Ryanair (feckin disaster) but Re-Imbursed me some

techdiver · 19-04-2013 10:04am

Regardless of any conditions of carriage Ryanair are bound by EU REG 261 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_261/2004) and in fact they openly charge a levy based on this.

Diversion do happen and are sometimes outside the control of the airline, never the less they still have a duty of care to passengers, which in this case, they have not complied with at all.

So the "You get what you pay for" argument is irrelevant when the actual regulation trumps any personal opinion.

mel1 · 19-04-2013 10:18am

andersat2 wrote: »

1. Weather conditions last night.
Are they were Ryanair problems?
I think no. It's a DAA (Irish State Company) they diverted almost 90 proc flights yesterday to other airports.

2. You have travel insurance?
If YES - they will compensate your 150 GBP expense on taxi.
If NO - is that a Ryanair problem?

3. People travelling without having extra cash or money on credit card?
Is that a Ryanair problem?

4. How much the ticket on Ryanair flight was? 40-60Euros?
The train from Dublin to Limerick costs normally 60 Eur one way.

Don't like them = Don't fly with them.

So what your saying is

1 it was my fault that after paying for a flight to dublin, i was landed in belfast.

2. that i should have been prepared for the eventuality and packed a lunch.

3. that this is an acceptable standard of coustomer service

4 that the two members of staff in the airport (security guards poor buggers~) should have been more than capable of sorting ryanairs mess out.

4. and that i should always have a bank load of cash ready to pay a taxi driver if the company dont provide the service i paid for. (to be brought back to dublin)

5 and that i shoud have magically know how to get from the airport to a train/bus station to catch another mode of transport to my destnation because there was no repersantive there from the company, or any other airline i might add, but yet every other passanger from every otherline was given an alternitave mode of transport to no cost of there own.

i caqn only surmise you are either staff for ryan air or a moron!

mel1 · 19-04-2013 10:25am

Truman Burbank wrote: »

Hi OP, my father was on your flight last night and he got the bus with Ryanair and Aer Lingus passengers back to Dublin, within an hour. He did relay the poor screaming children and the absolute chaos you describe, plus the taxi men coming in with scribbled signs, and shouting, with their prices going up from 120 to 150 to 200 for a taxi for a group of 4. He says the buses were definitely for both airlines (didn't mention BA etc), but the problem was the number (as you relay) and the fact that no-one was in charge - so that when a bus came there was a stampede from people who were on later flights, i.e. buses were not assigned by time of arrival/flight number. I guess they don't have a major last-minute contingency plan, and didn't foresee it to have drivers available/on-call.

I was just arriving at the time those buses were leaving and the Q was thousands of people deep, and those were the last buses which were available for anyone to travel. any other buses that came were only for airlingus or BT airlines.

Mr_Roger_Bongos · 19-04-2013 10:27am

I can't understand why you're being criticised for not taking an alternative mode of transport sooner.

It's a case of you came out of the airport expecting the free bus to Dublin.

If you had left to get the aircoach or another form of transport, who's to say the bus mightn't turn up 5 minutes later and you then have to go through the refund process with ryanair.

mel1 · 19-04-2013 10:40am

Have spent last few hours looking for a customer care phone number or email address so i can try to get back my taxi fare which was ment to be for other more important things than a taxi from Belfast to Dublin.

Finally found a number for head office after a two hour battle of looking for a well hiden number, lots of non numbers and a call waiting service. ~Only to be told

There is no actual custemer care call center or email address.

There is only a PO box Address with which you can write in your complaint or a fax no. Seriously?

Still living in the 80s?

clairefontaine · 19-04-2013 10:48am

If I were you I'd contact that RTE consumer show.

Sala · 19-04-2013 10:49am

I hate Ryanair. It's all fine and dandy getting cheap flights until something goes wrong and they act like it's their customers fault and its up to them to deal with it. Aerlingus are brilliant in this regard, they actually treat their customers like they value them. Worth the extra money for good customer service and peace of mind in my opinion.

clairefontaine · 19-04-2013 10:58am

El Spearo wrote: »

I could have a talent for it alright

"Aer Lingus - You pay more, because you can afford to not fly Ryanair"

"Wanna get to exactly where you wanna go? Pay for a taxi. You wanna get there cheap? You take the bus. Go to Ryanair.com"

Everyone seems convinced that Ryanair owe them something. They don't. Ryanair are one of the biggest employers in Ireland and Europe, one of the worlds biggest airlines and companies, and hail from this tiny island in the west? I rather be proud that petty. You know what you are getting into with Ryanair. If it wasn't for them I wouldn't have a lot of things in my life I am very very greatful for.

ps i did a better job at the marketing there than you did.

Like any business, they have to honor their contract. It makes no difference whether the ticket is E5 or E500. If you buy tickets for Dublin, they have to deliver you to Dublin. If there are winds, and their pilot chooses to land elsewhere, then they are obliged to honor the contract and get you to Dublin.

