British Airways colluded with CEDR to Frustrate Claim. Any Idea to Assist?

[efpom]

If I am to make a sensible contribution I would need to evaluate the probative value of the evidence myself, rather than a description of it.

May I therefore suggest that you post up the evidence you describe - I am most interested in hearing the voice recording. It would assist if you could also transcribe that.

You can, if you wish add CDER as a co-defendant. However, that may be counterproductive as my view is that the CDER decision, as it stands may be useful as your evidence - you may wish to post up that also.

Please also be aware that you claim is likely to be allocated to the small claims track, where costs are not usually awarded. unless the party behaves unreasonably. It could be deemed to be unreasonable if a) CDER was added as a co-defendant and b) you saught witness summonses against BA staff, because your claim is against BA as a legal person, who has made it's decision not to entertain any claim by the pax for compensation.

The fact that this decision was made by a member of it's staff is not relevant to that. It's for BA as a firm, to justify it's position at trial. If it chooses to produce those witnesses at trial you are entitled to cross examine those witnesses. If you seek their attendance, you are calling them as your witnesses and you are not entitled to cross examine them.

I trust that my explanations suffice, but it is, as always the decision of a claimant to take or reject the contributions of posters on here.

[efpom]

Deleted - double posting of my #31

[A1A]

The audio file refused to upload. Please what file format is accepted on this forum?

[A1A]

efpom EXC rob Please can any of you assist me with the file format to upload the passenger recorded voice note that was before the CEDR as requested at #31? I already tried to upload with m4a (about 2mb in size) and mp3 (about 4mb in size) to no avail.

[EXC]

Is it a voice audio file you want to upload? I'm not sure the site has the functionality to do that.

[A1A]

EXC Please what is the file format acceptable on this forum? So that I could look for a system to convert it to that format. I have used the popular mp3 and failed to upload. I also used m4a again failed to upload. Also is 4mb in size acceptable?

[EXC]

I'm no techie but as far as I know it's limited to text files (ie MS Word, PDFs) image files (ie JPEG, PNGs). You can also embed videos from YouTube, Facebook etc. There's no function to actually upload audio or videos files directly to the forum regardless of file size.

But if you could post the MP3 on YouTube or Facebook you could either embed it in a post or simply post a link to it.

[A1A]

EXC Thank you for the idea which I used below.

Attention: efpom As requested please let me know if you can download the voice note in mp3 format. The link is below.


DECISION OF CEDR ADJUDICATOR

1. The Passenger claims the sum of £5,306.00 as compensation and reimbursement of costs

incurred in respect of denied boarding on the Flight. This sum comprises the amounts of £2,054.00 as fixed compensation; £2,502.00 as reimbursement for replacement flights; £450.00 for expenses and £300.00 as interest. The Airline denies that it is liable to pay such compensation or reimbursement as the Passenger missed boarding because she did not check in for the Flight on time.

2. The APR Regulations provide for compensation for passengers for delay, cancellation and denied boarding. Such compensation can only be awarded in line with legal entitlement. Article 4(3) of the Regulations provides that if boarding is denied to passengers against their will, the airline shall compensate them in accordance with Article 7 and assist them in accordance with Articles 8 and 9, which provide for reimbursement, rebooking and additional costs. However, Article 2(j) provides that an airline is not obliged to pay compensation where there are reasonable grounds to deny a passenger boarding, such as reasons of health, safety or security, or inadequate travel documentation. Further, Article 3(2)(a) states that the Regulations shall apply on the condition that passengers have a confirmed reservation on the flight concerned and present themselves for check-in at the time indicated in advance by the airline.

3. My role is to determine, on the balance of probabilities, whether the Passenger has established a claim for compensation under the APR Regulations. My determination must be made on the evidence provided.

4. The Passenger claims compensation in relation to denied boarding, following problems faced at check-in. The Passenger avers that she was at the check-in desk in time for the Flight, but that the check-in staff took too long to check her documents and therefore, that she was denied boarding. The Passenger notes that the Airline’s notice states that check-in closes one hour before departure and avers that she was at the check-in counter in sufficient time before the check-in was officially closed at 08:25 GMT on the Flight date.

5. The Airline states that the Passenger was denied boarding on the Flight. Further, the Airline notes that the Passenger claims that she was denied boarding due to the staff at the check-in desk at LHR taking too long to check the documents that she was travelling with. In this regard, the Airline refers to the notes added to the Passenger’s booking by the check-in agent at LHR at 09:21 GMT, which state that the Passenger missed the Flight. Further, the Airline refers to the response from the check-in desk, which states that if the Passenger had said that the agent took too long to check her documents, that this would have been included in the remarks in the booking notes. Therefore, the Airline avers that this confirms that the Passenger was denied boarding due to turning up late for the check-in for the Flight. Accordingly, the Airline denies the Passenger’s claim for denied boarding compensation and reimbursement of costs, as the Passenger was too late to check in for the Flight.

