How did it all start for you ?

Vauban

Skid_Marks wrote: »

My first post was congratulating Vauban for giving Monarch a good whipping....having said that I now think he needs to be called before the stewards for a caution (excessive use of the whip almost bringing monarch down), leaving Dr Watson the winner on Ryanair!

Oh but they deserved everything they got. Okay, it may be true that I have become a flight delay compensation monster - but Monarch made me this way! Think of me as their Frankenstein!

For it was their high-handed incompetence, their untruthfulness, and their reluctance to abide by the law that initially riled me. They did not deal with my claim with either professionalism or integrity. And when I began to receive personal messages from people apparently working for the airline, complaining about what they were being told to do and how uncomfortable they were with it, I realised something very wrong was happening.

I hope this doesn't sound pious - and it shouldn't because I’m certain it's true for all the regular posters on here - but whilst I had the confidence to face down this disgraceful behaviour, I knew there were plenty of people who didn't have my advantages. And they were often the people who could least afford to forego the compensation that was legally theirs. So I thought I would hang around and do my best to signpost people in the right direction, building on the knowledge I'd picked up from others in the forum before me - notably Centipede100. This would not only “pay forward” the invaluable help I’d got from here, but it would help to prevent the injustice of seeing people cheated out of their compensation. And it would be a salutary reminder to Monarch and other airlines – who I know read these boards - that there were consequences for bad behaviour.

My first posting incidentally was in December 2012, where I commended the “experts on this forum” for having “the patience of Saints” in dealing with the same questions, day in day out. I am not sure I have always managed to maintain the same kind of patience, unfortunately. And then I asked a couple of naïve questions … [The first reply came from someone called 111KAB who was also having a little local difficulty with Monarch Airlines – I often wonder how that worked out …]

Mark2spark

Well, d'you know, I've tried the search facility and I can't find my original flight delay post.
But the story would have gone something like this...

Was delayed by 5 hours +, returning from Majorca (on Monarch) Sep/Oct 2012. Was treated with zero information whilst airside, went back through security to check in desk area to find that they were giving out €5 or something meal vouchers, however there was a strike in the airport and most of the restos etc were closed, and the cheapest 'Happy Meal' at Burger King was about €8.

That's the short story, sufficient to say that I was fuming.

Eventually the plane arrived, and the - rather unbelievable - story from the pilot was that at 5 or 6 am when they turned up at Gatwick for the preceding leg to ours, they found no plane there! The plane was still in Cork Ireland, someone had forgot to book it to fly empty overnight to gatwick for the days schedule. So the pilot (and co pilot) got a taxi to Heathrow, got a nudge nudge wink wink seat on Aer Lingus to Cork, and picked up the empty plane and flew it to gatwick to commence the days schedule, some 6 hours late.
The cabin crew had all this time been sitting kicking their heels at gatwick staff room. I actually felt sorry for them, their service (once we eventually got on board and in the air) was faultless and completely professional, there were a lot of disgruntled passengers who gave no thought to the fact that the crew had been delayed as well.

It later turned out that what had actually happened was that the original plane had gone tech, and monarch had sent two smaller planes for our leg, one plane was on time, the other was delayed due to the Ireland thing. So, *eventually*, through knowledge gleaned from this forum, I was able to work out that in my case, I was actually denied boarding (on the other plane) so I had a bit more of a stick to beat Monarch with.

So, having landed at Gatwick, within a few days I was busy scouring the www and came across this forum and the very knowledgeable Centipede100, who provided links, and I read and read and read, and learned.

This was all still pre the Sturgeon ruling in Oct 2012 so ALL of us were still in the learning curve. In the meantime the excellent Vauban & 111KAB had started their journeys, and good exchanges were being had. There were others as well (JP etc) (sorry if I haven't mentioned everyone )

Having gained a good bit of knowledge by now, and with plenty of newbies arriving daily, I composed a list of FAQ's derived from links and bits and pieces that others had posted, and this became the mainstay referral before a forum reshuffle (due to newbies starting new threads every single day of the same questions!), and an exchange of pm's between Centipede and myself resulted in the 'specific airline thread' threads being started, with the OP being this FAQ's list.

It's been long lost now due to the reshuffles, but I found a link to it here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=59705723&postcount=32
which just gives you an idea of how we were still learning, almost on a daily basis. We still thought the CAA were our friends for instance!

With the Monarch thread, I decided to start listing the flights in the OP that had been denied by Monarch, with the excuses given, so that we could work out the strategy being used. The point of it now has gone, but it can still be viewed in the Monarch thread.

