SINGAPORE: A Singaporean has taken to social media to vent her frustrations with British Airways, revealing that she has been waiting for months for the airline to reverse charges and give her a promised refund after she was forced to double-book a flight. Her post has sparked outrage among fellow Singaporeans, many of whom shared their own nightmarish experiences with the airline.
In a Facebook post published yesterday (10 Jan), Felicia Oh-Lee said: “British Airways, I had hoped to avoid this, but your continuous mishandling has left me with no alternative.
Ms Oh-Lee bought flight tickets online, from British Airways’ official website on 28 April last year and even received a notification about online check-in, until she arrived at the check-in counter on 23 October three hours ahead of departure, only to be informed that her tickets were “suspended.”
After a prolonged and confusing process, she was forced to repurchase the tickets due to the airline’s failure to receive the initial payment. Ms Oh-Lee said: “And all this took well over 2 hours, resulting in a mad rush to catch our flight, nearly missing it in the process. Thereafter on board, take-off was delayed for an hour due to “paperwork”.”
Although Ms Lee later confirmed with her bank that no initial deduction was made, she was shocked to discover a double billing on her credit card statement on 4 Dec, prompting her to contact British Airways’ hotline. She said she was assured a refund within 10-14 working days but faced further delays and discrepancies in the refund amount.
Despite assurances from British Airways on 19 Dec and 2 Jan, 2024, regarding the completion of the refund process, Ms Oh-Lee alleged that the full refund was never received. She recounted a series of frustrating calls with the airline’s customer service, including conflicting information, the absence of a transaction reference, and unfulfilled promises of email updates.
The situation reached a peak on Wednesday, when Ms Oh-Lee’s fifth call to British Airways customer service reportedly ended abruptly. A subsequent call to the airline’s hotline resulted in an unfulfilled promise of a callback within 15 minutes, leaving Ms Oh-Lee hanging on the line for over 30 minutes.
The Singaporean said, “It’s been so trying and so painful BA, and my only mistake was ever choosing to fly with you.”
She added, “I’ve since spent 2 hours 34 mins speaking with your customer service and it doesn’t seem like I’m any closer to any refund nor recompense. How much more time do you require to rectify your errors and return my funds?”
Singaporeans responding to Ms Oh-Lee’s post recalled their own terrible experiences with British Airways, with some saying that they have chosen to boycott the airline due to repeated issues like this. Others were appalled by the case and urged Ms Oh-Lee to lodge a police report or consumer complaint, to hold the airline accountable for its alleged mishandling.
British Airways has not issued a public response to Ms Oh-Lee’s claims at the time of reporting.