‘British Airways website error cost me more than £300, but I don't have a booking'

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Dear Which?,

My wife and I were planning a trip from Aberdeen to Dublin to attend a wedding and booked flights with British Airways for a total of £306.16. 

After making the booking, the screen displayed the message: ‘Unable to complete this transaction at this time, please try again later.’ I tried again and it still didn't work, so I assumed there was an error and made other plans.

Later that month, I found that four BA transactions had been charged to my credit card and immediately disputed them with my credit card provider, Marbles, which is owned by NewDay.

I thought the case was closed when I was credited for the four disputed payments. Two months later, NewDay emailed me to say that British Airways was defending three of my four disputed payments, and the charges were reapplied to my credit card.

I contacted British Airways’ customer support via online chat and was told that I could cancel the flights but would only be refunded the taxes as per the T&Cs. I contested this and was given a number to call for further help, to no avail. 

Are you able to help?

Ken Bruce

Put to rights

Tali Ramsey, Which? consumer rights expert, says:

This sounds like an error that should have been resolved quickly. Instead, you were stuck in a customer service doom loop for months, which I'm sure many can relate to.

NewDay told me it hadn't processed your case as a Section 75 claim under the Consumer Credit Act because it didn’t believe your dispute qualified as such, as it thought there was no breach of the merchant contract. It also told me that your claim was processed as part of a chargeback claim, which allows the retailer to respond and provide evidence.

Thankfully, after I contacted British Airways, it reviewed its decision and offered you a full refund, apologising for the eight-month ordeal.

Need to know

• If a website crashes while you're paying for something, it's best to check whether the transaction has gone through by looking at your bank statement. If you find there's a charge, you should raise a complaint with the trader immediately. 
• If the trader doesn't resolve the problem, you can try a chargeback or Section 75 claim with your card provider, depending on how you paid. Chargeback can be disputed by the trader, and Section 75 has some limitations you should be aware of, such as not covering transactions made to third parties, which often applies to booking platforms. 
• If your bank or card provider rejects the claim and you’re not satisfied with the outcome, you can escalate a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
• Complaints about airlines can be escalated to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme. The Civil Aviation Authority holds a list of approved ADR scheme providers and the airlines they cover on its website.

Get in touch. If you've got a consumer rights problem you need resolved, email us at yourstory@which.co.uk.

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