I have sent & emailed my complaint to BA every week since my return 10 weeks ago & have not had a single response - not even a form letter! What started as a search for an apology & assurance has ended in losing a customer for life. BA did a study that claimed it was 5 times cheaper to keep a customer than to find a new one - then why no reply? What is happening differently at BA?
Dear Madam / Sir,
My partner & I were returning from a week's vacation in Tenerife Saturday night & had such an affronting experience, we felt it right that we bring it to your attention.
We were booked on the 20.20 flight from TFS to LGW. My better half was connecting to MAN & myself DAL via IAH.
At 16.00 I called the airport to check the flight departure time & they told me that the flight was delayed approx 1 hour. As an earlier flight on BA was scheduled, I asked if we could change bookings to avoid missing my am connection to Texas if the delay proved longer than expected but was informed that the earlier flight was fully booked. I offered to pay to upgrade to club or 1st but again, no seats were available. Fair enough the early bird gets the worm. But when I called at 6pm our flight was now scheduled to leave 2 hours late. To be safe I double checked by calling the UK BA desk & as the actual plane had yet not left Gatwick on it's 4 hour plus trip to TFS & would need an hours turnaround time on arrival, the time delay would have to be in excess of the latest 2 hour quote. At 19.00 I called back just to make sure that we did not need to check in until 1 hour prior to the now updated 23.20 departure & thank heavens I did, as they told me only when prompted, that check-in was closing in 50 mins. Scot & I left for the airport immediately & after a 20 min queue successfully checked in with minutes to spare for a 3 1/2 hour further forced wait in the airport! On the bright side, the check in lady managed to get my other half & me two seats together. Again I tried to pay or use miles to upgrade to club or 1st given the increasing hardship of the trip but the flight had none so unfortunately this also meant no lounge access to lessen the blow on the other end.
Though the flight was now 3+ hours delayed, no inconvenience or dining vouchers were offered. We solaced ourselves with the fact that we would get a warm meal when we boarded our BA plane which has always in my experience been worth waiting for. But no, not this time. Not only was the plane the exact opposite that I expect from BA, an XL 737cramped bus with wings, but the only entrée offered was pork not a Jewish preference never before have I taken a trip where pork was the only option! So a 4 hour trip with a meal had now become a 10 hour one with an angry tummy to say the least. And lucky us, another rapidly approaching leg to go with an ever diminishing gap between.
But still we were trying to look on the bright side The Corpses Bride was the movie. But it begun with no offer of headphones & after the stewards had started handing them out 15 mins into the movie, what was the point? Not that they actually ever got round to offering us any! And to add to the blackening mood the back row seat I was assigned dripped a smelly liquid substance on my head the whole trip. Condensation would have been more bearable but this had a nasty odor that I carried on my head & shirt the next 15+ hours of my journey.
The flight was originally due to land at 00.30 & as my connection was not until 9.30, I had reserved a room at the Renaissance Gatwick a month prior for a few hours good rest before my 7.30am check in to the States. But now with a predicted 4:00 arrival, after collecting bags & taking a taxi as the shuttle does not operate 24 hours, the 120 pound room rate would now cost 130 pounds for an hours sleep! But we had missed the cancellation time at 16.00 due to an impossible quoted arrival time at LGW from BA so pay we must. Though the flight made up 45 mins in the air, after having to shuttle from the south terminal to the north & wait for baggage (the shortest wait for luggage was 45 mins after landing), We checked into our 130 pound room at 5.30am, for ones hours sleep before the 2nd leg began.
In the end my journey from TFS to DAL took 25 hours. (Continental was the 2nd leg & it was uneventful & perfect thank goodness) but without the much valued nights sleep, dinner & piece of mind that is granted from booking with what is meant to be the best. It would have been a different story if the following service issues were not forced upon us:
The delay time given was inaccurate & the BA staff knew so. If the plane has not left the UK & was not scheduled to do so until 6pm, how could it possibly return from TFS-LGW prior to 11pm? (The plane actually left at 6.19pm) If the staff had been informed or cared to be so, we could at least not have thrown 130 pounds out of the window on top of the nightmare forced wait at Tenerife South Airport & the service that followed.
Check in by 7.50pm for a flight now scheduled for 3 ½ + hours later? This is terrible customer service. Why not keep some check-in attendants on & not make a plane full of customers tired, sore & grumpy? Surely they have to be at the boarding gate on departure anyway? And not telling the customer that check in would be closed at 7.50pm regardless of when the plane would leave possibly disastrous!
Not providing any inconvenience or dining vouchers for a 3 ½ delay? And then only offering a pork sausage meal on board = tired, hungry & discriminatory to a significant subset of the population. This added insult to injury.
I book BA for the comfort & reliability it offers me but there was next to no comfort, no sleep, no options & no customer service to mention. The plane was old & cramped with overhead bins duct taped down & the dripping was the closest to Chinese torture I ever want to get. You advertise your high standards & you make a commitment in doing so.
Although Scot & I are British citizens by birth, we work out of the States where most of our travel occurs. Combined we fly 200 times + a year. BA was in my opinion the BEST European airline but in all the flights we have taken in the last year, this was the poorest & most disappointing. We have taken the time to let you know where we think you dropped the ball & in return would like to hear from you. Time & ease are our most valued commodities & hence why we do not fly charter. The experience we got on January 7th was below our lowest expectations of any scheduled airline or for that matter charter. It was a nightmare that erased the tranquility of the vacation.
Finally, this is the first letter of complaint that we have ever sent to an airline. Given our travel schedule, hopefully this will further validate our unhappiness & help bring your bar back to where it once was. And in time with your assurance, maybe we will fly BA again.
Finally, if you are reviewing this email within 24 hours as you claim - how come you have not called, emailed or written 50+ days after my 1st complaint. NOTHING no one word from my weekly email & letter contacts. Don't insult me further - take out the patronizing lies:
'This is an automated message to confirm receipt of your email to British Airways Customer Relations.
Your email is important to us and we will reply to you as soon as possible. While you are waiting for your reply, it is not necessary to re-send your email or send a follow-up communication.
We are responding to emails in the order in which they are received. Our normal business hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 6:30pm. Any emails received outside of these hours will be reviewed the following working day.
Regards,
British Airways Customer Relations'
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