Thursday, March 5, 2015

Customer Service

Arrived in San Francisco safely, but with lots of drama.  The flying was smooth and enjoyable.  No problem with that.  The drama was at the Chennai airport.  Here is what happened.

Our flight (British Airways) was on Sunday, March 1, 4:00 am.  They never made any announcement until 6:00 am.  At that moment, the pilot and the BA (British Airways) Airport Manager came and informed us that there were some engine trouble in the plane and they had to bring the parts from London.  It was going to be a long wait.   They announced that all the passengers will be booked in hotels and they will work on alternative arrangements for each passenger.

We were allotted the Hilton Hotel.  My wife and I were put in the Hilton’s car.  We checked into the Hilton Hotel.  We were told the breakfast, lunch, and dinner are at the expense of BA.

We checked into the room.  Nice room.  We had breakfast at the Hilton’s restaurant.  My wife had pain in her legs.  Therefore, we decided to order room service for lunch and dinner.

At 4 pm we got a call from BA.  They said they will send us to San Francisco via Etihad Airways.  I told them that Etihad Airways is a crappy airlines and I want some other airlines.  They called me within 5 minutes and said they made arrangements for us with Emirates Airlines and we were very happy.  The flight was to leave at 3:30 am on Monday (via Dubai).

We were getting ready to leave for the airport from Hilton at midnight.  At 11 pm we got a call from BA stating that Emirates have cancelled our reservations and they will make some other arrangements.  I waited until 11:30 pm. Since then I called BA at least 25 times and no answer from them.  I never received cancellation notice either from BA or Emirates.

I then called Emirates at 11:50 pm.  They said our reservation is confirmed and no one cancelled them.  They asked us to come to the Airport to board the flight. 

We then vacated the room and the Hilton reception had a surprise for us.  They presented me with a huge bill for lunch and dinner.  I asked them the reason. They said that breakfast, lunch, and dinner are free only if eaten in the restaurant.  The “free” does not cover lunch/dinner room service. Neither BA nor Hilton informed us the room service is not covered by “free”.  I therefore paid the bill.  I am in the process of sending a claim to BA.

Another problem starts here.

We arrive at the Chennai airport.  We go to the Emirates Business Class counter.  They were very nice and courteous.   I said we have 5 baggages to be checked.  The girl in the counter said: “Sir, you are allowed only 4 baggages”.  I said I did not book our tickets in Emirates.  I booked in British Airways and their policy for business class passengers is 3 baggages each – for me and my wife.  In such situations, the receiving airlines should honor the baggage policies of the sending airlines.

(Side bar.  BA is one of the worst airlines in the world on customer service.  I still booked our tickets with them because they allow 3 baggages (70 pounds each) per business class passenger whereas other airlines allow only 2 baggages per passenger.)

I told her I will go to the BA office and solve this. Went there, explained to the customer rep there, and she referred me to her supervisor.  The BA supervisor came with me to the Emirates counter and talked to the Emirates supervisor.  He finally came to me and said:  Sir, you are allowed only 4 baggages.  You will have to pay for the 5th one.  I told him You (BA) will be paying for the 5th one and not me.  He again talked to the Emirates supervisor and finally said he will issue a “voucher” and Emirates supervisor agreed to that. 

I was appalled at the BA Supervisor (who should know their baggage policy) telling me that I am allowed only 4 baggages.

From Dubai to San Francisco, we flew on a A380-800 Airbus Plane.  Until now, we have never flown in this type of aircraft before.  This is the largest passenger aircraft.  Double Decker.  More than 800 passengers on all economy flight.   More than 500 passengers on a flight that has 3 classes - First, Business, and Economy.  Flying time Dubai to San Francisco is 16 hours.  Enjoyed very much.

20 comments:

  1. Glad to hear that you reached safely. It must have been awful to be shuttled around like that by the airlines!! I have traveled BA and fortunately none of this happened. Hotels are very ambiguous about some of their service regulations. I have never been to the Chennai HIlton. Hate the location!

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  2. Thanks for your comments Meera. If I book my hotel, I will never book at the Chennai Hilton. As you correctly said, it is not in a good location.

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  3. Some drama that alright! I think, the hotel should have charged you only the room service charges, why charge for the food when it's paid for? Besides, they know BA is going to foot the bill - why inconvenience a customer? Silly policies.

    Destination Infinity

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  4. Thanks for your comments Rajesh. You are correct. They should have charged me for the service only and not for the food.

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  5. Somehow we didn't like BA when we went to the US last time. This time went by Emirates, but here, leg space is very less. Husband is tall and he didn't know where to stretch his legs! Yes, we too went to SFO via Dubai.

    When BA accepts 3 baggage per passenger, they should arrange with the other airlines to take 3 baggage per passenger. And you had only 5 instead of 6.

    I hope you take up with them at the US.

    Thank god you reached your place safely.

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  6. BA at one time was amongst my favourite airline.Those days are over.
    Even though you went through a lot of drama,you were lucky to have flown the latest and the best aircraft.

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  7. Thanks for your comments Sandhya. Did you travel to San Francisco (from Dubai) in the double decker A380-800?

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  8. Thanks for your comments Mr. Chowla. You are correct. If BA had no engine problem, I would not have had the experience of travelling by A380-800, the largest passenger plane in the world.

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  9. I have heard some negative things abt BA too but your experience was really bad. Thanks for sharing this travel experience, I will avoid BA for sure now :)

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  10. Thanks for your comments Ankita. Yes, it is bad. In flight services, if you are in first or business class, it is OK. Certainly not in economy.

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  11. Even my husband's luggage was misplaced during transit by BA once and when we received back after two weeks, some perishable contents and Tshirts were lost. We wrote a letter to them . After a month they wrote refusing to take responsibility for lost items. Their fault, our loss.

    Anyways, glad you had a safe flight back after all that drama.

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  12. So glad you stayed firm on your decisions!
    Honestly, the levels of inaptitude and inefficiency seem to compete across the globe.

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  13. Glad to know that you enjoyed... I liked the "you will be paying" part... So all settled back home?

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  14. Gosh! That's some drama! Glad that all was well in the end. Hope you get all the refund from BA!

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  15. Oh! Thank God, you have reached safely without suffering much. I read an article by one of my fellow blogger who had a worse experienced with with BA having a booking for economic class.

    Hope are happily settled back home :) TC! Keep smiling :)

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  16. Thanks for your comments Asha. BA has one of the worst customer service.

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  17. Thanks for your comments Sweety. Yes, I stood my ground because I was right.

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  18. Thanks for your comments Satya. Slowing settling down and getting ready for another short trip.

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  19. Thanks for your comments Shilpa. I just mailed my claim form to BA.

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  20. Thanks for your comments Sindhu. Reached home safely. The flight was very pleasant.

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