Easyjet will not refund my Speedy Boarding fee :<

kops

Hi folks,

I’m at a loss here. Easyjet have no telephone numbers listed on their site, will not accept my calls at their HQ and are stonewalling me on email. I don’t know what to do and am hoping you could help in some way.

It is probably best if I just give you the email correspondence. You’ll note that Joanna Karpinska is a ‘Customer Experience Champion’ and, to add insult to injury, they have shelved this complaint as ‘solved’

Customer (Jon Wereik)

23/09/2008 11.40 AM

Hi,

Being 6'4" and rather long-legged, I paid nearly 50 Zloty at Warsaw airport for Speedy Boarding , considerably more than it costs at Luton. The girl at the gate announced the flight without any reference to Speedy Boarding or kids first etc. There was a surge towards the gate and it was the usual first through the gate, first onto the bus scenario. I approached one of the Easyjet staff on the gate and explained I'd just paid 50z for Speedy Boarding and she said that they'd ignored all that because they were in a hurry to get people out of the gate. She shrugged when I asked about a refund. When I asked again, she went silent, stared straight ahead and refused to talk further.

I travel regularly on this route with Easyjet and although Warsaw Airport is a nightmare at the best of times, I didn't expect to be scammed for 50z or to be ignored by your own ground staff. I also didn't expect, having paid for the privilege of early boarding, to miss all the leg room seats and spend a 2 hour flight in some pain with my knees pushed into the backs of the metal armrests from the seat in front; what I was hoping to avoid by paying for Speedy Boarding.

I have all the necessary documentation and receipts and would like a refund on the money paid at Warsaw Airport plus maybe some recompense for the discomfort of having to sit in a cramped seat after the lack of procedural care and then subsequent poor customer service by your ground staff.

Having spoken to a few colleagues and friends, it would appear that Speedy Boarding is only really taken seriously at Luton Airport and is largely ignored at foreign airports, something you might want to look into.

Regards,

Jon Wereik
E: XXX@XXXXX.com
M: xxx xxxxx

Discussion Thread
Response (Joanna Karpinska)

23/09/2008 02.49 PM

Dear Mr Wereik,

Thank you for contacting us.

I am sorry that you have been disappointed with the service received when travelling with easyJet recently and I can appreciate your frustration.

As you know, easyJet must rely on the departure gates assigned by the airport in question and sometimes a bus will be required to transport passengers to the aircraft. When passengers are bussed to the aircraft we are unable to guarantee that Speedy Boarders will be first off the bus. Where the use of buses is frequent on a route, this is reflected in the price paid for Speedy Boarding. As we are non-refundable, we cannot refund you a Speedy Boarding price.

I apologise for the inconvenience caused and I do hope this will not stop you from flying with easyJet again.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us Mr Wereik. If you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again via the contact us section of the easyJet web site.

Yours sincerely

Joanna Karpinska
Customer Experience Champion

QUESTION REFERENCE NO: 080923-001422
CATEGORY LEVEL 1: I had a bad experience with easyJet
DATE CREATED: 23/09/2008 11.40 AM
LAST UPDATED: 23/09/2008 02.49 PM
STATUS: Solved
FLIGHT DATE: 21/09/2008
FLIGHT NO: 2348
DEPARTING: Warsaw
ARRIVING: London Luton
BOOKING REFERENCE: EDR692X
PROBLEM PAGE:

spiro

I see what they say but are you travelling through Luton soon? Easyjet have a desk there and it may give you the chance put complain face to face. Word of warning though just keep to the facts and keep you voice low, they make a good tv show out of people who rant and rave at this desk and it never gets them anywhere.

StrawberryJam_2

It is a con! how does speedy boarding work if you need a bus ?
I know that some benefits that airlines offer are only applicable to certain airports. However I presume you have had no issues with speedy boarding previously at Warsaw, best approach would be to stand at the gate with your speedy boarding ticket, then get on the first bus, and stand between the exit doors then fight your way out of bus and run up the stairs to the plane entrance

tomthered

Basically you were charged for a service you did not receive, which is fraud. I would be tempted to threaten them with the small claims court if they will not reimburse monies for the service not provided. It is not your fault they decided to ignore all their procedures cos they were late, not your fault was it!!

I would imagine they would pay up to stop bad publicity but you are in the right, not Easyjet.

markelock

tomthered wrote: »

Basically you were charged for a service you did not receive, which is fraud. I would be tempted to threaten them with the small claims court if they will not reimburse monies for the service not provided. It is not your fault they decided to ignore all their procedures cos they were late, not your fault was it!!

I would imagine they would pay up to stop bad publicity but you are in the right, not Easyjet.

as tomthered says, they've taken money for a service and then not provided that service. it's not like you're trying to claim compensation!

don't let them fob you off. do you have a receipt, and have you checked the small print. the e-mail they have sent hasn't answered your question at all, and refers to you getting off the bus first. i read your complaint as you not being able to get on the bus first, let alone get off it.

it's bad management on their part, and they should have to deal with the consequences.

also if you're a frequent flyer, try getting a deal off the current price of easyjet flights instead? Allow them to offer a goodwill gesture, which will show you've mitigated before being forced to take them to court.

speedy boarding has always confused me, as far as if everyone pays for it, how can it work?

uktyler

The letter they sent you looks like a stock reply.

The person you read your email probably just skimmed over it, and sent the stock response to "I paid for speedy boarding, but lost my seat because of the bus".

Write to them, send copies of the receipts.

kops

Hi folks, a bit of a thread bump! Thanks for the advice, I persisted and Easyjet relented after a face-to-face at Luton airport as suggested below. Interesting to note that speedy boarding is now not offered at Warsaw airport.

Cheers again :-)

Jon.

richardw

It is a con. On Sunday we arrived at a North Terminal gate and they bussed us to the South Terminal, no chance of the speedy boarders getting off first.

virgo149

I guess the only way to guarantee leg room is to pre-book seats at the time of booking in future. We do this as the hubby is also 6'4".

You need to ask yourself - is it worth the risk of taking the chance or would you rather pay a bit more for some comfort.

We always pre-book, regardless of airline - and take the hit on costs for the comfort.

bclark

virgo149 wrote: »

I guess the only way to guarantee leg room is to pre-book seats at the time of booking in future. We do this as the hubby is also 6'4".

You need to ask yourself - is it worth the risk of taking the chance or would you rather pay a bit more for some comfort.

We always pre-book, regardless of airline - and take the hit on costs for the comfort.

You can't pre-book on Easyjet though.

coolcol_2

Hi. I had a problem with the dedicated check in which was not available at Manchester. I got a very similar answer back. I replied that I wasn't happy with their response and that I would be talking to trading standards as they didn't provide a service that they had charged me for. Hey presto - a full refund. keep at them!!!