Lapin · 19-04-2013 11:20am

clairefontaine wrote: »

If I were you I'd contact that RTE consumer show.

Aye, It will be a new experience for them to deal with a gripe relating to Ryanair.

No doubt the producers will contact the airline who will be shocked and stunned with the prospect of publicity !

Lapin · 19-04-2013 11:26am

OP. I had some sympathy with your plight until you said this.....

mel1 wrote: »

....and that i shoud have magically known how to get from the airport to a train/bus station to catch another mode of transport to my destnation because there was no representative there from the company........

Anyone who cannot find their way from an airport to a train/bus station without the help of an airline representative shouldn't be let out on their own.

There's nothing magic about it.

Topper Harley · 19-04-2013 11:26am

mel1 wrote: »

Finally found a number for head office after a two hour battle of looking for a well hiden number, lots of non numbers and a call waiting service. ~Only to be told

There is no actual custemer care call center or email address.

There is only a PO box Address with which you can write in your complaint or a fax no. Seriously?

Still living in the 80s?

It's all part of Ryanair's policy of making it difficult to complain in the hope that you'll get fed up and just drop the issue. But I have faith in you, don't give in.

Truman Burbank · 19-04-2013 11:56am

Truman Burbank wrote: »

Hi OP, my father was on your flight last night and he got the bus with Ryanair and Aer Lingus passengers back to Dublin, within an hour. He did relay the poor screaming children and the absolute chaos you describe, plus the taxi men coming in with scribbled signs, and shouting, with their prices going up from 120 to 150 to 200 for a taxi for a group of 4. He says the buses were definitely for both airlines (didn't mention BA etc), but the problem was the number (as you relay) and the fact that no-one was in charge - so that when a bus came there was a stampede from people who were on later flights, i.e. buses were not assigned by time of arrival/flight number. I guess they don't have a major last-minute contingency plan, and didn't foresee it to have drivers available/on-call.

Interview notes from The Horse's Mouth/Bull Tamer - father's flight was FR293, that you OP? 2 Ryanair buses departed full from Belfast shortly after this flight arrived, leaving passengers from this flight, and approximately 10 previous non-Ryanair passangers at the airport. There was no room on these 2 departing buses for my father. Next 2 Ryanair buses arrived at 12.45am. My father says people were crushed getting on the bus thru the single door. Bus driver stood up and announced it was a "Ryanair only bus" and "Is everyone Ryanair?". My father says he was the only person to speak and gave his Ryanair flight number aloud. Otherwise silence. Boarding passes were not checked. Bus, a 52-seater, had lots of non-Ryanair passengers. Left at 1am, to drive to Dublin and return for the other passengers. This was what he was told before they pulled off. He says the bus driver was a really lovely man. Seems like the driver trusted the passengers to be honest, and in the absence of ground support, departed promptly. (Note - I had thought previously that as all airline passengers were on the bus that it was not Ryanair specific).

mel1 · 19-04-2013 12:53pm

Lapin wrote: »

OP. I had some sympathy with your plight until you said this.....

Anyone who cannot find their way from an airport to a train/bus station without the help of an airline representative shouldn't be let out on their own.

There's nothing magic about it.

Where were you at
1am
2am
3am
4am
5am

cause i was stranded in an airport with a flat phone, no sleep,no food, and feck all cash and to top it off even in the wrong country.
Who are you to judge what i should have or should not know?
What i do know is i was Supposed to be in my bed at
1am
2am
3am
4am and 5am believe it or not.

And i also believe that there should have been someone there that could have told me where i could go as i was a stranger to Belfast and whats more i dont believe a woman should be wandering around in the middle of the night on her own.

So get off your high horse, come down to earth and if you dont have any sensable contribution to make to the conversation go back to your xbox.

mel1 · 19-04-2013 1:10pm

Truman Burbank wrote: »

Interview notes from The Horse's Mouth/Bull Tamer - father's flight was FR293, that you OP? 2 Ryanair buses departed full from Belfast shortly after this flight arrived, leaving passengers from this flight, and approximately 10 previous non-Ryanair passangers at the airport. There was no room on these 2 departing buses for my father. Next 2 Ryanair buses arrived at 12.45am. My father says people were crushed getting on the bus thru the single door. Bus driver stood up and announced it was a "Ryanair only bus" and "Is everyone Ryanair?". My father says he was the only person to speak and gave his Ryanair flight number aloud. Otherwise silence. Boarding passes were not checked. Bus, a 52-seater, had lots of non-Ryanair passengers. Left at 1am, to drive to Dublin and return for the other passengers. This was what he was told before they pulled off. He says the bus driver was a really lovely man. Seems like the driver trusted the passengers to be honest, and in the absence of ground support, departed promptly. (Note - I had thought previously that as all airline passengers were on the bus that it was not Ryanair specific).

my flight number was FR 119. Dont know anything bout those buses but people did try to board airlingus busses and were put off when the tickets were checked.

