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I sued RyanAir and won!
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gavinp
Posts: 469 Forumite
Apologies for the length of the post - giving some background info...
Both myself and other half were affected by the second ash cloud incident whilst staying with her family in Spain. Our flight was scheduled for Saturday evening and I received an email on Saturday morning stating it had been cancelled and you could rebook "for free". As we had already checked in on-line, it stated you couldn't amend your booking on-line and to call customer services.
The contact number for customer services was missing from the email and on checking their website, I found that it is closed at weekends! :mad:
As we both work, we needed to let our employers know when we were likely to be back so had to re-book. We were also concerned that flights would fill up quickly and we would be delayed even further.
I tried calling the £1 a minute emergency line (through gritted teeth) but the line was constantly engaged as Ryanair had cancelled so many flights for that day.
We considered driving to the airport which is a 3 hour round trip but the email also stated not to come to the airport...
So I attempted to change my booking on-line which their website would quite happily allow (the email said you could not change it on-line) - and found indeed I could - if I paid £50 each "to change the flight" and an additional £5 per person for using my debit card.
As we needed to let people at work know when we would be back, I paid the £110 fee. :mad:
The flight back a few days later was thankfully uneventful and then when I got back I tried to find out how to recover the fees. Ryanair's web site by this time had removed a lot of the ash information and the claim form didn't allow for refunding flight change charges.
I then found a webpage which explained how to file a complaint in the Irish small claims court:
"A reader has sent us this:
www.courts.ie/courts.ie/library3.nsf/pagecurrent/FA1612690A8F33978025720A00338FE7
"This is a link to the Irish online small claims court website. For a mere 15 euros it is possible to take Ryanair to court to demand refunds, etc. The beauty of it is that you don't even have to be there, which makes this technique ideal for overseas customers of Ryanair.
Users should note that the full name of the company is Ryanair Holdings PLC, the registered address is Ryanair Corporate Headquarters, Dublin Airport, Dublin, Co Dublin, Ireland. The Swords area Office is the one to choose from the list." Note: a correspondent reports that Ryanair processed a refund within forty eight hours of a request being posted here.
From the bottom of this page: http://www.ryanaircampaign.org/contact.html
After some deliberation, I followed this process and submitted a claim last Saturday and paid the 15 euros. It was filed on Monday and yesterday I got an email stating that Ryanair are processing my refund and it will be back in my account in 3 - 5 working days.
EDIT: Please read the small claims procedure VERY carefully as there is a (small?) risk that if the claim is contested, you would need to travel to the court in Dublin in person.
Obviously this was for one incident and all the fees incurred were imposed by Ryanair themselves but this may be an option to some other people in a similar situation.
Thanks
Gavin
Both myself and other half were affected by the second ash cloud incident whilst staying with her family in Spain. Our flight was scheduled for Saturday evening and I received an email on Saturday morning stating it had been cancelled and you could rebook "for free". As we had already checked in on-line, it stated you couldn't amend your booking on-line and to call customer services.
The contact number for customer services was missing from the email and on checking their website, I found that it is closed at weekends! :mad:
As we both work, we needed to let our employers know when we were likely to be back so had to re-book. We were also concerned that flights would fill up quickly and we would be delayed even further.
I tried calling the £1 a minute emergency line (through gritted teeth) but the line was constantly engaged as Ryanair had cancelled so many flights for that day.
We considered driving to the airport which is a 3 hour round trip but the email also stated not to come to the airport...
So I attempted to change my booking on-line which their website would quite happily allow (the email said you could not change it on-line) - and found indeed I could - if I paid £50 each "to change the flight" and an additional £5 per person for using my debit card.
As we needed to let people at work know when we would be back, I paid the £110 fee. :mad:
The flight back a few days later was thankfully uneventful and then when I got back I tried to find out how to recover the fees. Ryanair's web site by this time had removed a lot of the ash information and the claim form didn't allow for refunding flight change charges.
I then found a webpage which explained how to file a complaint in the Irish small claims court:
"A reader has sent us this:
www.courts.ie/courts.ie/library3.nsf/pagecurrent/FA1612690A8F33978025720A00338FE7
"This is a link to the Irish online small claims court website. For a mere 15 euros it is possible to take Ryanair to court to demand refunds, etc. The beauty of it is that you don't even have to be there, which makes this technique ideal for overseas customers of Ryanair.
Users should note that the full name of the company is Ryanair Holdings PLC, the registered address is Ryanair Corporate Headquarters, Dublin Airport, Dublin, Co Dublin, Ireland. The Swords area Office is the one to choose from the list." Note: a correspondent reports that Ryanair processed a refund within forty eight hours of a request being posted here.
From the bottom of this page: http://www.ryanaircampaign.org/contact.html
After some deliberation, I followed this process and submitted a claim last Saturday and paid the 15 euros. It was filed on Monday and yesterday I got an email stating that Ryanair are processing my refund and it will be back in my account in 3 - 5 working days.
EDIT: Please read the small claims procedure VERY carefully as there is a (small?) risk that if the claim is contested, you would need to travel to the court in Dublin in person.
Obviously this was for one incident and all the fees incurred were imposed by Ryanair themselves but this may be an option to some other people in a similar situation.
Thanks
Gavin
0
Comments
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I am glad that you got your money back, but your post implies that you did not actually win the court case, and instead that Ryanair processed your claim and paid it. Could you clarify please?Gone ... or have I?0
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it must just be coincidence - no way would any court proceedings be processed that quickly.0
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My apologies - I guess the correct terminology if I was being pedantic
would be that Ryanair accepted the claim and refunded the money to my debit card.
Thanks
Gavin0 -
So Ryanair did what they said they would and have done to thousands of other passengers.
Amazing.
Can we please change the title to - 'Ryanair paid out following Ash cancellations' - Thought not.The Summer Holiday of a Lifetime0 -
So Ryanair did what they said they would and have done to thousands of other passengers.
:idea: If Ryanair HAD done what they said they would (allow you to re-book for free), it wouldn't be necessary.... and yes, that would have been amazing...
How hard would it have been to put a voucher code in the cancellation email so people could re-book their flights on-line at no charge ? :wall:0 -
:idea: If Ryanair HAD done what they said they would (allow you to re-book for free), it wouldn't be necessary.... and yes, that would have been amazing...
How hard would it have been to put a voucher code in the cancellation email so people could re-book their flights on-line at no charge ? :wall:
Do you work for Ryanair or in the airline business? How can you comment about how difficult a certain thing would or would not be.
You got your refund, get over it.The Summer Holiday of a Lifetime0 -
you're back from pisa then, I take it!0
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Yeah, and both Ryanair flights arrived early The Summer Holiday of a Lifetime0
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Do you work for Ryanair or in the airline business? How can you comment about how difficult a certain thing would or would not be.
You got your refund, get over it.
No, I don't work in the airline business but I do work in IT so know it is not difficult if you have any concept of customer service! :A
..and yes, I did get my refund, thanks for your interest.. :T0 -
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