I never want to fly British Airways again. Not only was my flight a miserable experience, but they have LOST my luggage. I am a graduate student on a summer internship and I will now have to replace all of my stuff.

Here are more details about my concerns: I was a passenger on two British Airways flights from Dulles to London to Delhi on June 19-20, 2007.

First, it has been more than 5 days since my arrival in Delhi but my luggage has still not arrived. I have contacted the BA staff at the Delhi airport multiple times but they do not know when it will arrive. I have included each of the staff names below. Each time I call, they say that the bag is still in London and they do not know when the bag will come. They also say that they will call me but I have NOT received any calls. I have also contacted the call centers in both the U.K. and the United States but they have no helpful information. In total, I have spent more than 3 hours on the phone.

Second, my flight experience was also unacceptable. I had to spend the night in the London-Heathrow Airport. Because of a delay in getting off the ground in Washington-Dulles, my flight (Flight 224) was late arriving in London. According to the flight attendant, no one had prepared the plane even though it had been at Dulles overnight. As a result, we were two hours late to London and I missed my connection to Delhi. The BA staff person was able to re-route me on a morning flight but she informed me that there were no available hotel rooms in London so I would need to spend the night in the airport. I was one of more than 50 people who spent the night at Gate 36. We were only provided with food vouchers, water and blankets. It was cold and miserable.

Finally, I have only just begun the process of seeking reimbursement... based on other people's concerns, it should also be impossible!

To: British Airways,

I am writing to you (again) giving a brief summary of the harassment I am facing from your company, British Airways in order to receive a refund and compensation of a connecting flight which was cancelled on my way to Paris for my Honeymoon.

We got on a flight from Calcutta – London on 20/Dec/06 with a connecting flight to Paris the same day after a few hours. All flights got cancelled to Paris because of fog.

The BA staffs were very unhelpful and un-cooperative in booking us to another flight. They did not provide us with any meal vouchers or hotel accommodation and told us that we will have to stay in the airport overnight. They were extremely rude and it seemed that they were purposely unhelpful in assisting us with formalities for a temporary visa.

Finally After 8 hours at the airport without anything to eat we finally got visas. Again they were very rude and refused to give us temporary accommodation for the night. One ground staff told us to take the train to Paris and claim the same from BA later.

So lugging our bags we took a train to the station and took the tunnel to Paris.

At the airport we were told that BA had processed the refund for our cancelled flight and it will be credited to my Credit Card automatically.

After we reached India – I send a formal request for a refund online. When I called the call centre they told me they are not able to process anything and it is going to be approved from the UK itself.

Ever since January I have contacted the call centre at least 10-15 times – Each time I have to wait on hold for 20 minutes and half the times I don’t even get through. Each time they tell me that they are sending a request for a refund and it will take 6 weeks to get credited. Each time they gave me a different email address – where when I emailed – the emails used to bounce back!!!

Ever since January I have contacted BA through its website at least 10 times

Responses Received

15/Feb/07 - Please contact your travel insurance company

04/Apr/07 - I have also passed on your details to our refunds team and they will get in touch with you as soon as possible about your ticket refund. I'm afraid I cannot refund the cost of your alternative travel arrangements

10/Apr/07 - We are investigating your case, so there might be a short delay in responding to your email.

17/Apr/07 - I have, though, sent your details to our Refunds Department for the refund of your ticket. They will be in touch with you shortly.

29/May/07 - For the refund of your unused British Airways tickets, I have passed on a copy of your letter and email to our Refunds Department. They will get in touch with you soon

31/May/07 - I have contacted our refunds department in the UK and unfortunately as you bought your tickets in India we are unable to refund the London to Paris tickets which were cancelled. However if you contact the sales office in Delhi which you used to buy your tickets, they should be able to refund this part of your ticket.

The Delhi office refuses to do anything about it as they claim that they “are only a marketing office and that they have no power”!

Not to forget compensation for my alternate travel arrangements, compensation for a lost day of vacation, compensation for a ruined start for our honeymoon, you are pretending that if you refund my ticket you will be doing me a big favor!!

And don’t forget COMPENSATION FOR THE HARASSMENT I HAVE BEEN FACING FROM YOU IN ORDER TO GET MY COMPENSATION!!!

Our 6 month anniversary is coming up – and there is no sight of any progress

And on top of that you pass statements like “I hope this has not deterred you and your wife from flying with us again in the future.”

Sharad Jhunjhunwala

My wife and I recently flew British Air (BA2192 - May 4, 2007) from Dallas to Gatwick, London. Going over we checked three suitcases, and took on board two small wheeled-suitcases that fit nicely in the overhead.

On our return flight (BA 2193) from Gatwick, we checked four suitcases. However, as we proceeded to the boarding gate, BAA (airport authority) inspectors asked us to place our two wheeled-suitcases in the dimensional box to make sure they qualified as carry-ons.

They fit, however, the wheels protruded so they forced us to check both carry-ons as excess baggage at a combined cost of US$483! These were the very same suitcases that traveled in the overhead bins on the flight over at no charge.

British Air has not responded to my inquiries, and BA workers at the excess baggage counter referred us to the BAA who cited "increased security concerns" which had nothing to do with baggage sizes.

Our otherwise fine visit to the U.K. was marred by this shocking demand for exorbitant costs. Needless to say, we will never fly British Air again with manhandling like this.

Wayne Specht,
Astoria, South Dakota, USA.

