BA downgraded us then scrimped on compensation as we'd paid with Avios and voucher: SALLY SORTS IT

My husband  and I flew from Costa Rica to London in January. 

We had planned a year in advance to use Avios points and a two-for-one companion voucher to buy premium economy tickets.

We were unable to check in online for the flight, so got to the airport early to be sure we would get our seats. 

However, BA had changed the plane to one that had a different seat configuration, and they could not put us in premium economy. All it offered was to return our points and give us a small sum of money.

We believe the downgrade wasn’t random and that we were discriminated against because we had paid using points, not cash.

J.G., London

Sally Hamilton replies: BA American Express credit card users can earn Avios points by spending on their card. 

Once they have spent a certain amount, they can use them to purchase flights and free companion vouchers. 

To redeem these, they must have enough points to purchase one ticket on an eligible flight, with the second issued free.

You paid for you and your husband’s trip with 60,000 Avios points plus £750 cash, along with the voucher.

On trying to check in 24 hours ahead of the return flight, as is normal with BA, the system told you something had gone wrong.

You showed up early the next day to be sure of getting your booked seats. Check-in staff said you had been randomly selected for a downgrade as the flight was overbooked in your chosen cabin.

You complained, but ended up in what many would agree are some of the least appealing economy seats on a plane – the middle two of four central seats.

Your formal complaint to BA brought little more than the return of your points (which you say you don’t need as you have plenty more) and a refund of the air passenger taxes, and you decided to escalate your case.

You raised a claim with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), an independent service for airline complaints. 

The case moved slowly as BA appeared reluctant to engage. After weeks went by, you asked for my help. I urged BA to investigate the progress of your CEDR complaint.

BA told me rather vaguely that your compensation claim was still in CEDR’s hands.

Meanwhile, I asked Rob Burgess, editor of the travel rewards website Head for Points, whether he believes points customers are at higher risk when downgrades are necessary. 

Mr Burgess says your type of predicament was a big talking point a few years ago when it seemed to be common practice that loyalty point spenders got the short end of the downgrade stick. 

But he says unless BA asks for volunteers for downgrading, it’s more likely to be a computer that decides.

Whatever the selection process, those chosen must be properly compensated and on the face of it you hadn’t received as much as you should. 

Under European legislation EC261, passengers in your situation, and flying distance, should receive 75 per cent of the ticket price when they are downgraded. 

BA says it calculated your entitlement at £145 plus 27,750 Avios points, as it said that the companion voucher had no value. 

You didn’t understand how it had arrived at these figures and argued it wasn’t nearly enough.

When you contacted CEDR to check progress, it said its decision was delayed as it had been waiting for further information from BA on how it calculated the monetary value of Avios. Even when I gave it a push, BA did not appear to provide additional information.

According to Mr Burgess, CEDR cannot order compensation in points, only cash, and if it receives no other evidence from an airline, it does its own sums.

With BA it usually uses the airline’s selling price for Avios, which is about 1.7p a point. With no response from BA, CEDR did its own calculations. 

It worked out that your 60,000 Avios points were worth £1,075. It decided you were entitled to a payment for 55,000 of those in compensation.

It disagreed with BA’s stance that your companion voucher had no value. CEDR told the airline to pay you £994.38 on top of the £213 you’d already received.

This is a good result. When we caught up you confirmed the money was in your account, eight months after you took the downgraded flight. 

Those in similar situations should take heart that it is possible to get fair redress for an unwanted downgrade.  

Groupon tea for two booking's got me steamed up

I ordered a £28 afternoon tea for two via Groupon for a friend’s birthday. Thinking this was a good present, I decided to order another for a different friend the same day. 

But I could only see one booking on the Groupon app, even though it had charged me twice. 

I can’t find an email address or contact number anywhere. I considered raising a chargeback via my bank but I’m frightened it will refund the wrong voucher. Please help.

A.P., Fareham

Sally Hamilton replies: Groupon is an online marketplace for buying services and experiences, ranging from travel and restaurant meals to beauty treatments at special rates. 

You didn’t want to cancel one of the deals as you were worried that the first friend might go to redeem their afternoon tea voucher only to find it was void.

You needed to ask Groupon about your second voucher but you could not find a phone number or email address for them.

Groupon prefers customers to use its 24-hour online chat service. But I did find an email address and confirmation it does not offer a direct phone number. 

This is an unwelcome trend, where customers are barred from speaking to a human to resolve an issue. I asked my contact at Groupon to help you find your missing voucher. 

I am pleased to say the mystery was quickly solved. You have two Groupon accounts, set up with different email addresses, with a set of vouchers issued to each.

A spokesman for Groupon says: ‘We’ve now sent both vouchers to the customer and suggested keeping only one account active. 

'Our support team is available 24/7 by chat and email, and we’re reviewing how clearly that route is signposted to customers. Thanks for flagging this and I hope they enjoy their afternoon tea.’

You realised that the error had arisen because you’d ordered one tea from your phone and the other from your laptop later in the day. 

If you had been able to phone or email the company, you would have quickly got to the bottom of the issue.

• Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email sally@dailymail.co.uk include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.