Ryanair - Small Claims Court help
Bear22
Posts: 1 Newbie
I recently flew with Ryanair to Italy with the intention of spending 5 days trekking across the Alps and returning home from an airport in France. I had to pay Ryanair to put my bag in the hold which contained all my kit - tent, stove, food - you name it.
My bag didn't turn up on my flight, and it didn't the next day either. By this time it was too late to complete my trek, and I had no way of knowing if my bag would ever arrive. In the mean time I was spending a lot of money to stay in a hotel, buy food etc which would have added up to a huge amount had I stayed for the rest of my trip.
Had my bag arrived as planned I wouldn't have spent any money in Italy as it had my tent and all my food; furthermore I couldn’t serve the purpose of the trip. Best option was therefore to cut my trip short and fly home - courtesy of an extra £250 from Ryanair.
I have complained and received my expenses for food and hotel, but they refuse to treat the extra £250 as an valid expense incurred due to baggage delay. However, I had to pick up the bag from the airport in the UK myself, and I never received an answer on their baggage line despite calling 8 times. At the airport they said my bag had never been reported missing (it had) so my bag never would have been sent to me abroad. I want to take them to a Small Claims Court to refund the extra £250 they have made from their service failings (in addition to the £30 Baggage fee they haven’t returned). However:
1. I am based in the UK. I can use the Irish Small Claims court, but if it is contested I would have to pay to travel to Ireland and so if I lose I would be even more out of pocket.
2. I can use the EU Small Claims Procedure - but if I lose I could be liable for legal costs - not going to be cheap with Ryanair's lawyers.
Am I right with my concerns listed above?
Is there a way around this? Is anyone aware of a way to bring action against Ryanair without exposing yourself to huge legal / travel costs?? I thought the idea of Small Claims procedure was to limit time and expense.
My travel insurance only covers me for trips cut short for medical reasons.
All practical advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks all
My bag didn't turn up on my flight, and it didn't the next day either. By this time it was too late to complete my trek, and I had no way of knowing if my bag would ever arrive. In the mean time I was spending a lot of money to stay in a hotel, buy food etc which would have added up to a huge amount had I stayed for the rest of my trip.
Had my bag arrived as planned I wouldn't have spent any money in Italy as it had my tent and all my food; furthermore I couldn’t serve the purpose of the trip. Best option was therefore to cut my trip short and fly home - courtesy of an extra £250 from Ryanair.
I have complained and received my expenses for food and hotel, but they refuse to treat the extra £250 as an valid expense incurred due to baggage delay. However, I had to pick up the bag from the airport in the UK myself, and I never received an answer on their baggage line despite calling 8 times. At the airport they said my bag had never been reported missing (it had) so my bag never would have been sent to me abroad. I want to take them to a Small Claims Court to refund the extra £250 they have made from their service failings (in addition to the £30 Baggage fee they haven’t returned). However:
1. I am based in the UK. I can use the Irish Small Claims court, but if it is contested I would have to pay to travel to Ireland and so if I lose I would be even more out of pocket.
2. I can use the EU Small Claims Procedure - but if I lose I could be liable for legal costs - not going to be cheap with Ryanair's lawyers.
Am I right with my concerns listed above?
Is there a way around this? Is anyone aware of a way to bring action against Ryanair without exposing yourself to huge legal / travel costs?? I thought the idea of Small Claims procedure was to limit time and expense.
My travel insurance only covers me for trips cut short for medical reasons.
All practical advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks all
0
Comments
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I recently flew with Ryanair to Italy with the intention of spending 5 days trekking across the Alps and returning home from an airport in France. I had to pay Ryanair to put my bag in the hold which contained all my kit - tent, stove, food - you name it.
My bag didn't turn up on my flight, and it didn't the next day either. By this time it was too late to complete my trek, and I had no way of knowing if my bag would ever arrive. In the mean time I was spending a lot of money to stay in a hotel, buy food etc which would have added up to a huge amount had I stayed for the rest of my trip.
Had my bag arrived as planned I wouldn't have spent any money in Italy as it had my tent and all my food; furthermore I couldn’t serve the purpose of the trip. Best option was therefore to cut my trip short and fly home - courtesy of an extra £250 from Ryanair.
I have complained and received my expenses for food and hotel, but they refuse to treat the extra £250 as an valid expense incurred due to baggage delay. However, I had to pick up the bag from the airport in the UK myself, and I never received an answer on their baggage line despite calling 8 times. At the airport they said my bag had never been reported missing (it had) so my bag never would have been sent to me abroad. I want to take them to a Small Claims Court to refund the extra £250 they have made from their service failings (in addition to the £30 Baggage fee they haven’t returned). However:
1. I am based in the UK. I can use the Irish Small Claims court, but if it is contested I would have to pay to travel to Ireland and so if I lose I would be even more out of pocket.
