I have been a British Airways shareholder for 20 years, a frequent flyer since 1986, and have travelled on business with BA all over the world. But I feel my recent treatment on a flight to the US was completely unacceptable. I am particularly annoyed by the repeated lies told by staff.
I was initially unable to check in online, prior to departure and on calling the helpline was told there was a glitch in the system. So I arrived three hours early for my flight. After waiting some time I learned the flight was overbooked. I explained that I was going to Chicago for job interviews the following day. They said they would do everything to get me there and rearrange my flight – I was to wait at Caffè Nero and they would come and find me.
No one came to find me, and I even saw the same staff member come to buy a drink from there and ignore me. After five hours I and other passengers were given two options: fly American Airlines at 7.45am the next day, or fly with BA at lunchtime. I, and an American passenger, chose the former. We were given a Holiday Inn Express hotel voucher and told a bus would take us to the terminal in the morning.
At the hotel the BA voucher couldn’t be used for dinner as enjoyed by other airline customers. Instead, a school dinner buffet of three items was set up in a corner and was pigswill slop. I had to arrange a taxi to get back to the terminal at 5am.
I wrote to BA setting out this appalling treatment and asking for compensation and have been ignored. What the hell is the airline thinking of in treating paying customers like this? MB, Saffron Walden, Essex
We have seen a noticeable increase in letters about BA in recent months. By the nature of the business, airlines are always going to have problems and therefore unhappy customers. It’s how it deals with such customers that is important. Too many readers say they are being ignored.
In your case, you were the latest passenger to find yourself on the wrong end of BA’s controversial overbooking policy. The company sells more tickets than it has seats in the expectation that a few passengers won’t show – and sometimes they all turn up.
Having wrecked your trip you would think staff would be doing their utmost to placate you, but you experienced quite the opposite.
We asked BA about your letter and it claimed to have replied to you a week before you wrote to us – though you say you didn’t receive it. In its reply it defends its overbooking policy, which “helps us avoid flying with empty seats, and means we can keep the cost of our fares down”. In response to your complaint about the food and the taxi you were forced to take, it has now said it will refund those extra expenses. However, it has refused any compensation for stress, the missed interviews or the taxi fare. It did pay the compensation you were due for denied boarding under the EU rules.
The moral of the tale for BA customers is to make sure they check in quickly once it opens. Otherwise you risk finding that there isn’t a seat to check in to, which is what we suspect happened in this case. You are still very annoyed, and have started selling your BA shares.
The days of BA going the extra mile to help its loyal customers may well be over, in our view. What do you the customers think? Email the usual address.
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
