Cancer patient victimisation from BA - my complaint to the boss

HGLTsuperstar

Thought you might be interested in seeing the email I sent to Willie Walsh chief exec of BA (and have sent to BA customer relations aswell). any thoughts on who else might be interested in taking this up?

Dear Mr Walsh,
RE: Booking ref ***, BA Exec membership no: ***
I wish to make you aware of the insensitive and obnoxious attitude of a member of the BA Medical Assistance department, and the subsequent distress they caused.
My mother and I have booked a holiday with Archers Direct, which includes BA flights from Heathrow to Toronto, and returning from Vancouver. Yesterday (February 6) I received an email from Archers informing me that they had received a telephone call from your company demanding (their words not mine) medical information. As they do not hold any such information they asked me to telephone you immediately.
After being passed through various departments, I was eventually given the contact number for the medical unit. The woman I spoke to (who did not give me her name) displayed an attitude I found most offensive and unhelpful. At first she said she didn’t know why I was ringing, I told her that I did not know what the problem was but could she please check our booking. She then said that my travel agent had said that I have a lung condition. I told her this was not the case because a) I don’t have any such condition and b) my travel agent holds no medical information on myself or the other person on the booking (i.e. my mother).
I then told her that I had rung BA Special Assistance directly a couple of weeks ago and arranged for mobility assistance at the airports for my mother. The team member I spoke to on that occasion had been most understanding and helpful and we were greatly reassured by the arrangements she had made for us. However this woman sharply asked “Well has Christine (she couldn’t even get my mother’s name right – it’s Christina and I know it is correct on the booking) got anything wrong with her lungs or not?” To which I replied that my mother has a tumour on her lung which means she gets out of breath if she walks too far too quickly, which is why I had arranged for the buggy transport at the airports. Her reply was “Well it says here she’s got cancer.” I pointed out that is what I had just said, and I still was unclear why this was being flagged up. She said you have to check passengers with cancer, to decide if you’ll let them fly with BA. This is the first I’ve heard of it.
Her blunt questioning continued with “So is she having treatment,” “No she finished chemotherapy a year ago,” which led to the “punchline” of “So she’s in remission then,” “Well until it comes back,” “Well obviously.”
She then said that it was the fault of the special assistance department for not writing up the details properly and that was it.
So it transpires that the root of the problem was a failure of communications between your departments – a problem that could have easily been resolved internally without any involvement on our part.
I am only glad that it was me, rather than my mother, who made the phone call. She was upset enough when I told her of the conversation and any stress is not good for her at the moment. She is already concerned enough about the flight and the prospect of having a complete stranger sitting in between us, and now we are both worried we face further interrogation at check-in or on-board.
This is to be our first time flying with “the word’s favourite airline” and, the way we feel at the moment, it’s likely to also be the last. I wish to thank you for putting a big dampener on our excitement in the build-up to what we were anticipating as the holiday of a lifetime, much needed after all my mother has been through over the last couple of years. I realise this rant will be dismissed with, at best, a standard note of apology to pacify us, but it is not something either my mother or I will forget when recommending (or not) your airline to others.

Yours sincerely,

robnye

good letter,

you're not after a job with them are you? .... like that other chap recently who wrote a complaint to virgin about thier food..... :rotfl:

HGLTsuperstar

No all I want is a bit more than a standard "we're sorry blah blah blah" - such words are cheap.
To update got a phone call this afternoon from WW's "assistant" - no caller ID surprise surprise- saying how sorry she was blah blah blah and what would make it right.
Then told couldn't even block out the middle seat in the row of 3 to give us a bit of privacy and more space for Mum, so why ask what they could do to make up for it.
Think this needs to be made more public - any ideas who to send it to?

duchy

Same reply as given on the travel forum
Guess the OP didn't like the responses there so is hoping for different ones here