ignorant Ryanair Staff !!!

Leslie 1

I am writing this because the annoyance and frustration I suffered at the hands of other people, I feel I should warn you.

I was travelling with Ryan Air from Dublin to Manchester, I bought my tickets online for 99c, after taxes and charges were added it totalled €185.00, alot for 99c tickets, however I paid it and the day came to travel with my husband and young child, I was told my bag was too long and over the weight for one person that I should have separate bags for each person to even out the weight so instead of travelling with one bag a buggy a Childs bag and a hand bag that I should be travelling with another extra 2 bags (makes senses) load me down why don't you, I am still bringing on the same weight.

If that wasn't bad enough I was now being told that I had to pay to check in each bag, the girl told me that the web site explains this, after re checking their site it says you can check in online and print your boarding card and their prices were beside the amount of bags you are checking, it does not state that the company charges for each item of luggage you check in at the airport at the check in desk, When I tried to say this to the girl she just kept saying " It's €7.00 your just gonna have to pay it", she handed me a docket to go to the desk to pay where I must say I met the most obnoxious, ill mannered, common girl, all I said to her was I wanted to pay this and would I be stopped on the way back to pay again and just charge me for both ways because I did not want to go through this whole process again, she totalled ignored me at first and then said “ what do you expect for cheap flights” and turned to a guy sitting beside her and said quite loudly " Jesus they're all out today" they proceeded to laugh right into my face making sly comments to each other about me ensuring that I heard them.

If I walked into a supermarket and bought a chicken at 99c instead of the normal € 4.99 I would still expect he same service from the checkout assistant, she/he is not going to judge me just because I paid a little lower than normal and to be honest with all their little extras the tickets were over € 200.00.

I can see why the company can afford to reduce their flights; they recruit rude, common unprofessional staff, which insults customers. With other air lines the staff put the customer first, speak to them with manners and respect. No other airline management or owners would tolerate their staff speaking to customers the way I was spoken to but obviously the Ryan Air staff have been told that they can say what they like and be as ignorant as possible.

I certainly will not be travelling with this shower again and I am making sure that other people are aware of the arrogance of this company.

Chris_533976

All that stuff about baggage is on their website. The sizes of bags are listed, as are the weight of each bags. So is the cost. Clearly marked.

Granted, they shouldnt have treated you like that though.

Stark

Well what did you expect for 99c flights?

Seriously though, Ryanair is a bastard of a company.

markf909

The luggage charges were announced in February I think as were the baggage weights and the option of checking baggage is there as you book.
Still though, it is awful that you were treated that way. Nothing worse than being treated poorly when you absolutely have to use the service.
Ryanair have the perception of being cheap. The difference in fares between them and Aer Lingus or BMI to the UK isnt always massive and where possible I try and avoid them.

therecklessone

Ryanair Fair Deal on Baggage

For all passengers making new bookings from the 16th March 2006 onwards, the checked baggage allowance has been increased to 20kg per person (baggage fees apply). No pooling/sharing of baggage allowances is permitted, even when passengers are travelling together on the same reservation

Customers wishing to check items of baggage into the hold of the aircraft must pay a Baggage Fee for each item of checked baggage. This Baggage Fee can be prepaid up to 4 hours prior to your scheduled flight departure at the discounted price of £2.50/€3.50 per item, per flight, by contacting your local Ryanair reservation centre (subject to reservation centre opening hours).

Alternatively, the Baggage Fee can be paid at the airport, at the full rate of £5.00/€7.00 per bag, per flight.

That information would have been included in your itinerary e-mail.

What is my Checked Baggage Allowance?

Baby buggies, wheelchairs, scooters and walking frames are carried free of charge.

The Checked Baggage allowance is 20kg per person (there is no baggage allowance for infants, although a pram/buggy will be carried free of charge). Each Passenger may check-in up to five items of checked baggage, up to 20kg per person (a Baggage Fee is charged for each item of checked baggage).

For health and safety reasons Ryanair will not accept any individual item exceeding 32 kilos and with combined dimensions of more than 81cms height, 119cms wide and 119cms depth.

Nothing excuses poor manners from the customer service staff you dealt with, but one wonders did you bother contacting the airline to complain before you registered on boards simply to have a go at them?

Ruu_Old

Sorry you were treated badly, its no way for representatives to act, regardless of what airline they work for. Hope you did indeed send a complaint.

jhegarty

Leslie 1 wrote:

If I walked into a supermarket and bought a chicken at 99c instead of the normal € 4.99 I would still expect he same service from the checkout assistant,

i would expect better service when buying a chicken at M&S than at LIDL....you get what you pay for....

never had one complaint about ryainair myself... but only becuase unlike some people I expect 99cent service , not €500 service...

