Awful BA experience advice please

shaun_from_Africa

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Anyway, if this really was a mistake by the Passport Agency then the OP could reasonably expect a full refund of the total cost of the missed holiday, as well as some money for the inconvenience. Getting this would not be easy

I wouldn't say that getting a full refund of the holiday cost + compo wouldn't be easy, I would say that it would be next to impossible for a couple of reasons.

As has already been pointed out, when you receive your passport, there is a note with it asking you to check all of the details and if any are incorrect, to send it back to be changed.

The 2nd point is that getting compensation for a service (which is what a passport is, you don't own it just the right to use it) when that service started 8 years ago and has been used on at least 2 previous occasions is far in excess of what the law allows for.

sharnad

you can see what you can get from the passport office but BA did nothing wrong

littlereddevil

I take it you are a non british person although born in the UK ?

Mr_Wang

littlereddevil wrote: »

I take it you are a non british person although born in the UK ?

How can someone be non British - Yet born in the UK???

Surely anyone born in the UK is British?????

Doshwaster

Mr_Wang wrote: »

How can someone be non British - Yet born in the UK???

Surely anyone born in the UK is British?????

You'd think so - but the law isn't so simple. In fact, it's quite complex:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_nationality_law#British_citizenship_by_birth_in_the_United_Kingdom

mgdavid

jtr2803 wrote: »

I can honestly tell you that I would have no idea whether my passport says British citizen or British subject and neither would I have had any clue that British Subject meant something entirely different!

OP, I can in many ways agree with the other posters, it's not BAs fault, the issue seems to be on production of your passport. I am very sorry for your loss of holiday.

so the OP is not alone in being clueless; there's a lot of them about.

mgdavid

Nickb12 wrote: »

Yes but I'm not trained to know what the definitions mean. A name error maybe but not this.

My issue is with the treatment I received and the fact they didn't allow me to travel knowing that I had a valid esta and precious US stamps Do you think the yanks would give an esta to an ineligable person? I think the point is being misses here

you don't need to be trained, just educated; again, it is your responsibility to check the passport at the time of issue, as indeed you are advised to do for every important document issued to you by others. Ignorance is no excuse. That's the way it works.

claire16c

jtr2803 wrote: »

I can honestly tell you that I would have no idea whether my passport says British citizen or British subject and neither would I have had any clue that British Subject meant something entirely different!

OP, I can in many ways agree with the other posters, it's not BAs fault, the issue seems to be on production of your passport. I am very sorry for your loss of holiday.

When you complete the Esta it asks you to select one of those as an option though - that's when you should realise your passport is wrong.

zagfles

mgdavid wrote: »

so the OP is not alone in being clueless; there's a lot of them about.

There's a lot of sanctimonious smartar**s around as well.

OP - ignore all the patronising bull on this thread, I can guarantee you the vast majority of people wouldn't know the difference between "British subject" and "British citizen". Put in a complaint to the passport office, wait for your compensation, and come back and tell us about it.

See this document: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/ips/passports-policy-publications/compensation-complaints-handling?view=Binary

Particularly the part under "contributory negligence" where it says:

Management at the time considered the compensation policy in light of this advice and decided that as out of pocket expenses were reimbursed due to a moral responsibility such claims would not be reduced to take account of this idea of ‘contributory negligence’. Such claims anyway would prove difficult in deciding by how much they would be reduced and would be likely to involve disputes. This position remains unchanged; against a background of commitment to high levels of public service it would be inappropriate for IPS not to compensate in full where we have made the error.

ratkarth

I have a meeting planned with my local MP regarding this and will also be notifying national press if this issue isn't resolved\\?\


why your mp? surely just conact the passport office (not ba) and explain the wrong thing is printed on your passport and you neeed a replacemennt, would hate to think the money i pay for mp's salary is being spent on resolving this...