British Airways your customer service at Heathrow Terminal 5 sucks
Written by Karen Bryan
Now I thought that British Airways dedicated Terminal 5 at Heathrow was supposed to ensure great service for passengers. Well I can testify to the fact that this is not the case.
My BA flight from Edinburgh to Heathrow Terminal 5 this morning was delayed due to fog at Heathrow. I was due to connect with the BA flight from Terminal 5 to Venice with a 70 minute gap between flights.
I asked the cabin crew on the Edinburgh flight what would happen re my connection and was told “that a dedicated customer service team was on hand to assist my connection”.
Initially I was fairly confident that all flights in and out of Heathrow would be delayed. However when I arrived at Heathrow 50 minutes late, at 09.30 I saw that the Venice flight was still due to depart on time at 09.50.
I saw that there was a British Midland flight for Venice departing at 11.05 so assumed that although it left from Terminal 1 that as I only had hand luggage I could make that flight. However this was made virtually impossible by the length of the queue at customer services where only two of the four desks was manned.
I stood in that queue at Customer Services for an hour. We had to demand that more members of staff come to the desk to attempt to reduce the queue.
I was told the only flight to Venice departed from Gatwicik at 19.50 arriving in Venice at 23.00, ten hours later than I was originally due to arrive. I asked if there was an alternative route so I could arrive earlier than 23.00 but was told no, that was my only option.
The customer service representative gave me a voucher for the coach to Gatwick and when I asked about a meal voucher was told I’d have to get one from Customer Services at Gatwick.
I went to board the Gatwick bus but was refused boarding when I showed my voucher, being told that I had to go to the National Express office to exchange my voucher for a ticket, so yet another queue but at least I had plenty of time. Why didn’t Customer Services tell me I had to go the National Express office.
On arrival at Gatwick I went to British Airways Customer Service, yes another queue, where to my astonishment I was told that I had in fact been booked onto the British Midland 11.05 flight from Heathrow to Venice but due to length of the queue at Heathrow Customer Services I was unable to catch that flight.
At Gatwick I was offered the option of a flight to Venice via Rome which was due into Venice at 21.00. However I didn’t want to chance another connection. Now I had asked if there was any way I could get to Venice earlier at Heathrow Customer Services and was told no. So how come Gatwick Customer Services could find an alternative?
British Airways you need to get your act together and provide some decent customer service. If you know that incoming flights are delayed and connections will be missed you need to be more on the ball in trying your best to ensure that passengers can catch the next possible flight.
How have you found the British Airways customer service at Heathrow Terminal 5?
Oh my gosh that sounds terrible! Incompetence at its best. Whilst I appreciate that all travel operators face a big logistical challenge, even when everything follows plan, there really is no excuse for such a catalogue of errors. Wouldn’t it be better to take a little extra time preparing each passengers new itinerary rather than rushing through mistakes.
Hi Karen .. I’d have kicked the bucket .. dreadful .. I hate travelling .. just a nightmare ..
Hope you’ve calmed down?
Rowen – yes I agree that it’s a challenge for airlines to sort out the aftermath of delays such as weather over which they have no control but that dediciated cusomter service team referred to by cabin crew seemed tpo have disappeared into thin area when
I landed at Heathrow.
Hilary – I’m still mad about delay as it meant I arrived at my destination in Croatia at 01.30 losing an afternoon and evening there.
Plese don’t tell me about madness .. yes .. it’s a pain .. but in rational terms .. my Mum’s in hospital .. she’s well (ie she’s not unwell!) .. something came out & needs to go back in .. they’ve tried twice .. and she’s been there 3.5 weeks .. so now I look at things in a different light .. on top of that she’s dying .. having had 3 major strokes just over 2 years ago .. so her days are numbered & 3.5 weeks in hospital is a little much .. perspective kicks in .. actually since it happened -I’ve come to look at things in a different light ..
Yes – it is sheer incompetence on BA’s behalf .. & I agree a nightmare .. I’d hate it too!! It’s just c’est la vie ….
Sorry .. this is probably a bit strong .. not meant to be .. I still love your writing and the places you visit!!
Hilary – sorry to hear about your mum and yes in the grand scheme of things a travel delay is totally inconsequential but when the delay is avoidable, if BA were on the ball, it still annoys me.
