to agree with Mr Mac on the issue you have picked on. In the environment where the buyer has power than the seller, it can only be right that BA provides it's customers with sufficient information otherwise the customers have a lot of choice. BA staff at Nairobi (at the boarding gates) should/would know the regulations and indeed think ahead of what awaited Mr Mac at T5.
Had someone taken responsibility, perhaps we wouldn't know Mr Mac's other passion and interest.
Mr Mac
I have a lot to learn from your post and I think it's fair to say that your circumstances defy the saying that "it takes two to tangle". Clearly you've met your part of the contract and IMHO, BA hasn't always done as expected. And I can Understand your frustration and withdraw of business.No one wishes to repeat a bad experience. It is vital that BA delivers you to the agreed destination with your baggage and on time as minimum requirement and perhaps we would be talking only about the on board experience.
Can I ask; Has BA sought feed back on your travels over the years or has some one called you or written to you personally? (at any one point say on line, in the lounge, check-in/boarding gate, in flight or call at home)
A sincere apology or effort to remedy a bad situation goes a long way and it's also a tool for learning how to prevent future problems by understanding first hand what BA is doing wrong so that managers learn how to coach and train employees to prevent same problems occurring again.
Obviously, BA is paying the opportunity cost of not getting your complaints instead of dealing with your complaints in the first place. Every customer is valuable but you being a Gold/Silver member and taking that to competition is bad and worse the fact that you wouldn't recommend BA. I treasure Mrs Mac for her loyalty and it's something to build again from. Some people say Mistresses are arbiters of good taste
Your delayed baggage claims are unarguable and it's unfortunate that those things have happened. I'm not going to make light of this but airport security, especially to and through New York, has had a hand in these delays. You will ask if the same applied with competition and again I will not know but this has happened to me a few times too.
coffee with "Fred" again, he takes 2 sugars, as I knew him well then, and likes digestives !.
Your mark of humility - it's not a perfect world. Thanks for that. But, does BA want to do better? I think they do after all they have always tried. The future is an extrapolation of the past add some few variables like technology and is BA integrating this? again, I think they are? BA is a leader in this industry and will always be. What Mrs Mac is doing here is following that old adage that history has a tendency of repeating itself.
Mr Mac, have you ever imagined a time when oil will have dried up and competition is even? (especially middle East). There is also a lot of research ongoing about these bio fuels.
I would like to work for BA one day but I don't want to be motivated by money in this. It has to be passion. Your experience of staff unhappiness with T & C again was/is unfortunate because employees have a lot to do with customer satisfaction. I think staff owe BA some loyalty and in good or bad times they have to weather with it just like Mrs Mac has kept her loyalty. Has BA done mistake with labour contracts in the past? I might not be the right one for this (United Airlines has had this issue for years).
I'm going to write to BA about this and if I have your permission, it would be fantastic to reference you in. Winning you back for BA is a challenge but I find a perfect opportunity in it.