The head of British Airways in the Middle East said he would not waive a travel agent ADM worth almost $6000, even though he admitted he “felt sorry” for the agent who was forced to shoulder the massive debt to the airline.
Paolo De Renzis, British Airways' area commercial manager, Middle East admitted to Arabian Travel News: “If you ask me am I happy about this agent paying out from his own pocket – no I am not. But he made a mistake. The ADM system is justified because if there is a mistake made you get an ADM. There’s no doubt about it. These are the rules.”
Qatar-based reservations agent Purakot Balakrishnan was hit with the massive ADM of $5616 (QAR 20,448) back in 2006 for inserting a deal-code in the wrong box on a booking form. Balakrishnan has since been battling to have the ADM revoked, while in the meantime being forced to pay out around $220 of his pay packet to BA every month.
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While De Renzis claimed that many attempts have been made to find a “solution” for the agent to help him recover his money, Balakrishnan told Arabian Travel News that he was only contacted by the airlines after his plight was highlighted in the magazine.
“For the past five years I have been continuously knocking at the door of BA in Doha and Dubai. No ‘solution’ came until the article in your magazine with your professional approach which supported the travel trade who were drowning in ADMs.
“There was no solution given by BA in writing, but the local sales rep called my manager and told him to sell BA to select destinations and only on Premium Class to offset the difference towards the ADM.
“The solution BA gave us is not ethical and is also a bullying tactic to get us to sell more,” said Balakrishnan. “This deal was not accepted by the management.”
“If BA was sincere in solving my case they should have conducted an internal investigation and verified this situation with their tele-sales staff [who confirmed the booking was correct at the time]. The fact is that BA has sat on this issue and has never bothered to offer a solution or waive the ADM.”
Balakrishnan said he is hoping for British Airways to reverse the penalty.
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