Charged for a Boarding Pass?

Bonhomie

Bluenunn_in_the_north said:

Hi,

I recently returned from Rome after picking up a travel document from the embassy due to the police stealing/losing it.

Anyway, I rebooked a flight with Wizzair via eDreams as an intermediary.

Eight hours prior to departure I received an email, from eDreams, with a link to check-in and generate a BP on their app.

I put in my particulars about 3 hrs prior to departure, and the app crashed with a nonsensical message.

I therefore queued up at the WA check in desk. They sent me for a 'free' boarding pass up to the airports ticket office. I explained all this to the woman up there and showed her the app crash etc.

She refused to give me a free BP saying that I didn't show her that the WA app crashed. I only ever got a link for a BP via eDreams, it wasn't possible through WA.


Anyway to get on my flight I was forced to pay €49 back down to WA desk to get it printed with the receipt. Don't know why didn't just print one there anyway.


No eDreams claim they aren't responsible for a refund as I didn’t pay for check-in with them, but it's included in the purchase fee.


Think they may be fobbing me off.

Who is responsible in this scenario and any suggestions to proceed?

Thanks

Your attempt to check in was too late. You've admitted it yourself. Let it go.

eskbanker

Bonhomie said:

Your attempt to check in was too late. You've admitted it yourself. Let it go.

Not much bonhomie on show there, and since OP last posted on the thread nearly a week ago, it seems fair to conclude that they have already 'let it go'....

Bonhomie

eskbanker said:

Bonhomie said:

Your attempt to check in was too late. You've admitted it yourself. Let it go.

Not much bonhomie on show there, and since OP last posted on the thread nearly a week ago, it seems fair to conclude that they have already 'let it go'....

Should I have added a hug?

Bluenunn_in_the_north

Pollycat said:

Bluenunn_in_the_north said:

Voyager2002 said:

Bluenunn_in_the_north said:

la531983 said:

Going via travel insurance is absolutely pointless, the excess would cost you more than the 49 euros.

It's £50 but I'm putting a claim for the passport, extra accomodation, flight etc  so worth it..

This is obviously a separate incident so another £50 excess.

I put in multiple items into a previous claim so we'll see how that transpires.

Not great though is it European police stealing/losing my passport.

What were the police doing with your passport in the first place?

So,  I dropped my passport on the way to the tram stop from the airport. I was sleep deprived. Got into town, 20 mins later, realised, went back to the airport, no-one handed it in.

I assumed, that was it, lost. Next day my sister contacts me, emergency contact, and a French tourist had found it at the tram stop. He sent her a pic. The next morning, instead of arranging to meet me somewhere in the city, innocently gave it to the Carbineri police.

I went to 5 police stations, lost and found office even met the tourist, who had no English or Italian and the Police say they have no trace of it.  All they had to do was contact my sister and get me to collect it, wherever.

Anyway, it disappeared in their custody.

Bluenunn_in_the_north

Bicycleman22 said:

Wizzair Rome Fumichino - London Gatwick is scheduled to leave at 18.45 every day of the week.

All I can say is that when I arrived at 18:13, thinking gates shut 30 mins before scheduled departure, no-one was boarding and no staff were at the gates. I asked a fellow traveler and they said boarding commences at 18:45, which it duly did.

Bluenunn_in_the_north

Bonhomie said:

Bluenunn_in_the_north said:

Hi,

I recently returned from Rome after picking up a travel document from the embassy due to the police stealing/losing it.

Anyway, I rebooked a flight with Wizzair via eDreams as an intermediary.

Eight hours prior to departure I received an email, from eDreams, with a link to check-in and generate a BP on their app.

I put in my particulars about 3 hrs prior to departure, and the app crashed with a nonsensical message.

I therefore queued up at the WA check in desk. They sent me for a 'free' boarding pass up to the airports ticket office. I explained all this to the woman up there and showed her the app crash etc.

She refused to give me a free BP saying that I didn't show her that the WA app crashed. I only ever got a link for a BP via eDreams, it wasn't possible through WA.


Anyway to get on my flight I was forced to pay €49 back down to WA desk to get it printed with the receipt. Don't know why didn't just print one there anyway.


No eDreams claim they aren't responsible for a refund as I didn’t pay for check-in with them, but it's included in the purchase fee.


Think they may be fobbing me off.

Who is responsible in this scenario and any suggestions to proceed?

Thanks

Your attempt to check in was too late. You've admitted it yourself. Let it go.

I wasn't informed about any 3 hr limit in any correspondence, where is that hard information from? The app crashed anyway, plus as someone else mentioned the app said online check-in was unavailable for that flight, so there's dichotomous information. An email says check-in online, the carrier app says I can't. There were others turning up having to pay too for a BP.

I just want to know what the issue was. If it was me checking in late, why didn't I have information on time limits, why did Wizzair say no on-line check in, why did the app allow me to attempt to check-in?

Bluenunn_in_the_north

eskbanker said:

Bluenunn_in_the_north said:

bagand96 said:
Your flight departure time was 18:45.  Wizzair close online check-in 3 hours prior to departure time, which would be 15:45.  This is why the Wizzair app/website wouldn't allow check-in at that time.

