[Anonymous]

[Daniel9]

You can say what you want about BA – and people often do – but their customer services response is pretty good.
Coming back from a weekend in Jersey, we were delayed for just over 2 hours – not only did we get a voucher for dinner, when we complained later (there was no catering on the flight and, in the pouring rain, we were dropped off at a remote stand so us and luggage got soaked) they gave us 20,000 executive club points each as an apology. So 40,000 for my partner and I which (thanks to a companion voucher we have through the BA Amex card) practically pays for the two of us to get to Bermuda for our annual getaway next summer. Thank you BA

[Nuremberg-Blue]

I would ask Daniel has he ever experienced problems with cancelled flights or late flights at Heathrow? The BA response is certainly less accomadating then with his experience from Jersey. It took me nearly 3 months to get any type of compensation. BA needs to clean up its act when they move to T5.

[JamesMalta]

I too think that BA do a good job, recent problems on a Club flight from Rome was resolved fully in 4 days. I think its how you approach the matter, being polite and patient always works in my book.

[Isabel07]

All,

any best practise you can share of how to complain / deal with BA? It would be interesting to hear how you got the compensation asked for / issues resolved in a timely manner.
With emails to customer relations taking 1 week to be answered, and a costly phone line that doesn’t even put you in a waiting line during peak times, I certainly haven’t figured it out yet.

thanks in advance,

[VintageKrug]

Toby Toby is absolutely correct; particularly with BA, but applies to all companies, a successful outcome is often much more predicated on your approach to the complaint, than the problem itself.

Tips include ensuring you are polite at all times – the customer services people get enough ire and are more disposed to help polite complainants than rude ranters.

Always include as much detail – full name, exec club number, booking ref, flight number, date and time, seat number if relevant as this all speeds up the process, and makes life easier for your complaint to be swiftly resolved.

Do mention something positive about BA, to give a balanced perspective, and stress how much business you put BA’s way (eg loyal for many years/Silver Card holder/encourage colleagues to fly BA etc.)

Be succinct and don’t get sidetracked with petty complaints not related to the central issue. Anything more than ten paragraphs is too long.

And set out what your expectations are (eg if your seat was not working in club, maybe ask for enough miles to upgrade into club next time on an MFU; seems a reasonable request).

Use the online form; it does take a while to get a response, but when you do it is normally thorough and in my experience satifactory. Expect an acknowledgement within a few days and a full resolution in the mail within 30 days.

Seems slow, but given the volume of passengers would you rather pay 10% more for every flight, or wait a few weeks for a response to non-urgent issues?

[Daniel10]

Polite is the way forward – as is the reminder of your loyalty, and possibly chuck in a compliment. And, yes, putting in all the relevant details (especially the FF no.)
For example, I flew club europe back from Toulouse this evening. A late change of planes meant no catering on the plane.
However the stewardess was brilliant with her apologies and general good humour. And she also remembered me from the outward flight the night before.
So while complaining about the lack of dinner – emphasising that the only real advantage to club europe is the decent meal (adding that there is no lounge to use at Toulouse) – I then asked the stewardess, whose name I noted, to be rewarded for her bonhomie.
I also referenced that it was people like her “who keep BA as my airline of choice”.
I didn’t ask for anything specific, but I will bet they will come back with a few points for me, an apology and thanks for nominating the staff member.
I’ll keep you posted on the response….

[Daniel10]

They gave me 5,000 points and thanked me for praising their staff.

[nonfrequentflyer]

ahem, I beg to differ. It’s going back a bit now, but I booked a return flight from Hong Kong to Vietnam (I don’t fly often enough to know the codes) using BA Miles, the flight out on Cathay Pacific was fine (they put me in first class for some reason, so I got to use the flagship lounge at Chek Lap Kok – nice) but on the way back I was told at check-in that my ticket (Vietnam Airlines this time, the codeshare partner and not a OneWorld member) wasn’t valid for the flight. After a lot of huffing which was getting me nowhere, and time running out, and a connecting flight from Hong Kong back to London, I coughed up £200 for a one-way ticket.

When I got back I wrote to BA, and despite enclosing extensive supporting paperwork and them clearly having been in the wrong, it took them six months and several more letters on my part for them to give me a refund. They didn’t even have the grace to admit that I should never have been issued that ticket in the first place.

If I hadn’t have been so persistent I would never have got the refund.