अधिनायक

When a company has a strong Chief Executive his personality determines the corporate personality. Ryanair is a horrible company to deal with and every journey with them is a risk.

Aer Lingus is advertising fares to Manchester for €5 each way which works out much the same as Rayanir after taxes (€203 for 3 adults). You can carry up to 32KG per bag, and you can pool luggage allowance.

Aer Lingus is usually much cheaper if you book at the last minute. So I never use Ryanair unless I absolutely have to.

BuffyBot

..of course, not being there we don't know exactly what happened...

therecklessone

अधिनाय&#2325 wrote:

You can carry up to 32KG per bag, and you can pool luggage allowance.

You can cary up to 20kg checked baggage free of charge, anything over that is charged at the excess baggage rate. 32kg is the maximum weight of any one piece of luggage (same as Ryanair)

county

BuffyBot wrote:

..of course, not being there we don't know exactly what happened...

are you suggesting the op is lying about her experience

Sarsfield

I'm truly shocked to read that Ryanair employs common people :rolleyes:

I'm starting to like the airline. Dirt cheap (if you read the T&Cs and organise accordingly), very punctual, and using online booking & checkin you never need to engage with the 'common' staff. I've done 4 or 5 trips with them this year and they haven't let me down. Using them again next week.

seamus

therecklessone wrote:

32kg is the maximum weight of any one piece of luggage (same as Ryanair)

Probably a health & safety rule, or something imposed by the baggage handlers' unions.

Ryanir had mentioned that they were focussing on the european weekenders - you can carry everything you need in a carry-on.

Personally I think it's a bit cheeky. A much more effective way of encouraging people to not use the hold would be to offer concession to those who don't - a free sandwich/cup of coffee on the plane, or a few € off your next flight for example.

That way, people don't feel screwed over when they have to check luggage in, and people will always remember a small surprise at check-in than a small saving when they book.

Ever since I got on a ryanair flight and saw ads along the sides like a bus, and a loud obnoxious (harvey norman style) recording pimping some competition over and over while we sat on the tarmac for twenty minutes, I've steered clear of ryanair. I've found aerlingus generally nicer, and you're not lumbered with the extra cost of getting from the airport into whatever city because they fly direct.

BuffyBot

are you suggesting the op is lying about her experience

I'm suggesting we're hearing one side of the experience.

In situations like these the truth normally lies somewhere between the two opposing views.

cast_iron

BuffyBot wrote:

I'm suggesting we're hearing one side of the experience.

In situations like these the truth normally lies somewhere between the two opposing views.

Exactly - i'm with you there.
I'm not trying to judge the OP, but it appears she can't either comprehend her flight itenary or the website notices, so we take her on what she has posted.

The staff member does appear to have been encridibly rude (unforgiveable), but correct. If you want to go back to the "good old days" with good service from airlines, why didn't you? Is first class not is available at a price resembling that of years gone by?


Look at the facts here - one member of staff told you what you couldn't seem to grasp (the charge applies) and another bought the reality of cheap flights home to you (albeit in a frank manner).
Unless you have being living underground for the last number of years.....what did you expect???

dowlingm

32kg/piece is indeed a H&S issue - I remember when BA brought it in because the LHR baggage handlers had had enough.

Padraig Mor

All the stuff about baggage etc. is on your ticket. Make sure you read the whole thing next time. As for the staff - inexcusable. I've never had a problem with Ryanair staff though despite people presuming that they're all horrible.

GrumPy

Stark wrote:

Well what did you expect for 99c flights?

Seriously though, Ryanair is a bastard of a company.

Yeah, but it wasn't a 99c flight, it was €185 ffs. She should get better service than that.

JimmySmith

I dont mind Ryanair at all. The only thing about them that really irriitates me is when on, the red-eye you're trying to sleep and the speaker (a thousand decibels too loud) keeps blasting you every 2 minutes trying to sell you somthing or just wake you up, so they dont miss an opportunity to sell you something.

Stark

Irish GrumPy wrote:

Yeah, but it wasn't a 99c flight, it was €185 ffs. She should get better service than that.

Yeah I was joking about that. I hate it when people talk about free flights which are anything but free. Like a poster on this site said before: "The flight is free; it's the landing you pay for".

अधिनायक

therecklessone wrote:

You can cary up to 20kg checked baggage free of charge, anything over that is charged at the excess baggage rate. 32kg is the maximum weight of any one piece of luggage (same as Ryanair)

It's not quite the same. As I understand it, Aer Lingus will let you carry you and your child's luggage in one 32kg bag at no extra cost while Ryanair insist on a maximum of 20kg per person in separate bags.

