[iyordanov]

Last year (2014) I bought tickets from SOF (Sofia) to SFO and back (San Francisco). I am a San Francisco resident, originally from Sofia, Bulgaria. I already had the first part of the trip (SOF -> SFO). The second part (SFO -> SOF) was scheduled for 16 Dec this year (2015). The tickets were for myself and my wife (Maria Yordanova), both in business class. The total price I paid is $9970.46 (I can verify this with receipts).

In early 2015 my wife got pregnant with what's to be our first child. Her due date is Sept 26 2015. Given that, we've decided not to travel to Bulgaria with 2.5 months old baby in a country with severe winter weather and flu epidemic. So I went to the British Airways website, found my booking and clicked the Cancel/Refund button to cancel it, with the intention to get a full refund so I can just buy the tickets later on when we're ready to fly with the baby. The system allowed me to cancel them, did not issue any warnings whatsoever.

As it turns out though, those were non-refundable tickets, which I was unaware of. As a result, BA refunded 2x$168 (airport fees). I called their customer service multiple times, filed a complaint, sent them medical documents proving my wife's pregnancy. At the end of it (almost 1 month back and forth with them) they told me that they will not refund my tickets. OK! In this case I asked to simply have them back so I can change the dates and add my future daughter to the flight. That request was also rejected from every single department in BA that I called.

The bottom line is that they had to either refund me $9970.46/2 = $4,985.23 or at least give me my tickets back. I paid for these tickets after all. Their online system never warned me that this would happen. If it did, I would've never requested the cancellation in the first place. The BA people acknowledged the bug but said that nonetheless they will not give me my tickets or my money back and that I should just move on and be more careful the next time. This is insane!

A week ago I e-mailed Mr. Keith Williams, Chairman and CEO of British Airways. I got a reply from his office that basically said the same - "We're not giving you your tickets or your money back".

AVOID BA LIKE THE PLAGUE! I am not sure how this crappy company can even be considered a legal business entity. They are nothing more than a mafia group.