24 Hour Delay - Due to Ground Crew Damaging Aircraft, Wizz Air Refusing EC261/2004 Compensation

cwaite

Our flight from Nice to Gatwick was delayed over 24 hours due to ground grew having a collision with the aircraft, I applied for EC261/2004 compensation to Wizz Air, but they have come back and said  the delay was "as a result of unexpected circumstances."

I want to contest this as I believe that Wizz Air cannot class this as unexpected, the damage was cause due to the incompetence of the ground crew and their neglect to follow correct procedures.

Wizz Air have said in their email if I wish to contest their decision  I can "send a complaint to the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform. More information is available at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/."

However when I visited this website it tells me that because I am not from an EU country I am unable to use this service, does anyone know which site UK residents can use instead of this one?

eskbanker

It's unusual for them to use the phrase 'unexpected circumstances', as the wording that can get them off the compensation hook is 'extraordinary circumstances', but the fundamental issue here is likely to be whose responsibility the ground crew are - if they're airline employees, or contracted by the airline, then Wizz Air are liable, but if they're airport staff (as they often are) then that negates airline liability.

If you believe you can construct a case to take further then you can use Aviation ADR - I believe that Wizz's flights on this route are operated by their UK subsidiary and https://www.aviationadr.org.uk/how-to-complain-about-wizz-air-flight/ states:

What Wizz Air complaints can we deal with?

The airline sector covers complaints against any Wizz Air flight which we can accept any flight that either had a destination or departure airport of Hungary, Uk and Germany

CKhalvashi

Please see my post here.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80098919/#Comment_80098919

You'll need to make the claim directly to the airline first.

You will need to go through the UK ADR as a non-EU citizen or resident and will not benefit from the EU protections, including consumer rights, although the UK procedures are currently identical. Your flight would have been operated by Wizz Air UK, not Wizz Air Hungary/Malta, each of which are completely separate airlines and operating to different procedures.

The UK ADR can be found here. https://www.aviationadr.org.uk/how-to-complain-about-wizz-air-flight/

cwaite

Yes I have made a Claim and as I said they immediately rejected it, I did see your post and the case against Condor you referred to in the post seems to be a similar situation to mine, so it does give me some confidence that Wizz Air shouldn't be trying to worm out of paying the compensation.

UK ADR website state "you must have already complained to Wizz Air directly in writing and either received a final written response (sometimes referred to as a ‘deadlock letter’) or given Wizz Air eight (8) weeks to respond to your dispute." However Wizz Air do not give me any way of appealing against their decision, they state at the bottom of the email "Please be informed that if you are dissatisfied with the solution, you can send a complaint to the Online Dispute Resolution" this would indicate that they are not prepared to enter into any further discussion about this case. So by them telling me to go to the Online Dispute Resolution, would indicate that we are now in a deadlock situation, am I reading this correctly?

CKhalvashi

I'd get back to them reminding them of this case before proceeding.

They have not stated yet that they will not discuss this further. You may need to do this as a new claim, but should be able to respond by responding to the e-mail in question.

It may also be worth stating that this is a pre-Brexit court decision, that the legislation was transferred directly to UK law (with the exception of compensation amounts, although in this case it's not relevant as your flight was not operated by an EU carrier but did depart an EU country, so you can elect to use EU law or UK law, not both, but check exchange rates accordingly).

cwaite

Do do you know any way that I can get intouch to respond to this rejection I tried Live Chat but it’s always busy, I am not going to give them any more of my hard earned money by calling their premium rate number just to be told the same thing (in any case I really need any conversation in back and white) I have direct messaged them on Twitter but no response and when I replied to the email they sent I got the following message back:

Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups:

Wizz Air Customer Service (customerrelations1@customerservices.wizzair.com)
The recipient's mailbox is full and can't accept messages now. Please try resending your message later, or contact the recipient directly.

