I don’t know about you, but I hate it the way it seems like companies always try to cheat you nowadays. They will post special offers or rebates but there is almost always a catch. It sometimes seems like they will do everything they can to keep from giving you what they promised– at least this is what I have been experiencing lately.
So, about a week ago I bought an airline ticket through British Airways for my flight back to the US for Christmas. I saw the same ticket on a cheap-flights type website for about 20 pounds less but the website seemed a bit dodgy—so I decided to play it safe and book directly through the airline. Lucky for me British Airways offers this service called Price Promise where they promise to match any price found on a competitors website for one of their tickets. They say that all you have to do is record the price that the other ticket is going for and take a screen shot of that page to send to them and they will pay the difference.
Well, as you can guess, this didn’t exactly work out for me. I mean, I noted down the price, took a few screenshots, and filled in their form. 
Next thing I know they are telling me my screenshots are unacceptable because they need a ‘date stamp’. Now, you can see the date and time clearly displayed on my screen in my screenshot- so what exactly is a ‘date stamp’ then? Does it say on the British Airline website—of course not! So I email them and ask for more specifics on what exactly is the date stamp, and I receive a vague response and the promise that they will send a sample screenshot. Do they send a sample? No. So I wait a few days and email them again- this time feel frustrated. Two days later they respond with a nearly identical email to the one they sent before saying they will send a sample. Days later, have I received a sample? No, I still have not received it.
I recently penned them a more aggressive email, expressing my disappointment in the company. Among other things I wrote that ‘it seems misleading on the part of the company to require something very specific of their customers but yet neglect to give them clear instructions on how to meet these requirements.’ I mean, I recognize that it is only 20 pounds that are at stake, but at this point I am just highly annoyed. I feel like there is always the hidden catch, always the fine print—sometimes even when you do exactly what they say, they’ll still cheat you out of what they owe you. So maybe it is only 20 pounds but I will continue to give BA a piece of my mind because this sort of behavior is all too common in today’s consumer culture—and I don’t like it.
Companies shouldn’t make promises they don’t want to keep.
Update: the epic war is over and I have been counted victorious. Yesterday I received this email from BA:
‘Thank you for submitting your claim for the British Airways Price Promise.
We have reviewed your claim and are pleased to inform you that it meets the criteria to qualify for a refund of the difference between the two fares.’
No explanation, no apology, and I still don’t know what a date stamp is– but hey, at least I am getting my twenty pounds back. So, did I change the system? Probably not- but still, my advice is to keep up the good fight, don’t give up, and sometimes it will be the Man that backs down.
Whooo hoo! I’m glad you got what you wanted, though I never doubted that you would. What will you put the 20 pounds towards?