Ryanair not paying compensation

doelani

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1267825/Iceland-volcano-Ryanair-wont-pay-compensation-says-OLeary.html

Not sure if already posted

reformedEffortMaker_2

problem is, people keep using his airline......he always has the last laugh

stoneman

I think the problem will come when they refuse the "duty of care" issue and you try and take them to court to pay up. Because they are an Irish based company you can not sue them here AFAIK. You would have to do it in an Irish court.
Well, what do you expect for a 30 euro fare, honesty?
To be quite honest, anyone who flew with O'P1key on the cheap deserves him.

trixietoes

No suprise there then from Ryanair!

daveyjp

It needs a group action - not difficult to arrange through Facebook or similar. Irish corporate lawyers are desperate for work at the moment.

LeeSouthEast

Why should the airline pay compensation? It's not their fault (for a change).

purt

LeeSouthEast wrote: »

Why should the airline pay compensation? It's not their fault (for a change).

They have obligations under EU law.

It was on the BBC News at six o'clock that Ryanair will only pay the 'care' element of their legal obligations up to the cost of the actual fare. Bit pants if you happened to pay 99p for your flight and ended up paying several hundred for emergency hotel accommodation.

They're probably on dodgy legal ground but that won't stop O'Leary chancing his arm.

Yet another reason why I won't fly Ryanair, no matter how cheap the fare is! The term 'false economy' just about sums up the whole experience.

dmg24

I would not be surprised if other airlines followed suit. As always, the relevant legislation is open to interpretation and perhaps this is the opportunity for it to be tested?

I can see both sides of the argument - passengers have incurred costs as a result of the cancellations, but the airlines have also incurred costs through no fault of their own. I am not sure what the answer is, but I can see it dragging on for a long time.

purt

dmg24 wrote: »

I would not be surprised if other airlines followed suit. As always, the relevant legislation is open to interpretation and perhaps this is the opportunity for it to be tested?

I can see both sides of the argument - passengers have incurred costs as a result of the cancellations, but the airlines have also incurred costs through no fault of their own. I am not sure what the answer is, but I can see it dragging on for a long time.

I'd say the airlines are fairly well insured for events like this. Could be wrong though.

PhylPho

stoneman wrote: »

I think the problem will come when they refuse the "duty of care" issue and you try and take them to court to pay up. Because they are an Irish based company you can not sue them here AFAIK. You would have to do it in an Irish court.
Well, what do you expect for a 30 euro fare, honesty?
To be quite honest, anyone who flew with O'P1key on the cheap deserves him.

Funny though it may seem, and I appreciate the line was penned light-heartedly, this is exactly the wrong attitude to take towards this carrier at this precise moment in time.

O'Leary has always displayed behaviour characteristic of a contempt for customers of his highly lucrative, highly profitable business.


So now: Ryanair is refusing to comply with the duty of passenger care to which it has knowingly signed up as a carrier operating within EU regulations within EU airspace.

O'Leary / Ryanair is contending that -- despite the fact Ryanair is, by virtue of its business practices, one of the most cash-rich carriers in Europe, with a bank balance Willie Walsh, CEO of British Airways must envy -- it "cannot afford" to pay people more than the basic cost of the cheap ticket these cheap punters were cheap enough to buy.

Undortunately for Mr O'Leary, here's a Reality Check:

An EU carrier that doesn't conform to EU regulations rapidly ceases to be an EU carrier at all.

Because to fly European airspace you have to be licensed.

And EU aviation agencies and authorities will make damn sure there's no licence for Ryanair if there's no full and fair payment to Ryanair customers according to EU regulations.

I appreciate: the possible closure of Ryanair would be a tragedy for all the nice people who work for Ryanair. Especially if O'Leary decided to scuttle off to Kazakhstan and try to run his operation out of there (hey, goodbye and good luck.)

But Ryanair's demise would definitely not beany kind of tragedy for all those consumers -- of whom there are surprisingly many -- who do not count amongst life's priorities cheap access to a hen party in Latvia or a drunken stag outing in Poland.

In any event, Ryanair's loss of licence and demise would be attributable solely and exclusively to Mr O'Leary himself, albeit that this may arguably have little if any impact on him: a multi-millionaire -- and I do mean, "multi" -- O'Leary is as insulated from the hardships and miseries suffered by Ryanair passengers as any feudal baron in any medieval castle was insulated from the suffering from the serfs and yokels beyond the walls.

(Or, in Ryanair's case, call them "customers".)

He's rich. You're not. Tough.

I do hope Michael O'Leary or one of his acolytes is reading this thread. I do hope Michael O'Leary or one of his acolytes is reading this post.

And as for getting a pennysworth of "compensation" for his multi-millionaire self, and for his all-too dispensable airline, from the pockets of the British taxpayer. . .

Dream on, O'Leary. Dream on.

* To all Ryanair customers:

(1) Press your claim against Ryanair: you're legally entitled to the duty of care O'Leary is now laughably saying he / his airline cannot afford;

(2) Report in writing to your local MP details of your quest to receive that to which you are entitled: any deceit, any obstruction, any lies, any refusals by Ryanair should and must be placed on record.

The reason for keeping your MP involved is because she / he is your representative at Westminster and, funnily enough, Westminster is the one destination O'Leary and Ryanair will never be able to successfully reach nor misrepresent, whether or not it re-christens it Westminster-Penzance or Westminster-Inverness.

£multi-millionaire Michael O'Leary and his Irish airline have no God-given right to ride rough-shod over any customer, anywhere, or at any time.

It's now your opportunity, as a consumer, to remind him of that.

* The above, excepting references to one of Europe's richest men, also applies to any other carrier (BMI, BMI Baby) which may now come crying that the rules it signed up to in order to make a profit are the same rules that are impeding that profit.

vikingaero

Not really a surprise for slimeball O'Leary is it?

Everyone carps on that Ryanair is a cheap fares airline. Well it can be and for MSE savvy people it can be too. But many people fly with them and pay surprisingly high fares and would be better off on a full service airline.

O'Leary wants Ryanair to be limited in compensation levels to coach/bus/train operators as fares can be comparable. But how many coach/bus/train operators shaft you for credit card fees, online check in, printing your own boarding passes etc etc?