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British Airways sending legal letters to people requesting compensation for the data breach

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A Head for Points reader sent me an interesting letter he had received after writing to British Airways to request compensation for the recent data breach.

Instead of responding directly, British Airways passed his complaint to DWF, a Manchester law firm.  He received a firm legal letter from an Andrew Harris at DWF which whilst totally correct in what it said was – to my mind – designed to scare the complainant off from pursuing any claim.

Since Harris is:

“Accomplished in significant shareholder disputes and other corporate litigation” (2011), –one of the best commercial litigators outside London” (2012) and –the standout choice for shareholder disputes” (2013).”

…. according to the “Legal 500”, it is likely that it will have cost British Airways £1,000 in legal fees to get Harris to write the fairly long letter sent to the reader telling him that he can’t have anything …..

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Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (222)

  • The Streets says:
    15 Nov15 November 21:04

    Just received the following email from Iberia… not sure what its getting at in the second paragraph

    Dear Customer,

    We would like to remind you that the Avios you earned in the promotion last June had special terms and conditions, as we pointed out at the time. As such, please note that the promotional Avios obtained during that campaign will no longer be available in your account if you do not redeem them in the Iberia Plus programme before 1 December 2018.

    We would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that the programme does not include the transfer of Avios, as indicated in the general terms and conditions.

    Yours sincerely,
    The Iberia Plus Team

    • Imran says:
      15 Nov15 November 21:08

      I just got the same email as well – no idea what the second paragraph means!

      • Roberto says:
        15 Nov15 November 21:21

        It means if you transfer the avios earnt in the promo out then they class that as not “redeemed” in the T&C of the offer.

        They will want them back in December. How exactly it will pan out I am unsure but thats been a given since day 1.

        I assume your account with Iberia will effectivly go overdrawn. How they collect on that debt is anyones guess.

        • Shoestring says:
          15 Nov15 November 21:52

          it’s not a monetary debt, that’s for sure – the Avios have zero (monetary) value

  • Steve says:
    15 Nov15 November 21:23

    For those who transferred Avios over to BAEC, to play it safe, perhaps its best to ‘cash out’ and make a decent redemption for the future. You would need to do this with a view to stick with the redemption and take that flight if, on 1st Dec, people report Avios going missing, butnif it turns out to be safe, cancel the redemption and get your Avios re-deposited.

  • Chris says:
    15 Nov15 November 21:56

    OT:
    I used the Amex Selfridges statement credit today to buy Nespresso capsules.
    3 Amex cards meant I paid £210 for nearly 1,000 capsules. Confirmation emails received immediately.

    • Genghis says:
      15 Nov15 November 21:59

      Never been in but the Nespresso shop on Cheapside are on SS this year.

      • BlueHorizonuk says:
        16 Nov16 November 09:56

        It looks like its the Cafe Nespresso branches included (there are 2 in Central London) and by extension they sell capsules so hopefully this should work and can be used in both branches.

    • Cat says:
      16 Nov16 November 07:26

      Xmas at ours this year – 2 panettones (the Selfridges one is bloody marvellous), some H&H Madeira and Tokaji bought. That should help me cope!

  • Cueball says:
    15 Nov15 November 22:01

    O/T Curve

    Anyone get an email from curve regarding beta amex program?

    Would appear you have to load money from amex:

    “In order to use Amex with Curve you will be asked to top-up a virtual wallet. We ask that you limit your top-up to the amount you are planning on spending. “

    • Alan says:
      16 Nov16 November 00:03

      Correct – that’s how they’ve been outlining the proposed system for a few weeks now in the Curve Community. Hopefully should work OK…

      • Talay says:
        16 Nov16 November 14:41

        I spend up to £300k a year on Amex. Curve had a wobbly before when it was linked to Amex so I can’t see this being viable for me.

  • Bee says:
    16 Nov16 November 03:31

    I tried to transfer my avios from iberia to BAEC but it does not allow this. It says it only allows from BA to Iberia not the other way around. I have had my iberia account since July.

    How do I take out the avios from iberia?

    Thanks

  • BP says:
    16 Nov16 November 15:33

    OT – noticed that when leaving a tip on my Curve card in the USA where the card has already been swiped then the tip doesn’t ever get added. May be a bonus for some people who want to pretend to leave a tip!

  • ADS says:
    16 Nov16 November 17:02

    has anybody managed to phone up IB and book a redemption on BA to Dublin or AMS ?

    those routes aren’t available online

  • Thomas Munro says:
    3 Dec3 December 14:35

    Anyone redeem their points for future hotel stays on the 30th November UK time but without realising that it had just passed over into the early hours 1st Dec Madrid time due to having several problems with the website and logging in etc.
    Surely they shouldn’t of processed my transaction if they were only going to make my account go into negative by the amount of points I was using for the hotel? They are saying there is no way to reverse the negative balance on my account which I find hard to believe?
    Any help greatly appreciated.

    Tom

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