[AnthonyDunn]

@ MrMichael – 08/02/2016 18:33 GMT

+1

Having had the actual experience of our joint account being blocked last November owing to an issue around the presentation of a cheque from my mother (!), I can vouch for the fact that there is no comparison whatsoever between being locked out of your bank account and not being able to book an exit row. The former is a serious buggeration factor whereas the latter counts as a relatively minor inconvenience.

As you correctly observe, time for a sense of proportion methinks.

[FDOS_UK]

Henryp1 – 08/02/2016 19:07 GMT

Mr Michael has a right to post his opinion, please respect that.

[FDOS_UK]

AnthonyDunn – 08/02/2016 19:09 GMT

As we are talking about functionality (not impact) I fail to see your point.

Just out of interest, have you ever been responsible/accountable for transferring a new release from the test to the production environment?

I have.

[Henryp1]

Hello
I wasn’t posting about Mr Michael.
Henry

[AnthonyDunn]

@ FDOS_UK – 08/02/2016 19:11 GMT

Actually yes: at Schroder Investment Management. It was their entire trade settlement and reconciliation platform incorporating serious additional functionality that had also to be made to work with a substantial legacy. On occasions, it was a b****y nightmare.

[FDOS_UK]

Henryp1 – 08/02/2016 19:11 GMT

Oh, I see.

A proponent of the ad hominen in response to comments on the performance of a corporation – sweet.

[FDOS_UK]

AnthonyDunn – 08/02/2016 19:14 GMT

Then you should understand the point I was making, it’s not about the impact, it’s about the rigour of the process.

[MrMichael]

FDOS, about the functionality, I agree, if someone has messed up they should go without a cup of tea. I have just had a very nice cup of Darjeeling, thank you. But my point still stands and I think you should “Fess up” (as my girls would say) and admit you hav got this wrong on a number of points.

Every business known to man has very likely had computer glitches from time to time that impact their customers. Some are not so very serious in the big scheme of things such as BA not being able to allow Golds to book an exit row.

Compare that to a glitch when people cannot get their money when they really need it, or when telephone networks fail to work, or health records are not available suddenly to a Surgeon half way through an operation, or even a computer crash on an A330 of Air France with a pilot that has not flown manually in stormy weather since he trained to fly in the seventies on a caravelle. Those things really matter, not the poor Gold. It is worth remembering, the seats are still available at some point, even at the gate.

Now let’s consider your attitude to BA. I am probably one of the BA defenders on here, and I have no problem with that. You and many others do not like using BA for you own reasons and that is entirely your choice, I would never criticise you for using your wallet where you want to use it. Those that don’t like BA I am sure have good reason to do so, and with som of the stories I read on this forum I can understand their frustration. As an IAG shareholder it saddens me that my airline has hacked off people to the extent that they not only don’t wish to use it but shout about it too. However I strongly believe this is a platform for opinion and thus everyone should fairly air their view. The problem with you is you mix up fact with view….like Jefferey Archer if I may say so. You fail to see where facts end and fiction starts. to be honest, I don’t mind that either, I find it all rather entertaining and that is what makes me keep coming back to this forum.

However FDOS, when you strayed in to comparing the immense problems some people can have when trying to access cash you did hit a nerve. I have never experienced it myself (and why I don’t stick to one company’s credit card) but I have seen the consequences, as has AnthonyDunn who experienced it. I have no doubt AnthonyDunn could look after himself in such circumstances and while frustrating and inconvenient I hope no long term effects were experienced. But for others it perhaps is not the case. When it occurred to NatWest cards a couple of years back an elderly lady in Southampton was hospitalised with hypothermia because she could not get £10 out of the bank to top up her electric meter key thingy. She was too proud to borrow, and the shop refused credit. Social Services became aware when they delivered her meals on wheels and immediately dialled 999. So I did find your comments very disingenuous, and personally I found them insulting. I think (and hope) that BA golds would also see that in the great scheme of things it was no great big deal. Maybe if they complain they will be chucked a few hundred Avios, just as when I heard about the lady in the hospital I chucked twenty quid at help the aged.

Rant over….another cup of tea I think….then bed.

[FDOS_UK]

To summarise the apparent situation on Tuesday morning

– it seems that free SH exit row selection has been restored for GCH and OWE (anecdotal comments and a BA twitter response quoted on here)
-it seems that free SH exit row selection has not been restored for SCH and OWS (anecdotal comments and personal experience)

BA.com still lists free seat selection (excluding EE long haul) as a SCH benefit.

BA does not seem to have responded to BT’s query.

Pretty gash, if the policy has been changed, but not communicated.

[TominScotland]

National scandal, questions to the PM tomorrow, heads to roll………. 70 posts about nothing, me thinks (including my own) !!

[FDOS_UK]

TominScotland – 09/02/2016 07:02 GMT

I suppose it’s a case of ‘I’m alright Jack’ for you Tom, as your benefit has been restored?

[mkcol74]

Well that escalated quickly.

[Tim2soza]

i was told by the BA call centre last week that exit row seats would be released to GCH 72 hours out. I suspect this is when they lock in the Club / WT split.

As a side note, I did a LHR-BRU-LHR-AUS-LHR-BRU-LHR trip two weeks ago, with LHR-BRU-LHR out and back on the same plane. 4 rows of Club on the way out, 10 rows on the return leg, so the curtain is moved per sector, and not as I had assumed, per round trip.

[MartynSinclair]

I am not sure if I am the only one, but I avoid exit row seats as I find the seat backs very uncomfortable and I recall they don’t recline..

[duck_ling]

I find this post kind of sad.

The OP obviously has a dislike for BA which he is more than entitled to.

But he starts a thread as if he has had a ‘source’ that has confided a policy change to him when he more than likely got excited about reading a similar thread on FT and posted it here as fact. The whole thread has been designed to be antagonistic. Instead of ‘Rumour – BA to not allow Golds/Silvers to select exit rows’ the OP chose ‘Another lovely enhancement from BA’.

In fact, if I may, I will offer an alternative timeline to that of the OP’s a few posts hence:

1. BA has a technical glitch removing Exit row seats from selection.

2. Within minutes some of the aviation forums are reporting this.

3. OP picks up on it and rubbing his hands with glee starts a thread titled ‘another lovely enhancement from BA’ opening the thread ‘hello BA Die hards’ and stating ‘From now on, your gold or silver card does not allow you to select exit rows for free on short haul flights.’ Not ‘at the moment i’m unable to select an exit row’ but ‘From now on….’

4. Others ask what the OP’s source is.

5. The OP answers ‘a combination of sources’ again giving the impression he has information not available to the wider public.

6. Further comments on the greed and horrid behaviour or the airline.

7. Cheeryguy contacts BA via Twitter on the subject and receives the answer ‘No policy, glitch in system, apologies’

8. OP still refuses to accept an IT glitch and even if it was likens it to having his bank account frozen for 48 hours(??)

9. OP posts as recent as this morning a time line with the final sentence
“Pretty gash, if the policy has been changed, but not communicated.”

I think we’ve ascertained that (unfortunately for the OP whom seemed to relish such a thing) there has been no policy change. The airline has come onto a social media site in the public domain and said there is no such change. What is the point of flogging a dead horse?

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