ryanair - diabolical. I demand compensation

dmg24

The relevant EU legislation is Regulation 261/2004, but as I said, your situation would not be covered as the flight was delayed due to a safety risk.

alared -

The flight has to be delayed at least 4 hours for food and drink to be provided.

In this situation that is incorrect. For flights of less than 1500 km the time is only two hours.

james -

taking your own food/drinks is forbidden.

Where have you got this information from? The Ryanair website clearly states that passengers are welcome to bring their own food and drink onboard. The only thing you are not allowed is hot drinks.

I really would just put it down to a bad experience, but also accept that this can happen on ANY airline ... and that you made it home in one peace!!!

Jem8472

No have you heard that if you try to take a bottle of water on the plan they get the armed police to come and take you away! A seriouse offence having a bottle of water on a ryanair plane!!!!

Obvoiusley this guy is really bent out of shape about it and will probably be moaning for about the next 30 years about it.

ahrimaniac

Typically, if compensation isn't that important, most people don't title their threads 'I demand compensation'

Let's examine the facts.

You weren't injured, poisoned, crashed into the ground at 400mph or had bones broken. You weren't injured.

You were held up for 3 and a half hours, being told what the problem, kept up to speed. You weren't held up because the stewardess was picking the fluff from her bellybutton, you were held up whilst they fixed the very things that stop you careering into the terminal when you land - the brakes. I'd say that was a fairly important issue, no?

Fine, you weren't given free water, but for goodness sake, you can take your own, can't you? You'd have a point if you'd paid full price BA prices and they gave you nothing, but you paid a cheap fare and one of the reasons it's cheap is because they don't throw bottled water at any passenger with a hint of sweat on their brow.

Frankly, you're moaning unjustly and this pompous attitude of compensation is laughable. You were held up for safety reasons, not ineptitute. Good grief, take a look around the world at the moment and get some perspective before you start twisting your gob about a tiny delay.

apcd2

Everyone's being a little harsh on the OP here. Yes budget airlines are cheap but that doesn't mean you shouldn't expect reasonable service and certainly doesn't mean that the airlines are allowed to break the law by exempting themselves from certain EU regulations in their T&Cs.

The applicable EU regulation here is 261/2004. The airline had to provide you with "meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time" and if the airline was being decent they probably should have given you a bottle of water or something. For only 3.5 hours though they could easily claim you weren't entitled to anything. They also had to provide you with two free telephone calls, faxes or emails. If you had to call someone to tell them of your delay you could claim back the cost of these calls.

I wouldn't get your hopes up though. Ryanair cancelled a flight of mine last October leaving me stranded in France and offered me nothing. I'm currently in the process of taking them to the small claims court and I think you'd have to do the same to get a penny out of them.

jamescredmond

apcd2 wrote:

Everyone's being a little harsh on the OP here. Yes budget airlines are cheap but that doesn't mean you shouldn't expect reasonable service and certainly doesn't mean that the airlines are allowed to break the law by exempting themselves from certain EU regulations in their T&Cs.

The applicable EU regulation here is 261/2004. The airline had to provide you with "meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time" and if the airline was being decent they probably should have given you a bottle of water or something. For only 3.5 hours though they could easily claim you weren't entitled to anything. They also had to provide you with two free telephone calls, faxes or emails. If you had to call someone to tell them of your delay you could claim back the cost of these calls.

I wouldn't get your hopes up though. Ryanair cancelled a flight of mine last October leaving me stranded in France and offered me nothing. I'm currently in the process of taking them to the small claims court and I think you'd have to do the same to get a penny out of them.

thanks for that -some of the other posts are bordering on abuse. sorry you got dumped in france. I was always aware that ryanair was dodgy, but flabbergasted at some of the stories on the anti website. they indicate that this is when a bargain stops being a bargain unless the dice fall your way.
mse is the obvious site to air this type of story. I'll make this the last reply on this subject as it's obviously upsetting the pro-ryanair lobby.
good luck in the small claims court - I'd be interested to know how you got on.

dmg24

doesn't mean that the airlines are allowed to break the law by exempting themselves from certain EU regulations in their T&Cs.

Where have Ryanair tried to exclude themselves from the EU Regulations?!! The relevant exclusion I quoted is part of the Regulation!

The airline had to provide you with "meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time" and if the airline was being decent they probably should have given you a bottle of water or something. For only 3.5 hours though they could easily claim you weren't entitled to anything. They also had to provide you with two free telephone calls, faxes or emails. If you had to call someone to tell them of your delay you could claim back the cost of these calls.

The airline do NOT have to provide anything if the delay is caused by safety or security issues. This is stated in the Regulation.

If the delay was covered by the Regulation, the relevant time for the distance of the flight is two hours, not four (as is the case for flights of a greater distance).

I'm currently in the process of taking them to the small claims court and I think you'd have to do the same to get a penny out of them.

Good luck in your claim apcd2, clearly nobody should be left stranded irrespective of the fare paid.

However, do you really think that the small claims court would entertain a case where somebody was claiming for a glass of water ... or even a bottle?!!!

apcd2

I've been over Ryanair's T&Cs and EU regulation 261/2004 with a fine toothed comb over the last few months. Ryanair's T&Cs state that they will never pay for overnight hotel accommodation in the case of a delay or cancellation. That is against the EU regulation.

You seem a little confused by the EU regulation dmg24. If the flight is cancelled/delayed due to extraordinary circumstances (as in this case) the airline is exempted from paying compensation. They are however responsible for a 'right to care' for the passenger which includes refreshments, telephone calls and, if necessary, overnight accommodation.

Obviously I wouldn't recommend the OP go to the small claims court for the cost of a bottle of water. I was merely trying to illustrate the lengths you have to go to to get anything back from them.

dmg24

I've been over Ryanair's T&Cs and EU regulation 261/2004 with a fine toothed comb over the last few months. Ryanair's T&Cs state that they will never pay for overnight hotel accommodation in the case of a delay or cancellation. That is against the EU regulation.

Yes this would be, but is irrelevant to the thread, so if you are going to state that an airline is breaking the law maybe better to back yourself up when you make such a statement? The steps taken in relation to the OP's case are not breaking the law.

You seem a little confused by the EU regulation dmg24. If the flight is cancelled/delayed due to extraordinary circumstances (as in this case) the airline is exempted from paying compensation. They are however responsible for a 'right to care' for the passenger which includes refreshments, telephone calls and, if necessary, overnight accommodation.

I am not confused. According to s. 14 of the Regulation:

As under the Montreal Convention, obligations on operating air carriers should be limited or excluded in cases where an event has been caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.

This applies to ALL measures under the legislation, not just those relating to compensation.

apcd2

Precisely, "...obligations on operating air carriers should be LIMITED or excluded...". In the case of cancellations these limitations are explicitely stated as not including a right to compensation, implying that all other obligations still stand. In the case of a delay no limitations are stated. You could either take this to mean there are no limitations or everything is excluded. Only a judge would be able to decide.

If this blanket exemption you state applies an airline wouldn't even have to give a refund of your initial fare in the case of a cancellation provided it was due to weather or a technical fault. This is clearly not the case.

dmg24

apcd2, I am assuming that you are a lay person when it comes to the Law?

I am not stating that it applies, the Regulation is! Having quoted the relevant section, do you think I am making it up?!!

You are choosing to interpret which sections of the Regulation apply to support your point, as opposed to interpreting them in the light of the whole document.

I really would get your facts right before asserting that somebody, who has actually written a dissertation in this area, is 'confused'.