Refund nightmare with blue-air airline

kernow1234

Thank you very much for your replies.

Yes, @CKhalvashi , you are right, it seems they do not have a UK office.  How do I go about claiming under the Consumer Credit Act, and is there a time limit I need to be aware of?

I see your point, @Alan_Bowen - but I suppose at some point they will have to comply with UK courts or they will not be allowed to operate any more!

CKhalvashi

kernow1234 said:

Thank you very much for your replies.

Yes, @CKhalvashi , you are right, it seems they do not have a UK office.  How do I go about claiming under the Consumer Credit Act, and is there a time limit I need to be aware of?

I see your point, @Alan_Bowen - but I suppose at some point they will have to comply with UK courts or they will not be allowed to operate any more!

You will need to contact your card issuer and state you wish to make a claim against them under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1975 for non-performance of services and they will start this process for you.

EDIT: The original flights must have cost more than £100, but the compensation will be added to the amount of your claim.

mgv

@CKhalvashi do you know if small claims court / MoneyClaim Online can be used if Blue Air does not have a UK office? The MSE page on flight delays suggests yes:

• Booked flights in the UK? You should be able to take your case through the courts in the relevant country you're based in, regardless of where the airline is based.
  
  
• Got a UK address for the airline? The European Consumer Centre says if so, you can take an airline to court here, even if the head office is based elsewhere.
  
  
• Flight departed or arrived in the UK? The ECJ ruled in a flight cancellations case in 2009 that you can take an airline to court for cancellation claims in either the country the plane was due to arrive in or depart from, regardless of where the airline's based.

However the MCOL website asks for a UK address. I found BLUE AIR on Companies House, UK establishment number BR019368, which is an UK establishment of 'BLUE AIR U.K.' (Company number FC034278), which is an overseas company with the correct address in Baneasa. This BLUE AIR company has the address "C/O Grant Thornton Llp Liver Building, Liverpool, L3 1PS", I wonder if a MCOL claim with that address would have any success?

My situation is: delayed flight in Dec 2020, Blue Air agreed to pay EU261 compensation over email, but never sent any money. I complained to CAA 11 months ago, with no result yet (have had some emails from CAA every few months saying they're still working on this).

I hope I can use MCOL for this, as I do not think Romania has a small claims system.

CKhalvashi

mgv said:

@CKhalvashi do you know if small claims court / MoneyClaim Online can be used if Blue Air does not have a UK office? The MSE page on flight delays suggests yes:

• Booked flights in the UK? You should be able to take your case through the courts in the relevant country you're based in, regardless of where the airline is based.
  
  
• Got a UK address for the airline? The European Consumer Centre says if so, you can take an airline to court here, even if the head office is based elsewhere.
  
  
• Flight departed or arrived in the UK? The ECJ ruled in a flight cancellations case in 2009 that you can take an airline to court for cancellation claims in either the country the plane was due to arrive in or depart from, regardless of where the airline's based.

However the MCOL website asks for a UK address. I found BLUE AIR on Companies House, UK establishment number BR019368, which is an UK establishment of 'BLUE AIR U.K.' (Company number FC034278), which is an overseas company with the correct address in Baneasa. This BLUE AIR company has the address "C/O Grant Thornton Llp Liver Building, Liverpool, L3 1PS", I wonder if a MCOL claim with that address would have any success?

My situation is: delayed flight in Dec 2020, Blue Air agreed to pay EU261 compensation over email, but never sent any money. I complained to CAA 11 months ago, with no result yet (have had some emails from CAA every few months saying they're still working on this).

I hope I can use MCOL for this, as I do not think Romania has a small claims system.

It should be possible to argue that the service address would be sufficient, with Blue Air being a foreign company registered in the UK.

That said, I'm not sure post-January 2021 of how a judgement would actually be enforced in these circumstances outside the UK.

The Romanian small claims equivalent is the 'Cerere cu valoare redusa', roughly translated as the Court of reduced value claims. Intra-EU procedures which would have made it easier to claim are no longer available to UK consumers.