British Airways bans another cello
OrchestrasBA is back to its bad old ways. Protest by the Singapore cellist Leslie Tan:
Dear British Airways,
I am a professional cellist who has been flying internationally with my cello, in a career that has spanned 40 years. And not once have I had any problems with flying with my cello, as I had always purchased a ticket for my cello.
Unfortunately I am now writing with regards to an arbitrary decision over an inane technicality that cost me at least an extra SGD 3000 and even resulted in me having to rearrange – over 4 long hours , and on my own – all my flights back home, with absolutely no help from anyone from British Airways, at the airport in A Coruña, Spain.
Here’s the timeline that led to such a stressful and displeasing experience:
I was in Spain to bring home to Singapore a cello I had sent there for repairs. I had bought an extra seat for my cello from A-coruna-Madrid- London, London-Singapore on British Airways. I was about to board when someone from the ground crew in Spain said my ticket for the cello was bought incorrectly and it contravened British Airways rules.
Let me explain – BA allows extra seats to be bought for musical instruments, but it has to be tagged under the passengers’ name.
I did just that for the London-Singapore sector; however, for the Spain-London sector the BA help desk said it was unable to help me with purchasing an extra seat so I had to purchase that sector via an online portal. (This usually requires me to buy the extra seat under different name. And I have done this without any problems ever).
On this trip I bought the extra seat with the name Tan/CelloExtraSeat.
Also, in good faith, since I had already made arrangements with BA for an extra seat for the London-Singapore sector, I made sure my A Coruña- Madrid-London were also BA flights (BA7105 operated by Iberia airlines. And BA459 operated by BA).
And just for clarity’s sake – I had 2 tickets. 1 for me and 1 for the cello. There was no double booking, no cheating on fares- I PAID FULL FARE.
At the A Coruña airport I was issued 2 boarding passes and was ready to head home.
However at the very last moment, at the boarding gate, I was told that there was no way I could get on, that BA would not let me get on, and that there was no other way they could help me rearrange that flight. They had apparently tried calling BA but no one was picking up.
So for the next 4 hours, in the departure hall, I had to try call BA in Spain, London and Singapore. No one from British Airways could help me resolve the issue. Eventually I had to REBOOK all my flights back to Singapore and I had to FORFEIT all my already booked flights as there was no way I was going to make the connections at Heathrow. And this included the extra seats I had already paid for!!!!
I stayed an additional night in Spain and I still don’t have my cello. The only reason for me to go to Spain was to hand carry the cello home, and now I will have to have it couriered back! And additionally, my partner was travelling with me, so she had to change her flights too!
In my 40 year career as a professional concert cellist, this is the first time I have been put through this nightmare. And not by a small unknown airline, but by an international airline with a rather prestigious standing!
I chose British Airways because I trusted you!
This must be so incredibly frustrating for you, and huge sympathy: arbitrary decisions made by airline sub-contractors on the ground are maddening (and BA’s code-sharing with IB continues to produce all sorts of booking conflicts as the two reservation systems are not really compatible at all).
For what it’s worth, having been moving orchestras, ensembles and individuals around the world for more than 35 years, even though it costs us a small admin extra fee, when booking any flight on almost any airline where we have an instrument to go on an extra seat (we do this whether it’s a group booking with 80 people, or just a cellist plus cello flying in for rehearsals), we use a specialist travel agent. We have worked with Specialised Travel in London for more than 30 years, but there are doubtless other firms who can also get into the airline reservation systems and input the necessary codes for a cello into the booking – every airline seems to have a slightly process.
An extra bonus (apart from peace of mind) is that often the admin fee is covered because the travel agent can usually remove some (or all) of the airport taxes, as those are often only applicable to humans. And these taxes often amount to more than the admin fee. Our agents also offer a 24-hour emergency service: we’ve only needed to use it once, but it resolved a very early morning crisis.
In this age of high-tech, all this shouldn’t be necessary, but when you see the reams of code on the booking screen for even one individual ticket, you realise that most airline booking processes remain unbelievably clunky, probably because new areas for reservation systems simply get bolted onto old. Those handwritten tickets from decades ago containing layers of orange carbon paper hold a curious attraction…
SHAME on British Airways!
How many times must this happen to full fare-paying professional musicians?
Heathrow is the pits, by the way.
And so is the pedo-protecting BBC.
SHAME on you, Dr Chang, for such an infantile comment about the BBC.
As a Brit, I am ashamed of BA representing this country as our nation carrier.
Shame on you BA. You should make things right!
Mr. Isserlis can sing a song or two about that, I believe…
This here, is an absolute tragedy! Booking with an airline that has such a reputation as British airways has, one would think that one would have no such issues!
But think again. Behind the scenes is a shambles.
Outsourcing cheap labour in call centers (with Capetown and Delhi being the worst) I am able to share this nugget of information as my sister works in the industry, based in Germany. Which is sadly closing office later this year (2023) again, for the sake of outsourcing labour cheaper in Bucharest, Romania.
Phoning BA and having the misfortune of being put through to Capetown or Delhi, WILL only have the phone hung up on you, the customer, whether it be for making arrangements for a seat for a cello or god forbid something simpler like simply changing a flight and being given a quote to do so, or anything in between! Let’s only hope that this new (cheaper than Germany) call centre in Romania can deliver the goods!
Misuse and misinformation in regards to medical policy’s and bereavement policy’s are commonplace, pretty much the norm! And then apparently, it is the German office that picks up the pieces and cleans up the mess that these other staff members outsourced as cheaper labour in these other countries make.