A different spin on their “customer service.” My husband and I arrived a few minutes too late to get through security for our flight, we were cutting it too close, it was our fault. We went to customer service to rebook, knowing we had been booked for the last flight of the day so we had traveled out to Heathrow for nothing and had to get back into the city and check back into our hotel (hundred of pounds/dollars wasted). We booked new full fare flights without really flinching and we were about to walk away feeling rather down but okay with the situation. This was when a male employee stepped in my way and informed me that I was too intoxicated to fly. I had been sucking on cough drops, strong ones from Boots and I guess he had smelled them… I don’t see why it even mattered though since I wasn’t even getting to fly home (to Switzerland) that night! I spoke from the heart and told him that what he said was unhelpful and unneeded, eventually I even testified for my sobriety but really that wasn’t the issue here. I’m fairly certain that he was just going out of his way to kick me while I was down. I wasn’t even drinking, and I wasn’t even boarding a plane!!! I could see someone being overly careful with their rules at the gate or at security, I was really surprised to encounter such treatment at “customer service.” Mostly I came out of the situation angry that he had made me upset when I had taken everything else in dreadful evening like a trooper. I’m sort of wishing I had asked for his name… but I figured BA wouldn’t care. Am I right?
Melissa – OMG it is such a pity you didn’t get that employees name but I’m sure at the time of the incident you were so taken aback (by that employees behaviour as well as having to pay full price for new flights and for overnight accommodaiton in London) that you weren’t thinking straight.
Did you go to FLIGHT CONNECTIONS at LHR or the CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK?
I think you had been booked on the earlier flight.
Allan – thanks for your comment. On arrival at Terminal 5 I went straight to the Flght Connections Desk, assuning they would have tickets ready for me to collect so i could make my way to next available Venice flight (afer all I’d been assured by cabin crew on the flight from Edinburgh that a dedicated customer service team on the ground was working to ensure my smooth passage). However at Flight Connections I was told i’d have to go to Cusomter Services. I protested saying if I’d to join that queue I’d never make the bmi flight to Venice. However this fell on deaf ears as I was told my only option was to join queue at Customer Services which as I’d predicted meant I’d no chance of catching that bmi Venice flight.
Arrived on the 13th of september with my seriously ill son at Heathrow from Dallas. (upgraded ticket) Wanted to rest an hour or so in the airline lounge. This was denied. The attendant informed us “”rules are rules” She advised me to go upstairs and try to find her supervisor. Denied to talk with that person on the phone. What a inhumane service.
Any idea how to prevent that this serious complaint does not end up in the waste paper basket?
Jan – thanks for telling us about your experience at Heathrow Terminal 5. Were you given any reason why you and your son were denied access to the airline lounge?
I’m sorry but I can’t advise you on how to pursue this issue with BA. Have you made a formal complaint in writing?
Okay…..their slogan is “Upgrade to British Airways”…it seemed more like a low-down huge downgrade to me. My original flight was from Philadelphia to London. After I was told that my flight was canceled due to bad weather conditions, they not only told me that the next available flight was 3 days after, but they also said that they wouldn’t pay for any accommodations or meals during this 3-day period. As if this was not enough, they booked me on a flight from Philadelphia to Miami(which is a 3-hour flight) and then on a flight from Miami to London (an 8.5 hour flight compared to the 6.5 hours from Philadelphia to London). The most ridiculous part of the story is that they had seats available on the Philadelphia to London flight, but they would not put me on that plain because the only seats available were on an upper class cabin. I thought….what the hell….do they prefer to put me through all this hassle rather than just give me a seat that was going to be empty anyway. I had serious fights with them for almost a day when they actually hung up the phone on me twice…This is definitely ridiculous….their customer service was absolutely ATROCIOUS….across the board.
On top of all that they did not deliver my luggage. I had been waiting for 5 days and when I called them and told them that a delay period of five days is just laziness they told me that this is just my opinion and that they are proud of the service that are giving to their customers. I thought that they might as well be on drugs to tell me such a thing. Any reasonable human being would get extremely frustrated by this ridiculous service….
So my advice is AVOID THEM BY ALL MEANS….
Raphael – what a sorry saga. However I do know that severe Winter weather has wrought havoc recently with airline schedules in Europe and N America. I wondered if your travel insurance covers you for expenses incurred due to weather delays?
[...] just too big and there’s too much potential for things to go wrong. The last time I flew through Heathrow in April 2009, my flight from Edinburgh was delayed, so I missed my connection to Venice and ended up with a ten [...]
Just arrived into Terminal 5 Heathrow from Miami. My father is eldery and requires wheelchair assistance as does my mother. Wheelchair assistance was booked at the time the club class tickets were bought and everything went smoothly at Miami.
On the return trip today, my parents were kept waiting 1 hour at Heathrow whilst mobility transport was arranged. My father was becoming anxious and not to mention uncomfortable. This treatment of an elderly registered disabled person is outrageous. Who can I complain to about this shoddy treatment?
Susan – sorry to hear about your parents experience. I’m not sure if you can complain to anyone apart from BA.