Skitbra

As already mentioned in previous posts, it's all on the website or in the email you received from your booking. TBH it just seems like you were pissed off because of the baggage problem, which was your fault for not reading all the information you received, and you had a bad attitude with this other "common" girl as you describe her. If that's the way you percieve her then I feel that there maybe something more wrong with you than her.
This is typical of the "public" in general and especially women. They get up on their high horses and nothing will stop them even when it's their fault.
I have nothing to do with Ryanair but from my time working in supermarkets and the like I see this all the time.
Relax OP and read all the info you're given first and come prepared the next time and the staff will be grand.

cast_iron

Irish GrumPy wrote:

Yeah, but it wasn't a 99c flight, it was €185 ffs. She should get better service than that.

Well considering there was 3 of them, it would make it aprox €60 odd, and since they booked a return flight, it was prob only €30 per flight.
Ryanair did only charge 99c for the flight though. The rest of the overall cost is made up of taxes and charges. The actual seat was going for 99c!

DublinWriter

Leslie 1 wrote:

I certainly will not be travelling with this shower again and I am making sure that other people are aware of the arrogance of this company.

Ryanair? Arrogant? Gosh, who'd have thunk it.

Seriously, we the travelling public hate Ryanair, they hate us. It's a simple relationship.

I'm no defender of Ryanair, but I've seen just the same arrogant little madams working for Aer Lingus.

People always bang-on about how great Ryanair are for bringing competition into the marketplace. Great, wonderful, fine, that was 20 years ago, but what have you done for me lately Michael?

That's a great image of Ireland they're promoting abroad, making wheelchair users fight them (successfully) in the Old Bailey, then acting like the sore losers they are by imposing a stealth wheelchair-tax on all our tickets.

GerardKeating

seamus wrote:

A much more effective way of encouraging people to not use the hold would be to offer concession to those who don't - a free sandwich/cup of coffee on the plane, or a few € off your next flight for example.

What can be more effective in discourgaging hold luggage than to charge for it.

"Buzz" airline were planning to do this a few years ago, before RyanAir swallowed them up.

GerardKeating

cast_iron wrote:

Ryanair did only charge 99c for the flight though. The rest of the overall cost is made up of taxes and charges. The actual seat was going for 99c!

No, the flight was €30, the landing charges (taxes) are an "input" cost to the airline in providing the service.

Quoting the price exclusing of charges and taxes is a bit like a resturant quoting you €1.00 for a steak, and quote the cost of cooking it seperatly.

seamus

GerardKeating wrote:

What can be more effective in discourgaging hold luggage than to charge for it.

My point is that any company with any sense of self-preservation would look for ways to discourage such things, but maintain some PR.

Just wait for the day when The Sun has a headline like "Woman forced to pay for 14 handbags".

therecklessone

seamus wrote:

My point is that any company with any sense of self-preservation would look for ways to discourage such things, but maintain some PR.

Just wait for the day when The Sun has a headline like "Woman forced to pay for 14 handbags".

Yet haven't Ryanair pretty much revelled in the phrase "all publicity is good publicity"?

Leslie 1

From reading all your replies I will ensure that I read every detail on an airlines website before I book, when I re checked the ryanair website I found that I had to go into travel questions and click down many options before I came upon the detailed baggage questions and answers, to be honest when I booked and I read all they had printed on the booking page which is as follows:

Important Reminders for checked-in baggage
Checked Baggage may be pre-booked at the current discounted rate of £2.50/€3.50 per bag per sector.
The personal allowance for Checked Baggage is 20kg per person (no infant allowance).
Passengers can check-in up to five items of baggage per person.
Passengers may not use the unused allowances of others. No pooling/sharing of personal allowances is permitted, even within a party travelling on the same Confirmation Number.
Any passenger checking in baggage in excess of 20kg will be charged an excess baggage fee, which currently is at the rate of £5.50/€8 per kilo (or local currency equivalent).
All payments for checked-in baggage are non refundable

From reading this I assumed that you pay when you check in ONLINE, I really should have assumed that this meant 'read through the web site until you find the part that says you pay at the desk also'.

Yes what should I have expected for 99c, all I wanted was to be spoken to like a human being, not called names and made fun off, but then no one was there so it's only my side of the story, I'm sure the staff in question will firmly deny it and say it was me being rude and treating them like an animal.

I understand that buggies are carried free, I was just pointing out that with one pair of hands, carrying this amount of luggage is physically impossible.