Needless to say the flight on Vietnam Airlines (especially given the first class luxury on the way out…) was pretty grubby…

PS I am always polite and constructive in the way I complain… in my experience the facts ought to speak for themselves, there’s no need for hysterics.

[VintageKrug]

How odd to bok you on a Vietnam Airlines codeshare.

I think we must put into context that given the literally millions of people who fly BA every year, and the complexity of the operation, the oportunity for things to go wrong is enormous.

Many people will indeed write in for the pettiest issues (didn’t like the taste of the wine in economy..) while more important issues, especially one as complex as the Vietnam codeshare issue, will require considerable time to investigate, double check and resolve, both to the customer’s satisfaction, and also to include a systemic problem such as this one does not recur.

Could have taken a couple of hours to sort that out an ensure IT put a note not to issue BA Miles rewards on Vietnam Airlines again. This would have had to have been done by a skilled professional with experience of booking engines, not just a call centre operative who might be able to apologise and give a standard amount of miles in compensation.

Persistence is key, but if BA went around doling out money and miles to every have a go Harry who writes in, there would soon be no airline left.

Pleased to hear you were ultimately compensated for what must have been a difficult journey.

[nonfrequentflyer]

you are right, VintageKrug. I guess the good thing is that the complaint was taken seriously, despite the time it took to resolve.

And the wine I had this week in Economy on the way back from Athens was really rather nice. I usually fly on easyJet to Greece but the extra £30 or so for BA was well worth it. I almost feel like writing them a letter of praise, so good was the experience (from Terminal 5).

[Expat_Consultant]

I’m sorry, but I can’t agree that BA customer service is very good.

Very good, in my mind, involves consistency.

And it certainly does not involve customers having to give compliments to get fair redress.

In recent years, my experiences have varied from very supportive and professional through to downright unhelpfil.

That’s why BA only gets a relatively small amount of my spend.

Also, I agree with others that the Club Europe service has deteriorated in recent years.

e.g. with the new 3+3 seating on a 737, if you get a ‘D’ seat with solid arms, it feels tight (similar to Ryanair for width), whereas the ‘A’ seat does not.

That difference is not acceptable, in my opinion.

[VintageKrug]

I think you are spot on that consistency is important.

Some airlines – Delta and Emirates being particularly bad on this front – operate more than three types of longhaul business class, all with widely varying standards dependent (from fully flat to reguar Cradle seats) on which aircraft operates your route.

I last flew on a 737 in Club to Malta last summer, and can understand that in the new configuration, space must be tight.

It is not acceptable, but this should be balanced by the significantly reduced cost of flying exLGW in CE (vs. CE exLHR) – very handy for picking up the few extra tier points you might need to retain your SIlver or Gold card, but not much use if you are a regular on an LGW service.

Quite right to vote with your feet and spend elsewhere! But do tell them of your dissatisfaction – without feedback they won’t ever resolve this issue:

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/custrelform/public/en_gb?refevent=contact_us

BA customer service was horrific about two years ago, but whilst they still take a reasonable time (two weeks-ish) to respond to most complaints, the responses are now much more tailored, and do actually seem to address the issues experienced, rather than being generic responses.

What is the other carrier competing on that route?

[Expat_Consultant]

Strangely enough (considering your post), Air Malta.

Costsare pretty comparable, service delivery in the air is different, reflecting the two different cultures – however, I move between both worlds, so either works for me.

I totally agree about Emirates, the older 777-300s are awful, the 777-300ERs lovely, with the 330s and 777-200s in between – I avoid them wherever possible. The cabin crew vary from robotic to very friendly.

Am justabout to try Austrian’s ‘Permier Service’ (mid haul A320 with cradle seats), just wondered if you have tried it yet?

I’ve been using Swiss to the ME, but don’t really like them, for reasons I can’t put my finger on, save for the J class seats, which are not as goold as the old club world cradel seats, IMHO.

[VintageKrug]

I think BA have all but abandoned Malta – having managed a weekend there last summer, it is nigh impossible to get there on BA within a reasonable schedule for a weekend, and some of the exMLA BA departures are shockingly timed (last time I checked).

I haven’t done Emirates or Austrian but am looking forward to sampling Swiss F, on a bmi cash and miles redemption, to BKK next Spring, though I don’t think it will be on one of their newer aircraft.

Anyone tried Austrian?

[Author]

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