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The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 26th May

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Comments (296)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • cinereus says:
    26 May26 May 09:23

    I’m amazed the VS Delta One redemption from US-EU isn’t talked about more. What other low tax options are there for VS points?

    • Sandgrounder says:
      26 May26 May 10:15

      Sshhhh! 🙂

      • Ryan says:
        26 May26 May 10:51

        It was talked about once, and I think that was too much….

        • AndyF says:
          26 May26 May 11:08

          any nod towards the eu country…

          • Lady London says:
            26 May26 May 11:33

            any
            More a case of the UK having been singled out for higher charges. Possibly linked to the ridiculous impact of UK APD on the outward half of an ex-UK return ticket and ‘spreading the love’ of that in some way.

          • Callum says:
            26 May26 May 13:18

            It’s got nothing to do with UK APD, it’s because of Virgin’s fuel surcharges. Presumably Virgin didn’t want their members all switching to redeeming on Delta.

            You pay the APD in full on the way out, you can’t “spread the love”.

          • ChrisC says:
            26 May26 May 15:20

            The savings on ex-EU aren’t reliant on APD. If that was just the difference then it wouldnl’t be worth doing it becaause once you include the cost of positoning flights and possible hotels you’ve made no savings.

            If people did the research and looked at the fare breakdowns and compared say an ex LHR and an ex EU when there is an offer on they would see that it’s the reduction in the airline fuel charges that generate the real savings not APD. Same as ex INV

            Few years ago I had an ex INV to JFK via LHR. If the saving was merely APD it would have been £170 odd less but the saving was over a grand. Ditto flights I;ve done ex CPH, DUB and AMS.

          • Lady London says:
            26 May26 May 21:51

            No, what I mean is it’s a market decision. As all ‘fuel surcharge’, ‘YQ’ and most of what BA or VS call ‘taxes’, are .

    • Grimz says:
      26 May26 May 22:07

      It’s hard to find availability?

  • Doog1000 says:
    26 May26 May 09:33

    Hi Slightly OT but wanted to raid the expertise of the BTL comments:

    Ordered some pizzas from Uber Eats last week that arrived stone cold and inedible due to the driver not being able to find my flat and taking 30 minutes from restaurant pickup.
    Uber Eats customer service has been more than useless, failing to offer any compensation, giving boilerplate bot like responses and not responding to my request for the correct Uber Eats address for small claims filing.
    The amount involved is not much but I feel strongly that a company should be able to operate like this and stonewall responses – does anyone have the correct Uber eats office address for me to file against them – I would protest via my credit card but apparently this will just lead to my account being cancelled.

    • Jonathan says:
      26 May26 May 09:44

      I wouldn’t think a DJ would be very impressed with an MCOL claim for cold pizza. You run the risk of being hit with a costs order for unreasonable conduct. Delivery pizza always arrives Luke warm & slightly soggy, that’s par for the course. Obvious response is why didn’t you reheat it in the oven?

      • Callum says:
        26 May26 May 10:38

        No it doesn’t always arrive lukewarm and soggy. I wouldn’t accept that as an excuse.

        Though I agree taking them to court is absurd, just complain to the bank.

      • BrianW says:
        27 May27 May 00:27

        @Jonathan, comical reply. You need to move to a better area if thats your level of expectation, clearly based on poor experience. I’ve never had pizza arrive luke warm and soggy. I think the financial results the likes of the main pizza delivery players post annually more than suggest your post is nonsense.

    • Yorkie Aid says:
      26 May26 May 09:44

      If their customer service is that bad why would you care about your account being cancelled?

      • Doog1000 says:
        26 May26 May 11:02

        its more that I use uber cars quite a bit and generally rate them. I probably will let it lie but I think there is a general issue of these delivery companies not compensating if food arrives cold which is not what you pay for – the fact that they get away with stonewalling customers leaving to recourse that I am aware for apart from smalls claims court – it’s a deliberate strategy and if consumers supinely accept it will be a successful one
        Thanks for the general replies and thoughts

        • Kevin C says:
          26 May26 May 13:34

          We had to wait about an hour for Uber eats a few weeks ago after someone forgot our order. Watching the driver go backwards on the app was fun. I’ve had refunds from uber eats for missing items but not for cold food.

