Adequate Recompense from BA? Please Advise
May 8, 2024, 6:30 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2023
Posts: 35
Adequate Recompense from BA? Please Advise
I’m hoping to elicit opinion from this august & experienced body please. A first world issue, as ever here and I’m not exercised over the situation but I’d appreciate some POVs (PsOV?)
We paid hard cash for BA flights rtn to Tokyo in First, approx £8k for two of us. The rtn flight a/c was a 787 but a really old, shabby one. After mulling it over I reflected that the rtn flight really hadn’t lived up to any airline’s First standards, so I submitted a complaint using the Online form.
The basis of my disappointment was: my wi-fi didn’t work (husband’s did). Neither of us had seat USB or socket power so couldn’t use & charge any devices. My IFE sound didn’t work properly (distortion rendered it unusable). Seat-to-seat messaging didn’t work. My touch-screen was so badly calibrated that I learnt to touch 1” to the side of any button in order to make it respond but it did so with practically unusable lag. So, I had no IFE for the 13+hr flight. My reading spotlight was hanging off the bulkhead. The cabin was grubby & shabby overall (not like it hadn’t been cleaned, just the marks and stains of long use). Two crew members apologised for the state of the cabin, one saying “she’s a tired old bird”! They didn’t have my size pyjamas or my husband’s size slippers.
In response I was sent an apology and a voucher for £100 (so effectively £50 each) that is valid for a year & presumably we can use for anything from BA (not sure of the Ts&Cs on that right now).
So, what does the community think? Is this adequate & proportional recompense? As I said, I don’t have very strong feelings about it but I’m tending to see it as a bit stingy as we were in First. Had we been in economy it would be proportionate, I feel. There were additional gripes that I didn’t put in my complaint, so I can’t throw them in retrospectively but it might be clouding my overall feelings about the situation.
Am I right or do I come across as grasping? Has anyone had similar experience?
We paid hard cash for BA flights rtn to Tokyo in First, approx £8k for two of us. The rtn flight a/c was a 787 but a really old, shabby one. After mulling it over I reflected that the rtn flight really hadn’t lived up to any airline’s First standards, so I submitted a complaint using the Online form.
The basis of my disappointment was: my wi-fi didn’t work (husband’s did). Neither of us had seat USB or socket power so couldn’t use & charge any devices. My IFE sound didn’t work properly (distortion rendered it unusable). Seat-to-seat messaging didn’t work. My touch-screen was so badly calibrated that I learnt to touch 1” to the side of any button in order to make it respond but it did so with practically unusable lag. So, I had no IFE for the 13+hr flight. My reading spotlight was hanging off the bulkhead. The cabin was grubby & shabby overall (not like it hadn’t been cleaned, just the marks and stains of long use). Two crew members apologised for the state of the cabin, one saying “she’s a tired old bird”! They didn’t have my size pyjamas or my husband’s size slippers.
In response I was sent an apology and a voucher for £100 (so effectively £50 each) that is valid for a year & presumably we can use for anything from BA (not sure of the Ts&Cs on that right now).
So, what does the community think? Is this adequate & proportional recompense? As I said, I don’t have very strong feelings about it but I’m tending to see it as a bit stingy as we were in First. Had we been in economy it would be proportionate, I feel. There were additional gripes that I didn’t put in my complaint, so I can’t throw them in retrospectively but it might be clouding my overall feelings about the situation.
Am I right or do I come across as grasping? Has anyone had similar experience?
May 8, 2024, 6:33 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 2,383
Perhaps have a skim of this thread, which will give you an indication as to normal service recovery:
What's the most Avios you got from BA as compensation and for what?
What's the most Avios you got from BA as compensation and for what?
May 8, 2024, 6:39 am
#4
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 64,168
No, it doesn't come across as grasoing, and £100 seems too low, had it been in the 20k to 50k Avios then that would seem about right.
I wonder whether the details here have obscured the overall picture? The fact that the seat text system didn't work - was that a big deal? But if you had simply said that the IFE was not usable due to distortion and touch screen misalignment then I think it may have been considered more clearly. Lots of little stuff can get in the way.
I must admit that I've long learned to use the cursor and tick button on the handset to get around the screen, it tends to be more reliable, but it's a bit fiddly if you are not used to it. It can be a problem on many airlines, not just BA.
I wonder whether the details here have obscured the overall picture? The fact that the seat text system didn't work - was that a big deal? But if you had simply said that the IFE was not usable due to distortion and touch screen misalignment then I think it may have been considered more clearly. Lots of little stuff can get in the way.
I must admit that I've long learned to use the cursor and tick button on the handset to get around the screen, it tends to be more reliable, but it's a bit fiddly if you are not used to it. It can be a problem on many airlines, not just BA.
May 8, 2024, 7:03 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: All over the place often South Wales and Lake District
Programs: BA Gold for Life Accor Platinum
Posts: 4,571
First thing I'd always check with sound distortion is whether it is still present with other headphones. BA's ones are pretty cheap and not high quality. You can go on AA and get the Bose ones but they grab them off you way before landing to stop people half inching them...
May 8, 2024, 9:00 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2023
Posts: 35
Thanks for all those replies! To address each:
Yes, we are both Silver BAEC
The referenced thread only applies to Avios (unless you were subtly pointing out that my whole question isn’t beneficial).
Yes, I checked that it wasn’t the headphones.
(As an aside, I find the handset really non user friendly. Unless of course it too was u/s).
Yes, the messaging would have been useful as I was in 1K and OH in 1A. I felt really in the way ducking through the galley to visit every time.
The text I put in this post wasn’t exactly what I put in the complaint, so how it came across would have been different. I do endeavour to be precise and non emotive.
So the general consensus is that £100 isn’t great and Avios are more usual? Not sure how I might approach BA to say “I don’t want your voucher, give me Avios”
Yes, we are both Silver BAEC
The referenced thread only applies to Avios (unless you were subtly pointing out that my whole question isn’t beneficial).
Yes, I checked that it wasn’t the headphones.
(As an aside, I find the handset really non user friendly. Unless of course it too was u/s).
Yes, the messaging would have been useful as I was in 1K and OH in 1A. I felt really in the way ducking through the galley to visit every time.
The text I put in this post wasn’t exactly what I put in the complaint, so how it came across would have been different. I do endeavour to be precise and non emotive.
So the general consensus is that £100 isn’t great and Avios are more usual? Not sure how I might approach BA to say “I don’t want your voucher, give me Avios”