In the meantime, with my case, I succeeded in getting a payout from Monarch without going to court, this was around Feb/March 2013... I think I'm still the first recorded instance of a payout without having to go to court!

The upshot is that my time on this forum has been spent, and I just pop on occasionally now with the odd line for people, I warned Monarch that I wouldn't let it go because of the way they treated me, and that remains the case to date. If I help a dozen people a year get money out of Monarch then I feel pleased, vindicated even

I'm still interested in the ongoing saga, hence my popping back on for updates on Van de Lars type stuff.

That's my tuppence worth anyway. :rotfl:

NoviceAngel

After ALL the dental work threads, your first post in your real home was this one https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/56427651#Comment_56427651

Mark2spark

NoviceAngel wrote: »

After ALL the dental work threads, your first post in your real home was this one https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/56427651#Comment_56427651

Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!! What are you like Sherlock!! :rotfl:

NoviceAngel

Thanks to everyone that has got behind this thread so far, it has made very interesting reading.....

It seems as though the thread has moulded more to not just your first ever post but deeper into the hurt and anger at the airlines that inspired you to post, but didn't necessarily convey back then. Mine for example, didn't describe the full hurt and upset that I truly felt at the time and the anger at the outright lies that Jet2 were pushing.....

Feeling much more confident I did give a fuller picture on the forum which I'll reproduce here :-

Originally due to fly out from Tenerife one evening after having a lovely break with Jet2holidays, (yes not Jet2.com direct for a cheap flight!) and had to spend the night in a 'closed' airport waiting for the Jet2 plane to arrive which suffered from allegedly an 'extraordinary circumstance' at Leeds/Bradford airport.

My wife and I were due to arrive at Leeds/Bradford airport just before midnight, we live around 15-20 mins from the airport had hand luggage only and had assumed we would be back home by 1am at the latest.

We had both arranged to return to work the following day however, upon arriving at the airport for our departure we were immediately informed of a delay, no information was forthcoming as to the reasons for the delay but the flight was 'indefinitely' delayed, naturally we would return back to our hotel and perhaps enjoy an extended stay, but we were informed not to leave the airport as the Jet2 plane could arrive at any time! Really, when I found out it was subsequently still at Leeds/Bradford waiting for a component to be collected from Manchester airport?

We were also informed that the airport was not a 24hour airport, so should we leave - there would be nobody available to allow us back inside the airport.

Ohh well I guess we just stay inside the airport in those god almighty uncomfortable seats that don't allow you to go to sleep because of the fixed armrests that stop you from lying down to get any sleep.

I was also concious of the fact that both myself and my wife were shattered and if we both went to sleep, what would happen if the plane landed and nobody woke us up to catch it? I told my wife to get her head down and with all the outlets closed and only the emergency lighting left to illuminate what was already a dark and lonely place, my wife slept on the floor with her head rested on our hand luggage.

The 'free' wi-fi had long since expired so getting messages back to our employers or even the car parking Company were also a concern, I didn't sleep at all that night and finally the Jet2 flight arrived at something like 4am.

I woke my wife and we both staggered towards the Jet2 plane, I can remember little about the actual flight and even less about my drive home, although I do remember arriving home in shorts and a t-shirt thinking that we were both due in work 10 mins ago!

We obviously both lost a days pay for our 'unauthorised absence'.

Weeks later after a full recovery I wrote a nice letter to Jet2 explaining what had happened (never heard of EC regs) expecting to get a voucher or something towards another flight, I would have been ecstatic with a 'free' flight but accepting of a 25% off voucher towards our next flight.

The response from Jet2 was something I'd never experienced before, the overriding impression was - What do you expect - Planes go wrong - Not our fault - you're not entitled to compensation - we did everything we could - you have NO right to complain!

Shocked and stunned - Just thought there's a Company to avoid - Living in Yorkshire, I thought I was flying with a Yorkshire based Company that shared common values of loyalty, trust and fairness - boy I'm stupid!

So hence my battle commenced after seeing Martin mention EC261 in one of his many TV spots.

And here we are years later, with Jet2 acting beyond belief defying first Stockport, Manchester, then the High Courts, then the Supreme Court and now even defying the advice given by our very own Civil Aviation Authority.

I just hope that the Court Judges see through their latest 'Amsterdam' Court stay request, and please let there be an end to all this FINALLY......

Cheers,

NoviceAngel

NoviceAngel

Vauban wrote: »

.........I hope this doesn't sound pious - and it shouldn't because I’m certain it's true for all the regular posters on here - but whilst I had the confidence to face down this disgraceful behaviour, I knew there were plenty of people who didn't have my advantages. And they were often the people who could least afford to forego the compensation that was legally theirs.

