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| One British Airways passenger fought back – and you can too | One British Airways passenger fought back – and you can too |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| Having had a turbulent relationship with BA over the past few years, I was amused to read the horror stories of BA’s customer service in Guardian Money last week. BA, now merged with Iberia in the grandly named International Airlines Group (IAG), is a great company in many ways, but its attitude to some of its customers helps no one, including itself. | Having had a turbulent relationship with BA over the past few years, I was amused to read the horror stories of BA’s customer service in Guardian Money last week. BA, now merged with Iberia in the grandly named International Airlines Group (IAG), is a great company in many ways, but its attitude to some of its customers helps no one, including itself. |
| It does not emerge too badly from my, perhaps foolhardy, attempt to take a family holiday in Egypt in August 2013. When we booked flights to Cairo in January the country seemed reasonably safe. By July there was virtually civil war and a curfew in most cities. Although I thought this might be interesting, my family did not see martial law as part of the holiday experience, and I was firmly instructed to cancel it. | It does not emerge too badly from my, perhaps foolhardy, attempt to take a family holiday in Egypt in August 2013. When we booked flights to Cairo in January the country seemed reasonably safe. By July there was virtually civil war and a curfew in most cities. Although I thought this might be interesting, my family did not see martial law as part of the holiday experience, and I was firmly instructed to cancel it. |
| I had a long and reasonably good natured discussion with BA’s legal department over whether the contract was frustrated in the technical sense of the word, contending that the purpose of the trip – a holiday – was no longer viable. Eventually a compromise was reached with 90% of the money returned and the kids getting a beach holiday in Puglia. Frankly, I am not sure which way it would have gone if the matter had gone to court. BA could contend, particularly as there was no government advice against all travel, that the contract was for flights, not a holiday, which could still be provided. | I had a long and reasonably good natured discussion with BA’s legal department over whether the contract was frustrated in the technical sense of the word, contending that the purpose of the trip – a holiday – was no longer viable. Eventually a compromise was reached with 90% of the money returned and the kids getting a beach holiday in Puglia. Frankly, I am not sure which way it would have gone if the matter had gone to court. BA could contend, particularly as there was no government advice against all travel, that the contract was for flights, not a holiday, which could still be provided. |
| There were other issues around that time, particularly to do with the Executive Club, which resulted in lots of cross emails between myself and BA. Eventually the head of customer relations, a charming Dutch man called Frank, came to visit me at work. We spent a pleasant hour over a glass of wine setting the airline to rights, leaving me in no doubt that he really cared about the things I was moaning about and was trying to improve them. Sadly, he left the company soon after. | There were other issues around that time, particularly to do with the Executive Club, which resulted in lots of cross emails between myself and BA. Eventually the head of customer relations, a charming Dutch man called Frank, came to visit me at work. We spent a pleasant hour over a glass of wine setting the airline to rights, leaving me in no doubt that he really cared about the things I was moaning about and was trying to improve them. Sadly, he left the company soon after. |
| Things hit a low in May 2015 when I tried a BA/Iberia combination to get to Montevideo in Uruguay. The BA website, which was responsible for the booking, insisted my flights were with a South American regional subsidiary when I tried to check in online. After an hour and a half I gave up and resigned myself to the queues of Terminal 5 check in. | Things hit a low in May 2015 when I tried a BA/Iberia combination to get to Montevideo in Uruguay. The BA website, which was responsible for the booking, insisted my flights were with a South American regional subsidiary when I tried to check in online. After an hour and a half I gave up and resigned myself to the queues of Terminal 5 check in. |
| It then transpired my flight to Madrid had been delayed. Had I been able to get airside without that queuing I should have been able to get on an earlier flight. No information was given about the delay, beyond the meaningless “operational reasons”. The flight left nearly two hours late. In Madrid, no effort was made to connect passengers to Latin America flights. Mine had departed by the time we were taken to that terminal. A plane to Chile was still there but had “closed”. I got a flight to Buenos Aires to arrive in South America a mere nine hours late, but most who hoped to get to Uruguay or Chile waited for a connection via Sao Paulo the next day. | It then transpired my flight to Madrid had been delayed. Had I been able to get airside without that queuing I should have been able to get on an earlier flight. No information was given about the delay, beyond the meaningless “operational reasons”. The flight left nearly two hours late. In Madrid, no effort was made to connect passengers to Latin America flights. Mine had departed by the time we were taken to that terminal. A plane to Chile was still there but had “closed”. I got a flight to Buenos Aires to arrive in South America a mere nine hours late, but most who hoped to get to Uruguay or Chile waited for a connection via Sao Paulo the next day. |