My child who has baggage allowance and who is 3years of age seems ridiculous to hand him his own suitcase to check in because according to the staff I am not allowed to mix his weight with mine, he's responsible for his weight and bag, only thing here is the girl never asked him the security questions about his belongings that were now in his own bag.

Yes I did contact the airline and I was eventually put through to a number that was 1.90 per min, they just seem to charge for everything, the response I received was " it's Ryanairs policy, thank you and good day" some of you may be happy with this response if it was you but I wasn't and just felt that I needed to vent my anger on this board.


I'm glad that some of you like them and have had no problems with them, and thankfully you were not flying with them the day I was otherwise you would have experienced the half hour delay and the hour delay coming back, when you are travelling the next time with a three year old and he has all his bits and pieces and all the clothes you need for a toddler, I hope they do not make you empty out your luggage and separate your belongings then charge you for all the bags you have and hopefully nothing happens on the flight you are travelling because I'd hate to think what would happen if one of the overhead lockers opened especially with all those bags and cases overloaded in them.

Happy travelling

cast_iron

GerardKeating wrote:

No, the flight was €30, the landing charges (taxes) are an "input" cost to the airline in providing the service.

Quoting the price exclusing of charges and taxes is a bit like a resturant quoting you €1.00 for a steak, and quote the cost of cooking it seperatly.

If you read my post, i did say the flight was €30 (viewed as a whole).
The seat on a Ryanair plane was 99p though, and that varies with all flights. Are the taxes not a set charge? My point being, you can pay €700 for a seat or 99p for a seat - taxes/charges are a necessary extra, similar to a fuel surcharge - you gotta pay it regardless.

Your analogy is a good one, but proves my point - it's still a euro for the steak, which is what they advertise. You expect to pay the taxes/charges.

cp251

I'm was surprised that you were surprised at the treatment you got from Ryanair. It's not exactly a secret. They treat everyone like that, even their own staff. If you think that's bad you should hear how they treat their pilots.

It's worth pointing out though that in all likelihood the staff you dealt with are not in fact employees of Ryanair at all. Although often uniformed as Ryanair, most likely they are employed by an airport handling agency like Servisair and in truth they could care less about Ryanair's image.

If you think you're bad, think of an acquaintance of mine who had a overweight bag. He got charged, I think around 40 Euros. Fine you might think. But he had booked Dublin - Stanstead, Stanstead - Paris and return. That's four flights. 160 Euros in total:eek: So much for cheap fares.

Leslie 1

God I had no idea they did that, really makes me think now. You'd think Ryanair would be protecting the little reputation it has left. But I suppose if people are wiling to pay and put up with ignorant attitudes so be it, you'd never get an American putting up with that kind of service.

I have to say on the return journey the staff at MAnchester were quite nice must be just Dublin airport and those 3 I dealt with certanily were not representing the company.

I still feel the same about them and most definately will not be traveling with them, I hope other airlines do not go down this line, otherwise there's going to be a hell of amount of hand luggage being carried on and it's the security personnel I feel sorry for they have to check 3 - 4 maybe 5 times more luggage just because of Ryanair, and are they getting paid any extra... I doubt it!!! But I bet the baggage handlers are happy as Larry, it's the job to be in now, less bags going in the hold and still getting the same money.

FlutterinBantam

Less bags into the hold means less people loadin..... Ryanairspeak.

Michael will make sure he gets bang for his buck....

therecklessone

Leslie 1 wrote:

From reading all your replies I will ensure that I read every detail on an airlines website before I book

You've just learned a valuable lesson for life in general, not just air travel.

Leslie 1 wrote:

when I re checked the ryanair website I found that I had to go into travel questions and click down many options before I came upon the detailed baggage questions and answers, to be honest when I booked and I read all they had printed on the booking page which is as follows:

Important Reminders for checked-in baggage
Checked Baggage may be pre-booked at the current discounted rate of £2.50/€3.50 per bag per sector.
The personal allowance for Checked Baggage is 20kg per person (no infant allowance).
Passengers can check-in up to five items of baggage per person.
Passengers may not use the unused allowances of others. No pooling/sharing of personal allowances is permitted, even within a party travelling on the same Confirmation Number.
Any passenger checking in baggage in excess of 20kg will be charged an excess baggage fee, which currently is at the rate of £5.50/€8 per kilo (or local currency equivalent).
All payments for checked-in baggage are non refundable

From reading this I assumed that you pay when you check in ONLINE, I really should have assumed that this meant 'read through the web site until you find the part that says you pay at the desk also'.