On March 31st, 2007 I contacted British Airways asking to change my daughter's return flight from LHR to EWR from May 24 to May 12, 2007. As they have plenty of seats available on the May 12 flight I did not expect any problems. To my big surprise I was told they cannot make the change and asked me to contact the travel agent who would be able to assist me. I offered to pay both a penalty and fare difference, if any for the change as we did not want our daughter who is studying this semester abroad to stay 2 additional weeks in London. British Airways insisted there is nothing they can do and the only people who can possibly help us would be the travel agency. However, when i have contacted the travel agency they explained to me that since this itinerary is already in progress the airline took over control of the record Confirmation Code 3VCIZX with British Airways. Furthermore, Sylvana from Expedia's executive customer care desk was kind enough to contact British Airways directly and explaining to them the travel agency has no control over this itinerary at this stage and kindly asked them to help us changing the ticket. Unfortunately, British Airways insisted they would not be able to make any changes to my daughter's return flight leaving us no option but looking for an alternative flight to get her home. By the way, Sylvana from Expedia confirmed she never heard of a case like this in the past, when an airline would deny their customer, who had agreed to pay a penalty to change a return flight to an earlier date when seats are available. Furthermore, British Airways denied us any refund for the canceled portion of this itinerary which was a quite expensive airfare to begin with in excess of $1100!

On 29 December 2006, I traveled on BA from Phoenix to London’s Heathrow airport. I arrived in Heathrow shortly after 12:00 and prepared to make my 16:00 connection to Paris. While waiting in the “Quick Luggage Drop” line, I noticed how supremely incapable British Airlines employees were at checking in luggage. After waiting over an hour in this line, my bags were finally tagged for my flight. Just as I handed my bags to the clerk on the other side of the counter, he informed me that I would have to wait because BA had temporarily discontinued check-in. The clerk explained that recent fog delays at Heathrow overwhelmed the airline and the quantity of luggage on hand was simply too much for BA to handle. Odd, isn’t it?

I stood in line waiting to deposit my bag for roughly one hour. I was not as concerned as most passengers at this time because I had plenty of before the departure of my next flight. After getting the run-around from several British Airways employees, I remained in line until another customer service clerk informed me that my flight, no. 322, had been cancelled. This individual told me that the cancellation was due to a malfunctioning luggage belt. Disappointed and a little tired, I carried my luggage down the corridor and got in line to reschedule my flight. I was literally first in line to drop off my bag, and thus ended up near the beginning of the re-booking line.

After hours of standing in line, I was directed by a British Airways employee to move to a “holding pen” outside. As you can imagine, the customers shouted in rage and refused to wait outside in the rain. People were unwilling to lose their place in line as could be expected when thrust into such anarchy. As a young student traveling alone, I failed to defy the commands of the pushy British Airways employees and hesitantly complied with their requests.

My experience with these “holding pens” resembled an internment camp from the Second World War. British Airways employees directed me to an isolated tent without giving an explanation of where we were going or when we could leave. (I stress that my contact was limited to uniformed British Airways employees, not BAA officials as one of your colleagues previously accused me)

The employees of British Airlines were abusive in their insistence that each customer remain where they were told, while at the same time refusing to provide due explanation. The conditions within these holding pens were terrible. For example, I saw a fragile older woman in need of a wheelchair struggling to sit-upright against a suitcase on the floor.

I petitioned for the BA employee to let me out of the tent because I feared I wouldn’t be able to book a new flight. The woman assured me that customers would be called from the tents according to flight number. With my boarding pass in hand I moved past the employee and headed for the airport entrance. I was refused entry into Heathrow despite the fact that some employees suggested my flight was leaving. From here I was moved to another holding pen where I proceeded to wait for instructions on what to do next.

Around 19:00 I confronted a British Airways employee about what I should do. She explained to me that flight 322 had been cancelled and that I should have been waiting inside at the ticket counter to reschedule my flight. This woman apologized profusely for the miscommunication and pointed me to the line where I should be waiting. I got in the rebooking line. I was told that I would not be able to make a new flight this evening. After being jostled around by various BA employees, I was given a hotel voucher and told to make a reservation from the hotel phone—but the phone reservation line closed at 10:00!!!

As you can tell, I had an abysmal experience with British Airways and Heathrow airport on 29 December 2006. I cannot begin to tell you how horrible the customer service was, and beyond this, when I tried to book another flight I was told that flight 322 was not cancelled but that it was my fault I missed this flight.

I recount my horror story to you not for pity or grace. I understand that we live in a disordered and complicated world where things happen that are beyond our control. I don’t blame British Airways for fog, broken luggage belts, and especially terrorism, but I do blame them for the irrational, inconsiderate, and ineffective way they dealt with complications and treated their customers on 29 December 2006. I believe it to be the responsibility of the administrators and managers to establish, organize, and execute consistent and effective plans when dealing with a “crisis” situation.

Having spent over 1000 dollars in air travel with British Airlines within the last couple of months, I feel like I deserve honesty in the least from your company. There is no way that any self-respecting person would tolerate being treated the way that I did, and I only wish I had the voice to stand up for myself that day.

I am scheduled to travel with British Airways from Heathrow to Phoenix on March 12, but I am trying to change my flight and get a refund because I do not believe that your organization is competent enough to get me from one place to another. I ask that you honor my request in light of what I have been through, or at least acknowledge that the handling of closure of Terminal four on 29 December 2006 was offensive.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Dupuy