I have HIV and can't cross Qatar but BA won't reimburse me

When Covid lockdowns prevented us from taking our BA flight from London to Malaysia, I accepted his e-vouchers to rebook later. BA has since changed the route so that all flights to Southeast Asia transit through Qatar. As I have HIV, which is considered a disability under UK law, I am not legally allowed to enter Qatar and therefore cannot book flights to the region with BA. So I need a refund to be able to book with another airline. However, BA customer service took a month to inform me that they have a no refund policy for e-vouchers. An agent actually suggested I call the Qatar Embassy to check if I would be deported if I flew to the country.KC, London

If BA had listened to your predicament and cashed in your voucher, they could have retained a loyal customer for future flights and saved themselves public shame. Instead, its robotic refusal to look past its fine print has caused you weeks of distress.

The airline just happened to half- tour last year and allowed customers who were due to fly between March and November 2020 to redeem their vouchers for a refund. Your flight was scheduled to depart in January 2021 and is not eligible. BA's reasoning is that it was unable to offer refunds until November 2020, when passengers who were due to fly after that had the option of a voucher or cash.

That 'choice' is questionable. BA, along with other airlines, changed its website to make vouchers the only online option. Customers who wanted their money back had to wait in line on a busy phone line indefinitely. The airline only agreed to reimburse you for a service they were unable to provide after I raised the matter. It read, "We are in contact with our customer to apologize and resolve the issue."

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