Am I able to claim? Advice needed

jpsartre

vinylpusher1 wrote: »

"You are only entitled to a refund of the flight because you did not the board the flight, as you did not board the flight then the EU261 rule does not apply."

That was exactly the reason I adviced not to seek a refund earlier. It complicates the compensation claim.

vinylpusher1

Ok I see what you are saying.

At the time I asked for re-routing, the flight boards said a 5 hour delay but they couldn’t confirm whether or not this is correct or if it could be longer. There was no chance of it being sooner as the plane had not left the UK by that point.

So Ryan Air were going to pay 800 euro in compensation and now because I was misadvised by one of their customer care teams, they refunded me and now won’t honour any compensation at all.

Surely this isn’t right?

jpsartre

You weren't misadviced regarding the refund, you are absolutely entitled to this.

vinylpusher1

But they advised me I was also entitled to compensation as well as the flight refund. They said 1 payment would be made for the refund and this would not affect my compensation claim.

As soon as they processed the refund, they then emailed me to say I’m no longer entitled to compensation. So I would say that is being misinformed, no?

jpsartre

Yes, I see what you're saying. I don't know whether you're entitled to compensation or not. In the spirit of the regulations I think you are but the wording of the relevant rulings muddies the water.

vinylpusher1

Who is there to speak to who can make a judgement and help on this?

Would I be best now going through a claim company? Or is there an ombudsman I can raise a complaint with?

Tyzap

vinylpusher1 wrote: »

Ok I see what you are saying.

At the time I asked for re-routing, the flight boards said a 5 hour delay but they couldn’t confirm whether or not this is correct or if it could be longer. There was no chance of it being sooner as the plane had not left the UK by that point.

So Ryan Air were going to pay 800 euro in compensation and now because I was misadvised by one of their customer care teams, they refunded me and now won’t honour any compensation at all.

Surely this isn’t right?

I would say you are definitely due compensation and a refund, it's just the re-routing cost that may be questionable.

Unfortunately staff on the spot will say almost anything to get rid of you, holding them to verbal promises is very difficult unless you have some proof. Even then then, they are often none Ryanair staff.

Because the ADR company for Ryanair (AviationADR) have been suspended you can contact the CAA PACT team who may be able to help. To be honest tho it's unclear whether the CAA will take on your complaint as it occurred on the inbound flight. It's worth giving them a call to clarify the situation, AviationADR would have taken it on so I don't see why the CAA should not.

Good luck.

vinylpusher1

Thanks,

When I try to submit a query to the CAA it says they can’t deal with it because it’s coming from Tenerife.

I will have to call them to confirm who it is I need to speak with but from what I can see I would need to contact the national enforcement body for Spain.

Tyzap

vinylpusher1 wrote: »

Thanks,

When I try to submit a query to the CAA it says they can’t deal with it because it’s coming from Tenerife.

I will have to call them to confirm who it is I need to speak with but from what I can see I would need to contact the national enforcement body for Spain.

I wouldn't bother going through the Spanish regulator (AESA) as they will take ages to come up with an adjudication, up to about 6 months.

They can only recommend that the airline pays you if they find in your favour, but cannot force them to pay. The airlines know this and just ignore their ruling, leaving you back at square one. Even the courts ignore the regulators findings.

Been there, done that and got the teeshirt!

JPears

vinyl, my take on your case is:
You arrived at the Ryanair check in at the required time for your flight at 11.40. You have at this stage qualified for compensation if the flight is cancelled, delayed by more than 3/4 hours or cancelled, assuming it is not due to an EC.
You were informed that the flight was delayed with no definite departure time but an estimated 4pm. Now although conjecture, we all know from experience that the estimated delayed time will be optimistic at best so you are already at the 5 hours mark. I believe at this point the regulations infer that your flight has effectively been cancelled.
As you state you were aware that the incoming flight had not even left the UK making it easier to estimate the likely delay.
Ryanair informed that you could be re-routed but that they would not do this for you. You therefore made your own arrangements via Thomas Cook that were "convenient" to you (part of the regulations)

Indeed Ryanair's own T&Cs allow you to seek re-routing or a refund after 2 hours.
Ryanair confirmed that the original flight landed over hours late.

You are due:
Compensation due to the delay in excess of 3/4 hours.
The additional costs of your re-routing with TC.


Personally I would claim the re-routing costs in total, without going for the refund.
Airlines seem to think that if you take a refund they can deny any liabilty to you which is why then tend to unilateral issue a refund. This is incorrect but it makes a messy situation even harder to deal with.
I would be inclined to send another communication to Ryanair demanding both the compensation and re-routing costs, mark as an NBA/LBA giving 14 days, 21 if you're generous, for payment in full.
In the meantime start reading the good Dr Watson's prescription for using the ESCP legal route. I suspect this may be required.