‘I took British Airways to court because it cancelled my flight – and I won’

Earlier this year Brett Clancy faced down British Airways in the small claims court over an outstanding £55 refund and won. Mr Clancy said: “It might seem like a nominal sum, but it was a matter of principle. I didn’t do it for the money but rather to ensure BA paid what it owed.”

Last year Mr Clancy paid £265 for return tickets to Madeira, but BA cancelled his inbound flight. The airline refunded £76.70 – 30pc of the total ticket cost.

But Mr Clancy argued that he was owed a refund of half the entire ticket price, or £132.50. Even though BA argued that the fare for the return leg of the journey was much lower than for the outbound trip, Mr Clancy refused to back down and took the fight to the courts, where he represented himself.

He said: “Among other things, I argued that the prices of flights that they referred to on their online booking system were merely indications and could change during the booking process. I argued that the customer did not ‘agree’ to those prices and never saw them again, and that they did not appear on the ticket, which is the contract.”

A judge in the county court agreed and ordered BA to pay the outstanding refund of £55.84 and reimburse court fees.

Mr Clancy added: “It was time consuming, but I was just sick of shoddy customer service from large companies. It’s not that difficult to sue big companies in the small claims court and hopefully, if enough people do so, it might force them to change their customer service approach.”

British Airways said: “The cost of tickets is clearly displayed during our booking process.”

If an airline falls short of its legal responsibilities when it pays a refund or compensation for a delayed or cancelled flight, make sure you know your rights.

Mr James said: “If an airline declines your application for genuine reimbursement, a good next step is cutting and pasting a link to the law that dictates its obligations. Ask it why it is disagreeing with the law. It is…