A distraught mum claims she was left battered and bruised from a British Airways flight thanks to a faulty chair and monitor – branding the hellish journey the ‘worst experience of her life’.
Sari Sumaryono was travelling to Indonesia when she experienced a ‘nightmare’ journey last month. The 41-year-old was flying solo with her nine-month-old baby Kalix, with plans for her husband Djurre Woudstra to meet the family in Hong Kong.
However, upon arriving at the airport, Sari was shocked to discover there was no record of her son’s seat reservation, causing a two-hour delay at check-in. Sari, who paid nearly £4,000 for two premium economy seats to Jakarta, Indonesia, claims she was offered no assistance from BA staff, alleging cabin crew ignored her call light multiple times.
Sari, who works as a hedge funds investor service professional, further claims the monitor on her flight was faulty, falling onto her leg and ankle twice – causing multiple bruises. Sari said she discovered her connecting Cathay Pacific flight ticket from Hong Kong to Jakarta had been cancelled, claiming BA failed to link the flight onto her itinerary.
After this was resolved, Sari’s mammoth 40-hour journey went from bad to worse when she claims she was sat on a faulty chair – which did not recline nor have a working monitor or USB charger. Photos show the mum covered in bruises after her ‘nightmare’ journey – putting Sari off ever flying with the airline again.
British Airways apologised for Sari’s experience and said they were in touch with her ‘to make things right’.
Sari said: “I actually felt quite appalled. Never in the years I’ve been travelling have I been treated so badly. Having lived away from family this long, I have been traveling extensively back and forth between Indonesia and the Cayman Islands.
“I’m no stranger to long haul flights, hence why I can honestly say, the trip I had with British Airways was indeed the worst experience I have ever experienced.”
The two-week trip was particularly poignant to Sari, who emigrated to the US from Indonesia at 17, as it was the first visit back home after her father had died earlier this year.
Sari said: “Not to mention the trip we took was actually for a sad reason, as it was the first time we went to Indonesia after my father passed away, exactly one month before my son was born. This trip was supposed to be their first time meeting each other yet we had to visit my father at his final resting place. So being treated that badly by British Airways was traumatic.”
On the first leg of Sari’s trip, the mum claims her calls for help were ignored several times by BA staff.
Sari said: “They ignored my call light multiple times. They simply turned the light off and never came to assist. I barely was given enough water to drink, and couldn’t even go to the bathroom. I couldn’t just hand my son to strangers.
“When I complained to one of the crew members, the response was ‘why don’t you ask your husband for help’, referring to the gentleman sitting next to me. The monitor stand was a little loose, it fell on me twice, causing a nasty bruise on my leg and on my ankle. It was a horrible flight where no one helped me.”
And the journey from London to Hong Kong left Sari with several bruises due to being unable to recline her seat for 13 hours.
Sari said: “If it wasn’t because of the help of kind strangers sitting closest to me, I would have had another nervous breakdown. I had the worst back pain, and bruises on the back of my arm from uncomfortable seating due to not being able to recline my seat, and my leg and ankle was in pain from the previous flight’s monitor drop.
“I told them my seat wouldn’t recline but no one came back to help me. I was upright the whole time and the baby was so heavy on me. I was in a lot of pain during the flight. The whole trip was hell. I’ve never been treated that badly on a flight.
“If I had a choice, I wouldn’t fly with BA again but it’s the only airline that flies directly from Caymans to London. I’ve told all my mum friends not to fly with BA. I wouldn’t wish what I went through on my worst enemy.”
A British Airways spokesperson said: “We’re really sorry for our customer’s experience and we’re in contact to make things right.”