Air Mauritius 4 hour delay

annkirk0975

Hello,

I see that others are having/had similar issues to myself. It looks as if Air Mauritius is not a good company to use.
In May, we were delayed for 4 hours on our way home.
We had to change London to Newcastle trains tickets, ask our dog minders to keep them longer which all incurred cost, stay longer in the room, all of which incurred a cost to us.
We did not get any information as to why either in the text to the hotel, at the airport or on board. We did not get any food or drink as by the time we were collected from the hotel & were in departures, all food outlets were closed.

I put in 2 A.M. claim forms the day after getting home (it was late Saturday when we arrived home) with no acknowledgement.
I put a message on their FB page on their post about Happy Mothers Day to all our staff post which was the only posting that could have a reply to.
They did reply with a DM but only to say email them, which I did, I got nothing back yet again.
I contacted them every week but I felt that I was getting fobbed off more and more. I was always polite but got a little fed up with their 'email here, email there" attitude.

So, in June, I completed this sites suggested complaints/claim letter with evidence of my emails & it was posted to their complaints department via registered mail. 

I still have not heard anything at all & I know it is there as I have tracked it.

I have only claimed for the delay nothing else as it was not possible to provide receipts for everything. 

I feel this is disgusting for a large company. Does anyone know what their CEO et al get in salary, what do their share holders receive? I bet it is a lot more than my claim. I have never tried to claim before as delays were never that long & even though, beverage vouchers were often rubbish, we just wanted to get home.

Any advice please?

eskbanker

On what basis are you claiming for the delay?  If it had been a flight departing from the UK/EU then the UK/EU flight delay/cancellation regulations would apply, and you'd have been entitled to claim accordingly (if the delay was caused by reasons within the airline's control), but flights to UK/EU (that aren't on a UK/EU airline) don't qualify, so are you claiming under airline- or country-specific policies perhaps?

Will your travel insurance cover out of pocket costs?

Edit: just to add, even if the UK261 regulations had applied, the airline wouldn't have had any liability to reimburse any of the consequential post-arrival costs you mention.

Hoenir

When travelling internationally always wise to be prepared. While 4 hours is an inconvenience. Should be manageable. 

annkirk0975

It was a flight from the UK.
I am sorry but I don't think 'manageable' has anything to do with it nor reimbursement for out of pocked post arrival (I did say that I had NOT asked them for that), according to the rules I have read & MSE advice, the delay to London of 4 hours can be claimed.
Are you saying that everyone who books a holiday/trip should factor in hours/days of delays/cancellation? That is not reasonable. 

Even if it's not, A.M. have not actually mentioned anythings AT ALL to say otherwise.
Just keep saying 'email here', 'email there', not even said why we were delayed. This is not good customer service. 

I do not want to be patronised I was only asking for advice. 

eskbanker

annkirk0975 said:

It was a flight from the UK.

That's certainly not what you suggested in your OP?

annkirk0975 said:

In May, we were delayed for 4 hours on our way home.
We had to change London to Newcastle trains tickets, ask our dog minders to keep them longer which all incurred cost, stay longer in the room, all of which incurred a cost to us.

If it was a delay on your way home, that obviously means that you don't live in the UK, but if you were flying to another country, why would you need to reschedule train tickets from London to Newcastle?

annkirk0975 said:

...nor reimbursement for out of pocked post arrival (I did say that I had NOT asked them for that)

Sure, it was just a passing peripheral comment, in case you were feeling that you were doing the airline a favour by not claiming for something you were entitled to.

annkirk0975 said:

according to the rules I have read & MSE advice, the delay to London of 4 hours can be claimed.. 

The rules are clear on this, as is the MSE article:

All the rules we talk about below come from this simple fact. To be covered, the flight must be regulated either by UK or EU rules (which are the same rules in effect). Here's what's covered:

• ANY FLIGHT leaving a UK/EU airport
• ANY UK or EU AIRLINE arriving at a UK/EU airport

This means if it's a flight within the UK and EU, you're covered as it'll definitely have left a UK/EU airport. Where there's a question is if you've got a flight from outside the EU going back to the UK (or another EU airport). Then the airline matters.

So a flight from Manchester to New York is covered by the rules regardless of the airline, but a flight from New York to Manchester would be covered on British Airways, but wouldn't on American Airlines.

annkirk0975 said:

Just keep saying 'email here', 'email there', not even said why we were delayed. This is not good customer service. 

I'd agree that it sounds like a poor customer experience, and worth complaining, and being irritated if you don't get any sort of response.  My comments related only to whether the airline has any legal liability to pay you anything, rather than whether it's reasonable to ask for some sort of goodwill gesture.

annkirk0975 said:

I was only asking for advice. 

You'll get the advice you need, even if it's not what you want to hear, but obviously it's important to be clear about the exact circumstances, and, as above, the flight routing is important.

gwarde

Hi, back in November 2023 I too was delayed by just over four hours. On my return I claimed compensation and had very little response from Air Mauritius aside from stating it was due to a bird strike, which I was a little sceptical about. Air Mauritius are not affiliated to an arbitration service so I referred my claim to the CAA. Patience is the key, the CAA were very good and in their opinion Air Mauritius were liable and should pay compensation. The CAA cannot enforce payment and initially Air Mauritius refused to pay, however I persisted and informed them of my intention to take them to the small claims court (using their London Address). Eventually they agreed to pay the requisite compensation without prejudice. I received the full amount for two passengers in August. 

I too received quite a few negative comments from Forum members, my advice is to persist with your claim if you believe you are entitled. Involve the CAA who are independent. My original thread was started on 14 May 2024 if you wish to read it. Good luck. 

Caz3121

gwarde said:

my advice is to persist with your claim if you believe you are entitled. Involve the CAA who are independent.

your flight was departing the UK so is covered by the regulations, the OP said their flight was the return leg so would not be covered by UK261 regulations

gwarde

Caz3121 said:

gwarde said:

my advice is to persist with your claim if you believe you are entitled. Involve the CAA who are independent.

your flight was departing the UK so is covered by the regulations, the OP said their flight was the return leg so would not be covered by UK261 regulations

Apologies, I mis-read the original post and thought it was an outbound flight.