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In December my partner and I flew First on BA from Mexico City to Heathrow (Avios and 241 voucher) The long and short of the complaint was:
1) We had to queue behind 150 people before they would let us to get to the first check-in desk
2) The in-flight entertainment didn’t work at all for either of us for the entire flight
3) No wine was available for the entire flight as the crew didn’t have a corkscrew!
4) I didn’t eat most of my roast turkey dinner or cooked breakfast as the food loaded in MEX was awful
5) After landing, the lady at the arrivals lounge refused let us in as they were closing in 20 minutes. After a few minutes of persuading/explaining we just wanted a drink and use the loo, she eventually let us in. No drinks available.After waiting 4 weeks for a response, BA have closed our complaint and offered us a £100 voucher. This seems crazy. AM I being unreasonable to think this isn’t normal or acceptable? Any advice on what to do next?
That seems like a very low-ball offer, I got that recently for complaining about the new unisex loos in the lounge. I would perhaps have a look through this thread on Flyertalk to get an idea of what others have received and go back to them with an offer of what you think is acceptable: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1311351-what-s-most-avios-you-got-ba-compensation-what-65.html
One person referenced 40k avios for non-working IFE in F – post #912. I would perhaps focus on the non-working IFE and lack of wine in any response. Did you report the IFE to anyone on the flight, as this normally gets logged and avios compensation offered automatically?
I can also recall reading another FT thread about a flight with no corkscrew… https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2109530-ba-282-no-servable-wine-all-cabins-4.html
I got offered £300 voucher for lack of a proper meal on a CE flight from Rome to London, 3 of us. I thought it was good enough. Seats booked with Avios.
I think you got a low ball offer because you have complained about too much such that it simply sounds vexatious. Some aspects of the complaint also don’t sound justified. You didn’t need to stand in a queue at MEX; I have travelled from there many times and your experience is entirely self inflicted. Equally, it is not unreasonable for BA not to let new people into the arrivals lounge 20 minutes before it closes. I’m quite sure they have plenty of screw top bottles in F and opening bottles without a corkscrew isn’t too hard, so I feel they would have cooperated.
If you had focussed the complaint you would already have been offered much more but now you need to row back. It’s the same with any complaint or claim, less is often more.
Equally, it is not unreasonable for BA not to let new people into the arrivals lounge 20 minutes before it closes.
If they dont have a last entry time, why should it be okay for a lounge to deny entry when its not closed, especially when theres still 20 mins left?
That seems like a very low-ball offer, I got that recently for complaining about the new unisex loos in the lounge.
What’s wrong with the loos?
As another data point for reference we recently came back from Cancun in PE on overnight flight and my seat didn’t recline at all. I complained on returning and received 20000 avios within 24 hours. I was Gold at the time, maybe that helps.
I had a very loud rattling window for a 6 hour flight – LON to Bahrain. I managed to fix it by wedging a folded up tissue into the gap between the window frame and the aircraft window which stopped the window moving around. I also took a video of the loud rattling (especially bad when changing altitude). Complained upon landing and issues a £100 voucher for 2 passengers on avios booking – perhaps not much given above experiences but it was an economy 2 for 1 avios booking so I thought it was ok.
We got 10k avios each for non-functioning WiFi in F (we don’t usually use it but I think OH needed to check some emails!).
Did they not even offer you the little bottles of wine with the screw caps from PE or Y?! There was a really good white when I flew CE in October, it was definitely worthy of J, if not F.
Also you don’t need a corkscrew for champagne!
My complaints that have netted the most points / pounds have focused on one thing (often pretty minor) and highlighted how the issue could have been better communicated / got around at the time. Very little emotion, I was disappointed that xxxx wasn’t available, this could have been communicated by text / as I checked in / by the lounge staff etc.
It has worked so well that I now make a point of doing one of the positive feedback forms online about a good crew member from time to time to balance it out.I must start doing that, I only realised they had introduced these forms when I claimed for our delay last month!
That seems like a very low-ball offer, I got that recently for complaining about the new unisex loos in the lounge.
What’s wrong with the loos?
Nothing at all. I’m sure the complaint was something along the lines of “protect single-sex spaces” or some other culture wars nonsense, when in reality, they’re still the same individual, fully-enclosed bathrooms that have had the male/female pictograms removed from the doors. They’re still the same as they were on the inside, with the exception of sanitary bins in all cubicles now (which is also useful, and provides some dignity, for men who wear incontinence pads etc).
That seems like a very low-ball offer, I got that recently for complaining about the new unisex loos in the lounge.
What’s wrong with the loos?
Nothing at all. I’m sure the complaint was something along the lines of “protect single-sex spaces” or some other culture wars nonsense, when in reality, they’re still the same individual, fully-enclosed bathrooms that have had the male/female pictograms removed from the doors. They’re still the same as they were on the inside, with the exception of sanitary bins in all cubicles now (which is also useful, and provides some dignity, for men who wear incontinence pads etc).
If you don’t think that protecting single-sex spaces is important then I can’t help you there, it’s nothing to do with culture wars. I agree that they are fully enclosed bathrooms, so no, women aren’t having to share the space with men, they are having to use the facilities afterwards though, and generally men’s bathrooms are not such pleasant places as women’s, so personally I’d have preferred to keep things as they were.
PS, apologies, I accidentally clicked Report post instead of Quote initially, there was nothing in your response that warranted reporting.
