To be absolutely seething at BA?

[19lottie82]

I flew to San Francisco last Friday from Glasgow via Heathrow, to visit my Dad and Stepmum who live about 60 miles away from SFO airport.

When we arrived @ 1600 PM Friday they told me my bag didn't make the connection and would arrive @ SFO at 1400 the next day, so it would be delivered to me late evening.

It didn't appear and I managed to track down the delivery company who are supposed to be delivering it, who said it will be with you late tonight (last night). It never showed up and no one got it touch to let me know it wouldn't be appearing, so I sat up (jet lagged until after midnight).

Called them again this morning (Sunday, I'm on US time!) and was told it was out for delivery but they couldn't give me an ETA, so I sat in all day waiting for news. 6pm comes and I'm told it will be with me at 9pm. 1030pm comes and I'm told it will be there at midnight. It's now 2320 California time and for the second night in a row I'm sitting up jet lagged out of my fucking face, waiting for my bag!

I've only had three days with my Dad and the whole time has been spent hanging around the house waiting for the bag. We had to cancel a day trip today as it was too far away for us to get back in time if we were told the bag was on its way.

I complained to BA via Twitter and they have been worse than useless. Refused to even acknowledge my complaints that I don't have the bag despite it arriving with them over 32 hours ago and only 60 miles away, and also refusing to address the points that I've been lied to twice about when it will arrive.

They actually told me "it's not our fault, but the delivery companies".

Erm no! My contract is with them, not the delivery company. And they haven't even apologised!

Grrrrrr! My DH and I are supposed to be leaving tomorrow AM for a road trip so if the bag isn't here at midnight (half an hour) I don't know what I'm going to do!

One of many patronising and blame shifting messages from BA

If it's missing for more than X hours are they not meant to compensate you? Can they not leave it at a local courier depot?

No that is absolutely disgusting! I would use the goods and services act and moan my Arse off. You don't go on holiday to wait in for your belongings to arrive! What if there was medication ? What if you had to use all your money on replacing clothes? Bitch away op.... Shitty airline! X

Excellent response!

In fairness they have said they will compensate me for necessities if I provide them with reciept a but my main issues are

1. the fact my suitcase arrived 32 hours ago less than sixty miles away and it isn't here yet.

2. I have been lied to 3 times about when it will arrive, hung about waiting for it only for it not to show up, and no one has even bothered to tell me otherwise. I have had to do ALL the chasing myself

And

3. the way I've been treated by the BA CS reps on Twitter has been just shocking. All they've done is patronise me and try to pass the buck!

If it isn't here by midnight I honestly think I will burst into tears!

This scenario happened to us and the bag arrived in our hotel room three days later.

Were you given a tracking number for the luggage, did you file a missing bag report at BAs or the lost baggage office at the airport?. We were able to check the missing bag progress online.

If your bag is misdirected on the way out, the airline must give you money to buy replacement items or reimburse you for purchases you make to cover your loses while you wait for your bag.

I would keep all receipts and claim, infact they should have given you some funds to buy any essential items when you were at the airport.

It's here!!!

Hi Atilla, yea they gave me $100 at airport but as I said its not really about the cash just the fact it took them 32 hours to get it 60 miles and lied to me over and over about its ETA which meant I spent the first 3 days pretty much waiting in the house in case it appeared!

They were fuck all help when they failed to fly my bag back from Dubai to the UK once - it did a round trip to India before the useless fuckers eventually got it back to me.

They did nothing but pass the buck, insisting it couldn't possibly be their fault.

I've never used them since then. Their flights are shit anyway.

i used to use them for the frequent flyer programme. they were absolutely awful. i never complain, but one time the flight was so bad (won't bore you with the details) that i did complain and they were just as patronising and offhand with me as they are with you. i never managed to find a flight i'd actually be able to use with the airmiles either. such a con. final straw was when they downgraded my airmile account.

i have never used them again.

virgin atlantic on the other hand were bloody amazing. lost my bag, delivered it to my house 2 hours after i got to the hotel. was expecting your sort of scenario.

good luck

BA are shocking.

When this happened to me with Singapore air I was given approx. £200 in local currency and promised it would be on the next flight. It wasn't, it was on the following flight but they kept me updated.

They also bumped me from business to first on the second leg of my flight home.

If you think BA is bad, you have never flown American Airlines ... You are right that your contract is with BA, so focus on that, and threaten publicity too.

I won't bore you with my BA experiences, but summarise it merely as BA are utter cunts.

Please write down all the expense you've had as a result of this: replacement toiletries, nightwear, bag etc. and make sure they pay for all of this.

May be worth posting on flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club-446/ for advice

That is really bad op. However, I have to admit that when I moved back to England (escaped my ex) it was quite a relief not to have to lug two of my three bodybag sized holdalls containing all my worldly goods that got 'delayed'. Bad enough with a toddler, a pushchair, hand luggage and a suitcase. Made the airport and National Express experience a hell of a lot easier! than I'd anticipated dreaded.

Thanks for the sympathy Mumsnetters!

The CS team on Twitter have refused to accept any responsibility so I have asked how I can escalate my complaint, they said "you can't", so I've told them I will take it up with management at San Francisco Airport next week.
DH is shitting it, he says he will wait in the bar while I unleash my rage at some poor soul LOL

DNAJ..... I'll give that a try, thank you!

BA are a disaster and their Twitter people are idiots. I find that the phone people are better but it's hard to get through. Their business is a joke, filthy tiny seats. They should be forced to fly with their competitors and see how shit they are in comparison. Qatar or Emirates on my route are far superior and about a grand cheaper.

I'm another one who had terrible customer service from BA (when flying long haul from LHR a few years ago). I have never flown with them since. I use Emirates if possible.

I hope you get somewhere OP, but I don't think they will care a jot.

They will probably offer a few rewards points. Then only thing to do is keep bothering them on Twitter and use a different airline. Their planes all smell of cabbage and nappies anyway (bitter)