British Airways call waiting time -v- 24 hour notice

Sandtree

I probably dont blame the call centre agent (guess we still call them that even though they are at home) as they are inevitably totally unempowered but they annoyed the hell out of me....

Was due to travel abroad for a business meeting/training session that cannot be done remotely, booked a reward flight with British Airways which allows a cancellation for a refund up to 24 hours before departure. Yesterday at 25 hours and 10 minutes before flight departure get an email saying that the situation there has changed and the workshop is going to have to be rescheduled. Spent 5 minutes or so finding my BA flight details and contact telephone number and called them... 1 hour 15 on hold until I get to speak to the agent.

Sorry, we cannot cancel your flight for a refund because its under 24 hours until take off... but its under 24 hours because you took so long to answer... yes, we are understaffed because of the situation and we appreciate your understanding... so where the hell is your understanding that I'm only 10 minutes within the 24 hours and you know you've damned long call queues... sorry sir, we don't give any consideration to that. GRRRR

IvanOpinion

I am more surprised that any company, in the current climate, would be so reckless to both their staff and the staff of other companies to allow any travel plans to be made.  The company I work for has had a travel ban in place since last February.

greyteam1959

IvanOpinion said:

I am more surprised that any company, in the current climate, would be so reckless to both their staff and the staff of other companies to allow any travel plans to be made.  The company I work for has had a travel ban in place since last February.

Totally agree.

Sandtree

Unfortunately for some small companies any revenue they can get is necessary at this point; it is only the owners that were going to be travelling and the one junior member of staff that had originally been intended to travel when originally booked in 2019 was advised not to travel.

I guess others think its acceptable that companies are creating long call waiting but then won't factor that in when considering deadlines etc.

isplumm

complain via twitter - they are normally pretty quick & responsive

isplumm

IvanOpinion said:

I am more surprised that any company, in the current climate, would be so reckless to both their staff and the staff of other companies to allow any travel plans to be made.  The company I work for has had a travel ban in place since last February.

Not everything can be done via Zoom - business needs to carry on

IvanOpinion

isplumm said:

IvanOpinion said:

I am more surprised that any company, in the current climate, would be so reckless to both their staff and the staff of other companies to allow any travel plans to be made.  The company I work for has had a travel ban in place since last February.

Not everything can be done via Zoom - business needs to carry on

That does not give any company the right to jeopardise its employees - not if it cares about them.  If my company was reckless enough to tell me I had to travel (and I normally travel a lot) I would be telling them to find some other fool to do it.

Sandtree

IvanOpinion said:

isplumm said:

IvanOpinion said:

I am more surprised that any company, in the current climate, would be so reckless to both their staff and the staff of other companies to allow any travel plans to be made.  The company I work for has had a travel ban in place since last February.

Not everything can be done via Zoom - business needs to carry on

That does not give any company the right to jeopardise its employees - not if it cares about them.  If my company was reckless enough to tell me I had to travel (and I normally travel a lot) I would be telling them to find some other fool to do it.

As already clarified, its only the companies owners that were intending to travel not its regular employees

Andy_L

Couldn't you have cancelled it online?
"Many changes to simple Reward Flights can be made online in Manage My Booking. You will need to contact your local Service Centre in the following circumstances:

Changing a British Airways Reward Flight from an off-peak date to a peak date

Changing a British Airways Reward Flight from a peak date to an off-peak date and require an immediate refund of Avios

If the Reward Flight booking was made using any type of voucher, such as a Companion Voucher or Travel Together Ticket

If the Reward Flight booking contains a connecting flight

If the Reward Flight has been upgraded using Avios"

Sandtree

Andy_L said:

Couldn't you have cancelled it online?

No, it had been rescheduled once already due to Covid. Online only gave the option of completing a form to get a voucher or gave a telephone number for making changes - it didnt even acknowledge the right to a refund but called the number given for making changes... they said we could have gotten a refund if we'd got through 15 minutes earlier.