Taking The Airlines To Court

razorsedge

Fetch yourself a drink and get comfortable!

Narrator’s aside: The following is a dramatised account told from my point of view. Some details may have been exaggerated; elaborated; amended; changed; or just made up to make the story fit my purposes and I don’t care if you see it in a different way.



Attention to detail - it’s important.

Make sure each small element is right.
Check the instructions are clear, unambiguous and presentable.
Check all the parts fit together seamlessly.
Confirm the whole structure is coherent.
Get somebody else to do the same again.
If the above doesn’t happen and the first model produced turns out to be imperfect, then all the copies should be scrapped.

Narrator’s aside: In general terms, that is the sort thing I have dealt with most of my working life. If small elements aren’t clear then problems can rapidly escalate to expensive proportions. Just occasionally, an undetected small problem (or indeed, an undetected major flaw) can lead to later disasters.

I had been looking forward to Bundle Day. I thought my skills would give me an advantage. I have been trained to scrutinise, to be meticulous, to check things again and again.

I know they once apologised but I didn’t believe them. Adding the word ‘truly’ in front of ‘sorry’ does not make it any more sincere. When the CAP* department have spieled out the same hollow mantra umpteen times, it’s difficult to take it to heart. They don’t care about my feelings; they just want to scare me off. Do they care about my rights though? Well, I guess that’s why today is Bundle Day.

Knock knock knock. A young Heather O’Rourke popped into my head. “They’re heeeere!” The slim chance I had of an easy day vanished into thin air. The spectre of defeat was held in the Postman’s hands. Was this the day I would realise that all the time, all the research and all the advice was for nothing? Self doubt I don’t suffer, but this was a new experience, I have never had a Bundle Day before.

“I’m really sorry about this,” said the Postie. I believed him. “It was like this before I got it.”
I looked into his shovel like hands; they were still dwarfed by the package. The Bundle was so large it had burst out of the package and tried to escape. (Perhaps the Bundle had a sense of morality even if the Author had not.)
“I asked my boss at the (NQA)L(AIUTB)DO** to round up the escapee and patch up the envelope,” explained the Postie.
There was some sticky tape and a label holding the envelope together.

I took the tome-like Bundle and it’s broken packaging. The label asked me to get in touch with Royal Mail if there was anything wrong with the contents.
“Anything wrong with the contents!” I thought, “Don’t get me started on that one! Sorry? Oh, you meant physical damage and not in a moral sense.”

Narrator’s aside: I am not sure what is happening with Royal Mail’s Special Deliveries from Luton to me. The Bundle envelope was damaged. The Bundle Addendum envelope was worse and looked like Freddy Krueger had handled it. Hmmm, slashed by razors? Is RM trying to tell me something? Maybe the defence was falling apart even before I received it?

I closed the door. Back inside, Douglas Adams’s words start to run through my head. “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's….”
This Bundle was no spectre. This Bundle was Gozer The Destructor’s Stay Puft Marshmallow Man…. on steroids!
Then, Peter Jones’s voice cuts in with more of Douglas’s words, “DON’T PANIC”.

Narrator’s aside (not Peter Jones): Don’t get over-awed by big bundles. There are some word heavy documents being used for these claims, (especially if you are facing a Montreal Convention time limit defence). However, by Bundle Day, having done your preparation, you will know quite a few of these documents already.

So, I have three things to deal with. The MC defence, the alternative defence of extraordinary circumstances and the back strain suffered carrying the thing into the house.
Deal with the easiest things first – thank you generic painkillers.
What next? Recent intelligence suggests that the MC problem is not going to be my battle to fight. Other forces are gathering for that. Perhaps prepare something later though, just in case you get caught alone in a skirmish before the battle. If the skirmish starts to go wrong, just be ready to throw the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. (Narrator’s aside: that’s Dawson.)

So then, start with the extraordinary circumstances.

Narrator’s aside: My extraordinary circumstances were claimed as a birdstrike. However, I think for many people and for most EC’s (particularly technical ones); a lot of the next section will apply in terms of what content you can expect in the Defence Bundle:

Two witness statements from senior employees at head office, with exhibits attached. Exhibits consist of some copies of reports, flight logs, scheduling plans and maintenance records.