    • Super Secret Stuff says:
      26 May26 May 09:48

      Did you pay on an Amex? Just let them deal with it. I had a delivery directly from a restaurant, they were lying about what happened and I had photos so they covered the £30 ish for both companies

    • Mouse says:
      26 May26 May 10:11

      Publicly giving them grief on social media is usually a good approach to getting an improved response from customer service

      • C says:
        26 May26 May 10:25

        If they’re like Deliveroo, good luck at even getting to acknowledge you as a customer. The last time Deliveroo failed to deliver part of my order, they denied that the order even existed — though I was eating the 80% of it they did deliver. I eventually had to give up , and instead voted with my wallet to prefer JustEat or ordering direct. Not that we’re big customers, but they have now lost far more revenue from failing to provide basic customer service than the cost of reimbursing me for a few missing items. The order was provided by one of their ‘dark kitchens’, so perhaps the fact that they couldn’t push the cost back to a restaurant owner also had something to do with it.

        • BuilBackBetter says:
          26 May26 May 10:44

          It’d be more difficult to push costs to restaurant owners. Easier for a dark kitchen as variable costs are lower.

        • Rob says:
          26 May26 May 11:12

          Last time Deliveroo failed to deliver part of my order, they had it redelivered 15 minutes later AND paid me back for it.

    • BuilBackBetter says:
      26 May26 May 10:43

      Not sure how it works, but I usually get a faster delivery if I tip in advance. I prefer Uber eats for this even though I have Deliveroo plus

    • Lumma says:
      26 May26 May 11:12

      I once had an order from UberEats for a meal deal which came with a drink which the driver dropped as he was handing me the food. Tried to get a refund for the drink and they refused to give me any more than 8p back as there was a sugar tax upcharge of 8p to get a full fat Coke as they claimed this was the value of the drink

      • Lady London says:
        26 May26 May 11:40

        incorrect : replacement cost can be higher.

        I’d have made them deliver another one for free.

        They have to insure, self-insure / absorb / expect delivery accidents and ensure customer gets what he paid for.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        26 May26 May 12:11

        Uber ears are odd with this when it’s a “meal deal” which is a joke.

        I also find it infuriating when they claim that essential items being missing is just a condiment or Cutlery.

        Ie If I was to order Churros and chocolate sauce. missing the chocolate sauce is pretty bloody integral to the dish.

        It’s not like they forgot ketchup or Mayo.

        Moral of the story is expect them to mess up!

  • Jack says:
    26 May26 May 09:33

    I have a hearing date in the next few weeks with BA (MCOL for rerouting rights under EC261 for cancelled flights). Is it likely to expect BA to settle beforehand or is there a good chance they turn up for the hearing? I need to prepare the documents etc. so would be good to know if anyone has similar experience. I think it is a strong case so can’t see why they won’t settle, but equally am prepared to present my case at hearing if needed.

    • meta says:
      26 May26 May 10:10

      They’ll contact you at the last minute (a day or two before, I suspect Friday) or won’t even submit anything themselves. For my last claim, they contacted me on Wednesday for Friday deadline.

      I thought everything is done via email, there is no actual hearing in person…

      • Jack says:
        26 May26 May 10:47

        Thanks, it’s telephone hearing but I need to submit documents 48 hours before. So assuming they’ll contact me before then.

        • meta says:
          26 May26 May 11:41

          I wouldn’t be surprised if BA decides not to show up either…

    • H says:
      26 May26 May 11:47

      Please keep us updated Jack, fingers crossed for you. I am defending BA’s response to CEDR at present.

  • Pete M says:
    26 May26 May 09:51

    I had to call AA the other day to make some changes to a booking and was rather surprised that they asked 0 security questions to let me mess with the booking. All they wanted was the PNR – given BA ask for your first hamster’s middle name this seemed almost careless!

  • Raveon says:
    26 May26 May 09:52

    Re disappearing IHG 5K points offer, having completed a stay last week, I emailed them a screen shot from my account from when it was still showing, and they credited the points to my account within a few hours.

  • M says:
    26 May26 May 09:53

    Barclays Premier – how to get in touch with my relationship manager? I have been a customer for a couple of years now, never heard from them.

  • Ant says:
    26 May26 May 10:12

    Very OT question: anyone can recommend an Events Company in London? Need to organise a client summer party at a top end property but no idea where to start from

  • Jonathan says:
    26 May26 May 10:42

    Has anyone had any recent experience of applying (and being accepted) for a beardy free card whilst still having the plus card account open ?

    There was some comments on here a week or two ago about being able to apply and get accepted for the free card, whilst you’ve still got the plus card, by simply using a different email address.

    I’ve got the plus card which I’ll be cancelling in September, but I’d ideally like to get the free card back quickly afterwards, 6 months is a long enough wait in itself ! I’ve got some old email accounts I haven’t used in a long time, but should be able to start using them without too much hassle

    Anyone who’s got any help or advice please write below !

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