No Compassion or Grace in Travel delayed due to medical reason

Item: British Airways Executive Club
Rating: 1
Author: John S

Troy Warfield Director of Customer Experience Dear Mr. Warfield, My name is John Sullivan and I have been an Exec Club member since 2000. My EC number is 13***XX8. I am writing to you to express my deep disappointment in how I was recently handled by both BA Customer Service and Exec Club customer service. My membership year ends 08 Sept each year. And this past membership year I was 75 points away from Silver. In fact, I had the return leg to Johannesburg leaving Austin, TX on the 5th September. And this would have put me to the silver tier. I was very excited for this, and had actually made travel decisions throughout the year so that I could attain it. A few times this past year I chose BA at times instead of a competitor, even though BA’s price for the ticket was higher. I have to admit that this wasn’t the only reason for choosing BA; My option has always been BA provides the best service, from the web to the agents at airports to the flight crews and the cabin crews. Always professional, courteous, polite and knowledgable. On 29 August I was in a vehicle accident. My private car was so damaged that my insurance company claimed it a Total Loss. I also broke my Sternum in the accident. I was driving to Washington DC for meetings. In the US I prefer to drive than use one of the domestic carriers. They are just not on the same level of service as BA. I did not think that this was going to stop me from traveling, but did end up flying to DC for 2 days of meetings. And each way by broken sternum became more painful by the end of the flight. This made it fairly clear that my upcoming BA flights would be a problem. So, on Monday morning, I felt the need to be checked by a doctor to verify my ability to travel or to require me to not travel. During the examination, the Doctor discovered that I had acquired Pneumonia due to the broken sternum. He wrote a letter barring me from travel for 3 weeks. It is attached to this email. Here is where my disappointment comes in: I called the Executive Club to explain my situation and that I had a medical travel restriction, and asked if my flights when I did take them could be credited to attaining Silver Tier. Or my tier collection end date be pushed back to accommodate the flights. I was resolutely told “No, there is nothing we can do.” The young man showed no compassion or empathy to my situation. I am now at a crossroads at which my loyalty is severely tested: do I stay with BA or move to another carrier. Unfortunately for me there is no other carrier that covers the regions that I travel to as BA does, so I will need to pick 2 or 3 carriers. With the One World alliances and the lessening of restrictions between the partners, I might be able to use Cathay as my preferred carrier and book through them but fly on other airlines in the Alliance. I greatly prefer to note have to make this decision and hope that you can help me in this matter. I look forward to your response. Regards, John _______________ John Sullivan Chief Technology Officer and Co-Counder ========== British AIrway's Latest Official Response: **Please DO NOT reply directly to this email by using the ‘reply’ function on your personal email settings, as it WILL NOT be received. If you wish to send us a reply please use the link at the bottom of the email** Dear Mr Sullivan Thanks for contacting our Director of Customer Experience, Troy Warfield. I've been asked to respond to you on his behalf. I understand you've been a loyal member of our Executive Club since 2000 and you're currently a Bronze member. However, I realise recently our Executive Club were unable to assist you in gaining Silver status. You explained you were 75 Tier Points away from gaining Silver status and your Tier Point collection year ended 08 September. I know your flight to Johannesburg on 05 September would have earned you this status. I'm sorry to hear on 29 August you were in a car accident and you broke your sternum. At first I understand you didn't feel this would affect your travel. However, after you visited your doctor a few days after the accident, it became apparent that you had Pneumonia due to the broken sternum and you were advised not to travel for three weeks. It's disappointing to hear there was no compassion or empathy shown when you spoke to our Executive Club team and he said there was nothing they could do to extend your Tier Point collection year. I appreciate this has left you at a crossroads as you don't wish to use other airlines as they don't offer you the routes we do, but I know we've let you down on this occasion. Unfortunately we're unable to give authority to extend your Tier Point collection year or honour your Silver membership. I know this isn't the answer you're looking for, but our Executive Club team are the only ones who would have the authority to make any decisions relating to your account. I'm sorry I can't assist you further, but be assured I've fed your comments back to our Customer Experience team to assist us with improving our service. Thanks again for contacting us. We truly value your loyalty as a Bronze member of our Executive Club and we look forward to welcoming you on board again on 01 October from Austin. If I can assist you with anything else, please don't hesitate to contact me directly by using the blue link below. Best regards Alexandra Lee British Airways Customer Relations Your case reference is: ********** 5 Please use the following link to send us a reply and quote your case reference ********** 5 in any correspondence with us: replyto.me.ba

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