Task one: Score some Small Victories.
Quickly read through the statements and see if the CAP* department have done themselves proud. Don’t concern yourself with the stated facts or otherwise at this stage. Just read it.
Look for the CAPEs*. Does it make sense? Does it flow? Is each sentence complete or are there obvious errors and repetitions? Do you think the Witness has actually read and checked the statement before signing?
Highlight the errors.
“What’s the point in that?” you may ask. “It won’t make any difference in terms of how the Judge interprets the law.” True.
However, poor presentation is a sign of poor craftsmanship and that is an indicator that somewhere there may be an underlying flaw.
Often said by many: “If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true.”
Often said by me: “If it looks rubbish, then it probably is rubbish.”

Task two: Overview.
Without getting bogged down in the technical elements presented to you, determine how they are trying to convince a Judge that they are right (and/or you are wrong). What is their strategy? How does this strategy fit in with the law?
Remember:
You do not have to get stuck into an argument over the exact technical aspects of the problem that caused your delay/cancellation. But, you do need to know to which sections of the regs/ECJ rulings etc. this problem applies.

Task three: Paragraph level analysis. What are the individual elements of the statements claiming? Make a note of paragraphs that need rebutting and any you think need further investigation. In their defence statement (and witness statements) have they denied exactly every single allegation that you made in your Particulars of Claim? No denial = accepted to be true.

Task four: Crosscheck.
Does every assertive statement paragraph have an exhibit to back it up?
If a paragraph refers to an exhibit, take a look at the exhibit.
Is it the correct type of document as stated? Is it the correct date for your incident? If not, do you think the Witness has actually read and checked the exhibit?

So far, so good, all relatively brief tasks.

Task five: Detailed Look.
‘Attention to detail - it’s important.’
Be meticulous, scrutinise. It’s not necessarily one big knockout blow that can defeat your opponents; a series of smaller, more precise ones can also do the job.
Once again, you are not necessarily looking into the exact technical details. There is going to be plenty of technical jargon, unfamiliar abbreviations and terms you do not understand. Don’t panic. There is plenty of help out there in the ether, but even so, you are not likely to have sufficient knowledge to argue about say, how long a test for engine fan blade balancing should take. So recall the lessons from task two: It’s what the law says that counts.
However, errors and omissions found during this task all help establish the (in?)credibility of the witness statements.
Do the exhibits actually back up the statements? This is going to have be answered on an individual case basis but some examples include:
Does the maintenance sheet agree that it was a wing flap that was replaced?
Do the flight schedules show that they could not have used a spare aircraft – is all their fleet listed?
Does an assertion that no other aircraft could be hired from elsewhere have any documentary evidence to back that up and who decided?
Does the daily log show that it was actually your flight that suffered the problem? Or another aircraft? Or another flight?
Do any two documents that purportedly back-up the same statement actually agree with each other or are there some discrepancies?
Is it the correct date on the document for your incident?

[FONT=&quot]Narrator’s aside: And now folks, we return you to Bundle Day.[/FONT]

I had five tasks to do to complete the mission and gave myself an estimated timescale of one day plus two evenings.

Task one was simple. The CAP department had obviously not had a good day. There were more CAPE’s than on a sailor’s map. I felt like a schoolteacher marking their class work. Little crosses with corrections written in above. Small Victory.

Task two was already complete. Their warning shot had already outlined their strategy.
(Narrator’s aside: that’s their defence document sent within 28 days of your claim being served – start using it as soon as it arrives).
Their EC strategy was a bold one; on face value it was going to be tough to beat. My original thoughts were that perhaps they would even be triumphant and just maybe, I was wrong to start this.
But, friends and non-friends, some faceless, some electronic, all had helped with the information gathering. Come Bundle Day I had a good assessment of the situation and was not quite so worried.

