Making a complaint when company will not change consumer's contact details

powerful_Rogue

Just use pen and paper

easyJet Airline Company Limited
Hangar 89
London Luton Airport
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU2 9PF
United Kingdom

DullGreyGuy

eskbanker said:

DullGreyGuy said:

eskbanker said:

I'd suggest referring the matter to their data protection officer, highlighting that their refusal to recognise the invalidity of the email address used for the booking is incompatible with their obligations under the Data Protection Act, and formally requesting that they either change it to yours or make other adjustments to allow you to proceed with the claim:

Privacy policy | easyJet

How is it incompatible? They have the name and email address of the person that made the booking. The former is still accurate and fairly unlikely the OP knows their former colleague's new email address to update it and it doesn't really help them anyway.

Does easyJet take passengers email addresses? Even if they do they certainly aren't mandatory and so equally not mandatory that easyJet subsequently add one. 

Presumably the former manager of the employee that's left has access to their former employee's email box and so it shouldn't be hard to ask them for the email response you say has gone to that box.

I'd contend that a policy of fixing an email address associated with a booking and refusing any attempts to update this is in breach of their responsibility to keep personal data accurate and up to date - the fact that the email address relates to another person doesn't change the fact that EasyJet consider it to be the sole means of contact for OP and is therefore effectively denying OP their passenger rights because of this.

You may be right that in this case OP could potentially work around this, but as a point of principle EasyJet should accommodate such situations, and my point was that the DP officer should be more likely to accept this than front line call centre staff....

No, they maintain its the contact for the booker and person that paid for the trip... they'll want to maintain who they are actually in contract with, who to deal with if the payment subsequently is charge backed etc and that isnt the OP

As to the easyJet form... you can declare you aren't the booker via a tickbox and I'm fairly certain I've successfully claimed when our travel centre has booked for us without having issues over the email address etc

eskbanker

DullGreyGuy said:

No, they maintain its the contact for the booker and person that paid for the trip... they'll want to maintain who they are actually in contract with, who to deal with if the payment subsequently is charge backed etc and that isnt the OP

Yes, I understand their desire to retain contact details for the booker, but there are a range of scenarios where the booker would no longer be contactable and that shouldn't be used to deny the passenger their legal rights arising from the journey itself.

DullGreyGuy

eskbanker said:

DullGreyGuy said:

No, they maintain its the contact for the booker and person that paid for the trip... they'll want to maintain who they are actually in contract with, who to deal with if the payment subsequently is charge backed etc and that isnt the OP

Yes, I understand their desire to retain contact details for the booker, but there are a range of scenarios where the booker would no longer be contactable and that shouldn't be used to deny the passenger their legal rights arising from the journey itself.

But that's not a DPA issue or anything to do with the DPO

On the EasyJet form there are various options to select such as if you are a travel agent or not, and if you are the original booker or not. Would seem odd that if you declare yourself something other than the original booker that it would then go back to the original booker anyway. As mentioned, fairly sure I have done the same in the past

powerful_Rogue

eskbanker said:

DullGreyGuy said:

No, they maintain its the contact for the booker and person that paid for the trip... they'll want to maintain who they are actually in contract with, who to deal with if the payment subsequently is charge backed etc and that isnt the OP

Yes, I understand their desire to retain contact details for the booker, but there are a range of scenarios where the booker would no longer be contactable and that shouldn't be used to deny the passenger their legal rights arising from the journey itself.

It's not though. OP has been in contact with easyjet as they have offered him £6 for his sustenance. What it's stopping the OP doing is making a complaint online about this. However as posted above, he can tick a box to say he isn't the purchaser, or go old school snail mail.

eskbanker

DullGreyGuy said:

eskbanker said:

DullGreyGuy said:

No, they maintain its the contact for the booker and person that paid for the trip... they'll want to maintain who they are actually in contract with, who to deal with if the payment subsequently is charge backed etc and that isnt the OP

Yes, I understand their desire to retain contact details for the booker, but there are a range of scenarios where the booker would no longer be contactable and that shouldn't be used to deny the passenger their legal rights arising from the journey itself.

But that's not a DPA issue or anything to do with the DPO

On the EasyJet form there are various options to select such as if you are a travel agent or not, and if you are the original booker or not. Would seem odd that if you declare yourself something other than the original booker that it would then go back to the original booker anyway. As mentioned, fairly sure I have done the same in the past

I accept that it's a wider business process design issue, rather than solely being a DPA one, but to me the net effect is that their data management practices may preclude a passenger from exercising their rights in relation to costs they (not the booker) had personally incurred, although the second part of your post would render the whole thing moot if the passenger does have the ability to reclaim those costs without the involvement of the booker.

Wonka_2

@wotnott to get this back on track is this a corporate travel agency ? Or an internal person in your company who books all travel ? Or some other derivation ?

For me - with flights almost every week, booked through our corporate agency, my details are always on the flights (even with Easyjet) and I have the absolute right of direct contact (although in absolute times of need the agency seems to be able to override/communicate on my behalf). If I need to make a complaint or a claim it's my responsibility. 

I'm assuming in your case it's either a smaller, contracted out agency or an internal person booking on your behalf but then I'm confused on what details you use for check-in/boarding pass etc and what contact details they hold in case of emergency.

It may be that you've triggered something in your first contact with them that your details don't match which has then put a block on future communication but who knows

Honestly in your position I'd be putting this one down to experience but at the same time highlighting the risk to your company/agency and looking at how a future instance could be avoided    

wotnott

Wonka_2 said:

@wotnott to get this back on track is this a corporate travel agency ? Or an internal person in your company who books all travel ? Or some other derivation ?

It was the logistics person at the company who booked the flight. I believe it was done direct, with no travel agency involved.

Wonka_2 said:

my details are always on the flights (even with Easyjet)

I suspect (from things I have read) that the facility exists to provide the passenger's email address. If so, that wasn't done in this case. And according to the airline it is not possible to add/change later.

Wonka_2 said:

If I need to make a complaint or a claim it's my responsibility.

Yes, that would be my expectation.

wotnott

DullGreyGuy said:

On the EasyJet form there are various options to select such as if you are a travel agent or not, and if you are the original booker or not.

Where?

https://www.easyjet.com/en/help/contact/contact-us

jon81uk

wotnott said:

DullGreyGuy said:

On the EasyJet form there are various options to select such as if you are a travel agent or not, and if you are the original booker or not.

Where?

https://www.easyjet.com/en/help/contact/contact-us

On the expenses claim there is
https://www.easyjet.com/en/claim/welfare

On the general contact form there is no need to provide details of the booking at all.