Has anyone had difficulty obtaining the BA free First Class upgrade.

Has anyone had difficulty obtaining the BA free First Class upgrade. I've been having the most horrendous time on the phone with the BA call centre staff, who keep giving me reason after reason why the upgrade wouldn't go through (even though A inventory is available on the flight I'm booked on). The agent sounded so unsure of himself and completely inept to deal with calls, where cases are outside the realm of what could be executed by a trained monkey!

Have you tried booking it online TRB? If so, which dates were you trying to lock in?

I've been able to get the website to 'quote' the free upgrade, although didn't proceed with payment. :)

Chris,

I had a complicated booking that could not be performed online. I wanted to put through several stop-overs and connecting flights involving CX.

What gets my goat is that the BA T&Cs are not very clear and it makes it seem like the call centre staff are just plucking reasons (excuses) out of thin air! 

I really hate the disconnect that is caused when companies outsource their customer-contact teams to third parties. It feels like ransom...they've got you in a bind. 

You know the product and company is good but the interface is all wrong. But is it really the company's fault that the interface is all wrong? Or maybe the interface is caught between a rock and a hard place because the company has failed to make things easy and clear. Where is the accountability? Where is blame apportioned?

I really really dislike the direction of this business model. There ought to be a better way for companies and customer to interact without having to stare at a computer screen!

And what is it with limiting call centres to specific times (9am - 5pm AEST)? Aren't we living in a globalised 24/7 world????

TRB, 

I agree with you 100%

Thank you Viscount. Glad to know I'm not the only one.