[Anonymous]

[onajetplane]

I should start by saying I fly British Airways as my carrier of choice and I know how contentious this airline can be on these boards… so not wanting to ignite another bitter debate, I still felt compelled to write regarding the atrocious customer service I recently experienced.

I incurred a serious problem flying out of LAX to LHR and had written to BA to highlight and complain. I was promised a reply. The reply never came. I followed up. Nothing. As a test, I decided to tweet British Airways just to see what the response would be like. They replied to my retweet within an hour. So it is clear that they are diverting all their attention to the social media responses – yet I do not believe twitter is necessarily the best forum to engage on such matters. I am super disappointed by BA on this.

Anyone know any tricks to get a reply?

[passionateflyer]

You can call Customer Relations during office hours Monday to Friday and they’ll normally address the issue there and then where they can

[SimonS1]

Take the morning off then as it takes them an hour to answer the phone.

[BigDog.]

1) Persevere – some complaints/service departments rely on a good % not pressing their issue and will go away without a satisfactory response.
2) If no response after 1 further try, post details of issue on social sites such as this, twitter etc. Ask if this is endemic? Have others had same issue? Many companies monitor social sites to avoid embarrassing incidents going viral. Keep the threads/tweets you have started going.
3) Provide more detail of the problem than you have thus far on here so some of the wise posters may provide a more focussed response and hopefully a contact.
4) EU legislation provides some reasonable safeguards and compensation. If relevant, quoting the relevant EU statute may well help to show them that you know your rights and will not be fobbed off.

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/passenger-rights/en/03-air.html

5) Hopefully BA will fess-up and probably offer Avios meaning you will fly even more with them. Again by posting further details here some may provide an expected level of compensation so you’ll know what to push for.

6) Always (not just in this inst) if you manage to talk to a person, ask in a friendly way (think Columbo) for their name and title/function/dept and the name of their head of dept. At end of conversation ask… So again what will be your next steps? Then,… if I don’t hear anything within X days, who should I escalate this to? Name, E-mail.

[NameRemoved-18/12/14]

I wouldn’t hold your breath onajetplane.

I have been waiting for a reply from a BA contact for 2 weeks now. I only received an e-mail from CR after 2 long phone calls. BA should be contacting me when things go wrong, not the other way round.

You didn’t say what the problem was?

Like several others on this forum, I am voting with my feet. Although not a high spender I have been flying frequently on BA for 10 years.

Atrocious is an understatement.

Anyway, I hope the outcome is better than mine.

[MartynSinclair]

speak to a CSD on your next flight and ask how many avios he is able to supply….

25,000 in my case…………. not really bothered about how bad C/S are……….. a good value of compensation for me…………..

Most people complain and expect compo in return…..

[mkcol74]

I’m in similar situation re: wait time to hear the response. It’s been 2.5 weeks now since I got the auto-email back from the web form I completed.

So I just popped an email off to Keith Williams, Frank van der Post & James Hillier last night reminding them of a March complaint which went unanswered despite chasers & speaking on the phone, and then asking if that plus my most recent “feedback” is what I should expect of BA.

I appreciate it’s highly unlikely my words will pass the nose of any of those 3 & rather they’ll be diverted via their adept PA hopefully with a “high priority” flag on it back to CS, but at least I feel like I’ve done something else to try to get a response rather than an acknowledgement.

[skywards]

ceoemail.com Keith Williams email address is on there. You could try the ultra direct route.

[knightrider]

I wrote a complaint to BA and still haven’t had a response – 8 weeks and counting. I’m always hearing how important I am to them, that they value my business etc etc etc – load of rubbish when it comes down to it. BA’s product has been steadily eroded for years, they treat you like dirt, seldom actually deliver – and quite honestly I wonder why I still travel with them. Loyalty schemes only provide the incentive for so long.

[mkcol74]

Indeed @skywards – that’s precisely where I got his email address from.

[skywards]

@mkcol74. Excellent.

[SimonS1]

Knightrider – indeed, that’s what I wrote on the recent thread about loyalty.

All the time things are quiet you are important to them, and it’s in their interests to keep you collecting those Avios so you are well and truly tied in.

Of course when things go wrong they mostly don’t give a toss, as evidenced by the amount of time they take to answer the phone, reply to emails, refund your money etc etc.

[seasonedtraveller]

Sadly, this is my experience of BA ‘customer care’ as well.
The email that I received from them following my last complaint was nothing but platitudes and standard cut & paste rubbish (we value your business etc.)….
This was the direct cause of my booking the next 5 transatlantic crossings with Star carriers in preference to BA.
I really want to like, trust & support BA but they make it so difficult. …..

On the recent TV documentary, weren’t they, (BA), pushing the point that they have serious competition in the market and that they therefore must “differentiate themselves from the competition by offering first class customer care” – or words to that effect – –

Surely BA execs read this forum on a regular basis?
I know that I would.

More truth about customer satisfaction on here than will be found in a stupid blanket!

[mkcol74]

Uncanny – I’ve now had a response from CS.

Fairly bog standard cut & paste “we’re sorry we gave you a bacon croissant despite kosher being your meal preference” kinda reply.

They almost blame me for expecting something kosher compliant on a route where there’s not a meal option at all, yet nowhere during the booking process did it advise that special meals weren’t an option.

What I find mildly amusing is the final sentences “We value your business and know that we operate in a competitive market where such things as good service matter. We are determined to get this right for all of our customers. We look forward to welcoming you on board again soon” – nowhere in their reply have they addressed how they would get it right for me, let alone any of their other customers, so I haven’t a clue how they expect to be welcoming me on board again.

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