Problem with EasyJet

Kjun

Hi guys

 

I am after a little advice about an issue I am having with EasyJet and wanted to check I have not missed something before taking the next step.

The story begins in February when our return flight from Lanzarote was cancelled due to storm dennis and re-scheduled for the following day.

Became aware of this when checking the flight status in the morning prior to checking out and also via an email from EasyJet confirming this.

 

Was able to book an extra night in the hotel we were already staying at which was the one booked via EasyJet as part of a package holiday and as planned flew back the next day.

 

Tried to claim back the €95 via the EasyJet website and this is when the problems started as I firstly submitted the invoice from the hotel and the credit card receipt only to receive a response stating that this was not sufficient as it did not have the hotel name, date, room or passenger name which it did.

 

3 further emails including one to complaints and all I have received is a copy and paste today of what to do if your flight is cancelled .

Now considering a formal letter before claim  though obviously this is not the ideal time but if I am due this money back I only have this option or an ADR which I don’t have much confidence in.

 

But before I do this I wanted to check a few things

 

1. Most importantly am I actually entitled to claim this since I booked it myself and did not allow them to source accommodation for me.

 

2. Does the liability lie with the actual airline to pay any expenses as I just want to establish the legal entity is correct as this was a package holiday booked through the EasyJet website but before EasyJet Holidays was set up and at that point payment went via a company with a different name based in Spain I think.

 

Thanks 

 

Kjun

SashikoStitcher

Hi. It’s correct that the airline is obliged to pay for your accommodation if a cancellation (regardless of the cause) means you are stranded. This is the “care and assistance” obligation under Regulation 261.   

Re whether they are obliged to pay for the accommodation because you sorted it yourself- in the assumption that you do have a claim against the airline (see below)  I would say that you are OK here for 3 reasons- (1) they did not pro-actively offer you accommodation (2) looking in the first instance into staying in the same hotel was the most sensible thing to do and (3) €95 is a fairly modest cost.  So I would not worry about that. Where they get tricky is if someone books themselves into a 5 star luxury hotel and orders champagne and caviar and expects that to be reimbursed.  

You are technically  right to question the correct entity to pursue. Your first recourse is against the tour operator if you definitely booked a package rather than separate flights and accommodation. Look at the booking confirmation to see why it says. If it was a package it should state the legal name of the company you are booking with and info about ATOL bonding etc. However it’s not possible to tell from the details you’ve given whether this was definitely a package. The fact that easyJet the airline contacted you directly about the cancellation and there was no immediate assistance in resort from any sort of rep would suggest that it was not considered a package. 

On balance I’d say send your letter to the airline as you won’t lose out by doing that. If they chose to defend based on the fact that the claim lies against a travel operator then you can deal with that as and when and, if necessary, redirect your claim. But it will be a lot cheaper for them to just pay you the €95. 

I say all this with one big caveat though- airlines and tour operators are in serious financial difficulty at the moment due to coronavirus. If you can afford to swallow the €95 for now, you might want to consider doing that in a gesture to help the airline stay afloat when all this is over. If it does survive you have a full 6 years to pursue your claim. Food for thought maybe? 

einfreund

I have had the same issue with EasyJet. You need to send an e-Mail to
flightrefund@easyjet.com
In the subjectline you need to put your booking ref plus flight date in the following format.
A3G8BS6/20/04/2020/EN
Do not put anything else in there.
Then compose your message as normal, hope this helps everyone who has issues