Why British Airways sucks

So I'm sitting in the Paris CDG airport right now 3+ hours before my flight to Heathrow. There's a flight in about a little over an hour that would be "lovely" to take. However, when I asked if I can go standby, they tell me that my ticket is a special fare and it's not exchangable. Huh? So I ask, "Don't you have the concept of standby here?" To which the reply was, "Yes, but not with your ticket." I then ask if I can pay a fee to "upgrade" my ticket and allow me to get on the earlier flight. The response was not pleasant, and essentially "no". They weren't nice about it at all, didn't apologize that I have to sit here for 3 hours when there are plenty of empty seats on the earlier flight. Seriously, what the heck kind of policy is this? It doesn't make any sense to me. Screw these guys. This is the last time I fly on BA.