BMIbaby compensation

Jamie53_2

Sheringham wrote: »

Has anybody had any compensation from BMIbaby for the volcanic ash situation? Did anybody have problems, etc?

Jamie I have received nothing, not even a reply. At the end of may I redelivered a copy of my first letter. I delivered it by hand at the bmi airport desk. I also had a friend to witness the delivery.I still have received no reply. Maybe a group of us need to get together to sue them. As I live near the EMA I could hand deliver copies of the claims for others. If I have enough we could call in the local press to 'witnessit'.
The bmibaby 'help' line tries its best to dissuade you but we are all due 400 euros under EU law. Perhaps they are waiting for the euro to fall further?

• regards from Jamie 53 (drives past airport on way to work each day)

glendo90

Good idea re: getting the local press involved - would be an interesting story and some bad local press for BMIBaby - it's a good way of getting statement/explanation off the MD. I am hoping it still doesn't come to that. The claim I put in was for well over a grand for a weeks accom and food, though we are a family of five.

Where does it state in EU law that we are all due 400 Euros, and is this per person or per claim (I am thinking per person?).

I had the foresight to quote the Euro exchange rate and what my claim equated to in pounds on the day I wrote the letter, cos if they try and skank me on the exchange rate I will be putting in a further complaint and may take it to the small claims court just to speed things along - just on principle.

may433

I've just received a letter from bmibaby customer relations stating, "In respect of additional costs, I regret that we are not able to offer re-imbursement in this instance. I can therefore, only suggest a claim to your own personal travel insurer."

I think my next step it write to the Air Transport Users Council whose stated aim is to "... help individual passengers with complaints and enquiries about air travel and promote the interests of passengers with industry, government and regulators."

may433

I claimed for 6 nights dinner/bed/breakfast. I did not bother with any claim for phone calls or taxi fares.

AUC have asked me to send them copies of my correspondence which I shall do this evening.

Once I have a response, I will post it here.

may433

We were due to fly home the day the airspace was closed (15 April). We were re-scheduled to fly home the following Saturday (18 April). I spoke to the bmibaby agent at Malaga Airport and asked what help the airline could offer with accommodation and meals. I was told that it was not the airline's responsibility. The flying ban was extended and we were re-scheduled yet again, this time to 25 April.

Fortunately, we could afford to extend our stay at our hotel in Benalmadena.

The day the ban was lifted, I checked the bmibaby website and noticed that they had a flight scheduled from Malaga to East Midlands that night (21 April at 2200 hrs). After some 10 minutes on the phone to the bmibaby reservations people in UK, we were booked home on that flight.

I outlined my case in full and wrote to bmibaby initially on 26 April, enclosing copies of receipted hotel bills. Having had no reply, I hastened them on 10 June. I received a reply dated 30 June, the text of which is reproduced below:

"Thank you for your recent letter, regarding the cancellation of your flight with bmibaby and may I apologise for the delay in our response.

As you are aware UK airspace has recently been closed and we were unable to operate. Safety was and is our number one priority and we worked closely with the aviation authorities to resume flying as soon as as airspace reopened. However, I am sure you will appreciate that despite every effort, this matter was beyond our direct control. The effects of the closure were far reaching and affected many customers.

In respect of additional costs, I regret that we are not able to offer re-imbursement in this instance. I can therefore, only suggest a claim to your own personal travel insurer.

On behalf of bmibaby, may I extend our very sincere apologies for the delay and disruption caused to your travel plans on this particular occasion."

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have now sent copies of all correspondence to the AUC; they reckon that it is taking up to 6 weeks to respond to claims in full.

may433

Cityboy,

Thanks - I had already found that link but would prefer the AUC to point out the error of bmibaby's ways to the airline in the hope that such action would prompt them to refund me.

If the AUC route is not successful, I am prepared to go to the small claims court.

sujeri

After flights back from Malaga cancelled twice due to volcanic eruption, we made our way back on Bilbao ferry. Bmibaby eventually refunded cost of return part of flight via credit card. I submitted claim for 6 days' expenses by registered post on April 28th. Web site says 'turnaround time' is 45 working days to reply. That was last Fridiay and so far nothing. DO they intend to pay up or is this just a waiting game? It is impossible to contact them by phone or email.

stevie_d_3

having read all these threads and been in the same situations ihave decided to take them to the small claims ,they now have two weeks to comply.

raydee_2

Had letter from BMIBaby today apologising for the ash disruption, but unfortunately for me they are not prepared to pay any additional costs that I had paid, in essence there is no compensation. Air Transport users Council insist that they must pay so I have taken their advice on the matter and sent them copies of receipts, letters to BMIBaby and a copy of BMIBaby's letter to me.

VG11

We ended up with costs of nearly £3,500 to get four adults home from Malaga to Sheffield - £1,200 was in car hire alone.

It was imperative we got home as both my partner and father have their own companies and BMI could only offer flights between 2 and 3 weeks later which was not acceptable.

We have sent numerous letters to BMI - all recorded delivery - and after 8 weeks recieved a reply that they would not reimburse any of our costs except from 2 of the flights. We received a direct payment back on the credit card for an amount of £151 which has no relation to any amount we spent on flights.

In terms of the other costs, I am writing to them again stating the EU regulations they are bound to and asking them to re-address the matter.

A good article to read is on "this is money" webpage called "Reclaim volcanic ash flight delay costs" by Simon Lambert 21 April 2010 which gives you direction on what EU legal facts to use in your letter.

If we have no joy i will start the battle with our insurers who have said they will not process a claim until we have a letter saying BMI will not pay out, and even then will only pay a maximum of £250 per person, which will go no where in covering our costs.

My aunt and uncle were away with us in Spain at the same time, Ryan Air kept them informed of the situation and repaid the airfares instantly - their bank, HSBC has paid out everypenny they spent. And here we are with a government owned bank refusing to pay out, when our taxes have kept them all in jobs......