I am often hearing horror stories of situations that are not only mind bogglingly stupid and silly, but also disrespectful and rude in attitude. Also some that are absolutely heartbreaking and shameful to the agent who took the call and did not follow protocols or even simply TRY and help. It is my sister’s job to clean these messes, and to make sure that people like Mr Tan do not suffer such incidence. I have had her crying down the phone many times to me, after being so affected by some people’s problems or issues with bookings that she has had to fix, wading through a sea of sh#t left by previous agents. It breaks the heart of us “normals” who actually care, and have a heart!
But, due to the need to cut costs, maximising profits, this is only the beginning of such drama and bad press for the airline.
The people who hold memberships with BA (the ones who earn the points and frequently travel and are rewarded by the airline) are in for a big shock very soon with the way that business is being run and the service that they will receive into the new year. Or the lack of it.
Quite honestly, from what I have heard, from this reliable source (as mentioned) The customer service and assistance available to customers will only continue to go down the toilet with the closure of this contact centre, seemingly the ONLY one that employs the staff who who are trained to care and work with their hearts, as well as work professionally.
My heartfelt sympathies and frustration in equal measures are felt in reading this article, in knowing that Mr Tan was so misinformed as well as inconvenienced so much. Having to “forfeit” a flight when there are options available, to retain the ticket, either by putting it on hold (possible) or rebooking it for a future date (possible) those options, and more not being offered. Shameful, also illegal and a breach of contract on the airlines side!
Tough times coming for BA, that’s for sure! Customers deserve more! Time will tell with the articles to follow in the next years time. The reputation of this airline shall crumble and fall like a lost civilisation, once glorious but now a ruin.
#Always take the name of the agent and the team leader that they work under, when calling before you EVER answer any security questions that are always (should always be) asked at the start of the call!#
You wanted capitalism and “democracy” enjoy it all.
Sure it wouldn’t happen on North Korea or Venezuela, since the only planes that actually work and are not for military purposes are only to the upper-class of the government positions, as most people in those countries have never SEEEN an airplane up close before. Get your idiotic political ideas away of this rather serious discussion.
The issue is who is operating the flight, not who you bought the ticket from. I believe that one of those flights was operated by Vueling (VY), probably the flight number in the 7,000 series, and VY is a whole different kettle of fish. Not surprised there were issues with the cello, they are not known for their customer service or human qualities. And that’s before we even get started on all the irregular operations – delays and cancellations.
Any ‘prestigious standing’ BA ever had is a distant memory. It’s now merely a large budget airline charging premium prices for a sub-Ryanair service.
Exactly right
“NO WAY BA” still applies as it is a chaotic organisation having been offered cold food and cold comfort in Business Class BAH-LHR-ZRH and on return no full hot English breakfast 1030am at LHR Terminal 5 lounge, only samoosas and cardboard breakfast on offer. Nobody to complain to, all very spartan despite the high cost ticket.
The LHR-BAH leg was equally disappointing as whoever designed the cabin had no intention of travelling in it. The so called fold flat bed had to awkwardly have the lower section folded down first, rather resembling a toilet seat. The TV screen was difficult to access and swing around for viewing. Seats arranged like cattle pens going for slaughter!
A senior stewardess asked me if everything was alright so I politely gave her chapter and verse about the outward and inbound trips.
She stated that many Business passengers complain about the poor standards on BA.
To break the ice, without speaking, I showed her a picture of the Duke of Kent on my phone in his Royal Navy uniform. Apparently I somewhat resemble him.
There was a look of shock on her face and questioned me as to why I was in Business. I retorted that HM the Queen had been cutting down on travel expenses lately.
With that she took my phone to the male purser. A few minutes later I was asked to move foward into the First cabin as the only passenger where I was wined and dined all the way to Bahrain by a somewhat other effeminate orientation and perplexed purser.
You couldn’t make that experience up!
BA, were forgiven on that flight but have really stalled airside and aloft compared to say Middle East and Far East Airlines.
What was your point in you mentioning the personality of the Purser?
Speed Bird, what are you up to? Especially when there are so many other airlines on offer for passengers who’ll chose not to enjoy your, er, service.
Not a BA issue. CBBG seats must always be confirmed by the airline and cannot usually be bought online. And one airline will not confirm for another one (i.e. BA for IB) as each airline has a different policy. Which is why CBBG does not work on codeshares. Sad but reality.
I fully support BA’s action. Cellists had every opportunity to choose smaller instruments to learn when they were young. Cellists and bassists are asking for problems down the road. Sad but true.
True, I decided on purchasing the smallest violin in the world for this comment, and now I’ll carry my instrument in my pocket! It’s just great!
Congratulations for the most ignorant comment of the thread. Your argument is that no one should play cello and double bass? Orchestras and string quartets shouldn’t have cellos? Such groups should never travel? There should be no cello soloists? There is a way to travel with a cello- why can’t BA and partners implement a standard protocol that works?
I have had issues with BA in the last year and tried calling them never to get an answer. The best way to contact them seems to be via TWITTER ! It worked for me….
“They had apparently tried calling BA but no one was picking up.”
One of the tragedies of the digital age. First we went from real employees to call centres, whose minimum-wage responders were confined to reading from what appeared to them to be the relevant part of a script. Now we have ‘progressed’ to “If you can’t do it on the app, you can’t do it.”
Another shout out for Specialised Travel. The only company looking after musicians’ interests and instruments.