BA response time to complaint?
 

Last week the Much Beloved had a booking

Monday evening Glasgow - London City
Tuesday morning Heathrow - Gibraltar

with return on Thursday Gib - LHR - Glasgow.

All the flights were on British Airways

BA cancelled the GLA - LCY flight and they put her on a later flight to LHR instead. She caught the Tuesday morning flight to Gibraltar as scheduled but on checking in at Gib to return she was told that she had been a "no show" on one of the outbound flights and that all her tickets had been cancelled, the fare confiscated and that she would have to fork out large amounts for a new ticket home. This was despite all protestations that she hadn't been a no show anywhere.

She eventually made it home after forking out £400 for an Easyjet ticket but was upset to put it mildly.

She put in a complaint to BA while still in Gibraltar Thursday and a second, with full details on Friday. Other than the standard computerised replies with two different Customer Relations case numbers there has been no response from BA to date.

Anyone know how long BA normally take to respond to complaints? Also suggestions about where to refer the problem if there's no response?

When I worked in BA customer relations, it took up to 4 weeks to get an acknowledgement and then an average of 4-6 weeks for it to be actioned. Who handles your complaint and the timelines involved generally depends on the type of ticket purchased, your Exec Card status, class of travel, etc. A non Exec Card, lead in fare ticket would see the complaint handled in India. A Silver Card holder on a flexible club world ticket is more likely have the complaint first seen in Newcastle. My advice would be to write directly to Willie Walsh. He won't see the letter but it goes to a specialist team at Waterside that are better able to resolve cases like this one. If you're a Gold Card member, there is a direct line you can call for an Executive Assistant which speeds up the process dramatically.

VS - thanks very much for that information. If BA think we are going to sit and wait for 4 weeks just for an acknowledgement then they can have another think. :E:E

Unfortunately my wife was only travelling peasant class and I've only ever made it to silver, so we'll give it a couple more days and then try the Willie Walsh idea. Is the Air Transport User's Council or any other body worth trying?

If all else fails I can certainly cost BA enough business for them to come out second on the finances

astir

Read EU261/2004 and look at the remedies for cancelled flights - rescheduling is one of them. As far as I can see (unless there is something you have not declared) BA has unlawfully terminated your wife's contract.

Get your beloved to write a letter telling them this and giving them 7 days to provide a remedy, which will be her costs incurred, e.g the U2 fare and any other direct expenses - make sure to include the costs of any postage and stationery - send this letter by a traceable service.

If you have not heard anything by day 8, then get your beloved to issue proceedings against BA in the small claims court.

This appears to be clear breach of contract and you will wish to claim the £400, as well as all costs involved in pursuing BA and any other costs arising.

She may also be due compensation under EU261/2004 for denied boarding, worth looking at.

If the facts are as you say, don't mess about with the AUC, just sue.

The AUC is no longer ....

From their web-site:

Pity. The AUC was actually quite effective and fair. No idea what the new mandarins at the ACAP will be like, but one can imagine.

An airline captain says:
 

I am astonished at the moderate tone of the contributions to this thread! Surely this is a tale of quite monumental incompetence compounded by neanderthal customer -awareness and -service skills.
You should be seeking, as much more important in the long term if they want to keep your business, an admission of this and an undertaking that there will be put in place processes to prevent a repetition. Of course the requisite financial compensation is clearly due as well.:*

Three Thousand

The story is gospel as told. Thanks for the other advice

p.s. Is Willie Walsh's office at Waterside or elsewhere?

twinboomThat's because the story is the same the world over. Sorry to sound world weary but this is what all modern corporates do. They follow the letter of their silly rules, designed to save money. They work on these lines:

• Allow the customer the minimum
• If in doubt deny and do not offer anything more
• If they shout loud enough/sue/have friends in high places THEN offer compensation
• If legally required to compensate, do so when demanded with standard letter of 'the one time we missed our high standards'

The reason is that this is cheaper in the long run moneywise. Customerwise it's "Penny Wise, Pound Foolish" but they will always have enough excuses to tell senior mgmt that it was not their fault.

