Bumped from BA First in Beijing

[rmac]

Hello all, just back from another trip (not with BA!) and still no response from BA.

PaxV. There was only one young Chinese girl representing BA, doing her best, but time and options were in short supply. In the circumstances she did the best possible job

Its her airline management that I am pointing the finger at in this thread.

[apaddyinuk]

Originally Posted by rmac

paddy, maybe you have the answer, if there was an airframe change with a 13F instead of 14F. If that is true, perhaps if it had been explained, with a gesture of compensation attached, I would fully understand.

On your East Coast route overbooking, I would also think its not a huge deal, due to the alternative flights available within a few hours.

By the way, I am still waiting a response from BA on my original communication, even to acknowledge receipt

Well usually when its a change of aircraft from a 14f to a 13f it would be all done very last minute and Im sure the poor sod that does get singled out as the downgrade would understand why (hopefully because it was explained professionally by a ground colleague..ahem!). And your correct about the East Coast but I must admit I have yet to hear of First/Club being overbooked on one of my flights although I dont doubt it does happen.

As for contacting customer relations regarding your experience. Did you email the Exec Club or customer relations? Cabin Crew have a direct email link to the main customer relations department but anytime I have used it I have had to wait weeks for a response. Try the Exec Club or even giving them a call so that it will get actioned sooner. (Exec Club = 0870 850 4 850. Normal Customer Relations = 0870 850 9 850 or [phone]) Let me know how you get on as Im rather curious myself!!!

[rmac]

Thanks Paddy, I'll give that a try

[Taildragger67]

Originally Posted by PAXboy

But FF that would have irritated Two customers who had also paid their money, rather than one?

Solution like this would've been to find a J willing to stay (at BA's cost) an extra night in PEK, plus Warsaw Convention cash, in return for guaranteed uplift the following day and either:
- a swag of BA miles, or
- upgrade to F on the next day's flight.

They would've had a taker (or several, amazing what an upgrade will do... ).

I'm a bit surprised they didn't offer to route via HK onto the BA services from there; would've also given more options within oneworld (QF, CX). That would've been a back-track, but possibly quicker than the eventual via BKK & ZRH.

Just face it; occasionally the yield-management sums get it a bit wrong. The test will be in the service recovery and I hope mac will be balanced enough to let us know what BA come up with (or don't... )

Threaten to pull your first-class business in favour of The Hairy One and see how fast they move.

[rmac]

Taildragger - Being a Friday every seat to HK was booked solid, no options there at all, or via Seoul or Tokyo. Not only is it not good to overbook on a route with a single daily service - but probably not a good idea to do it on a Friday.

I will be balanced enough to let you all know what BA come up with....its just that its been over a week and still no reply.

[Final 3 Greens]

rmac

I would writ a personal letter to Willie Walsh, were I you with a breif outline of what happened.

Then ask him when you an expect a reply.

[rmac]

Received an email from the BA rep at Beijing airport today, the poor harrassed young girl at check in previously referred to, asking if my re-route had been OK and thanking me for being understanding on the day.

Very good of her to send it personally, I don't know if it was on her own initiative , or if customer service bounced it back to her to deal with as she made no reference to a complaint !

Very confused

[rmac]

F3G I would write to Willie Walsh, but I don't believe that the letter would make it through the "screening process", and frankly I don't believe that it would make any difference.

I'm not that bothered about compensation, I want to know if BA have any respect for their customers (or their own staff at check in for that matter). Still waiting for confirmation that they do

[Taildragger67]

Originally Posted by rmac

F3G I would write to Willie Walsh, but I don't believe that the letter would make it through the "screening process", and frankly I don't believe that it would make any difference.

I'm not that bothered about compensation, I want to know if BA have any respect for their customers (or their own staff at check in for that matter). Still waiting for confirmation that they do

Back in the Ayling days, when I carried a gold card I had strong reason to whinge, I wrote a letter to Ayling (explaining that I didn't expect him to deal with it personally but as I'd got nowhere going up the chain, I thought I should start going down it instead). I also tried to be a bit constructive in my letter.

Within days, I got a signed note from his PA (now left) asking me to call her to discuss. I know it was from the CEO's office as when I went to call, I didn't have the letter on me, just called the corporate general number and asked for the CEO's office and was put through to the lady who wrote the letter.

In the Eddington days (still gold EC), I had an instance of brilliant/above-and-beyond service and in the interests of balance, wanted Rod to know about it. This time, a personal thank-you note signed by the Rhodes Scholar himself.

Another time, when I'd missed a connection due solely to bad info given to me by BA, I incurred a £40 taxi fare - which they reimbursed me for after a whinge to Customer Services.

So they do get through (at least they did) and I'd suggest being a note from a First passenger or gold(/black) EC member probably helps it get into the boss's in-tray.

I should point out that I became a gold EC cardholder because I chose to continue to give BA my custom; the product was solid and consistent across nearly all the routes I flew.

Give it a shot; nought to lose but the first-class stamp.

[Final 3 Greens]

rmac

I'd agree with Taidragger.

BA senior management tends to be surprisingly responsive.

Often they are a long way from the coalface and are not aware of operational problems.

[bealine]

I would confirm that a letter to Willie Walsh would NOT be screened out of the way! Unlike some of his British Airways predecessors, he does not hide from customers or staff alike and prefers to tackle adversity head on!

It is true that he has a Personal Assistant who reads his mail and handles any straightforward complaints directly, but I believe WW is kept informed in case he bumps into the complainant at a business lunch somewhere. (.....and, the bosses' PA is a senior figure in BA anyway, with as much clout as the "Great Man" himself!)

In the OP scenario, I do not believe we deliberately oversold the First cabin. BA does not, as a general rule, oversell First or Club World unless a particular route (eg Lagos, Accra) has a high Premium Cabin No Show record. The downgrade is most likely to have been caused by an administrative error where we have inadvertently oversold the cabin or an operational problem such as an aircraft change or broken seats, but the real reason obviously hasn't been communicated properly to you. As the injured party, you definitely had a right to know why we had to bump you, and I trust we looked after your properly when it came to managing your wishes for rebooking and compensating you. With BA only having its own staff these days at LHR and LGW, it is a sad down side of using handling agents that they don't really have much interest in our customers "feel-good factor" when things go wrong!

My sincere apologies for your inconvenience, please do go ahead and write to Willie Walsh. You have nothing to lose and you will find out what really was behind your downgrade!