[JohnSaps]

Sadly, BA have modelled their customer service on the American Airlines model – ie Dis-service. On board great but on ground or where there is a problem they do absolutely nothing. See my corresomendence of thisweek below:

I have to complain about the attitude and incompetence of your boarding staff in Newark. Myself and 3 daughters boarded the 186 on Saturday 17th September after a couple of weeks holiday in LA, Cabo San Lucas and New York. I was travelling business class and I had paid for Emergency row seats in economy for my daughters.
In Cabo my eldest daughter, Danielle aged 24, had badly sprained her ankle and as a result was given crutches by the local hospital. We flew economy with American to Dallas and then to La Guardia and had prebooked Emergency aisle seating for all 4 of us on the Dallas-La Guardia leg. Because of her incapacity (she had wheelchair support at Dallas for the transfer) I took her out of the emergency exit row and placed her a couple of rows in front prior to leaving San Jose de Cabo.
By the time we left New York she had improved sufficiently to be able to walk without the assistance of the crutches or any wheelchair assistance – but was just a little slower than normal. I had offered her my seat in business should she feel it would be better for her but she was keen to travel with her sisters rather than by herself in Business.
Because she was a little slow in walking we took advantage of the pre boarding for such people and she walked, holding, not using, her crutches to present her boarding pass etc with the rest of us.
The gentleman reviewing the documents then said she couldn’t travel in the emergency exit row because of the crutches. I pointed out to him that she was not actually using the crutches and that she was able to operate the doors without any problem. He consulted a female supervisor who was very officious and said it was out of the question. I then said I would sit in economy and my daughter could sit in my business class seat. For some inexplicable reason the officious supervisor said this was unacceptable without obtaining the captains permission.

I asked 3 times why this would be necessary and all 4 of us were prevented from boarding as the general boarding commenced. Why so much fuss over something so simple? Sadly this is typical of American customer (dis)service in the Airport/Airline industry. A jobsworth mentality and an inability to use any common sense whatsoever and rather than help the customer an attitude that the customer is always wrong or trying it on!
I asked her to stop being so American and she asked whether that was meant to be an insult which I confirmed. At this stage she was ready to “go call the police” which she announced to all and sundry within 20 yards and threatened to have us barred from the plane by telling the captain we were being rude. I suggested that she grew up and simply allowed us to board. At this time the initial gentleman had returned from the plane and had the captain’s permission for us to swap seats!
My daughter was unable to join her sisters and I travelled in economy because of your staff’s lack of common sense and lack of customer care. Incidentally, Newark Airport is awful and I wouldn’t fly from there again with or without the officious woman supervisor you employ there!
My most used US airport is LAX and I haven’t experienced a problem there for a very long time. This may well be because the top guy there (that I see) is a Brit and has been there a long time and is very friendly and polite to passengers!
I have commented previously that BA’s customer service has deteriorated over the last 10 years or so and is becoming more like the American Airlines customer service model which typifies my description above of US Airlines/Airports in general

BA Response:

In a message dated 9/22/2011 4:59:57 P.M. GMT Daylight Time,
<a href="mailto:[email protected]“>[email protected] writes:

(http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_us)
Dear Mr Sapsford
Thank you for taking the time to email us regarding your recent experience
at Newark Airport. I am sorry to hear that your daughter sustained an
injury whilst you were on holiday. I can only imagine how frustrating
this
must have been for her and I do hope she was able to have a nice holiday
despite the sprain. I was also concerned to hear that you had some
problems
with our staff at Newark Airport and I am sorry that we let you and your
family down. Please also accept my apologies for the delay in responding
to
your email.
I am sure you can understand that if there is any doubt regarding a
passenger’s physical well-being, then our cabin crew would not allow them
to
travel in the emergency exit row for safety reasons. I appreciate that
your
daughter was feeling better by this point, but as she was carrying
crutches,
that would lead our staff to believe she was not fully recovered.
However,
it sounds as though our staff could have explained this better to you, and
I do apologise that their service was not what you would expect from
British Airways.
We take pride in our standards of service, and this certainly includes
courteous and helpful staff. I have made sure that a report has gone
straight
to the line manager of the staff on duty at the gate that day.
I realise how frustrating it must have been to have to wait for the
Captain’s authorisation to swap your seat with your daughter’s.
Unfortunately,
this is necessary once boarding has begun as the passenger lists for each
cabin are already confirmed by this point.
I understand why your daughter was so disappointed at not being able to
travel with her sisters, but I do hope she enjoyed our Club World
experience.

Thank you again for giving us your comments. As a loyal Gold Executive
Club member, both your business and your feedback are invaluable to us. I
hope we will have the opportunity to welcome you and your family on board
again soon.
Best regards
Victoria Jobling
British Airways Customer Relations

My response to theirs:
What a load on nonsense! Passengers swap around all the time on a flight
that’s not busy without asking the captain’s permission – it is no big deal
as all the people I have relayed the story to agree! In fact my other
daughters swapped seats without asking anybody’s permission! I guess I
should
have carried the crutches myself and nobody would have been any the wiser
re
my daughter. She actually suggested that to me prior to boarding but I
told
her that would be silly! I’ll check out the Business Traveller forum to
see
what other travellers think! I will add your comments too.

