[Swissdiver]

BA messed it up this week with my booking. I want therefore lodge a complain. Here is the question: would I be better off doing it using the BAEC Gold line, with the risk the operator doesn’t get it properly, or using the form on BA.com? Unless there is a better way…
Thanks

[MartynSinclair]

@Swissdiver – best way to complain is also the best way to praise…. dedicated section through BAEC website…

[FDOS_UK]

[quote quote=826321]BA messed it up this week with my booking. I want therefore lodge a complain. Here is the question: would I be better off doing it using the BAEC Gold line, with the risk the operator doesn’t get it properly, or using the form on BA.com? Unless there is a better way…
Thanks

[/quote]

What are you hoping to get from BA?

If you want monetary compensation, you may need to go MCOL or CEDR.

If you just want an apology, I really wouldn’t bother – the reply you receive will probably justy annoy you.

[canucklad]

Before I answer,I’d love to know on a scale of 1 to 10 ( 1 being mildly irritated & 10 being livid) , how annoyed you are with them,and as FDOS said what’s your objective.

1 to 5/6 I’d follow the BAEC route and see if they acknowledge your loyalty.
6 to 8 ,then I’d back it up with a bit of a social media rant.
9/10 then it’s a well constructed written letter,sent by registered post to the CEO.

Either way, don’t set your expectations high. : )

[Swissdiver]

Morning all,

Thanks.

9/10: been there done that. Received a free CW return ticket to anywhere in the world (BA metal). But I never used it… While there is no time limit on it, I presume it would be difficult to use it 15 years later…

In that case, I would only be mildly irritated if I had been alone, a bit more as my family was involved. So I will simply follow the BA route, the question being over the phone or by through the website as suggests Martyn.

[FDOS_UK]

Let me save you the time……..

Dear Mr Swissdiver,

Thank you for contacting me about your recent problem with your bookings and I am sorry that you feel the service you received was not up to your expectations, as a BA Executive Club Gold Card Holder.

I agree that we let you down and apologise for this, but as we have to be fair to all our customers, I am unable to write you an obsequious letter of an a**e licking nature to make you feel more important than you actually are.

So having said that, b*gger off.

BA Cutomer Relations

[GivingupBA]

Very nice letter, FDOS, the last line [ending “off”] is a classic.

PS to Swissdiver, I myself would never, ever complain to BA. I would either
[a] take them to court, or
forget it.
I am sorry if this sounds a bit harsh.

[capetonianm]

Surprising as it may seem, I wish to lodge a compliment to BA.

I flew from CPT to LHR on Tuesday on one of their scruffy old 747s, in business class, same old …. same old, no need to elaborate on what’s wrong with the hard product.

Service on board was willing and friendly. When I got to LHR yesterday morning my onward flight was disrupted due to WX with a predicted 3 hour delay, and I had another connection to make later in the day by rail, which I would have missed. They rebooked me to an alternate and then that flight too was disrupted. I went back to the ticket desk and they offered me a couple of options but I decided to end my journey in LHR, get my checked bag back, and continue later independently.

Much as I have criticised BA in the past, I have to say that the way they looked after me yesterday was outstanding. Nothing but but help, kindness, and professionalism from everyone who helped me. I also noticed how calm and professional the front line staff remained in the face of some very unpleasant and difficult passengers, one of whom I reprimanded for his foul mouthed and unpleasant attitude.

[lesmclaren]

Great and accurate reply FDOS! Absolutely fits with every complaint reply I have ever received from BA at any staff level all the way up to writing a complaint personally addressed to several members of top management.
Only bit you missed was that the letters are never actually read or the issues ever actually addressed. Either a machine analyzes and sends the most appropriate “standard” reply or if it ever reaches a human they have had no training in understanding the contents of the complaint or reading a letter in full let alone constructing a sensible and meaningful reply.
BA becomes more of a shambles every year, I used to fly an average 40 – 50 sectors a year with them, this year its just one return to keep my points. Other airlines have picked up the rest of my business.

[IanFromHKG]

I do understand the imperative on the part of very large organisations to have a certain amount of automation or systematic response to complaints – to do otherwise risks (particularly in today’s media-centric world) accusations of inequitable treatment. However, I do feel that each response should be vetted by someone who has been tested to ensure they have a healthy dose of common sense. Anything else risks a huge downside.

Personally, having spent most of my working life with relatively small firms (my decade with an American bank was an aberration, in so many ways!), I do believe that a highly tailored and sympathetic response can do more than deflect a complaint, it can enhance loyalty. I have had situations where aggrieved clients have become uber-loyal clients because they recognise the effort I/the team/the firm have put in to fixing issues, even where those issues were (frankly) our fault. One doesn’t have to read this forum for long to realise that responsive customer service is important – that the lack of it leads to disloyalty (resulting not only in loss of business from the aggrieved customer but also to loss of business from people to whom they communicate their travails); and that above-average service recovery drives loyalty far more than simply providing a perfect product ever does. Someone who gets exactly what they paid for is rarely more than satisfied. Someone who has encountered problems who has also encountered staff who go above and beyond the service norm to get that customer back to (a) somewhere close to where they wanted to be and/or (b) what they paid for in the first place (often achievable at marginal or nil cost to said staff’s employer), is far more likely to turn around and say (1) “Wow, XXX’s service was fantastic, they pulled out all the stops to fix YYY” than (2) “XXX was so terrible and they only just managed to scrape out by doing YYY”. Obviously, option (3) – “OMG, XXX did YYY and then their staff just made it worse by ZZZ” is a nightmare.

I do sometimes wish I ran a few of these companies for a day and was able to instil my wisdom!

[lesmclaren]

IanFromHKG. Well said and totally true and accurate. Its customer satisfaction and loyalty gaining 1-0-1 in a nutshell. I spent all of my working life in different customer facing roles and you are absolutely correct, when something goes wrong do your utmost to put it right.
There were times when a customer was wavering that I almost hoped something would go wrong so that we could demonstrate how we would respond and solve their problem!
Like you I so often want to just manage a company for a day or two to teach them the basics, it is regrettable that this sort of consultancy is probably the last thing major companies are going to spend money on as they just do not have the understanding of their customers to do so.
Customer “bullying” rather than customer “satisfaction and loyalty” seems, like so many things, to be a thing of the past.

[Defcon5]

Excellent, well said @FDOS_UK

[esselle]

I haven’t paid for a longhaul on BA for years, but will occasionally use them if I can find reward tickets in F to an interesting destination.

Flew 380 in F to LAX and was so infuriated by the lack of catering choice that I wrote to Cruz. Amazingly somebody from his office phoned me, and when I said I was disappointed that the “Signature” fillet steak no longer featured on the menu, and that there were no steaks anyway as only three had been loaded and had been ordered by others, her reply was ” we are always listening to our customers and adjusting our offer to meet their expectations “.

Priceless.

[Defcon5]

Meat their expectations*

[esselle]

Very good……

[Author]

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