CKhalvashi

cwaite said:

Do do you know any way that I can get intouch to respond to this rejection I tried Live Chat but it’s always busy, I am not going to give them any more of my hard earned money by calling their premium rate number just to be told the same thing (in any case I really need any conversation in back and white) I have direct messaged them on Twitter but no response and when I replied to the email they sent I got the following message back:

Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups:

Wizz Air Customer Service (customerrelations1@customerservices.wizzair.com)
The recipient's mailbox is full and can't accept messages now. Please try resending your message later, or contact the recipient directly.

The customer service number for existing customers is not premium, the sales number is. Look again (It starts with 0330, so should cost same as calling a neighbour or any landline in UK). I'll dig it out on request.

It may be easier to open a new claim, stating what's mentioned above.

Edit to add: You can probably escalate to ADR now, but I fear this is going to take longer than having Wizz re-look at it. It will also create no doubt that the correct process is followed.

cwaite

If you wouldn't mind digging out the 0330 number the only one I can find is for special assistance, they say no other queries will handled from that number.

CKhalvashi

cwaite said:

If you wouldn't mind digging out the 0330 number the only one I can find is for special assistance, they say no other queries will handled from that number.

If your query is related to an existing booking you can contact the Wizz Air Call Centre at domestic rates when calling from the following countries. For exact rates, please consult your phone service provider.

Contact us > Existing bookings

COUNTRY	LOCAL NUMBER
United Kingdom	0330 977 0444

.......

These numbers only handle inquiries about existing bookings. Have your confirmation number, passenger details, route and date of your flight at hand! This number deals with queries regarding existing bookings only.

cwaite

The day after I got my rejection email for compensation under EC Regulation 261/2004, I was planning to contact them but before I got the chance, I received this email from them and today the EUR 1500 was paid into my bank, just got to work on getting the expenses that we paid out back.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for contacting Wizz Air Customer Service Department.

Please accept our apologies for all inconveniences caused by the delay in the flight. We assure you that we make every effort to operate flights according to the original schedule, but sometimes, like all other airlines, we are compelled to readjust our previously set schedule.

We value our customers and would like to offer compensation due to delay in accordance with Regulation 261/2004 of the European Parliament and Council of the European Union, as credit paid to your WIZZ Account in the amount of 120% of the total fare – 300 EUR.

This credit amount will be uploaded to your Wizz Account (Number: REMOVED; Holder: NAME REMOVED) and will be at your disposal immediately, and it will be valid for 2 years. You could apply it to purchase Wizz Air flights or additional services online, for yourself and your travelling partners.
Also, it is possible to get the compensation to your bank account (the amount will be at your disposal within 7 days) in the amount of 250 EUR per passenger.

In case you would choose this option, we would need you to provide us with the following details:
 
• IBAN;
• SWIFT/ BIC;
• Beneficiary name;
• Bank name;
• Account currency.

Kindly ask you to inform us which option of compensation is more suitable for you, so we could complete your request asap.

As for welfare, in accordance with EC Regulation 261/2004, we will reimburse the expenses encountered directly due to the delay such as hotel, transfer, meals, refreshments, communication charges, and other expenses. The amount of the compensation is defined individually in reasonable relation to the waiting time. We kindly ask you to forward all related invoices/receipts in the English language, as an attachment to your reply, so that we can determine a possible compensation.  
 
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Kind regards,

NAME REMOVED
CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT | Wizz Air Hungary Ltd. (member of Wizz Air Group)
wizzair.com

CKhalvashi

If you need more help than the below I'll answer in the morning as OH woke me up at 4am and I'm getting tired..

You'l need to reply with a photo of any receipts for other expenses.

If these aren't in English, you can take a photo and translate them automatically, attaching both the originals and the translated copies.

You'll be looking at 1 night of hotel, transport to/from and likely 2 meals. If you used a travel website for the booking, you can download an invoice for a hotel on the website or in the app in many cases. Same goes for Uber/Bolt/similar.