British Airways - I want compensation

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Soldato
Joined
1 Dec 2006
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Amsterdam, NL
I don't care what people say regarding compensation, but I want some.

Basically, the first flight I was meant to get we were delayed by 45 mins due to a engineering issue, then the snow arrived 30 mins into those 45 mins, long story short, we were sat on the plane for 6 hours at the terminal until the early hours then finally told to go home and come back the next day.

The flight running at the same time on the day after was cancelled allowing us to get onto that flight instead. So it was effectivly turning up 24 hours later. That flight was delayed by 2 hours due to another engineering fault. Arrived in Mumbai 2 hours late, took 2 hours to wait for the baggage claim, which resulted in a lot of people missing the connection flight to Goa.

After many discussions BA told us to buy our own domestic flight and claim back using ba.com

Obviously, I was fuming like many people and ended up buying a train ticket (sleeper class) to Goa, which took 12 hours.

Wasn't a bad train ride if I am honest. However, I effectivly lost 48 hours from door to door, trying to get to Goa airport.

BA staff were very unhelpful the entire time and jesus, this is just a side complaint but one specific memeber of staff I didn't directly speak to, but a air stewerdess was beyond rude to so many people on the plane that I was almost to the point of complaining directly to her for her attitude towards other people.

Where should I start my complaint and thirst for some sort of compensation for such a difficult journey?
 
lookitsjonno said:
ouch, that sounds like a nightmare. hope you get some compensation.
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I don't even care if its not money, just a sorry for your trouble, here is a cookie.

But the way they treated the whole situation getting out to Goa was absolutely unprofessional and disgusting.
 
Yikes. I'm sure there must be a way to gain some compensation, there must be some small print somewhere?

Doesn't really give me much confidence for when I go on holiday in June : /

Good luck, just be polite but firm at first, if that does no succeed, go in all guns blazing :)
 
Ouch; recently travelled to India on a cheaper airline and the journey itself was bad enough, let alone all the problems you had.

Hope you get something.
 
The thing is, I have had a look through the fine print to the best of my skills, which is none, but as far as I can make out, I was delayed due to engineering issues. They might turn around and say it was due to weather, but if we had of left on time, we wouldn't have seen a single drop of snow. Only due to being delayed because of the engineering issues, we were then stuck in that tin can for 6 hours with a update every 2 hours. Mono tone captain "uhhhhh, no updates, snow looks like it will be getting thicker, will update later"... LET ME OFF THE BLOODY PLANE! It was clear as day within the first 2 hours to everyone, the flight wasn't going to happen.

Anyway, as for the baggage, 2 hours, 2 HOURS! To get my bag 50 metres onto a belt? If we had our bags within 30 mins, we would have made that connection flight. But no.

I will contact my travel insurance tomorrow before complaining to BA. Completley forgot they handle this sort of thing! lol.

Thanks guys.

EDIT: forgot to mention, on the flight back, no problems with Kingfisher to Mumbai, however, at the check in desk for BA, the woman says "We have a problem, you have a choice, you can either wait for 12 hours and we will give you £250 cash in hand right now, or go on this flight", to which I replied "Eh?". Turns out, they overbooked the flight. I would have had no quibbles taking the 12 hour later flight and taking cash, however I would have arrived at 6pm opposed to 7am, and it was my mums bday so I wanted to be there first thing in the morning.
 
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Shall be interesting to see the outcome of this.

The last flight i was on from New York to Manchester they had overbooked and was offering anyone travelling without luggage an incentive to travel later. Still can't understand how companies overbook these days.
 
A few years back I was going to visit a mate who was doing a ski season in St Anton. I booked a flight only with one of the package people as they were the only people that flew into Innsbruck and intended to get a train to St Anton from there. Got checked in at Manchester airport and then got a tannoy announcement asking me to go to the information desk, they had overbooked and asked me if I minded switching to a flight from Leeds Bradford a couple of hours later and I would be compensated. Anyway they put a few pf us in a taxi to Bradford and I got to Innsbruck a few hours later than I was supposed to, they gave me €100 compensation which was almost the cost of the return flight, and paid for me and another guy to get a taxi from the airport to St Anton as we would have just missed the last train.

Usually worth it if your not pressed for time, can understand why you wouldn't want to do it in your case.
 
I have a mate who was flying with BA the other week. His flight to Prague was cancelled 30 mins before he was due to fly. You think BA "I'm paying for good service here", Might as well fly with Ryan air at times.
 
Virgin once offered us an upgrade to upper class but on a later flight from LA to Heathrow.

Probably should have taken it to be honest but we were just so tired and wanting to get home we declined, was due to it being overbooked.
 
The worst trip I've had was with BA actually - when I wrote to them and complained about the replacement flight (without food), and subsequent coach ride from Southport to Gatwick, and bus from Gatwick to Heathrow, I got a "because your delay was less than 24 hours we aren't going to lift a finger" response.

I'll always stick with budget airlines now for short flights - sure, you might get problems, but at least you can appreciate you're getting what you pay for.

(In contrast, have flown long distance with Singapore Airlines and I reckon they're the yardstick that other airlines should be measured against, absolutely fantastic).
 
The notion of BA being a premium carrier is so far out of whack it's ridiculous. We're not in the 80s. BA are actually quite poor by today's standards. However, the stubborn British refuse to accept their airline is merely another cattle haulage company.

I digress. Did BA offer you any compensation? With a delay >24h you are entitled to some.
 
Scuzi said:
The notion of BA being a premium carrier is so far out of whack it's ridiculous. We're not in the 80s. BA are actually quite poor by today's standards. However, the stubborn British refuse to accept their airline is merely another cattle haulage company.

I digress. Did BA offer you any compensation? With a delay >24h you are entitled to some.
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What do you mean by a "premium airline"? Do they really differ that much in cattle class? I'm flying BA to Seattle this summer, I expect it to be similar to every other long haul flight I've been on, though I must confess I'm a bit alarmed that they can screw you around as much as they did the OP.
 
scorza said:
What do you mean by a "premium airline"? Do they really differ that much in cattle class? I'm flying BA to Seattle this summer, I expect it to be similar to every other long haul flight I've been on, though I must confess I'm a bit alarmed that they can screw you around as much as they did the OP.
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I mean that a lot of people have the notion that BA's product, like a lot of British products, is thoroughbred quality through and through - highest standards of customer service, the finest aircraft with the finest interiors and a wax seal on every boarding pass guaranteeing a travel experience ala the PanAm era.

The reality is that they are a sub-standard carrier with delusions of grandeur. Their equipment is old and their staff are becoming more peeved by the day, resulting in poorer customer service.
 
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