Not sure when you booked your flights or how, but:

1. The e-mail I received on 23 March for a flight to London I had with Ryanair said the following:

*******************************************************************************
BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE POLICY FOR ALL NEW FLIGHTS BOOKED FROM THE 16TH
MARCH 2006 ONWARDS
*******************************************************************************
The checked baggage allowance is 20kg per person (no infant allowance)
No pooling/sharing of baggage allowances is permitted, even when
passengers are travelling together on the same reservation.

Customers wishing to check baggage into the hold of the aircraft must
pay a Baggage Fee for each item of checked baggage. This Baggage Fee
can be prepaid up to 4 hours prior to your scheduled flight departure
at the discounted price of GBP2.50/?3.50 per bag, per flight, by
contacting your local Ryanair reservation centre (subject to reservation
centre opening hours). Alternatively, the Baggage Fee can be paid at the
airport, at the full rate of GBP5.00/?7.00 per bag, per flight.

Any checked baggage above 20kg per passenger will be charged at
GBP5.50/EUR8.00 per kilo.

Thats quite clear.

In addition:

2. When you book your flights on ryanair.com you are required to acknowledge you have read and accepted Ryanair's T&Cs. You can't complete the booking without doing so. The T&Cs state:

# A Baggage Fee is charged for the carriage of each item of Checked Baggage. The Baggage Fee may be prepaid at the current discounted rate of £2.50/€3.50 per item of baggage/per one way flight when making your reservation on www.ryanair.com, or through a Ryanair call centre (up to 4 hours prior to scheduled flight departure time - subject to opening hours). If the Baggage Fee is paid at the airport, the full rate of £5/€7 per item of baggage/per one way flight is charged. Baby buggies, wheelchairs, scooters and walking frames are carried free of charge.

# The Checked Baggage allowance is 20kg per person (there is no baggage allowance for infants, although a pram/buggy will be carried free of charge). Each Passenger may check-in up to five items of checked baggage, up to 20kg per person (a Baggage Fee is charged for each item of checked baggage).

# Passengers may not use the unused checked baggage allowance of other passengers. No pooling/sharing of the checked baggage allowance is permitted, even within a party travelling on the same Confirmation Number.

Thats the 2nd, 3rd and 4th items listed under the first heading "Baggage Allowance"

Leslie 1 wrote:

all I wanted was to be spoken to like a human being, not called names and made fun off, but then no one was there so it's only my side of the story, I'm sure the staff in question will firmly deny it and say it was me being rude and treating them like an animal.

TBH, that's your only valid complaint. If it was me I would have demanded to speak to their supervisor and complained about my treatment only to him/her. They hear people complain about the conditions of travel all the time, if you book with the airline you accept those conditions.

Leslie 1 wrote:

I understand that buggies are carried free, I was just pointing out that with one pair of hands, carrying this amount of luggage is physically impossible.

I thought you were travelling in a party of three?

Leslie 1 wrote:

Yes I did contact the airline and I was eventually put through to a number that was 1.90 per min, they just seem to charge for everything, the response I received was " it's Ryanairs policy, thank you and good day" some of you may be happy with this response if it was you but I wasn't and just felt that I needed to vent my anger on this board.

Depends on what you complained about. If you complained about the attitude of the customer service staff I'd expect better. If you complained about the T&Cs you accepted when booking...

therecklessone

cp251 wrote:

It's worth pointing out though that in all likelihood the staff you dealt with are not in fact employees of Ryanair at all. Although often uniformed as Ryanair, most likely they are employed by an airport handling agency like Servisair and in truth they could care less about Ryanair's image.

Ryanair employ their own staff in Dublin.

cp251 wrote:

If you think you're bad, think of an acquaintance of mine who had a overweight bag. He got charged, I think around 40 Euros. Fine you might think. But he had booked Dublin - Stanstead, Stanstead - Paris and return. That's four flights. 160 Euros in total:eek: So much for cheap fares.

So much for reading the terms and conditions...:rolleyes:

bacon&cabbage

Whether the flight cost 99c or €999 or whatever, there is still no excuse for rudeness like that.
Manners and a smile cost nothing, which is 99c cheaper than Ryanair's so called 99c flights

seamus

therecklessone wrote:

Yet haven't Ryanair pretty much revelled in the phrase "all publicity is good publicity"?

That only applies when you're *not* one of the biggest airlines in Europe. Bad publicity is bad publicity for big companies.

Victor

Leslie 1 wrote:

ill mannered, common girl

O_o

I'll have you know bigotry is against the charter.

cast_iron wrote:

Your analogy is a good one, but proves my point - it's still a euro for the steak, which is what they advertise. You expect to pay the taxes/charges.