Tasks three and four quickly followed and had shown some more errors. Surely the Witnesses would have spotted these before signing? I came to the conclusion that they may not have been near the Bundle Assembly Line. Well, not on my Bundle’s Birthday. (That is, of course, subject to thinking something that had been created by a slice and dice cloning technique can be considered to have a birthday).

Task five.

I hadn’t been at this too long and wasn’t specifically looking for it at the time. By now, thanks to something I called Sub-task (5)(a), I had already managed to turn some of the data on the exhibits into information. I was carrying out Sub-task (5)(b) when something caught my eye.
“That rings a bell.” I thought.
I put down the highlighter colour coded ‘error’. (The poor thing was nearly worn out anyway).
I reached for the highlighter colour coded ‘important’.
“Hang on!” I thought. “Remember, be meticulous, finish this little sub-task first.” My hand paused for a moment.
I am sorry to say that on this occasion, temptation got the better of me. Flicking back to the statement from the exhibit I abandoned Sub-task (5)(b) to check something else.
“Hmmm, that’s interesting.” I mused.
I picked up the highlighter colour coded ‘important’.
I checked again and then crosschecked another paragraph or two. (At least in that respect I was following my training). Then returned to the exhibit.

The information that had caught my eye, it was so small, almost insignificant in size and practically lost amongst all the rest of the data on the page. Then, I carefully marked it. It was just a 5mm by 5mm blob but seemed to me such a largess of fluorescent importance. I then found some more just like the first, all on the same page.

I had been looking forward to Bundle Day, until it arrived… because then I realised, I should have been really looking forward to it!

Mission time elapsed: Not much
Mission time remaining: Plenty
Mission status: Complete
Now, where did I put that section about the Montreal Convention?

*
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=64086737&highlight=#post64086737

**
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=64096050&highlight=#post64096050

JPears

"make it any more sincere"
Tiny error - There are no degrees of sincerity
Show us yer blob razoredge!

razorsedge

JPears wrote: »

"make it any more sincere"
Tiny error -There are no degrees of sincerity
Show us yer blob razoredge!

Tiny error! :eek: Maybe I need to me more meticulous, better at scrutinising and check things again and again AND again!
('Must try harder' says the school teacher.)

Unfortunately the blob has been asked to 'stay' away for a while pending a few appeals. It is a shame that nobody can gaze on its fluorescent magnificence at the moment but it will be worth the wait.

purple_icecream

Help needed!!

I am just putting together my documents for my court hearing, is this the "court bundle"?

I have written the witness statement, and am now copying all the other letters which have gone between myself and Virgin.

I have read advice on here about including the Walletin, Sturgeon and 261/2004 but don't know which bits I can use to help me.

If anyone can spare a bit of time I can email my witness statement for you to check over and also explain my EC and maybe get some help with how to refer to the Walletin, Sturgeon and 261/2004 docs? I would be very much appreciative.

Seems most people have to send their papers in 2 weeks before the court date, I have been asked to send mine by 30th december, my court case is not until March!! and I have a mediation phone call booked for january, so all this work may not even be necessary if the mediation is successful!!

Vauban

purple_icecream wrote: »

Help needed!!

I am just putting together my documents for my court hearing, is this the "court bundle"?

I have written the witness statement, and am now copying all the other letters which have gone between myself and Virgin.

I have read advice on here about including the Walletin, Sturgeon and 261/2004 but don't know which bits I can use to help me.

If anyone can spare a bit of time I can email my witness statement for you to check over and also explain my EC and maybe get some help with how to refer to the Walletin, Sturgeon and 261/2004 docs? I would be very much appreciative.

Seems most people have to send their papers in 2 weeks before the court date, I have been asked to send mine by 30th december, my court case is not until March!! and I have a mediation phone call booked for january, so all this work may not even be necessary if the mediation is successful!!

PN me your email, and I'll send you over the bundle I pulled together for my own case, including my argument.

purple_icecream

OK will do now thank you!

purple_icecream

I sent it, did you get it?

Vauban

Yep - will forward you some stuff later.

purple_icecream

Ok yes please! Thank you!

Vauban

purple_icecream wrote: »

Ok yes please! Thank you!

You should have it now.