Aug 16, 2006 04:02 AM
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This is a letter to inform British Airways’current and prospective customers of British Airways’ poor customer service followingits last-minute cancellation of one of its flights.
On July 6th, 2006, we were totravel with British Airways from Moscow (Domodedovo Airport)to Montreal, with an overnight connection in London. After waiting formore than two hours at the gate, after passing through customs and security, aBritish Airways representative announced at around 11pm that the flight was cancelled.On the spot, we expressed concern that we had reserved a hotel room in London for that night andwanted to call to cancel. Although the hotel’s cancellation policy normally requires a minimum 24hour notice from the client, we were ready to discuss with the hoteladministrator and avoid this unpleasant financial loss, instead of asking to berefunded by British Airways. However,British Airways didn’t provide us with an international line,to which we were entitled as pertheir flight cancellation policy, so we never reached the hotel and, as a result,were billed the hotel room at 70 pounds ($132.00 US).
After the cancellation announcement, we werekept waiting at the gate for several hours, left with empty stomachs as BritishAirways neglected to provide us with a meal. It was only at 3am that passengerswere provided with sleeping accommodations, after having been rerouted ondifferent flights departing the next day.
When finally given a new plane ticket withAeroflot instead of our British flight, we expressed concern about our luggageweight. Indeed, we had packed our luggage in accordance with British Airways’maximum weight limit of 32 kilo grams per non-carry-on bag. However, withAeroflot each non-carry-on bags may not exceed 24 kilo grams. Only because ofthis policy had we chosen British Airways when buying the ticket, knowing wewould have a lot of luggage for this trip.
We were told by a British Airwaysrepresentative that our 32kg of luggage should NOT cause any trouble. So thenext day, tired but confident that we were finally to leave Moscow,we headed to another Moscowairport, Sheremetevo, paying $70.00USfor a taxi ourselves, as British did not see fit to look after such a minor detail.
Unfortunately, at the checking counter, wewere told by Aeroflot that we could not board the plane, due to our luggageweight. We were given the choice of either buying a new suitcase to repack ourbags, or paying a costly penalty fee. As there were no British Airwaysrepresentative at Sheremetevo Airport, we bought on thepremises a calling card (another $6.75 US) to contact British and resolve this problem.After more than an hour on the line with British’s manager in Moscow, we were informed that the onlysolution was to buy the additional suitcase at the airport shop (the leastexpensive was $210 US), as it was the less costly of the two options. However, wewere assured by the British Airways manager that British would reimburse us.
Finally in Montreal,after a total of $418.75US extraexpenses due to British flight cancellation, we wrote a letter to the Customerservice in UK,as stated on British website. To our surprise, British Airways now refuses toreimburse all expenses except the calling card and the taxi, meaning close tonothing in the huge amount we unexpectedly paid.
In its response to our letter of complaint,British Airways does not provide us with adequate justification for refusing toreimburse our expenses. Neither does British Airways apologize for thecancelled flight, nor show any concern for our expenses or discomfort followingits last-minute cancellation. The unspoken assumption seems to be that we willhappily continue to fly with British Airways, and accept its contemptuous andunprofessional treatment of its customers.
Fellow flyers, be advised as to how BritishAirways customarily treats its paying customers, and encourage others to thinktwice before choosing British Airways as their airline.
