Government to allow Ryanair to continue using unfair premium rate phone numbers

malkie76

Why should a customer be forced to pay further money to Ryanair when that amount is not due?

Because at that point in time the burden of proof lies with the customer. Otherwise, every passenger would turn up at the airport claiming their online system was at fault.
Proper practice would be to arrive at the airport, pay the fee on the day and claim back with clear evidence that RyanAir were at fault.
Check-in clerk has no authority to make that decision, hence you pay at the time.

Just because you can't think of another scenario, it doesn't mean there won't be dozens of them.

So, basically you have one example, for which there is a simple solution to ensure you aren't out of pocket in the long term.

We don't really have a problem here.......

NFH

malkie76 wrote: »

Because at that point in time the burden of proof lies with the customer. Otherwise, every passenger would turn up at the airport claiming their online system was at fault.
Proper practice would be to arrive at the airport, pay the fee on the day and claim back with clear evidence that RyanAir were at fault.
Check-in clerk has no authority to make that decision, hence you pay at the time.

No, if the customer provides screenshots of the bug, then Ryanair has no justification in asking for further money. The lack of authority of the check-in clerk is Ryanair's problem, not the customer's problem. The customer should not be expected to pay further money because of Ryanair's inability to provide customer-facing staff with sufficient authority to resolve problems. If the customer refused to pay the £40 fee and was denied boarding, then ultimately a court would undoubtedly find in the customer's favour.

malkie76

No, if the customer provides screenshots of the bug, then Ryanair has no justification in asking for further money.

There's no way for checkin clerk to know if the screenshots are legitimate or doctored.

If the customer refused to pay the £40 fee and was denied boarding, then ultimately a court would undoubtedly find in the customer's favour.

Now you are starting to sound a little silly. You'd advocate missing your flight (or being stranded at your destination), while waiting for the outcome of a court case ?

Besides, I don't think a court would be sympathetic, given that RyanAir would get you on your flight if you pay the airport check-in fee.

The obvious solution is clear - pay it and reclaim along with the evidence of your online issues.

Also, can you explain how a telephone operator would be able to assist in a short period of time ? You know well good they'd also tell you to check in at the airport and reclaim the fee.

You are really, really, really grasping at straws with this given the simplicity of the solution.

Do you have a better example or not ?

System

And you still have your fixation on Ryanair when a lot of the other airlines also only have premium rate contact numbers.

BTW. Email is not a recommended form of communication if time is of the essence. There is absolutely no SLA for the delivery of an email.so it can be either instantaneous, take days or any amount of time in between. There is also no guarantee that the email will be read after delivery to the end point mail server. The only instantaneous method of communication is telephone (only on the assumption that somebody answers at the other end).

NFH

!!!!!! wrote: »

BTW. Email is not a recommended form of communication if time is of the essence. There is absolutely no SLA for the delivery of an email.so it can be either instantaneous, take days or any amount of time in between. There is also no guarantee that the email will be read after delivery to the end point mail server. The only instantaneous method of communication is telephone (only on the assumption that somebody answers at the other end).

Browser-based instant messaging, which is increasingly used by many organisations, is also instantaneous. I sometimes prefer it as if provides a written record for both parties of what was discussed.

HelenaHandcart

Here's an example of a case where the customer needed to contact Ryanair for a situation that was not the fault of the customer: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4145649

malkie76

No need to contact RyanAir at all - from reading the thread it appears the OP is sorted without telephoning them.

jpsartre

Well, only because the OP decided to cancel in the end. If she had wanted to change her flights, she would have had to call them it seems. I'm surprised they don't offer free rebooking online. They did during the ash cloud.

malkie76

They do offer free online rebooking - I think the OPs issue was that the flights they wanted didn't exist. Phoning a telephone number wouldn't have resolved that issue.

jpsartre

No, the OP was thinking about transferring to flights from Manchester (which do exist) and the online system wanted to charge her the fee. Perhaps there's another way of doing it online that the OP missed though I noted that the email specifically said to contact Ryanair reservation if she wanted to change to a different airport.