British Airways customers angry at ‘bizarre’ handling of data breach

British Airways customers have shared their anger at the airline’s “bizarre” handling of a data breach which compromised around 380,000 card payments over a 15-day period.

A British Airways Gold member based in Milan said there had been fraudulent activity on his American Express credit card, which he used to book a British Airways flight two weeks ago.

The customer, who preferred not to give his name to prevent any further activity, said: “I’m astonished. This should not have happened with a worldwide group like British Airways.

“They talk about compensation to be discussed on a case-by-case basis. To me, this seems incredibly unprofessional.”

“They are trying to not take full responsibility for it,” he added.

He said he found it “bizarre” to find out about the data hack through social media rather than receiving an immediate email from the airline.

A 57-year-old Londoner, who also preferred not to give her name, said she is yet to receive any communication from the airline despite someone using her card details to make a purchase.

She first heard about the data breach on Friday after booking a flight on the airline’s app on September 5. She said she checked her online banking account immediately and a fraudulent transaction was made on Thursday.

“They appear to be saying on Twitter that everyone who made a booking online or on the app during the timeframe is affected and they would be emailing everyone,” she said.

“There’s still nothing from BA, even though it’s clear they know every transaction during that period was involved and there’s no other reason for the payment.

“I cancelled my card as soon as I heard about the breach on the news. Very inconvenient, but hopefully I’m protected from any further fraud.”

Another BA customer, Melissa, 54, from Bangalore, booked a flight to Houston on August 22, a day after the airline said its system was compromised.

After receiving the email from BA to say that she may have been affected, she contacted her card provider American Express to cancel her card.

She said a lack of communication between BA and American Express meant she had to wait hours for her card to be cancelled.

“The link did not provide very much information and I just felt that BA was passing on the buck of resolution to our financial service providers and absolving themselves beyond an apology,” she said.

“I had, and still have, no idea what exactly has been compromised.”