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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Miles Brignall

British Airways charged my credit card twice and I can’t seem to get a refund

British Airways aircraft at Heathrow airport
Is it BA’s deliberate policy to hold on to customers’ money as long as possible? Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

Back in May a colleague and myself paid for a ticket upgrade on a flight from Mumbai to London. My colleague paid with his debit card and I paid with my credit card – the payments were around £350 each. The payments were made at the business class check-in desk itself.

On returning my colleague noticed that his card had been debited twice within two days, so I checked my credit card statement and discovered that the same thing had happened to me.

We have both contacted BA repeatedly, but it was unable to tell us when or if our refunds would be made, despite us supplying copies of our statements wthat clearly showed the incorrect deductions.

Eventually our case was referred to customer relations, which offered plenty of sympathy but no answers and no clue as to when we were going to get our money back.

It is now eight weeks since the deductions were made and we are wondering if it is BA’s deliberate policy to hold on to customers’ money for as long as possible, thus boosting its cash flow.

What is particularly frustrating is that it is impossible to speak to anyone higher up the chain – BA has deliberately put a brick wall in the way. AP, Cambridge

BA told us it had since resolved your complaint and that of your colleague. However, having had a long conversation with the company you were still none the wiser as to how this had happened, and were still facing a further 10-day wait to have your money returned. A poor response by BA, even after the head office got involved.

If this drags on, contact your card provider and tell it that BA can’t, or won’t, sort it out.

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number

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