However one cannot buy the seat separately. I can buy a steak separately. Do you think the following would cut it?

Big Mac €1
Big Mac box €2

cast_iron

Victor wrote:

However one cannot buy the seat separately. I can buy a steak separately. Do you think the following would cut it?

Yes, but you have missed the point of what GeraldKeating was saying. You can't actually go in to restaurants and buy a steak seperately in the context he wrote it. Hence, you've missed my point also.

His point was that you must pay for a cooked steak if such an offer was there. Same for the seat (which i have said you cant buy seperately).

penexpers

In my experience, the rudest Ryanair staff are in Dublin Airport - never had any problems with staff on the planes/in other airports.

Our man in Havana

I would agree with you there on that one!

Leslie 1

Well Therecklessone either you work for Ryan air or you wrote the rules and regulations you seem to know them off by heart maybe we should all study the web site, and YES I was travelling in a party of three, did you think you were catching me out?? Not that it is anyone’s business and I really shouldn't have to explain myself, if I say I was in a party of three then I was in a party of three, but my husband is disabled and I wouldn't ask a man with one arm and a half paralysed other hand to carry ALL MY LUGGAGE and my three year old as strong as he is might struggle a little.

I must have received a completely different email maybe they knew I was coming. I did ask for a manager and I was told there was none on duty for another hour and the supervisor was busy.

I would have accepted the conditions if I had of been informed properly and not have had to scroll through their complete site to find the changes to the baggage , most people know the basics but there was nothing highlighted to say they had changed, I travel with Ryan air at least 6 times a year and never have I come across this, new regulations should be printed on the booking form, they advertise enough things maybe a little hint would be helpful, it was the attitude that annoyed me more but then I'm not willing to put up with being spoken to like that.

I thought I was over this but now I think I'm more annoyed now.

Leslie

therecklessone

Leslie 1 wrote:

Well Therecklessone either you work for Ryan air or you wrote the rules and regulations

No and no. I've travelled quite a bit in the last year, I go to the UK about 20 times a year and further afield a bit. I use Ryanair regularly to fly to the UK.

Leslie 1 wrote:

and YES I was travelling in a party of three, did you think you were catching me out?? Not that it is anyone’s business and I really shouldn't have to explain myself, if I say I was in a party of three then I was in a party of three, but my husband is disabled and I wouldn't ask a man with one arm and a half paralysed other hand to carry ALL MY LUGGAGE and my three year old as strong as he is might struggle a little.

I wasn't trying to catch you out, and apologise for any offence caused, but it was a reasonable question to ask given the post I quoted.

Leslie 1 wrote:

I would have accepted the conditions if I had of been informed properly and not have had to scroll through their complete site to find the changes to the baggage

You were. You accepted the terms and conditions I qouted above, you can't complete the booking process without doing that. Is is Ryanair's fault that you didn't bother reading them?

Leslie 1 wrote:

most people know the basics but there was nothing highlighted to say they had changed

Booking process on ryanair.com:

1. Home page - select departure/destination, dates, persons travelling.
2. Proceed to page 2 where you select flight time, then click on Select and Continue
3. Page 3 confirms flight details, pricing, and fare rules...point 3 states:

Checked in baggage - 20kg per person (a baggage fee applies for each item of checked baggage) - no sharing of baggage allowance permitted (no infant allowance)

Its at that point that you are required to acknowledge the T&Cs. There's no trawling through the website at all, its there in black & white, with an easily accessed link to the T&Cs.

That information is expanded upon in your confirmation e-mail (and IIRC the confirmation page shown when you complete your booking, though I haven't seen that in three months)

Leslie 1 wrote:

I travel with Ryan air at least 6 times a year and never have I come across this, new regulations should be printed on the booking form

See above.

Leslie 1 wrote:

it was the attitude that annoyed me more but then I'm not willing to put up with being spoken to like that.

I thought I was over this but now I think I'm more annoyed now.

There's your one legitimate complaint, which I acknowledged in my first post. Regardless of what you paid for you seat you're entitled to be treated as a customer, not as an annoyance.

DublinWriter

therecklessone wrote:

Regardless of what you paid for you seat you're entitled to be treated as a customer, not as an annoyance.

But you see, that's just the thing. To Ryanair you are an annoyance. The first thing a member of Ryanair staff will try to do at check-in will be to bump you from the flight, and mostly around issues of ID.

You're a woman and your passport in still in your maiden name? Bump.
You're travelling within your own country (say on the Dublin-Cork route) and you don't have a passport? Bump.
You have an out of date passport travelling within the EU? Bump.

