[FDOS_UK]

I see the website is playing up again, I’ve been trying all day to get a quote, to be met with a systems error, have given up and booked with a competitor.

Edited – the error message says

“Sorry

Unfortunately our systems are not responding, so we are unable to process your request at the moment.

We apologise for this inconvenience and suggest you try again later. “

I suggest that BA fixes the site, it’s a stupid strategy to expect potential customers to chase you.

You are the weakest link, goodbye.

[MartynSinclair]

A strange sequence of events on BAEC this evening…

**looking for an avios booking to Germany this evening.

**found the flights but didn’t booked

**an hour later, went back to book, but the outbound was no longer available

** went to history for flights searched

**clicked on book now

**hey presto required outbound flight reappeared

Is this a fault or luck or does it somehow hold a booking for an hour or two when you research….

Once booked, only allowed me to choose seat for my return…. outbound, would not let me reserve….

[MartynSinclair]

I was very fortunate this week to have been at a presentation by a senior manager of BA promoting the virtues of BA and the positive outlook…

Sunday evening 00.50h, trying to book a flight for Monday morning…. website was down unable to book… result…. meeting postponed, as I cant travel….

“This page is not available.

Sorry we can’t show you this page at the moment.

Please try the following actions:
•Restart your browser and try again
•Try using a different browser

If these steps fail to resolve the problem, please contact us, quoting the following information:
•Our reference: S000678328”

[ontherunhome]

Dear Martin, I had a similar issue, and could also not open my On Business account as well. I called the helpline, and was told that is using Google Chrome browser, that BA website has issues with Chrome, and to use an alternative. Seems to work OK on Firefox. So BA IT has removed millions of potential customers, by having Chrome issues.Maybe try an alternative browser if using Chrome.

[FCTraveller]

Actually, this problem became worst this morning. Their response that it’s a Chrome issue is complete rubbish. Yesterday I tried with Chrome, IE 11 and Edge. None worked. Only Firefox worked. This morning, nothing works, not even Firefox. Just spoke to an agent who first tried to deny their website had a problem and then when I quoted the error message, he suddenly seemed to know something and tried to imply that maybe my IP address was being blocked. Refused to transfer me to anyone in IT, just took the details and said he would pass it on. BA I know you are reading these forums, this absolutely stinks. The least you could do is put out some kind of communiqué and explain what the problem instead of sweeping it under the carpet. I have had it with this company. Goodbye!

[Mark Caswell]

We asked BA for an update, and this is what we received:

“Our website and online check in is working for the vast majority of our customers, however we understand that some people are experiencing difficulties accessing the site.

“We are sorry for the inconvenience, and our teams are working hard to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

“We would encourage customers to call our customer service team with any urgent queries on 0344 493 0787.”

[MartynSinclair]

Anyone know what’s going on with the BA telephone sales agents?

Gave up last night after 30 minutes and so far my phone timer has just past 45 minutes this morning..

[Charles-P]

The “try a different browser” excuse is often used by Eurostar for the regular failing of the English language section of the booking pages. Curiously the French section always seems to be ok. Their customer services people can also be very frustrating to deal with because if a fault is reported they always seem to start from a default position of,
“Well I’m looking at the site now and it’s fine so the problem must be with you”

I do get the impression that the never ending attempts to cut costs by some organisations are resulting in ever poorer standards of customer service in the travel industry combined with a tactic of ‘customer blaming’ to avoid fixing problems. Although I appreciate that margins are tight organisations need to understand the long term dissatisfaction caused by this approach. Here on the forum we see others’ experiences and that certainly influences buying decisions but how many people simply vote with their feet and never return to say an airline or hotel chain because of a bad trip I wonder.

Research by (I think) Ford Motor company in the 1990’s showed that for every person who complained about a problem with a new car there were five who did not but crucially of those five three made a decision to not buy another Ford and they told on average five other people why.

When I was working I heard it said on many occasions that the airline industry had still not yet reached what it called the “lowest point of acceptance” in a simple terms just how cheap and basic can they go before the customer says “enough!”. Have we now reached that point ?

1 user thanked author for this post.

capetonianm

[nevereconomy]

Call me old fashioned but I always print my bookings when I make them, so if they disappear on My Bookings I have
the booking ref to use to pull them up.

[capetonianm]

Flights up to 4 hours delayed since about 1600 and dozen of cancellations.
Well done, again, BA. This is becoming as frequent as French ATC strikes.

18 July 2018 • 8:55pm

British Airways passengers reported long delays and cancellations on Wednesday night after the airline reported an issue with its computer systems.

Passengers said that planes operated by the airline were not taking off from Heathrow, amid reports on social media of delayed aircraft across Europe.

British Airways customers arriving at Heathrow Terminal Five were reportedly told that a computer system failure had halted all British Airways flights.

They were reportedly advised to book overnight accommodation or seek alternative travel arrangements. There were also reports that the airline online-check in service had failed.

“We are experiencing disruption to our flights as a result of an issue with some of our IT systems,” British Airways tweeted earlier last night

It added: “We are working hard to urgently resolve the matter and are sorry for the disruption to some customers’ travel plans.

A spokesperson for Heathrow, said: “We are aware that British Airways is currently experiencing an issue which is impacting their ability to provide boarding passes to some passengers. We will be working with the airline to support their efforts to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

The IT system failure comes just over a year after a computer meltdown saw the airline forced to cancel 726 flights over three days, leaving 75,000 passengers stranded and costing the company around £100m

The delays yesterday came after an earlier fire alert at Heathrow’s air traffic control tower briefly forced flight to be diverted to other airports.

It “impacted operation of the airfield for a short while” on Wednesday afternoon, according to the airport.

Last May’s IT failure, which also came at the start of a busy holiday period, sparked intense criticism of the company and its management, as well as frustration over the lack of information handed out to customers by BA staff.

It was blamed by the company on an electrical technician employed by an outside supplier for shutting down an “uninterruptible power supply” located in the plant room of the firm’s London data centre.

British Airways said in a statement: “As with a number of airlines we are experiencing some disruption at Heathrow a result of an issue with a supplier IT system.

“We are working with our supplier to resolve the matter and are sorry for the disruption to our customers’ travel plans.”

[openfly]

BAs bad evening of delays has carried over to today. Massive short haul inbound delays and cancellations plus many outbound cancellations. There will be lots of EU261 payouts, unless, of course, BA says these delays were caused by “snow in the London area”!! 😀

[capetonianm]

I believe Alex Cruz, in line for a knighthood from HM the Queen for Services to British Industry, is in T5, facing customers who are inconvenienced, handing out EU261 compensation forms, supporting front line staff who are facing abuse and complaints from customers, and generally making himself affable and useful to all. Meanwhile BA is tendering for a new IT provider.

[esselle]

Wearing his trademark Hi-Viz, no doubt. And handing out free kebabs to hungry passengers. And blaming it all on a sub-contractor.

[openfly]

@Capetonianm….oh yeah, and pigs might fly, which is more than his unlucky passengers yesterday and today!! BA are getting a roasting on Twitter, as usual.

[pheighdough]

This BA IT issue will be an interesting minefield to negotiate. Prior to BA’s issues there was an evacuation of Control Tower Staff and Ops were stopped at Heathrow and aircraft diverted. Drawing the line between BA’s IT and inability to function due the evacuation is grey to say the least.
Good luck those seeking EU261 claims…

[Author]

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