Took on EasyJet and Won

sh856531

During the power cuts in Malaga in April we were stranded at the airport at 1am with a baby, along with a lot of other people. We did our best to muddle through but as you might imagine, being stuck at an airport with nowhere to go, in a powercut, with a baby - it was horrendous and expensive. EasyJet were nowhere to be found and didn't provide us any assistance. We worked hard to minimise our expenses in the expectation that EasyJet would eventually be able to help us get back home as they are legally required to do.

In reality, they did next to nothing to assist. If I didn't know better I would say they actually tricked us into accepting a refund, presumably knowing full well that we were stuck in Malaga and in accepting the refund, we would apparently forgo any right to assistance or expenses. Naturally they didn't tell us this when asked explicitly. We instructed them to only pay our refund if they were sure it wouldn't prevent us claiming expenses as we were still stuck. The refund came through 30 seconds later and the chat closed immediately. They were either incompetent, or cynically knew exactly what they were doing in forcing a refund on us.

So we were forced to arrange our own flights back home. Long story short, EasyJet used every trick in the book to claim that they were not liable for any expenses we incurred in resolving the fact that they left us stranded. For the avoidance of doubt, we never claimed any "compensation" just expenses that we incurred. We understood fully that a power cut is beyond their control. However the law requires that they render assistance in either case, and they set their ticket prices in accordance with being able to meet these obligations.

I'm not usually a litigious sort but I was so incensed at their obviously deliberate strategy of obfuscate and "just say no" that I took them to Aviation ADR, with every intention of taking them to court if necessary.

Aviation ADR actually came through for us and ruled that EasyJet owed us everything that we had claimed. 

I offer this in part to highlight that EasyJet's legal strategy appears to be one of - just say no at every request, knowing that most people will just give up in frustration. Don't - as long as you are being reasonable, proportionate and fair - get the AviationADR to adjudicate the matter and there is a very good chance you'll win. EasyJet are just awful and based on my experience and other postings here and elsewhere, I think their actual strategy is to deny deny deny, in the hope that enough people will give up before court, that it won't matter if they lose a few cases in the end.

For us, it took around 5 months but they've been instructed to pay us over £600 - essentially everything we were forced to pay when they cancelled their flight and left us up the creek. My only regret is there really doesn't seem to be a way to force something more punitive on them. Their strategy is so brazen that I think they should be forced to pay something quite punitive rather than just what they were required to pay by law all along.

Its depressing that a modern British company would seemingly so deliberately and aggressively flout the law, but you can win if you're willing to stand your ground

Best of luck

NoodleDoodleMan

"EasyJet were nowhere to be found and didn't provide us any assistance."

Yes a SAD airline - Stranded, Abandoned and Dumped...........our experience likewise.

RavingMad

Well done and thanks for sharing. How did you get home in the end? Booked the 1st available flight?