Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Ryanair ONLY

Once per year my inlaws go to Ireland, they are by no means well off and are both in their late seventies.
This year they boarded, the flight took off and then turned back due to technical difficulties.
They were in the airport for over seven hours waiting to reboard.
They were given £3 each which bought a cup of tea and a sandwich, of course they put extra money to it and did not keep a receipt.

I sent the letter asking for the £250 compensation and today received the "i am sorry due to technical difficulties beyond our control, no compensation is due"

Should I pursue this? would it be exceptional due to the fact the flight took off and then turned back?

If it is worth pursuing i would think it would be a no win no fee company that i may look at.

Thanks for any advice.

charlen80 wrote: »

Hi we were on the man-faro flight aswell, and we will be making a claim/complaint. The airport staff told us that this happens frequently. Our problem was that we did not get offered refreshments or anything to eat even after 4 hrs. We had young children with us and we're told that if we wanted a drink we would have to move from the stairs where we were queueing and go back into the airport! The stairs were full of people and even if we made it back into the airport we would of been holding the plane up yet again. So we asked the steward for a drink but we were told no due to the 2nd plane we were going on didn't have any drinks!!! We made a bit of a fuss and the pilot agreed to get drinks onboard. Once we got seated on the 2nd plane we were then told there was no fuel and that we would have a further delay in waiting for then to refuel, eventually the,staff closed the door at 11.22 pm. So it was 4 hrs and 12 minute delay. We also had to phone faro to rearrange our taxi but it wasn't until we checked our emails a few days later that we could of made a free phonecall instead of using our mobile. None of the staff mentioned checking our emails as we could changed flights etc. We normally fly with Ra and we have never had any problems but I think this time it is worth a complaint. Keep intouch and we can update with any progress.

just wanted to post an update here: Ryanair responded to our claim with a standard letter which includes number of lies and errors - for example saying we have received refreshment vouchers when we did not even get water. Am I right to assume that the European Small claims procedure should be the next step? Or is there a point of sending another letter?

Vauban wrote: »

In short, no. But PLEASE read the guide: it's all in there.

So read the guide, done the letter got the standard Ryanair response, sent the NBA.


So now would a NWNF company help me? Is there any that can be recommended that will help claim against Ryanair?

Ryanair cancelled Barcelona to Manchester flight scheduled at 22.40 on 22 August. They didn't tell us it was cancelled until 02.30 hours the following morning. They didn't offer any refreshments Mayhem ensued! At 02.30 they gave us a piece of paper telling us to submit receipted expenses. They have paid these expenses, but, some of them were in euros, ie the hotel bill and some were in sterling as when we got back to the UK the following day we were landed at Liverpool so had to travel to Manchester to get the car etc. These expenses were in sterling. Ryanair can't seem to understand that and they've regarded the whole of the bill as if is was in euro and then converted it back to sterling.


When questioned about the flight cancellation they said it was due to adverse weather at Barcelona El Prat. There was lightening I was told. However, other flights seemed to take off and land before and after ours was due. A revised flight time would appear on the departure boards for a while and then it would be revised again. For long periods the flight was not displayed at all. No Ryanair rep advised us of anything until 02.30 hours on 23 August. A passenger reported that they had contacted their pickup person at Manchester airport and the flight appeared as though it was going to be on time on the arrivals board at Manchester!


Of course they're declining to cough up under the regulations, citing that it was circumstances that were out of their control. I don't necessarily believe them at this stage because other aircraft seemed to be landing and taking off at the time.


I've asked them some questions to try and define where the aircraft was when it should have been at Barcelona. I asked them if the flight had left Manchester on its outbound leg at its designated time. I asked why our flight was cancelled when others were arriving and leaving. They have not answered these questions. Yesterday their response simply stated "Your flight was cancelled due to a previous diversion caused by adverse weather conditions (thunderstorms) at Bacelona El Prat."


What's my next stage in progressing this?