[annekathrynolsen]

We were scheduled to fly from Toulouse to San Francisco October 6th for professional concerts in the USA with our musical ensemble. (BA0377, BA0285) Despite having an extra seat booked for and paid for and confirmed by telephone, we were not allowed to board with our musical instrument and told we hadn't paid for the seat and it was not in our reservation. We were left without help and forced to book a new flight for over 10,000 dollars. We still have not been helped and our reservation to return has been cancelled. We are stranded (on an expiring visa) and still haven't heard any response from British Airways. Detailed description below:

* The flight, booked by the organization San Francisco Early Music Society on our behalf, included (in compliance with airline policies) an extra seat (CBBG) for our musical instrument.

* The flight was booked on the 3rd of June and owing to problems confirming the extra seat, it wasn't until July 2nd that we were finally able to pay for the extra seat. We never received written confirmation for the seat, and upon alerting the airline on September 16th of this issue in 3 separate calls, we were told that "the successful payment of this booking on July 2nd was the confirmation of the extra seat".

* When we arrived at the airport for our flight, we were denied boarding and told that we didn't have any CBBG reserved, that it was reserved as a bulk luggage and that we would have to check the instrument or not take the flight. This is a fragile medieval instrument that would be destroyed in the hold, that is the reason we ALWAYS purchase an extra seat (we have 20 years of experience traveling professionally with the instrument). This is also why I called the 16th of September, having noticed that the CGGB didn't appear in the booking, a full month before to be absolutely sure everything was fine. We were still not allowed to board. Then we were marked by the gate agents as "no shows" and told there was nothing to do to help us.

* We tried to call British Airways, which was almost impossible as none of their numbers worked at that hour in France. Finally we reached an agent several hours later via chat who told us that indeed we HAD booked CBBG and it was marked in our file and we should have been able to board. She directed us to speak with the gate agents, who then told us we'd been rebooked to the next flight, but without the extra seat. They instructed us to call again for the extra seat and didn't allow us to board that flight, either.

* We called again and were told there was nothing they could do to rebook or help us as they had escalated the complaint to a different team that would contact us within 48 hours to find a solution. We said we couldn't wait that long as we had to perform in a concert within that period, and we suggested booking another flight, even paying ourselves until they could handle our problem, but we were told that was impossible as our names were tied up in the escalation of the booking.

* We were forced to book through another airline (IBERIA), and ironically they booked us onto the British Airways flight the following day from TLS-SFO through code share (, and had no problem confirming the extra seat and we traveled successfully that day (yet had to pay 8,750 euros, around 10,000 dollars for this flight)

* We have still not heard anything, despite being promised we would have an answer within 48 hours on our original flight complaint. I've since called numerous times, and each time I've been promised to hear back (from Kuala Lumpur offices) within 24 hours, or at least updated by someone on progress. I've received ZERO calls and ZERO updates. I have since called every day. It's been almost 5 full days and no resolution to our problem, and no news.

* We have been told verbally by all agents that we've spoken with that this was clearly an error on the part of British Airways, and not our error. We have receipts for the extra seat (paying the price of an extra seat and NOT bulk luggage). We have emails proving the request for payment of the extra seat. We have recorded calls proving the confirmation of the extra seat verbally and the promise of no issues.

We are requesting:
* Full resolution of our problem, with confirmed rebooking on our original departing flight (BA0218,BA0374 from Denver on the 17th of October, in the highest class, for both passengers and extra seat.
* Full reimbursement of all expenses related to the issue, including:
**Full reimbursement of the new flights booked on British Airways through Iberia, and any related costs.
**Full reimbursement of hundreds of dollars spent on international phone calls to reach the only working British Airways number.
**Upgrades to the highest class to account for the grave and incredible error and lack of assistance
**Full reimbursement of taxis spent getting to/from the airport for flights we weren't allowed to board and for flights we had to rebook and pay for out of pocket
**A formal apology from British Airways for the incredible inconvenience, stress, and financial loss we have endured for a flight that was booked 100% percent correctly on our part.
**A gesture of additional financial compensation (aside from the upgrade) to address the extreme psychological destress that this situation has added to our professional tour to the USA for concerts.

If we do not hear back in answer today, we will file a formal complaint with both the US Department of Transportation, the National Enforcement Body in France, and in Britain where the company is based. We will then take legal action.