[MartynSinclair]

2 recent airline online direct bookings, (British Airways & Lufthansa) had glitches that ultimately caused an increase in the fare (cash/discount vouchers were not being recognised). I phone through to reservations who could not provide a solution & suggested I wrote to Customer Services (on line or letter).

My comms contained the locator number of the booking, full names of passengers and the flight numbers/date of travel & the important voucher references.

From both airlines I received an identical reply, confirming Customer Relations can not assist & I should phone reservations (again). I did, and reservations again said I should write / email Customer Relations.

Naturally, I gave up at this point…

Surely Customer Services have access to booking details and references….

[LuganoPirate]

Both are trying to pass the buck and lessen their work loads. Reservations should have all the info and writing to CR can mean a delay of at least 24 hours if not longer.
Try asking for a supervisor or use Twitter. I’ve found both rather effective, at least with LH/LX.

[MartynSinclair]

wish i could get my head round Twitter…. who taught you LP ?? 🙂

[FDOS_UK]

Martyn, was the amount worth worrying about? i.e. > £50?

If so, I write them a letter before action stating that you have made three attempts to resolve the matter and that they have not responded reasonably, then list how much it will cost them if you have to pursue the matter |(which you would prefer not to) and then ask them to settle.

Send the letter signed for the to registered office (or Lufthansa’s branch registered office in the UK) and then see what happens.

[MartynSinclair]

The thread was not so much about the amount, rather the ways both LH / BA are trying to deflect perfectly reasonable queries by running you round in circles.

I am not suggesting you watch all of this You Tube clip & the parts I did watch, this guy doesn’t exactly help himself… BUT … it’s not a shining example of the way issues and challenges are being handled…

And no FDoS, I have no intention of pursuing this through the courts (or in any other time consuming manner. It just makes me more determined to use the system to ensure BA continue to pay for my long haul flights 🙂

[MartynSinclair]

the You Tube link

[openfly]

Hi Jason….Martin Sinclair…thanks for the giggle.

[capetonianm]

This chap must have been bored. I wasn’t bored enough to listen to it for more than a few minutes, during which time he must have (justifiably) called them scumbags 15 times. He could have condensed the whole thing into 5 minutes and his point succinctly.

[Roa1]

I had just sat through and listened to your telephone conversation with the BA
Call Centre in Delhi. I have never responded to any discussion in these columns,
but I was really troubled by the tone of your conduct. I have mediation/judicial/
arbitration experience of adjudicating complex cases, but Sir, you may well be
entitled to litigate your dispute in a proper place, but your conduct in attempting
to resolve your potential “litigation” issues with some call centre staff, and
badgering him to provide with answers to your dispute with BA may well have been
outside his remit. I just wondered whether you have thought of that!

I KNOW for a fact, that in cases of potential legal dispute between parties, the
case(s) is outside the remit of ordinary staff, who perform different job description
and responsibilities. Using public domain to advance whether or not you may have a
claim is neither here or there. My suggestion is for you to let your Solicitor in Harrow,
resolve the dispute, rather than someone in a call center.

[MartynSinclair]

@Roa1 – that was certainly NOT me in the conversation with BA call centre… Quite frankly, I would not have the patience or wish to participate in a call like that….

[Roa1]

MartynSinclair

My humble apologies! I am NOT totally familiar with the IT, but
I did post it under the “complainant” and somehow, it got lost in
translation. Apologies again!

[canucklad]

I too must admit to giving up on the You Tube clip, almost immediately .

By the look of the view, the gent in the clip, is 5 minutes’ walk away from Lockhart Road, where he could of adopted the F. I. factor and saved himself a great degree of anxiety !! Prat immediately popped into my head !!

Back to your point Martyn, I suspect that in your case, it wasn’t a deliberate attempt to give you the run around. I’m going to guess that the individual people (agents) you interacted with came across a scenario that they either were not trained with, or more likely not confident managing without making a mistake.

By transferring they did abdicate responsibility, but more likely did so to avoid the potential wrath of their employer ( Direct lie manger ).

What it says to me, is two thing…..Neither airline has a culture of TRUE empowerment, nor and more importantly have they designed a robust knowledge management system that allows their agents to resolve uncommon requests.

My advice …… Phone Customer Service again, and most importantly ask for their name/id ,politely explaining to the answering agent that your problem can’t be resolved by them as you’ve already tried and importantly you’ve sought advice (they don’t need to know it’s here) and only a manager can resolve your query.
One of two things will happen, the agent won’t want to worsen the situation, or they might feel embolden and see your call as a challenge.
Either way, you’ve increased your chances of finding a satisfactory resolution.

[capetonianm]

Trying to escalate something with robotic call centres is banging your head against a brick wall. I have achieved some limited success with :

“I would like to speak to a supervisor so as not to waste my time and yours.”

“May I help you Sir by knowing what is the problem?”

“Why do you think you will be able to help when none of the other ‘x’ people I’ve spoken to can help and keep promising that someone will call me back and they don’t.”

“I will do my best to reoslve your problem today Sir.”

“It’s not my problem, it’s your company’s problem, and your colleagues have promised to do their best and achieved nothing ………”

[Author]

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