If you don’t think that protecting single-sex spaces is important then I can’t help you there, it’s nothing to do with culture wars. I agree that they are fully enclosed bathrooms, so no, women aren’t having to share the space with men, they are having to use the facilities afterwards though, and generally men’s bathrooms are not such pleasant places as women’s, so personally I’d have preferred to keep things as they were.
PS, apologies, I accidentally clicked Report post instead of Quote initially, there was nothing in your response that warranted reporting.
I am struggling to understand the logic here, as you will move from the lounge to an airplane with unisex loos…
If you don’t think that protecting single-sex spaces is important then I can’t help you there, it’s nothing to do with culture wars. I agree that they are fully enclosed bathrooms, so no, women aren’t having to share the space with men, they are having to use the facilities afterwards though, and generally men’s bathrooms are not such pleasant places as women’s, so personally I’d have preferred to keep things as they were.
PS, apologies, I accidentally clicked Report post instead of Quote initially, there was nothing in your response that warranted reporting.
I am struggling to understand the logic here, as you will move from the lounge to an airplane with unisex loos…
Careful, BA will start sending 10k Avios for that too…
@Cosmo175 Re: “generally men’s bathrooms are not such pleasant places as women’s,”
If that were true (and I’m not convinced that it is if you take urinals out of the picture [who’d have thought that by asking men to urinate while aiming vaguely toward a trough that some of it might end up on the floor?!]) then why should I, as a man who loves a clean toilet just as much as any woman, be forced to use a toilet that another man has made unpleasant? Who decided that simply by dint of gender women should be allowed access to nice pleasant toilets and men should have to put up with any old filth?
What a sexist, outdated, view.
If you don’t think that protecting single-sex spaces is important then I can’t help you there, it’s nothing to do with culture wars. I agree that they are fully enclosed bathrooms, so no, women aren’t having to share the space with men, they are having to use the facilities afterwards though, and generally men’s bathrooms are not such pleasant places as women’s, so personally I’d have preferred to keep things as they were.
PS, apologies, I accidentally clicked Report post instead of Quote initially, there was nothing in your response that warranted reporting.
I am struggling to understand the logic here, as you will move from the lounge to an airplane with unisex loos…
Always laugh at people moaning about unisex toilets because they exist in every house without controversy.
I did stay in an Airbnb on Okinawa that had a separate urinal room 🤣
I’m a feminist to the core, and I say it’s about time that queuing for the loo is not just for people who identify as female. It annoys the heck out of me when there’s a massive queue for the ladies’ and (often) free cubicles in the men’s!
I had a transgender colleague at work some years ago and my (old school) line manager asked me if I “minded” her using the same loos! Like Anuj, I pointed out that if she came to my house she would be welcome to use the same facilities as me, so why would it be any different at work 🤷♀️
I’m a feminist to the core, and I say it’s about time that queuing for the loo is not just for people who identify as female. It annoys the heck out of me when there’s a massive queue for the ladies’ and (often) free cubicles in the men’s!
Hah, you’d have hated Strictly at the weekend. Ladies was queued for miles, I think there was one other bloke in the gents when I went at the interval – although I suspect that audience demographic had a lot to do with that.
I’m a feminist to the core, and I say it’s about time that queuing for the loo is not just for people who identify as female. It annoys the heck out of me when there’s a massive queue for the ladies’ and (often) free cubicles in the men’s!
Hah, you’d have hated Strictly at the weekend. Ladies was queued for miles, I think there was one other bloke in the gents when I went at the interval – although I suspect that audience demographic had a lot to do with that.
When Dirty Dancing was on in the West End they converted most gents into ladies 🤣
Yeah. That didn’t happen. They would have taken as much champagne and wine as needed from club. Plenty of port, spirits, etc. And no-one travelling F ever got a £100 voucher as compensation.
@Cosmo175 Re: “generally men’s bathrooms are not such pleasant places as women’s,”
If that were true (and I’m not convinced that it is if you take urinals out of the picture [who’d have thought that by asking men to urinate while aiming vaguely toward a trough that some of it might end up on the floor?!]) then why should I, as a man who loves a clean toilet just as much as any woman, be forced to use a toilet that another man has made unpleasant? Who decided that simply by dint of gender women should be allowed access to nice pleasant toilets and men should have to put up with any old filth?
What a sexist, outdated, view.
A practical view, though.
Given that as a man statistically you unfortunately are far more likely to leave a mess behind you, seat up, etc., than a female.
It’s not about what you may find it’s what, statistically, a group you form part of is more likely to leave behind you.
Not outdated and sexist but based on historical evidence that is left behind more often by your group…literally
If a young driver under 25 is statistically likely to be involved in more accidents, how can you criticise an insurance company for quoting that young driver a higher premium? Substitute ‘male’ and ‘clean toilet’.
If you don’t think that protecting single-sex spaces is important then I can’t help you there, it’s nothing to do with culture wars. I agree that they are fully enclosed bathrooms, so no, women aren’t having to share the space with men, they are having to use the facilities afterwards though, and generally men’s bathrooms are not such pleasant places as women’s, so personally I’d have preferred to keep things as they were.
PS, apologies, I accidentally clicked Report post instead of Quote initially, there was nothing in your response that warranted reporting.
I am struggling to understand the logic here, as you will move from the lounge to an airplane with unisex loos…
Always laugh at people moaning about unisex toilets because they exist in every house without controversy.
Not always without controversy, actually 🙂
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