Review For: Cheap advance tickets (BA)
Verdict: Don't ask for anything from British Airways
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Description: total farce
Opinion: here is a copy of the letter i wrote (its easier than trying to
explain) -
'I am writing this in a state of shock as to the hard
handedness to which you lay down your cancellation policy.
I booked two flights on Monday 4th February for passenger
from Edinburgh to London Heathrow and return.
Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances the tickets
could not be used. I therefore decided to cancel the tickets
rather than leave the seat empty. Since I booked online this
is where I went to cancel the tickets. I went through various
screens and when I came to the cancellation confirmation I
not only noticed that I was only being refunded for the taxes
but I also noticed that you were charging a cancellation fee
of £15. This meant that on a ticket for which I had paid
£61.50 I was being refunded £15.60 a loss to myself of
£45.90. That occurred for both flights incurring a total loss
to myself of £91.80.
I was absolutely appalled at this so I decided to speak to
your customer services team for an explanation. Here I was
rudely informed that I had purchased non refundable tickets
and that I should have purchased a fully-flexible ticket. I
explained that the reason I had not purchased that type of
ticket was the vast difference in price and as such couldn't
have afforded to buy them. The girl again informed me that I
had purchased a discounted ticket price and basically should
be grateful for the service I had received. At this point I
asked to speak to a supervisor. After being on hold for a
further 15 minutes, I eventually got through to another rude
person who again told me that it was my fault for not paying
for the more expensive tickets. It was pointed out to me
that it states that I would be charged in the terms and
conditions and here is the excerpt I was directed to (which
you are directed to after you have cancelled the tickets):
'4b4)If you do not use your ticket, you will be entitled to
claim a refund of any taxes, fees and charges which you
paid, less a reasonable service charge.'
To me £15 per ticket is not reasonable especially when the
taxes are only £31.60. The dictionary defines reasonable
as ' not excessive or extreme i.e. "a fairish
income"; "reasonable prices"'. The key word here is
excessive; I believe the price you charge is unwarranted and
unfair.
As you can imagine I am severely disappointed and disgusted
in your service. You are praying on those who cannot afford
the flexible tickets. We are being punished for only being
able to afford the cheaper options and then punished further
for not being able to travel. You have basically taken £91.80
from me for not travelling with you. I wish this to be
rectified. I have travelled with your Airline many times before
both on personal and on business and never before have I
encountered such rudeness. For a company who made pre-
tax profits of £788m in the last nine months of 2007 and
whose market capital currently stands at £3.3 billion, it is
disgusting that you take this money from me which in
comparison is insignificant to you.
It is people like me who keep your company in business; you
cannot treat customers this way and expect them to stay
with you. Feel free to contact me on the above details; I
expect to hear from you soon.'
as expected i got nothing but the bog standard letter in
return. My advice don't bother - there are other airlines!
Tags:
Rating: 1/5
- 'Trashed!'
Reviewed 9 months ago
