British Airways Despicable Practice

Wily_coyote

Bought a ticket with BA to fly to Rome and they took the money from the account twice! Spoke 3 times with BA ( think it is a call centre in India) and I received 3 different versions of the truth. Last one was that I should get the money back in 7-10 days. This  is frankly unacceptable! Extremely bad practice.  I just raised a complaint but I was wondering whether there is anybody who has had similar experience and how quickly BA responds to complaint and whether they do compensate for situations like this. Thanks

Ergates

It's not a practice, it's a mistake.

A practice is something you do on purpose.

I'd also refute that it could be described as "Despicable" because, again, it was a mistake.  Which they're rectifying.

lucy03

Wily_coyote said:

Bought a ticket with BA to fly to Rome and they took the money from the account twice! Spoke 3 times with BA ( think it is a call centre in India) and I received 3 different versions of the truth. Last one was that I should get the money back in 7-10 days. This  is frankly unacceptable! Extremely bad practice.  I just raised a complaint but I was wondering whether there is anybody who has had similar experience and how quickly BA responds to complaint and whether they do compensate for situations like this. Thanks

I've never had any similar problems with BA, who I find to be generally quite reliable. It sounds like a mistake, or perhaps a technical error, that they're fixing. They often quote things like 7 to 10 days, but it might be quite a bit quicker. If it causes financial hardship, your bank would likely try and offer assistance if you ask, but If they refuse and you encounter extra charges you could perhaps contact BA for compensation, but I'd be surprised if your bank aren't willing to assist.

TELLIT01

Annoying or not, the 7 to 10 day period for refund is pretty typical.  The call centre staff member would raise the issue, which then goes to accounts for checking and confirmation of the situation.  That would then need to be signed off because their is money involved.  That all takes time.  Hardly classified as 'Despicable behaviour' in my book at least.  If you can show that the double charge has caused you financial loss you can certainly claim that back.  Any 'compensation' otherwise will be purely a goodwill gesture.

Aylesbury_Duck

It's a mistake.  If you incur costs as a result, e.g. overdraft charges, then yes you can claim compensation for that monetary loss.  If you tackle it more calmly with BA, you might even get a goodwill gesture which if not cash, might be a discount for future travel, an upgrade or meal at the airport, etc.  Go in all guns blazing as you have on here and they'll just deal with it as quickly and simply as they can.

user1977

I thought it was Daffy Duck who went around calling things "dethpicable", not Wile E Coyote?

Jenni_D

To continue the theme of incorrect quote assignments ... Sufferin' Succotash!  

born_again

Online purchase or over the phone?

Wily_coyote

When I use words I am very careful and I can tell that having spoken to my bank this is not the first time that BA duplicates transactions. It is a known issue and it is probably beyond the realm of just a mistake. My ticket was £100. What if the same ticket has been a much more expensive one and it would have left me in serious trouble and financial hardship? That is my point. I do not need to make several phone calls or filling countless forms to rectify something that should never happen in the first place. By the way day 5 I still do not have the money back in my account. 

k3lvc

Wily_coyote said:

When I use words I am very careful and I can tell that having spoken to my bank this is not the first time that BA duplicates transactions. It is a known issue and it is probably beyond the realm of just a mistake. My ticket was £100. What if the same ticket has been a much more expensive one and it would have left me in serious trouble and financial hardship? That is my point. I do not need to make several phone calls or filling countless forms to rectify something that should never happen in the first place. By the way day 5 I still do not have the money back in my account. 

Give over - your bank haven't told you that this is regular practice with BA. Over the past 15yrs I've had over 500 flights with then and not a single issue with payment duplication

For anyone to assist in any way more details needed rather than just throwing big words around

How was the ticket booked (online/over phone/via agent) ?
How was payment made ?
Do both payments have same reference ?
What shows against 'payments' on your online record ?
Is it a genuine 'payment' or just holding funds whilst the tickets were processed ?

Wily_coyote

k3lvc said:

Wily_coyote said:

When I use words I am very careful and I can tell that having spoken to my bank this is not the first time that BA duplicates transactions. It is a known issue and it is probably beyond the realm of just a mistake. My ticket was £100. What if the same ticket has been a much more expensive one and it would have left me in serious trouble and financial hardship? That is my point. I do not need to make several phone calls or filling countless forms to rectify something that should never happen in the first place. By the way day 5 I still do not have the money back in my account. 

Give over - your bank haven't told you that this is regular practice with BA. Over the past 15yrs I've had over 500 flights with then and not a single issue with payment duplication

For anyone to assist in any way more details needed rather than just throwing big words around

How was the ticket booked (online/over phone/via agent) ?
How was payment made ?
Do both payments have same reference ?
What shows against 'payments' on your online record ?
Is it a genuine 'payment' or just holding funds whilst the tickets were processed ?

Ticket was purchased online
Payment made by Visa Debit
Two merchant numbers
One payment completed
One payment holding

Hope it helps.
I am ranting here as I find it frustrating that the whole process has been badly managed and I have been told 3 different versions for the same issue by BA.