As we have oft discussed, BA is now in the last downward phase of it's existence - just like ALL corporates that have been running for nearly 100 years.

This may be of help to you the Email address of Keith Williams, CEO, British Airways, is [email protected]

My daughter fell foul of terms & conditions way down hidden in the small print etc. of the Flybe website

She bought a return trip to LGW but the decided that she should get an earlier flight so she bought another ticket.
At the end of her visit she found out at LGW that her return was cancelled due to noshow on the first leg.
In spite of protest she was forced to buy anothe ticket for the return leg.

I well know that in the mini print of terms and conditions, the airlines can nail you if you don't fly as booked.

However in my wife's case, BA cancelled the first flight she was booked on. BA put her on a later flight to Heathrow (involuntarily rerouted I believe they term it). She did then catch the next leg as scheduled. And then BA claimed she had been a no show on one of the outbound legs! We're still waiting an explanation 7 days later!

And assuming that VS-LHRCSA says is correct, we will be waiting another 3 weeks just for something more than a computer generated reply saying "I hope I can assure you that we will be in touch with you again in the very near future"

Ho bloody ho. Letter goes to Wille Walsh tomorrow.

Willie has been bumped up the tree, as advised by Flyer70 above, you need to write to Keith Williams, CEO, British Airways as he's now in the driving seat. WW is based in Madrid. That said, the letter will be opened and re-routed (enjoy the pun!) to KW.

Thanks PB, I was wondering about that.

You might also want to file a claim on the travel insurance and get them to chase the airline on your behalf.

Oh yeah, I forgot about WW moving over. I'm sure the process is still the same. KW won't actually SEE the letter but it does go to a specialist team.

Letter emailed to Keith Williams with copy in registered mail sent today. Meaningful communications demanded within 7 days or legal action to be taken.

:ok: Good for you Astir 8. I hope you also told them that your wife's experience is splashed all over PPRuNe which is frequented by pax and the Press!

Great news astir 8.

PAXboy sits back, puts his feet up and pours a drink, ready to enjoy the fight {from a safe distance :}}

OK. So, as anyone who reads my posts knows, I'm a journalist, the lowest form of pond life according to some other contributors. But the one thing companies like BA hate, is a factually accurate story about their imcompetence and bad treatment of passengers. Why should they get away with this? They've treated your partner abominably, and the travelling public should know what happened. For heavens sake, a simple check should have shown them the original flight from GLA to LCY was cancelled. It's scandalous. Contact your regional daily, local weekly, whatever, and get a story in the paper. This isn't a complaint about bad cabin service, or a delayed flight. They've all but stolen your money, and their staff in Gibralter did not give a fiddlers about customer service or the airline's reputation.

From what you say, here's what I would have written.

"Inverness-shire passenger ............ was transferred to a Heathrow bound aircraft by British Airways, when the world's favourite airline cancelled a flight she was due to travel on between Glasgow and London City last Monday evening.
........... made the second part of her journey to Gibraltar the next morning. However, two days later, when she attempted to check-in for the first flight of her two stage trip back to Glasgow, she was informed she had "failed to show up" for the London City flight
The British Airways representatives at Gibraltar Airport also told her all monies paid to the airline were being confiscated because of her failure to travel on the cancelled service, and she would have to pay BA £.... if she wished them to transport her back to the UK.
The representatives refused to listen when ........ attempted to explain the flight had been cancelled by BA, and she was forced to travel back on an aircraft operated by another carrier at a cost of around £400."

The journalist writing the story will throw in a few quotes, and will have to contact the BA press office for a statement.
Believe me, unless things have changed drastically very recently, you will not wait four weeks to hear from the airline.
The reason why airlines and other organisations don't take this sort of thing seriously, is because it's very rarely made public. Instead, people rely on discreet letters which, as you've been told, may not be answered for some time. What contempt with which to treat their fare paying passengers.
Sorry, but even writing stories about people being treated this way makes me so angry.

A detailed post on flyertalk.com will always ensure a captive audience by the traveling public.