6. In view of the above, I am satisfied that the Airline’s booking records show that the Passenger was registered at check-in as having missed the Flight at 09:21 GMT, which was 4 minutes before the scheduled Flight departure time of 09:25 GMT. In this regard, I note that Clause 6c) of the Airline’s Conditions of Carriage states that passengers must check in by the check-in deadline. Furthermore, with regard to a passenger’s right to compensation, Article 3(2)(a) of the APR Regulations states that this shall apply on the condition that passengers have a confirmed reservation on the flight concerned and present themselves for check-in at the time indicated in advance by the airline. Thus, I accept that it is the passenger’s responsibility to ensure that they complete the check-in process by the deadline.

7. In this respect, I note that the Passenger has submitted no evidence to support her claim that she presented herself for check-in at the time indicated in advance by the Airline, which is one hour prior to departure. As such, I am satisfied that the Passenger did not present herself for boarding under the conditions laid down in Article 3(2) of the Regulations. Accordingly, I am persuaded that the Passenger was not denied boarding against her will within the meaning of Article 2(j) of the Regulations, as she missed boarding on the Flight because she failed to meet the check-in deadline. Therefore, I find that Article 4(3) of the Regulations is not applicable and thus, that no compensation is payable.

8. In view of the above, I find that the Airline is not liable to pay compensation, as the Passenger did not present herself for boarding under the conditions laid down in Article 3(2) of the APR Regulations.



AUDIO IN MP3 FORMAT

Please download and listen to the audio recorded voice of the Check-in-Desk Agent from this link:

https://www.sendbig.com/view-files/?...d-8a39aa353d27


TRANSCRIPT OF THE AUDIO

You came here I asked for PCR Test, all these messing around it all took time that’s not British Airways fault. All we do is put everything into the system. If you had Verifly App it would have been 1 2 3. Ok that’s the end. Otherwise I’m going to call security to have you removed because you are arguing all the time with us.

Write to Customer Relations you have the name Max, you have the name Shannon she is the duty manager at Terminal 5 on 26 December is that correct Sonia. [Sonia responded that’s correct]. You could quote her. They know all of us. When you write to Customer Relations they could look up on anything we touch and do. Okay. I asked Shannon can I give her surname and she said no. [Phone rings] Excuse me one moment. C16 [silent] Yes, me, I have been waiting for the Atlanta price [unclear segment] I have been on hold for 25 minutes and I have gone through this music. Have you got the price for me, please? Sorry just one moment. 5 7 6 point that’s the price to Atlanta today. Just one moment please. To fly to Atlanta Today Today this afternoon [at 2:40] is £576 exactly per person. Do you want to do that? The best thing you can do is write to Customer Relations and if they decide to fly we give you a receipt showing payment and you can try and see whether Customer Relations will reimburse you. That’s the best we can offer.

[EXC]

Ok! By the way when you tag R0b it's a zero in the middle and not the letter o.

[efpom]

On evidence.
It is tolerably clear that the pax arrived before check in had closed because BA had started the process of check in. It is also tolerably clear that the process of checking in took a long time because of BA’s scrutiny of the Covid 19 test documents, which resulted in the pax being denied boarding on their booked flight.

“"You came here I asked for PCR Test, all this messing around it all took time - that’s not British Airways fault. All we do is put everything into the system. If you had Verifly App it would have been 1 2 3.”" [emphasis added]
(Voice recording of BA staff)

But, It is not, and has never been, mandatory to use the Verifly app, which is BA’s way of speeding up the check-in process.

It is also tolerably clear that the Covid 19 documents were in order as the pax flew ex LHR later that day. ON BA?

On the claim
The claim is for breach of the contract of carriage
Each of the pax is a claimant.
Each of the pax is entitled to claim:
a) The cost of purchase of a new ticket
b) Compensation as follows:

long-haul flight of over 3,500km	Arrive 4 hours or more later at final destination	£520
long-haul flight of over 3,500km	Arrive less than 4 hours later at final destination	£260

If there are further expenses each item must be proved – in that context, before the adjudicator. each pax claimed £112.50.

There is no general rule that a claimant is entitled to pre judgment interest on an award. However, the court does have a discretion to award pre judgment interest on the amount awarded. – I would contend for a rate at 8% from the date of travel.

Finally, as this is a contractual dispute – a contract of carriage, damages for distress and inconvenience are very rarely awarded, and are very unlikely here, because of the statutory compensation being claimed.