Truman Burbank · 19-04-2013 1:20pm

mel1 wrote: »

i was stranded in an airport with a flat phone, no sleep,no food, and feck all cash and to top it off even in the wrong country.

I feel your pain but that's a tad harsh.

mel1 · 19-04-2013 1:28pm

Truman Burbank wrote: »

I feel your pain but that's a tad harsh.

It may be harsh and no offence was ment by it, but its the truth, my change of euros would not work in the vending machiens (and no shops were open) as i had the wrong currency.
Belfast aeroport to me might as well be spain. I had no idea where the train stations were or the bus terminals. Please excuse my ignorance but i have never had any reason to go to Belfast.

Lingua Franca · 19-04-2013 2:35pm

If it's any consolation, OP, the bus and train station is 20 miles away from the International airport in the centre of Belfast. You have to get the airport bus into the centre.

mel1 · 19-04-2013 3:22pm

Lingua Franca wrote: »

If it's any consolation, OP, the bus and train station is 20 miles away from the International airport in the centre of Belfast. You have to get the airport bus into the centre.

Thanks Lingua, I will know what to do next time.

Trust me Ryanair wont be getting the oppertunity to screw me the second time.

For what its worth though, i have flown with Ryanair on many occassions and am very aware of the restrictions put on their passangers. after the first few mistakes of over weight luggage or oversized hand luggage
one would learn very quickly that every last scrutiny is made for any chance to charge you extra on the flight. For this reason i always double check the weight, size of bags before i go and that my handbag fits in it too. I am very concious of all the little problems they try to find.
But i never imagined that they would be that mindless and dis respectful of their customers to just abandon them anywhere that suits.

dubguy45 · 20-04-2013 1:00am

Having been stranded in Belfast also, im too tired to read all the posts, but if it has not been said already, Ryanair had a responsibility to get their passengers back to Dublin, its in their T&C.
While the pilot and crew went to a nearby hotel, us stranded passengers were left with a ServiceAir rep who looked panicked at best. He did his best for us but admitted that he was getting little information from Ryanair.
At about 1.00am, 2 busses arrived, and the rush by people for a seat left women with small children standing in the wind and rain. I hope those prople are proud of themselves.
Information on transport for the rest of us was poor. A local police man told me of a local bus to the europa hotel, from there a c.i.e. bus to Dublin. I got the airport bus at 2.30.am and reached the europa hotel where the c.i.e. bus was waiting. It was only there because the driver had the decency to wait a few minutes after hearing of the issues at the airport, many thanks to him.
I know when I fly Ryanair, you really need to reach your destination, because when you dont, this total disregard for their passengers occurs. They should be ashamed of themselves, but their not, and never will be.
Air Lingus and British Airways looked after their passengers.

goz83 · 21-04-2013 9:50pm

Crazy. Ryanair are just too unreliable and I avoid them if at all possible. I've seen too many negatives with them. Take a recent example; a month ago, my sister booked flights to Murcia, Spain in June for herself, 3 kids and my dad. A car was organised for their arrival time, which was approx 7pm. The flights changed to the morning. The car was rescheduled. The flights changed back to an evening time. The car rental was rescheduled again. And for a third time, the flights again changed back to a morning time, needing another change to the car rental and this time, the cost of an extra days rental, because of the way the times changed. I won't even get started on the Villa rental :rolleyes:

I told them to fly Aerlingus, but Ryanair was "cheaper" :pac:

mel1 · 29-08-2013 1:44pm

Just though I would share a little up date,

I was eventually reimbursed for my taxi fare, when I went to change it in the bank the assistant looked at it and said,

"who did you have to shoot to get a Ryanair cheque, ive worked here many years and never seen one"

It took a mighty lot of effort on my behalf to get it back but I kept sending fax till I got what I was owed.

Stinicker · 29-08-2013 6:21pm

mel1 wrote: »

Just though I would share a little up date,

I was eventually reimbursed for my taxi fare, when I went to change it in the bank the assistant looked at it and said,

"who did you have to shoot to get a Ryanair cheque, ive worked here many years and never seen one"

It took a mighty lot of effort on my behalf to get it back but I kept sending fax till I got what I was owed.

You should have photocopied it and framed the photocopy!

kerry4sam · 29-08-2013 8:15pm

mel1 wrote: »

Just though I would share a little up date,

I was eventually reimbursed for my taxi fare, when I went to change it in the bank the assistant looked at it and said,

"who did you have to shoot to get a Ryanair cheque, ive worked here many years and never seen one"

It took a mighty lot of effort on my behalf to get it back but I kept sending fax till I got what I was owed.

