Hi,
Just wanted to run this by people. Back on Friday 12th Dec myself and my wife had our flight to Munich cancelled by BA , with only 3 hours notice,due to the Air Traffic control problem that grounded/delayed a lot of flights. There was no help at all at Heathrow's BA terminal 5 other than one guy with an Ipad. When I enquired about any cost I might incur as a result of the flight being cancelled and not being able to take up my 2 night hotel booking, the guy just dismissed any responsibility for BA and said I should get on BA.com and try and rebook my flights. By some miracle I managed to get on there on my phone only to find the only flight I could get on was Sunday 14th Dec at 07:00ish, not a lot of help when only going for weekend, so had to put in for a refund (which I did get straight away). I then emailed the hotel telling them I could not make booking and as a result I was charged a 75 Euro cancellation charge. I don't have a problem with the hotel as they would have been within their rights to charge the full 180 Euro charge for the 2 nights.
What I am wondering is it worth taking this up with BA to try and get the 75 Euro back? I did check with the Insurance I had through my Nationwide Flex account but they have informed me I would only get £9 back as there was a £50 excess. It just annoys me that I am out of pocket through no fault of my own (and that's not counting the tube charge incurred by the 2 of us getting to/from Heathrow).
Thanks for taking the time to read!
If ATC didn't allow the plane to take off I would assume your beef is with them.
Mind you to this day I still cannot understand, being from an IT background, how there did not seem to be a backup system that the ATC switched straight over to. I suspect their system was hacked although they will never admit that.
I understood that you were seeking recompense for out of pocket expenses incurred. As I said I cannot see the responsibility of BA for something beyond their control.
However if the flight was cancelled and you were unable or unwilling too accept their offer of a later flight then I would expect BA to refund the cost of your flight tickets as they did not provide as per the contract.
I have to agree that I find it quite unsettling that ATC do not have an immediate backup available
1, the flights were cancelled because of ATC problems , not BA actual fault .
2 . As no suitable flight available you requested a refund , which you got straight away
3. You managed to cancel hotel booking and they charged 75 euros Instead of 180 ( full 2 night charge ) and you didn't mind this as it was in their T&C s they didn't provide you with a service you paid for , but this is ok ??
If I have a flight booked and reach the airport late because of a problem outside my control ( like a crash etc ) who's fault is that ? I miss my flight , do the people who crash compensate me .? Pay my petrol used in my journey that was wasted ( like you think your tube fare should be reimbursed )
I can understand why you're peeved and I would feel the same but it's not BAs fault , they did not provide the flight and refunded you , the service they wanted to provide you with wasn't possible and beyond their control .
Both the hotel and flight suppliers did as they were obliged to which are in the T&Cs you agreed to when booking .
Shame you missed out on Munich , I went there for 2 nights a couple of years ago , fantastic place , loved it , would go there again , I'll make sure I book a BA package though in case of something unlucky happening
If they start picking up all kinds of consequential loses (airport parking, missed hotel nights, transport costs to airports, petrol costs etc) they would either be out of business in no time, or fifty quid would be stuck on the price of every BA flight sold which isn't fair on everyone else.
Maybe take out an Insurance Policy with no excess next time if you wish to fully cover for such like rather than the one you have with your Nationwide Bank Account.
If you had done that you wouldn't be expecting British Airways to cover something that really should be covered by travel insurance if you had a decent policy.
You are trying to get the money out of BA that you saved by having cheap insurance when it wasn't their fault.
If you feel strongly about it, then write to the Chief Executive of NATS, requesting that he compensates you for your losses too....after all, the buck has to stop somewhere, and it was his system failure that was responsible for your losses
Mr Richard Deakin
Chief Executive
NATS
4000 Parkway
Whiteley
Fareham
Hants
PO15 7FL
Email richard.deakin@nats.co.uk
Telephone 01489 616001
Website http://www.nats.co.uk
Sanji x
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