British airways’ online sale of collectible items no longer needed for Boeing B747 caused a havoc of buying from aviation enthusiasts and bargain-hunters.
Earlier, we had reported that British Airways is selling no longer needed Boeing B747 items.
In the first 24 hours, 5,000 purchases were made, with the website getting 250,000 page views. In the first 4 days, 1,900 six-packs of Club World class bread baskets were bought from the sale. Meal trolleys were among the first to sell out.
While there are plenty of satisfied customers, there are also plenty of dissatisfied customers – the ones who are venting annoyance about broken and missing items, non-deliveries and lack of responses from BA and the company it used to handle the sale, Whatabuy.
“During the ordering process, the site kept crashing after payment information had been submitted. This was the big worry, so I put in a couple of emails to Whatabuy and never heard back.”, said the director communications consultancy Kallinos.
The company in an email to a customer complaining about their order said that the demand was unprecedented and there had also been IT issues.
“This sale seems to have captured the imagination of travel enthusiasts. It offers them a chance to get hold of some authentic BA memorabilia,” Mr Jones from Head for Points told BBC.
BA said it had expected a huge amount of interest from aviation fans, bargain hunters and people looking for unique Christmas gifts.
“But of course, no one could have predicted quite how popular it would be and how quickly items would sell out,” the airline told the BBC.
“We are working hard to ensure all customers receive their orders as quickly as possible and in time for Christmas. We’re in touch with those who may not have received their items yet to reassure them they’re on their way.”, the airline added.
The airline has also promised refunds for any items that have not arrived in the condition advertised on the site.
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