Ladbrokes boss boycotts BA

Ever wished your complaint would actually be heard by a company that had wronged you?  Writing a letter of complaint can make you feel marginally better but it seldom has any effect on the company.  Unless that is you are the CEO of a huge company.

Ladbrokes boss Chris Bell was not too pleased with British Airways when, faced with an overbooking situation, they tried to remove his teenage daughter from their flight.

Returning from a family holiday in Barbados, Mr Bell – boss of one of the UK’s biggest sports betting companies - was travelling with his 14 year old daughter and her friend.  As happens all too frequently, the flight was overbooked with more passengers than seats.  BA staff asked Bell junior and her friend to stay behind and wait for the next flight, clearly not realizing who they were travelling with.  Eventually, after they refused and a dispute arose, all three were allowed on the flight and flew back to the UK together.

Mr Bell was outraged by BA’s behaviour and wrote a letter of complaint to the airline.  After a series of phonecalls, BA agreed to pay each girl £250 in compensation.  But this was not enough to appease the furious Mr Bell.

Chris Bell is now boycotting British Airways along with his 14,000 employees, who will not be allowed to fly with the company.  Ladbrokes usually books their corporate travel with BA, so the boycott could cost the airline £2 million in lost business.  This is not the first time Mr Bell has had problems with BA, in fact he described it as the last straw in a serious of incidents.

It would be great if the Ladbrokes’ boycott would actually cause British Airways to change their overbooking policy, but it seems unlikely.  However, Chris Bell must be feeling pleased with himself that BA has finally had to sit up and take notice.

Those of us with lost luggage, missed flights or stranded at Heathrow for hours on end can take comfort and some glee in  the fact that a disgruntled passenger has been able to take a bite out of the global giant that too often leaves a bad taste in the mouth of customers. 

If you’d like to contribute to the boycott, place a bet with Ladbrokes, and you can be sure that not a penny of your cash will ever find it’s way into British Airways’ pockets.