I think it does a little, but you have every right to be, I'm no longer scared about posting on a forum, but many years ago, I remember the sense of 'will anyone be offended? can I say that in that way? It takes quite a bit of guts, not just to post but to actually take on the might of the airlines.

I try to keep that in mind, when I post and try not to jump up and down on anyone, that's why we all politely refer forumities to Vaubans guide even though you might want to shout at them, but that forumite may one day become a regular poster and help thousands of users claim what is rightfully theirs.{I wanted to reword that ~ even that could be described as pious or pompous are they the same?} ohh it can stay in!

If your reading this and often think about posting, please do help, because eventually the forum churn will mean some of us will post less and we need your help to keep the forum active and feel fresh.

I make lots of mistakes, I try to leave them all in now, it still hurts when I muck up and give incorrect advice especially when quite rightly pulled up publicly for it, I think that for me is the hardest thing to read, but at least I'll try and remember for next time and I'm really happy for the correction after the first few minutes The natural reaction is to take your bucket and spade home, I'm learning not to do that any more.

I think it's important to develop your own forum style and I think we all compliment each other really well, I know some of my posts, the more educated must read and have an OMG moment, and I recall reading Vaubans elegantly worded posts, thinking I could never write like that, the point is I don't have to and as long as you try to help in your own way, you will be highly respected for it.

It doesn't matter if your grammer is as bad as mi own :cool:

Cheers,

NoviceAngel

Dr_Watson

NoviceAngel wrote: »

It doesn't matter if your grammer is as bad as mi own :cool:

NoviceAngel

Nowt rong wi thi grammer Novice, not weir wear from anyroad.

JPears

I first posted the day after a 5 hour delay, from Chambery to Leeds 12 Feb 2011. We were informed of the delay at check in, eventually were given a E5 voucher which could buy a cheese buttie and coffee. We were never given any information as to the reason for delay, only the screens being updated hour after hour with delay getting longer and longer. The plane clearly wasn't at Chambery leading to the conclusion it either hadn't left Leeds or hadn't made it to Chambery.
I found this forum the next day, after searching for info about general compensation for delays, unaware of Reg261/2004.
I was so incensed by the lack of information on the day and the total lack of empathy from ground staff.
When I contacted Which? legal service, their response was leave it for now as the Sturgeon case was waiting in the wings. I could take legal action but risked it being rejected or stayed.
The delay was caused on the previous flight, by a faulty relay on the autopilot system, the relay worked but the indicator, that showed it had tripped, didn't. Clearly a technical issue. What I found astounding in the evidence of the witness was that they didn't replace the faulty relay! "Economy" airlines for you....
Sure enough the same aircraft, on the same flight the next week to Chambery only got as far as Geneva before having to land. I bet the fault was the same or similar......quelle surprise

NoviceAngel

JPears wrote: »

The delay was caused on the previous flight

ok that's one nil to you, This is a knock-on and we know what the regs actually say, the delay was on a previous flight not YOUR flight.

JPears wrote: »

........by a faulty relay on the autopilot system, the relay worked but the indicator, that showed it had tripped, didn't. Clearly a technical issue.

So that's two nil then clearly a technical that effected (your) flight would never be regarded as an EC. But it didn't even effect (or should it be affect PtLV) your flight, it was on the previous flight ! How the bloomin eck do you sleep at night, talk about injustice, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm actually glad you lost your case, the fact that it was such a huge travesty of justice is only to our benefit, you have inspired me JP and just think of the hundreds of cases that you have helped win, every time a user 'thanks' your posts....

Cheers,

NoviceAngel

Wenner

Hi, for me it starts right now!
First of all I have to say 'Thank you so much' to Vauban for his Guide to Claiming Flight Compensation!
Without his report and advice I could not have send my witness statement or particulars of claim to the County Court recently! You can see from that, this is my first time claiming compensation for a delayed flight.

I don't want to bore you all with the long story, but I have a hearing date in April at court, as I am claiming compensation from easyJet.

Our flight on 24.12.2013 from GTW to Innsbruck was delayed and rerouted to Munich, hence my family and myself arriving at our destination more than 7 hours late on Christmas Eve!
As you can imagine, easyJet is claiming 'extraordinary circumstances' - the weather !!!
Right now I am working through easyJet's 'bundle of documents' - only 220 pages!

I am wondering how much detail will be required for the 'skeleton argument' and how I should prepare for the hearing, as I am going to Court myself.
thanks for reading this