No. That 18:45 is not a departure time. It is a gate opening time. I was there waiting. The flight departed after 7:30. It is misleading information as I busted a gut to get to the gate as I thought it closed at 18:15, only to arrive and the gate staff weren't even there and everyone was relaxing. Therefore I was within the time limit.

As above, the scheduled departure time is 18:45 - on 17 April the actual departure was indeed later, at 19:30, but of course the automated check-in cutoff will be applied relative to the scheduled time, rather than reflecting a delay on the day....

I understand that, but I was never informed about check-in close time. Wizzair said it was unavailable anyway.

Thanks

Bluenunn_in_the_north

bagand96 said:

Bluenunn_in_the_north said:

bagand96 said:

Bluenunn_in_the_north said:

I checked in, or tried to around 4pm, the flight took off at 7:30, boarding was at 18:45. I didn't receive any communication from Wizzair at all for checking in.

Your flight departure time was 18:45.  Wizzair close online check-in 3 hours prior to departure time, which would be 15:45.  This is why the Wizzair app/website wouldn't allow check-in at that time.

You won't have had any communication from Wizzair, because when you book via an agent the agent will enter their contact details and not your own. 

Bluenunn_in_the_north said:

Emily_Joy said:

What stopped you from doing online check-in via the website?

I was directed to the app via the email link.  I didn't try the website after the app accepted my data and bugged out on me. At that point I thought I'd  have no issue queuingbat the desk and getting one printed off for free, so it was moot.

eDreams obviously directed you to their own app (probably in the hope they can upsell you more add-ons during check-in).  Just to be clear, when did you try and check-in via eDreams? Was that also around 16:00?  If so, that's likely why the check-in with them failed (they can't override the airline policies).

Even when booking via an agent, always try and do as much as you can directly with the airline, but especially things like check in. Ideally just book directly with the airline in the first place rather than OTA's with poor service.

No. That 18:45 is not a departure time. It is a gate opening time. I was there waiting. The flight departed after 7:30. It is misleading information as I busted a gut to get to the gate as I thought it closed at 18:15, only to arrive and the gate staff weren't even there and everyone was relaxing. Therefore I was within the time limit.

Others have already pointed this out, as in your Wizzair screen shot your flight's (W46003) scheduled departure time was 18:45. The time the flight actually boarded and took off is not relevant, flights have delays all the time, but the schedule departure was 18:45, so online check-in closed at 15:45.  Any attempt to online/app check-in after 15:45 would fail.

Bluenunn_in_the_north said:

I looked at the Wizzair app way before check-in closed, no option for BP. Plus I went to their desk. They could have given me a BP then.

Wizzair could have given you a boarding pass.  But like other low cost airlines (Ryanair, Jet2 etc) they charge for airport check-in. Online or mobile check-in is free of charge.

Your Wizzair screenshot also shows:

 "Mobile check in is not available for this flight. Passengers must proceed to the Wizzair check-in desk for document check and to collect their boarding card before proceeding through security"

This is a little ambiguous.  It does seem to be a quirk flying from some Italian airports that mobile boarding passes are not available.  This is why the Wizzair app would not show you a BP.  What is usually means in practice is that pax must still complete the online check in process via the website or app, and then just pick up the boarding pass at the airport after a document check.  However, the Wizzair statement is a little ambiguous as it actually says "mobile check-in not available" not "mobile boarding pass not available". 

You could go back to Wizzair and ask that question.   I still expect they'll say you should have completed online check-in but it's worth asking if you're determined to take it further.

Bluenunn_in_the_north said:

The app error message didn't mention anything about check-in close times. It allowed me to input all my data, then said 'please see below for more information '. There was nothing below.

Which app?  Wizzair or eDreams? You've previously stated you used the the eDreams app to check-in, this is a third party app with no relation to Wizzair.

Yep, edreams is useless now, I'm going to try Wizzair when I have a mo. Thanks for the contribution.

Edreams mobile app, which was linked to the edreams email saying check-in online, as in screenshot.

They could have given me a BP at the gate if mobile check-in was unavailable. No clear communication.

Bluenunn_in_the_north

Thanks for everyone's input🙏

Onwards....

eskbanker

Bluenunn_in_the_north said:

eskbanker said:

Bluenunn_in_the_north said:

bagand96 said:
Your flight departure time was 18:45.  Wizzair close online check-in 3 hours prior to departure time, which would be 15:45.  This is why the Wizzair app/website wouldn't allow check-in at that time.

No. That 18:45 is not a departure time. It is a gate opening time. I was there waiting. The flight departed after 7:30. It is misleading information as I busted a gut to get to the gate as I thought it closed at 18:15, only to arrive and the gate staff weren't even there and everyone was relaxing. Therefore I was within the time limit.

As above, the scheduled departure time is 18:45 - on 17 April the actual departure was indeed later, at 19:30, but of course the automated check-in cutoff will be applied relative to the scheduled time, rather than reflecting a delay on the day....

I understand that, but I was never informed about check-in close time. Wizzair said it was unavailable anyway.

This is getting very circular now - the point is that checkin on the app was unavailable because it was less than three hours before scheduled departure time, that's how the above exchange started!