My daughter wasn’t overly impressed with the choice of a prawn meal or a
vegan meal with mushrooms as she doesn’t eat either. I’d have thought the
cabin staff might have offered her the economy chicken meal which was
actually quite nice (as opposed to the pasta dish which was poor). Apart
from that
the cabin crew in Economy were, as usual great and I don’t think I’ll
spend 2600 on a business class trip to/from New York again but will travel
in
Economy in future.

Your response is typical of what I was saying re more recent BA customer
service. Too “American Airlines” by far with no common sense approach or care. The rude officious woman in Newark shouting about calling the police was pathetic and she should act like an adult and not have such a bumptious,obnoxious attitude.

A very disappointed and annoyed

John Sapsford

[VintageKrug]

The “call the police” attitude is indeed offensive, uncalled for and inappropriate (according to the events you related).

However, I think BA made the right call by refusing to let someone with a sprained ankle (which you yourself said needed a wheelchair only a short while before this flight) sit in an emergency exit.

It’s not just against BA regulations, but also against CAA regulations to seat anyone not fully able-bodied in an emergency exit row:

http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1770&pagetype=90&pageid=9855

Altitude can make many people’s feet swell up, and this could well have exacerbated the sprain.

OPening an emergency exit door quickly and effectively in an emergency can have a direct effect on survivor rates; I suppose the question you must ask yourself is if it was your daughter’s life at stake, and the difference between a painful death and survival lay in the hands of a person suffering a sprained ankle, or someone who did not have a sprained ankle, which scenario would you choose.

I’m sure the matter could have been handled better, and that’s certainly a valid complaint, but the issue of emergency exit seating is very clear, and doesn’t leave the crew any room for manoeuvre.

[RichHI1]

1. VK is correct, there are strict rules in UK and US on occupation of exit row based on the time necessary to evacuate an aircraft safely in the event of an emergency. (I have to carry a surgeon’s letter to prove compliance on some puddle jumpers – so I am very aware of this.)
2. You disrespect AA yet from what I see your complaint is with BA and you make no reference to AA customer service other than to insult it. My experience is AA customer service is excellent. My experience with BA is positive too though I find AA more helpful when mistakes occur. AA would not have contravened FAA rules on Exit rows either though.
3. It takes little effort to show respect when dealing with people and if you become offensive then you cannot be surprised if you do not profit by it. I can imagine you would get short shrift boarding at Terminal 5 if you started disrupting the boarding process, being offensive and insulting the British.

[MartynSinclair]

I recall another discussion where it was stated that swopping seats was a relatively easy process, just ask politely – think this one may proove otherwise!!

It just seems odd that in these circumstances cabin crew didnt resolve the issue once on board by swopping. I dont believe that family members swopping seats has anything to do with the Captain, more to do with TSA/FAA concerning the person occupying each seat corresponds to the relevant boarding card.

From reading the points made and the way they were made, I would imagine that there could have been some attitude issues somewhere along the line increasing the tension of the problem.

[NTarrant]

Have to agree with VK and Rich, whilst frustrating, I think you were being somewhat unreasonable in wanting your daughter with a spraned ankle sit in an emergency row. As the letter from BA mentions, you are apparently a Gold Executive card holder, so it is not as though you don’t fly very often and really you should know better.

The “call the police” event is over the top and probably a typical American over reaction. But we only have your version of events!

[AnnePurvis]

I usually travel with Virgin but thought I would give BA a try. Bought a ticket across the Atlantic – Premium Economy – & return – Club Class. In a box below the booking there was a note saying that any changes would cost £100 plus whatever. Fine. Just tried to change my return, business class ticket and was told I can’t – it’s not changeable. Terms & conditions aren’t emailed with your ticket and you can’t check them once you’ve paid!

I just began a new booking to see what came up. And sure enough, there was the same box saying the ticket was changeable. But scrolling down, there is another box – two separate boxes – one for each flight, saying that the second flight is not changeable. So the more you pay, the poorer the service. A Business Class ticket that can’t be changed! I have never had that happen with Virgin and the prices are the same. And it will never happen again with BA because I won’t fly with them again. They just lost a new customer who regularly flies Business Class across the Atlantic.

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Just for a point of fairness, the cheapest Virgin Upper Class fares are also nonchangeable. For example the cheapest Upper/Business Class fare is the same on both carriers to Boston for example – and both fares are nonchangeable / non refundable

[capetonianm]

Depending on the fare rule, the penalty/change fees may apply separately outbound and inbound, where two fares are combinable on a half round trip basis, or the fare rule may say that the most restrictive conditions apply to the entire journey. It is clearly misleading when you see that changes are allowed for £100 and then further on you get a more restrictive clause.

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Very true Capetonian, and just to make things more confusing, on the same airline in some cases you take the most restrictive rules – and on other routes you take per fare basis (Lufthansa/Swiss do this for example).

[Author]

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