Norwegian Air Claim - Dragging their Feet? 23 August 2015 at 2:15PM edited 24 August 2015 at 1:00PM in Flight delay compensation 25 replies 16.9K views

castra

Hello.

In mid June, I was delayed on a flight from Berlin to London with Norwegian Air. The flight arrived over five hours late at Gatwick. I ticked all the boxes for claiming compensation and proceeded to claim.

I used the template letter from this site and furnished Norwegian Air with all required information. Norwegian Air acknowledged receipt of my claim and stated that they would respond in due course, but, quote: "We are currently experiencing longer processing times than usual. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Please do not resubmit your correspondence as this may delay the handling of your case".

Its now over two months since my initial claim. Should I send them a 'nudge' informing them unless I hear within 14 days etc etc or is this timescale quite normal and I am being impatient?

Thank you in advance for any infomation.

Alan_Bowen

Time to send the 14 day letter, Norwegian have form in ignoring claims and if you don't act, you are unlikely to hear from them again

castra

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

Time to send the 14 day letter, Norwegian have form in ignoring claims and if you don't act, you are unlikely to hear from them again

Many thanks for that advice. Does anybody have a link to a suitable template for the scenario of an airline that simply ignores a complaint hoping it will disappear? I've searched around this site and unless I have missed something, haven't found anything suitable?

Should I threaten them with the European Consumer Centre or legal proceedings? If Legal proceedings, would it be through this countries small claims court or elsewhere?

Alan_Bowen

Read the wonderful Vauban's guide which reveals all, and more, that you need to know. Norwegian has been subject to group legal action in Sweden for simply ignoring claims, ' we are a low cost airline and this law is unfair' seems to be the reason, so take action!

castra

Yesterday I sent an email to Norwegian Customer services as I had heard nothing for a little over three months. It was a standard 'unless I hear within 14 days' style response as per Vaubam plus I 'name dropped' a firm of specialist NWNF lawyers I would be hiring. Having heard nothing from them in three months, I received a response in less than three hours!

Quote: "we are really sorry to keep you waiting for so long. Unfortunately your case is still under the investigation. I would kindly ask you to wait for the response from our Customer Relations Department".

Playing for time or are they genuinely overrun with claims? Imo, my claim appears clear cut. I have studied and see nowhere they have wriggle room. Having googled their record re delays, they have some serious form. When people quote them as "being worse than Ryanair" re their PR, they have a problem.

As a side issue, the NA website page for delay reclaim is extremely ambiguous. What a surprise? When you arrive at the section for entering your bank details, no matter if you have a UK Bank account, it will ask for an IBAN and Swift Number and not let you proceed unless you enter it. Hmmmmm? How convenient? Finding a real life 'contact us' page is a major hunting expedition but it is there.

I await with expectation. The clock is ticking..........

badmanners

Norwegian are terrible, they like to claim 'extraordinary circumstances' and refer to the van der Lans case. However, given the recent ruling in this case, they may be waiting for another excuse to pop up.

castra

badmanners wrote: »

Norwegian are terrible, they like to claim 'extraordinary circumstances' and refer to the van der Lans case. However, given the recent ruling in this case, they may be waiting for another excuse to pop up.

My delay was supposedly a bog standard technical delay at Gatwick. I look forward to their interpretation.

badmanners

They just paid me after 3+ months of dragging their feet, it seems they are honouring the van der Lans judgement.

castra

badmanners wrote: »

They just paid me after 3+ months of dragging their feet, it seems they are honouring the van der Lans judgement.

Thats good to hear. May I ask? Did they pay you by personal cheque or by DD back to your original account or one of your choice? I ask as I am in Germany atm for the foreseeable, so of course if the former, there could be something waiting for me when next in the UK. My brother periodically calls round to check mail but he's said nothing lately.

I have heard of many airlines paying out in euro's when sending a cheque which actually isn't a problem to me as I have an account in Germany.

badmanners

They paid me £100 'goodwill' earlier, and that was via bank transfer to the account number I entered on their website's form in making my original claim. I've not actually received the rest, just the message telling me they're going to.

castra

I have received an email from Norwegian Air this morning which after I scrapped myself off the ceiling and composed myself, decided to share the relevant parts in order for guidance on some points. I've had a good study of the Vaubams guide and still feel my claim is sound. Maybe some kind person with better knowledge can confirm my views one way or the other?

Unfortunately, this flight was delayed by 4 hours and 49 minutes due to a problem with a window in the front door. These were extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.

They then proceed to quote The European Court of Justice verdict C-549/07 Wallentin-Hermann

1- As I understand from the Vaubham Guide, this ruling from 2008 is old hat when it comes to airlines denying claims. Is my definition correct?

2 - Should I respond to them quoting the Van Der Lans case which they conveniently seem to have forgotten.

3 - Does any recommendations for a NWNF company should the need arise?

Ta in advance for any potential advice.