Ah Fair Play! Thanks for sharing this feedback

Squip90 · 29-08-2013 8:32pm

Cant understand the idiots who criticize Ryanair! Some operators! If it was'nt for them you'd still be paying a bloody fortune to cross the Irish Sea! Buck up is what I say! There is nothing hidden about the way they operate! Its all about bottom line! The customer is the last thing on their minds and rightly so, they make no secret of that! So indeed, fly with someone else! Not all the customer complaints in the world will stop that airline! They literally run most of the airports they land in! Have never had a problem with them once in 8 years flying with them! Fantastic operation. Im sick of people who bark over flight changes and the like! This is aviation! Do you realize how many birds are in the air? Things do not always run smoothly. Its air traffic not the airlines

Strumms · 29-08-2013 8:48pm

We live in a free world where thankfully people have a perfect right to criticise any product or service should they see fit. By you calling people en masse who do criticise Ryanair as idiots you are only showing your own ignorance. Also without dissecting your post you obviously have little experience of working within the aviation industry or how it operates judging on some of your assertions. Also the first concern to any business should be their customers who will ultimately affect the bottom line this is even before we get into a debate of duty of care or it being morally the right thing to do. But that would all be lost on you sunshine. The thread if you actually bothered to read it gives many examples of where Ryanair could and should do much better and also shows the positve comments and quality debate. Any time you feel free to add to that be my guest but maybe not in your case.

Topper Harley · 29-08-2013 8:50pm

Squip90 wrote: »

Cant understand the idiots who criticize Ryanair! Some operators! If it was'nt for them you'd still be paying a bloody fortune to cross the Irish Sea! Buck up is what I say! There is nothing hidden about the way they operate! Its all about bottom line! The customer is the last thing on their minds and rightly so, they make no secret of that! So indeed, fly with someone else! Not all the customer complaints in the world will stop that airline! They literally run most of the airports they land in! Have never had a problem with them once in 8 years flying with them! Fantastic operation. Im sick of people who bark over flight changes and the like! This is aviation! Do you realize how many birds are in the air? Things do not always run smoothly. Its air traffic not the airlines

Calm down, Michael. I thought you'd be happy at the publicity, even though it's bad.

Like I said earlier, South West Airlines in the US are a low fares airline yet they manage to do so while keeping most people happy. It doesn't cost them anything, just takes a little effort.

Squip90 · 29-08-2013 9:03pm

Strumms wrote: »

We live in a free world where thankfully people have a perfect right to criticise any product or service should they see fit. By you calling people en masse who do criticise Ryanair as idiots you are only showing your own ignorance. Also without dissecting your post you obviously have little experience of working within the aviation industry or how it operates judging on some of your assertions. Also the first concern to any business should be their customers who will ultimately affect the bottom line this is even before we get into a debate of duty of care or it being morally the right thing to do. But that would all be lost on you sunshine. The thread if you actually bothered to read it gives many examples of where Ryanair could and should do much better and also shows the positve comments and quality debate. Any time you feel free to add to that be my guest but maybe not in your case.

Well given I'm almost in this industry close to 6 years next Novemeber, after breaking my boll**ks to pay for it, I reckon I might have a better insight than some. Btw, I suggest you conduct some research. It should'nt be too hard to find but Ryanair made has a much more fruitful revenue stream than that of the money gained from passengers. Hope that wrecks you head enough sunshine. Be sure to return with the correct answer and you may be able to enter the bonus round!

Strumms · 29-08-2013 9:15pm

Squip90 wrote: »

Well given I'm almost in this industry close to 6 years next Novemeber, after breaking my boll**ks to pay for it, I reckon I might have a better insight than some. Btw, I suggest you conduct some research. It should'nt be too hard to find but Ryanair made has a much more fruitful revenue stream than that of the money gained from passengers. Hope that wrecks you head enough sunshine. Be sure to return with the correct answer and you may be able to enter the bonus round!

We might share an anniversary so. 13 years in November for me. However I never had to 'pay for it' I only ever received a pay check not handed one in for the 'privilege'. I get free tea and coffee, we treat our customers with care and respect, provide a great service, on occasion when things go wrong we think about the people who pay us before anything.. IE.. the customer. All that and I'm pretty relaxed, no head wrecked and Ill pass up the bonus round for someone like yourself who might be in greater need of it, cheers !

kerry4sam · 29-08-2013 9:40pm

Hi all,

I've closed this thread as the op (mel1) has returned with a follow-up reply which was positive about Ryanair. Thanks again for providing that feedback on your experience.

Now, @Squip90: Firstly, Welcome to boards.ie! Secondly, I would advise you take some time to to re-think that agressive tone you've posted with in here if you wish to continue posting in our Travel forum.

Thanks,
kerry4sam!

Ryanair (feckin disaster) but Re-Imbursed me some

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