I swear O'Leary pays out commission on the amount of passengers that a check-in drone manages to bump.

therecklessone

Oh, and here's a story which might put yours in perspective...

A retired friend of mine lives in Mallorca with his partner. Travelling home a couple of weeks ago, they arrived at Palma airport for his flight to Dublin. Checked in at 8.30pm for an 11pm flight, he was told at the desk that his flight was delayed and wouldn't be departing until 3.30am. :eek:

Anyway, they went through security and waited at the departure gate. About 3am the plane pulled up to the gate and disembarked its passengers. He waited and waited, then happened to look out the window to see the a/c crew leaving the aircraft, boarding a bus and leaving. He knew something was up, but he recognised two other passengers as employees of the airline (on holiday) and asked them to find out what was happening. Turns out the crew had arrived at Palma having reached their legal flying hours limit, and were unable to fly the return flight. Through the two airline employees he found out this:

1. The Dublin-Palma flight had been due to leave Dublin at 6.20pm, but the a/c and its crew were used to replace an a/c that had a technical problem and was used to fly to and from Manchester. Upon returning, the crew were instructed to continue to Palma by their operations dept.
2. At that point, the crew informed their ops dept that they would be out of hours on landing in Palma. They were instructed to complete the outbound leg, and told they would do the return flight the next day.
3. The flight left Dublin at 10.05pm (11.05pm Spanish time). Either the ops dept in Dublin failed to inform the handling agent in Palma, or the handling agent chose not to pass the info on, but it was 4 hours later that the passengers waiting in Palma were informed. They were provided with neither food nor water, and all the restaurants and bars were closed by midnight. A number of families had young children with them.
4 At some time after 3am the passengers were transported to a nearby hotel for the night, and were returned to the airport at 11am the new day, for a 1pm departure. He arrived at his partner's house at 5pm, 24 hours after he left his own place in Port de Pollensa.

The airline? Aer Lingus.

therecklessone

DublinWriter wrote:

But you see, that's just the thing. To Ryanair you are an annoyance.

Subjective statement. I travel with Ryanair regularly and have had little or no trouble. My experience is as valid as yours. Both are subjective.

Leslie 1

Lord above therecklessone... I don't know what way to take you, I am going to copy and paste my email I got from Ryan air, I think I already did this but I'll do it again. I will not include personal details, for obvious reasons.... It's as follows


- All travel is offered in accordance with Ryan air General Conditions of Carriage - All fares are non refundable but: Flight dates, times, routes and passenger names are changeable subject to applicable charges: please see Terms and Conditions for further details. - Checked in baggage - 20kg per person (a baggage fee applies for each item of checked baggage) - no sharing of baggage allowance permitted (no infant allowance) - N.B. Passengers who paid for their reservation before the 16th March 2006 the checked baggage allowance is 15kg per person (no infant allowance) - Excess Baggage Charged at £5.50/€8 per kilo or local currency equivalent - Hand baggage 10kg per passenger (no infant allowance). - The maximum size of cabin hand baggage cannot exceed 55 cm x 40 cm x 20 cm (20 x 14 x 9ins). 




Top of Form 1
#
Important Reminders for checked-in baggage
Checked Baggage may be pre-booked at the current discounted rate of £2.50/€3.50 per bag per sector.
The personal allowance for Checked Baggage is 20kg per person (no infant allowance).
Passengers can check-in up to five items of baggage per person.
Passengers may not use the unused allowances of others. No pooling/sharing of personal allowances is permitted, even within a party travelling on the same Confirmation Number.
Any passenger checking in baggage in excess of 20kg will be charged an excess baggage fee which currently is at the rate of £5.50/€8 per kilo (or local currency equivalent).
All payments for checked-in baggage are non refundable.


Now when I booked online and the option of checking in your bag was there, I assumed that you were charged for checking in online, there is no mention of €7.00 to be paid at the check in desk!

I DID accept the conditions, yes what I am saying is there was no indication of this major change on the booking page, I read through all that was on the booking page (as above) and if there had of been a slight hint that €7.00 was to be paid at the check in desk then I would have read through the 13 items and 128 questions answers in these 13 items on the terms and conditions. All it mentions is the €3.50 for online check in. When you click on the terms and conditions on the booking page it brings you up these 13 items. (I have just re done it to make sure & I've counted them all) obviously not knowing what changes they bring in you have to read everything!!!!!
I have travelled with them many many times and my last journey which wasn't that long ago I wasn't' charged for checking in my bags, and that's the God's honest truth.

Thank you for understanding that I'm entitled to be treated as a customer, not as an annoyance, but that is how it was. I'm still not going to travel with them again and I hope you enjoy your future experiences with them, I assume your male (apologise if I'm wrong) but men do get treated better by females and I'm NOT being sexist here.

