SDC/V2R fee charged

[AL]

I recent made a SDC on a BA ET Plus ticket endorsed with -V2R, at least an hour before departure and no changes to the route. I was charged £90 by BA, which I think is wrong. I am quite confident that the change should have been free of charge. Before I pop a note to BA, and wait the inevitable nine years for a response, am I barking up the wrong tree?

[points_worrier]

I don’t understand all these TLAs. Care to elaborate?

[AL]

Same Day Change, of which -V2R is the appropriate endorsement on tickets which qualify for free SDCs (subject to no complex changes, of which my time change certainly was not).

[Froggee]

SDC = same day change
BA = British Airways
ET Plus = Euro Traveler Plus
-V2R is the endorsement meaning SDC is allowed.

SDC can be buggy and sometimes seems to randomly charge. I would have tried logging out and back in again or switched to/from app first but I agree that it does not seem that you should have been charged.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

was this a simple point to point?

Had there been any previous changes to the ticket such as a cancellation?

[AL]

Froggee wrote:

SDC can be buggy and sometimes seems to randomly charge. I would have tried logging out and back in again or switched to/from app first but I agree that it does not seem that you should have been charged.

I did it with BAEC on the ‘phone, so I wonder if I got an agent who overlooked or didn’t understand the endorsement. I did question it, but then noticed she had charged it afterward. Interestingly, the figure she quoted as the change fee was £60 (which I would agree with, as the ticket does say that, but the endorsement should overrule, I thought). Previous SDCs done via the agent on the phone haven’t resulted in the charge when MMB wouldn’t let me change the ticket, as was the case here.

BA Flyer IHG Stayer wrote:

was this a simple point to point?
Had there been any previous changes to the ticket such as a cancellation?

Yes – UK Domestic, simple point to point. Change was from one service to either of the two later ones. No other change requested, and no previous change at all on the ticket.

[e14]

AL wrote:

I recent made a SDC on a BA ET Plus ticket endorsed with -V2R, at least an hour before departure and no changes to the route. I was charged £90 by BA, which I think is wrong. I am quite confident that the change should have been free of charge. Before I pop a note to BA, and wait the inevitable nine years for a response, am I barking up the wrong tree?

Nope, chase BA for this. They have been playing around with the ‘robot’ but somethings aren’t working. Seems you go hit for the offline service fee as well

[AL]

Thanks all. Have submitted a complaint… we shall see.

[AL]

As expected, the random response generator was in full swing at BA when they sent me a response. Do we have any tried and tested tricks for re-opening a case with them, bar writing to them? Their website doesn’t seem to let me re-open a closed case.

[points_worrier]

I have about a 20% success rate when complaining and I’m in the right (rather than pushing it), and have never had BA change their mind following a response. Escalate to CEDR: All of my remaining complaints were settled following submission of documents, when someone from BA who knew what they were doing read them. This was before any need for an adjudication – none of my CEDR escalations have ever gone to a formal adjudication, I feel pretty certain they would have lost if they had.