2. I can use the EU Small Claims Procedure - but if I lose I could be liable for legal costs - not going to be cheap with Ryanair's lawyers.
Am I right with my concerns listed above?
Is there a way around this? Is anyone aware of a way to bring action against Ryanair without exposing yourself to huge legal / travel costs?? I thought the idea of Small Claims procedure was to limit time and expense.
My travel insurance only covers me for trips cut short for medical reasons.
All practical advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks all
Rehder v Baltic Air Corps
A claimant can claim against an airline in either the country of departure or arrival providing both are within the EU.
It is not entirely clear whether this applies only to reg 261/2004 but it certainly does seem like you can file a claim in an English or Welsh small claims court.
Neither the location of the head office of the company operating the flight nor the place where the air transport contract was entered into is conclusive with regard to the choice of the court having jurisdiction0 -
Be aware that even if you won a case against Ryanair, that does not guarantee that they will pay up. You would therefore need to take into account the costs/ practicalities of enforcement.
On balance, I would agree with Ryanair, as your contract with them was not conditional upon you being able to complete the trek during your stay, they have no liability for the earlier flight home. What would you have done had your trek plans been altered due to other factors, such as bad weather?Gone ... or have I?0 -
Unfortunate travel experience, but I really think you are going to struggle to get a judgement against Ryanair for your activities post flight. Their responsibility is to get you from point A to point B - seems unfair, but I don't think they can be held responsible.Legal team on standby0
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You should be able to claim some of these expenses from your travel insurance? I would have thought it would pay out for items necessary to continue your trip (clothes, tent etc)0
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Unfortunate travel experience, but I really think you are going to struggle to get a judgement against Ryanair for your activities post flight. Their responsibility is to get you from point A to point B - seems unfair, but I don't think they can be held responsible.
I don't think so either. From what I know of the UK Small Claims system, they may not look too favourably upon someone trying this and might put it higher in the system - which they have the discretion to do. In that case, the original poster could open themselves up for a considerable amount of liability.
Travel insurance is there for a reason!From Poland...with love.
They are (they're) sitting on the floor.
Their books are lying on the floor.
The books are sitting just there on the floor.0 -
It will be up to the judge to decide, but if Ryanair failed to get your luggage to you in a reasonable time, which it is contractually obliged to do, then you can argue that it should transport you back to your luggage without charge and refund the baggage charge. In the small claims proceedure you pay a fixed fee and do not need to worry about legal costs. However, as pointed out above, even if you win your case the likelyhood is that Ryanair will not pay up. Then you would have to go back to the court and pay a further fee to have the judgement enforced.0
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My sister got screwed by Ryanair. She was supposed to fly from Memmingen (Munich, Germany) to Dublin. However, just one hour before departure Ryanair kept delaying the flight. After 3 hours of delaying Ryanair told her that the plane would now leave from Frankfurt Hahn instead - so a totally different airport 400 km away (about 250 miles). In order to get there in time she had to take a taxi sharing with two other people. The total fare for the taxi was 450 EUR - her share is 150 EUR. Now, Ryanair refuses to pay the 150 EUR.
She lives in Germany and not in Ireland.
Can she still take Ryanair to the Irish Small claims court?
Or would it be better to use the German Small claims court (the so-called "Gerichtliches Mahnverfahren")?
Thanks!0 -
She can take the airline to court in either Ireland or Germany. Not only should she win her case for the taxi fare but she should also be entitled to compensation for flight cancellation, since departure from a different airport is more than indicative of a cancellation. Try googling Thomas Harbord who won compensation in just these circumstances.
Full reg here: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32004R0261:EN:HTML
Agreed. In fact, I am confident that once Ryanair understand that she is serious about going to court, they will pay up, since they are so clearly in the wrong.0 -
I believe it is usual for hearings using the small claims track to be held at a county court close to the person being pursued. However, when it is is an individual taking action against a company that is reversed. If you use the small claims track it will not cost you a fortune and you should not have to travel far.
Ryanair do not contest all hearings because of the costs involved. It's possible they will not show up on the day even if they (in advance) provide the court with their defence.0 -
She can take the airline to court in either Ireland or Germany. Not only should she win her case for the taxi fare but she should also be entitled to compensation for flight cancellation, since departure from a different airport is more than indicative of a cancellation. Try googling Thomas Harbord who won compensation in just these circumstances.
Full reg here: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32004R0261:EN:HTML
Thanks for all replies. I've checked with my sister and can add more details on this. The original flight was scheduled for 8pm in the evening. After some delay notifications she was finally informed that the flight was canceled around midnight. The next regular flight from that airport would have been three days afterwards. Therefore she insisted to be transfered to the next available flight to her destination (Dublin).
Since she asked to be transfered is she still eligible to get the taxi fare reimbursed? Also, do you think she is eligible for a further compensation?0
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