PS are you sure you don't work for them, you seem to know all about ops and only airline crew use this term!!!! bye bye

DublinWriter

I know how you must feel Leslie, but you do really think that writing to Ryanair 'customer service' will do you any good?

I mean, do you think that they're Superquinn or something? Do you think that they'll read your letter and go "oh my god! we've just treated a customer so badly! Quick! Send her out a hand written note from Michael with a €100 voucher for flights!"

Will they f*ck.

Do you really think that your voice matters considering that a couple of years ago they bumped the complete wedding party for Nicky Byrne and the Ahern child's wedding from a flight from Dublin to Paris because their ancient 737-200 of the time wasn't equipped to land in fog?

You've probably just wasted a few more minutes of your life even bothering to talk to them. They don't care.

therecklessone

Leslie 1 wrote:

Now when I booked online and the option of checking in your bag was there, I assumed that you were charged for checking in online, there is no mention of €7.00 to be paid at the check in desk!

I've quoted the e-mail I got from Ryanair for my booking on 23 March, the current T&Cs, and the 3rd page you (currently) have to navigate to book a flight with Ryanair. All support my understanding of the situation. I can't go back in time to check the Ryanair site for the day and time you booked, but your e-mail is certainly different from mine. However, from that e-mail, alarm bells would have been ringing for me when I read:

Leslie 1 wrote:

All travel is offered in accordance with Ryan air General Conditions of Carriage

Checked in baggage - 20kg per person (a baggage fee applies for each item of checked baggage) - no sharing of baggage allowance permitted (no infant allowance)

Important Reminders for checked-in baggage
Checked Baggage may be pre-booked at the current discounted rate of £2.50/€3.50 per bag per sector.
The personal allowance for Checked Baggage is 20kg per person (no infant allowance).
Passengers can check-in up to five items of baggage per person.
Passengers may not use the unused allowances of others. No pooling/sharing of personal allowances is permitted, even within a party travelling on the same Confirmation Number.

So the e-mail tells you that:

1. A baggage fee applies for every item of checked baggage, and
2. Checked baggage can be pre-booked at a discounted rate.

Therefore:

3. I'll have to pay for checked bags at some point.

Leslie 1 wrote:

if there had of been a slight hint that €7.00 was to be paid at the check in desk then I would have read through the 13 items and 128 questions answers in these 13 items on the terms and conditions. All it mentions is the €3.50 for online check in. When you click on the terms and conditions on the booking page it brings you up these 13 items. (I have just re done it to make sure & I've counted them all) obviously not knowing what changes they bring in you have to read everything!!!!!

One is supposed to read all of the T&Cs in any case, so that one doesn't get any nasty surprises when it comes to the day of travel.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=51543990&postcount=34

I've quoted the relevant section on that post.

therecklessone wrote:

Thats the 2nd, 3rd and 4th items listed under the first heading "Baggage Allowance"

Easy to find that part.

Leslie 1 wrote:

I have travelled with them many many times and my last journey which wasn't that long ago I wasn't' charged for checking in my bags, and that's the God's honest truth.

16 March was the change over day, and it was well publicised IIRC (certainly covered in print media)

Leslie 1 wrote:

PS are you sure you don't work for them, you seem to know all about ops and only airline crew use this term!!!! bye bye

Assumptions are what got you into the mess in the first place. I'm not an employee of any airline, though I do work in the industry.

therecklessone

DublinWriter wrote:

Do you really think that your voice matters considering that a couple of years ago they bumped the complete wedding party for Nicky Byrne and the Ahern child's wedding from a flight from Dublin to Paris because their ancient 737-200 of the time wasn't equipped to land in fog?

Jesus, do people really have to trawl the depths for something to hammer Ryanair with?

They're not the only airline who have/did have aircraft or crew lacking the necessry certification to land in low visibility.

DublinWriter

therecklessone wrote:

Jesus, do people really have to trawl the depths for something to hammer Ryanair with?

Not really. A close family member was travelling on that flight. Several have been bumped for their crazy ID rules. A month after 9/11 I was on a flight to Charleloi where the stewardness entered the cabin, and chatted merrily away to both pilots and left the cabin door wide open for what I timed to be 5 minutes.

And to be honest, I can never read those *huge* message were someone spends half the night picking out individual sentances from a posters original message trying to respond to each point. Yawn.

You think that you're being witty and erudite? You're not. You're being anal and unoriginal. Most people just scroll past.

Keep it sharp, pithy and to the point if you ever want people to heed what you say.