Deserted at the gate at Stansted Airport

MarkBargain

A quick timeline of my visit to Stansted Airport yesterday:

13:30 Left home for 18:15 flight, travelling by coach.
15:45 Arrived at airport
16:00 - 18:00 Waited in departure lounge, no gate given.
18:00 'Final call' appeared on board, so rushed with other passengers to gate.
18:10 - 19:00 Waited at gate with no news.
19:00 Told gate would be used for another flight and to sit down.
19:15 Called to another gate and huddled together by staff.
20:15 Tired of standing and no futher news. Screen just said wait, no estimated departure time. No staff at gate. No staff at information desk in the gate area, just a crowd of confused people. Passengers started suggesting returning ot the main building.
20:30 Still no staff about so gave up, walked back to security and asked to be let out of the airport. Security staff said they didn't think any Ryanair flights would leave that evening.
20:50 Paid National Express to change coach ticket home.
21:20 Coach left, returning home. I received a text from Ryanair telling me the flight was cancelled, and an email saying I can rebook or refund outbound flight, but not the return one.
22:30 Arrived home feeling pretty fed up!

I appreciate the weather was bad today due to snow, but we did feel rather ignored due to the total lack of information and care. Aren't an airline supposed to provide drinks, phone calls and at least information?! As things stood, we waited over two hours past our departure time and there was no one around to help at all. We have now lost our holiday, coach fare and return flight fare, plus spent a fair bit on food, drink, plastic bags etc. at the airport.

If anyone has any thoughts, please comment. I think I will write to Ryanair, for all the good that will do.

Caz3121

There is a duty of care if the flight is delayed. I would send the receipts for any food to Ryanair for reimbursement

The other elements you will need to look to your travel insurance for

ampersand

Caz3121 wrote: »

There is a duty of care if the flight is delayed. I would send the receipts for any food to Ryanair for reimbursement

The other elements you will need to look to your travel insurance for

##############
Hello MB -
Don't send your original proofs, but copies, with a sentence confirming that you retain the originals, should sight of them be required.

Send all correspondence Recorded Delivery, trackable online. Set out dates for acknowledgment/response, then follow up accordingly, notwithstanding that your claim will be one among thousands. A clear calendar progress, scheduled and followed by you, will help in later action, should it prove necessary.

Best of luck.

MarkBargain

Thanks for the comments.

I have receipts for some food & drinks, but bought some from Spar and they didn't give a receipt.

Unfortunately I booked the outbound and return flights separately, albeit within a few minutes of each other as it works out cheaper to do that with Ryanair because of the exchange rates.

So it looks like I have lost the return flight fare, plus coach fare and amendment fee. I have travel insurance, but £50 excess so not really worth claiming.

It's fortunate no one fell ill yesterday with no staff around. The only airport employees were the person behind the bar and serving in the shops. I think the airline staff had all gone into hiding! I appreciate they might not know the latest situation, but they should try to keep people up to date and apologise for the delays. It was annoying to see on the screen "final call" and "boarding now" meaning we spent about two hours standing in queues for nothing.

jpsartre

MarkBargain wrote: »

Unfortunately I booked the outbound and return flights separately

Well, you can hardly blame the airline for that.

MarkBargain

Ryanair sent a PDF of EU rights, see below.

I waited over two hours, but there were no staff about anywhere at the gate, in the gate terminal or in the departure lounge so surely they breached their duty of care? We would have loved to be given a meal, a hotel overnight and a new flight in the morning, but we were not given that option or any other option.

3. RIGHT TO CARE
If you are involuntarily denied boarding or if your flight is
cancelled or delayed by more than 2 hours, we will offer you,
free of charge:
a) meals and refreshment vouchers in reasonable relation to
the waiting time, as long as it will not further delay the
departure of the aircraft;
b) two telephone calls, telex or fax messages or e-mails;
c) hotel accommodation in cases where a stay of one or more
nights becomes necessary, or where a stay additional to that
intended by you becomes necessary;
d) transport between the airport and place of accommodation
(hotel or other)...

jpsartre

MarkBargain wrote: »

I waited over two hours, but there were no staff about anywhere at the gate, in the gate terminal or in the departure lounge

In your OP you said that you were huddled together by staff at your new gate so some staff must have been present at some time?

Look, I don't envy the passengers trying to fly out of London (and other affected airports) these days one bit but in a chaotic situation, I don't think the main priority of airline staff should be to provide passengers with a cup of coffee and a sandwich because they're delayed. Personally I doubt I'd bother for such a small amount but if you feel so strongly about your right to care, send them copies of your receipts and ask for reimbursement. Lack of information is extremely frustrating though had staff been around, they were likely not in a position to provide any. If you wanted a hotel for the night you would have had to stick around until your flight was cancelled. Who knows if rooms were even available, if you ever would have chance to request one, or if you could have gotten a seat on a flight the next day so I think you ultimately made the right choice by going home instead.

MarkBargain

jpsartre wrote: »

In your OP you said that you were huddled together by staff at your new gate so some staff must have been present at some time?

Look, I don't envy the passengers trying to fly out of London (and other affected airports) these days one bit but in a chaotic situation, I don't think the main priority of airline staff should be to provide passengers with a cup of coffee and a sandwich because they're delayed. Personally I doubt I'd bother for such a small amount but if you feel so strongly about your right to care, send them copies of your receipts and ask for reimbursement. Lack of information is extremely frustrating though had staff been around, they were likely not in a position to provide any. If you wanted a hotel for the night you would have had to stick around until your flight was cancelled. Who knows if rooms were even available, if you ever would have chance to request one, or if you could have gotten a seat on a flight the next day so I think you ultimately made the right choice by going home instead.

To clarify, there were staff around at the terminal to begin with, quite a few around. We were moved to the second gate about 19:30 and thought we were boarding, but then everyone disappeared about 20:00 - 20:30. I think we had been rather given up on. Poor customer service. I just think if this 'Right to care' exists, then airlines should at least have a go at treating their customers better and keeping them informed.