| My initial attempts to get the compensation I was obviously entitled to were virtually ignored by both airlines. Only after I commenced county court proceedings against both did Iberia claim the reason for the delay was a screw getting inside a wheel. However clear the European court makes it that such maintenance-related excuses are not exceptional circumstances entitling airlines to not pay compensation, the airlines will try it on. Bizarrely, the airlines each instructed solicitors separately, then another one jointly. They must have spent at least £5,000 “defending” my claim. A week before it was due to be heard they offered a settlement for the amount I would probably have got had it gone to court – the EU compensation and the costs of getting from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, but not for some of the more speculative sums I had sought. If anyone who was on that flight and has not claimed gets in touch, I will do my best to help. | My initial attempts to get the compensation I was obviously entitled to were virtually ignored by both airlines. Only after I commenced county court proceedings against both did Iberia claim the reason for the delay was a screw getting inside a wheel. However clear the European court makes it that such maintenance-related excuses are not exceptional circumstances entitling airlines to not pay compensation, the airlines will try it on. Bizarrely, the airlines each instructed solicitors separately, then another one jointly. They must have spent at least £5,000 “defending” my claim. A week before it was due to be heard they offered a settlement for the amount I would probably have got had it gone to court – the EU compensation and the costs of getting from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, but not for some of the more speculative sums I had sought. If anyone who was on that flight and has not claimed gets in touch, I will do my best to help. |
| BA must have spent at least £5,000 ‘defending’ my claim. A week before it was due to be heard they offered a settlement | BA must have spent at least £5,000 ‘defending’ my claim. A week before it was due to be heard they offered a settlement |
| Being a lawyer might be thought an advantage in this situation, though the sorry story of the judge Peter Smith (see box), whose own emails to BA’s chairman were ignored, suggests it takes far more than legal knowledge to make the IAG companies respond. | Being a lawyer might be thought an advantage in this situation, though the sorry story of the judge Peter Smith (see box), whose own emails to BA’s chairman were ignored, suggests it takes far more than legal knowledge to make the IAG companies respond. |
| Sometimes emailing senior people directly – their addresses are not hard to intuit – gets things sorted. A recently formed scheme, Airline Dispute Resolution, part of the retail ombudsman, may order airlines to pay up. Often the county court, using MoneyClaim Online, will result in a reasonable settlement. This requires no legal knowledge, and for any large company a series of small claims cause serious disruption and adverse publicity that they will want to avoid. | Sometimes emailing senior people directly – their addresses are not hard to intuit – gets things sorted. A recently formed scheme, Airline Dispute Resolution, part of the retail ombudsman, may order airlines to pay up. Often the county court, using MoneyClaim Online, will result in a reasonable settlement. This requires no legal knowledge, and for any large company a series of small claims cause serious disruption and adverse publicity that they will want to avoid. |
| Judge wouldn’t budge over lost luggage | Judge wouldn’t budge over lost luggage |
| Mr Justice Peter Smith went to Florence for the weekend with his wife. BA lost his luggage and did not respond properly to his emails asking them to find it. Unfortunately for all concerned, in his capacity as a chancery division judge he was due to try a £3bn case involving competition law and BA shortly afterwards. | Mr Justice Peter Smith went to Florence for the weekend with his wife. BA lost his luggage and did not respond properly to his emails asking them to find it. Unfortunately for all concerned, in his capacity as a chancery division judge he was due to try a £3bn case involving competition law and BA shortly afterwards. |
| Rather than letting the case start with counsel developing a legal argument based on the relevant acts of parliament, Smith snapped “Where’s my luggage?” Things didn’t get much better over the next few hours when the question was repeated 32 times. Some £20,000 of lawyers’ fees later, Smith was persuaded that probably in his current frame of mind he wasn’t the best person to give BA a fair trial, and that another judge would have to be appointed. | Rather than letting the case start with counsel developing a legal argument based on the relevant acts of parliament, Smith snapped “Where’s my luggage?” Things didn’t get much better over the next few hours when the question was repeated 32 times. Some £20,000 of lawyers’ fees later, Smith was persuaded that probably in his current frame of mind he wasn’t the best person to give BA a fair trial, and that another judge would have to be appointed. |
| Smith’s behaviour has been widely condemned by lawyers and other judges, and may mean the end of his judicial career: even BA is entitled to have a judge who is not overtly angry with it, and Smith’s understandable wrath foolishly overcame his very considerable intellect. What BA had done with his luggage has not been reported. | Smith’s behaviour has been widely condemned by lawyers and other judges, and may mean the end of his judicial career: even BA is entitled to have a judge who is not overtly angry with it, and Smith’s understandable wrath foolishly overcame his very considerable intellect. What BA had done with his luggage has not been reported. |
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