Budget Travel - What are the chances of getting compensation?

Leeby

I've just returned from a week in Spain which began with a nightmare of a delay in Dublin, was going to go to Budget Travel to complain and see if there's any form of compensation, but everyones telling me not to bother as there's no chance I'll get anything. Anyone ever been in this position? And if so, what was the outcome?

NinjaTruncs

how long was the delay, if it was a couple of hours you won't get anything.

P. Breathnach

Have a look at http://www.eccdublin.ie/topics/air_travel.html to see what you might be entitled to. It's not really a lot for a few hours' delay.

The courts (including the small claims court) have awarded compensation to people who have been given a bad deal by tour operators.

In your position, I would write to Budget Travel setting out as accurately and calmly as I could why I was unhappy, and ask them if they are willing to do something about it. If they say no, and I was convinced I was badly dealt with, I would consider using the courts. But you should be sure that whatever took away from your enjoyment is the responsibility of Budget Travel.

Leeby

It was 24 hours. It went like this (WARNING - You probably don't want to read this - it's long!):

Arrived at 4pm to check in for our 6pm flight, were told there's four hour delay, a coach will pick you up here at 5pm to bring you to a hotel for a free meal - that's grand.

We wait around, the coach picks us up at 5.30, the meal turns out to be something neither my boyfriend or I could eat as he's vegetarian and I have IBS which can restrict my diet, so whatever we just buy a load of crisps to keep us going.

The hotel is of course raking in a load of money at the bar, a member of hotel staff comes around at 9pm to tell us that the plane has left Malaga and so the coach will pick us up at 10.30pm to bring us back to the airport and we should be on our plane at 12.

More money spend on drinks and crisps to keep us going, 10.30 rolls around and no announcement is made about the coach so I go out to the lobby to see what's going on but loads of people have disappeared. I ask another passenger if they've heard about the coach and she says the plane never actually left Malaga and we're being put in rooms for the night (they neglected to tell anyone on our side of the bar). So I go up to reception to be informed that all the rooms are gone and we'll have to be sent to another hotel.

At 11.30 a coach picked up the few of us on my side of the bar to bring us to the Regency, though we had to go to the airport first to pick up all the stupid people that decided to get taxis to the airport ahead of us. They're gathered up, we're told that we'll be on a plane within 12 hours, our rooms would be phoned during the night when they're taking us back to the airport, and so we arrive at the Regency at 1am, get rooms, and pay €10 for a crappy cheese sandwich.

Wake up to a phonecall at 10am being told that the coach would bring us to the airport at 1pm for a 3pm flight. Go downstairs to see if there's a breakfast but if there was one, it was finished, so stay hungry. Stand around outside the hotel til nearly 2pm when the coach arrives, brings us to the airport, where we're informed there are further delays and they don't know when we'll be going, but to stay around the airport and they'll let us know.

Buy some lunch as we never got breakfast, and wait around for a while before deciding to go through security ourselves. At about 5.30 an announcement for the last passengers on the Malaga flight to go to the gate, so run down there, get on the plane and as it's free seating (it was a different airlines plane) we cannot get seats together even though we payed extra for that when booking.

Once everyones on the plane the pilot informs us it'll just be two or three minutes til we can go to the runway. Fifteen minutes ater he says it'll be ten minutes. Forty minutes later we're finally taking off and told we can have free sandwiches. Ham and cheese sandwiches which, once again, my boyfriend can't eat cos he's vegetarian. Buy even more crisps! (starting to become pretty sickening).

Arrive at our apartments as the bar is closing and the entertainment has ended, just about manage to find somewhere to get a snack for himself before everywhere closed.

Throughout the whole delay, there was no budget travel rep to be seen, and noone from the airport to tell us what was going on, just the poor hotel staff who didn't know much, and were clearly being told lies by the airport considering the "your flight has left Malaga" line. There was a letter when I got home from Budget Travel saying "we'd like to once again apologise" (I don't remember them apologising in the first place!) and they attached a letter from the airline explaining all the delays, and why it kept getting pushed back. Which was fine, I can see how the delay obviously couldn't be helped, I just think Budget Travel left us pretty much high and dry through the whole thing.

Sorry! That was even longer than I thought it'd be!

ArmaniJeanss

Nasty ordeal. I don't know what you are legally entitled to, but hopefully Budget will do something for you if you outline the sequence of events to them as you have above.

Leeby wrote: »

Ham and cheese sandwiches which, once again, my boyfriend can't eat cos he's vegetarian.

Simple matter to take the ham out and hey presto, he has a vegetarian sandwich.

Fighting Irish

they put you up in a hotel and you spent loadsa money and thats their fault?

Leeby

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Simple matter to take the ham out and hey presto, he has a vegetarian sandwich.

That was suggested, but not really the most agreeable idea to a vegetarian.

Yeah I've got my letter to budget mostly written now, pretty much as above with a few changes such as "stupid people" becoming just "people" and that sort of thing. Sure we'll see, I'm around the corner from the head office so I'm not sure whether to post it or hand it in myself.

Leeby

Fighting Irish wrote: »

they put you up in a hotel and you spent loadsa money and thats their fault?

We couldn't eat the food, so we had to spend money, and when I say drinks, I'm not talking about alcohol, and we weren't put in a hotel til late at night as noone informed us that the promised coach was actually not arriving.

ArmaniJeanss

Fighting Irish wrote: »

they put you up in a hotel and you spent loadsa money and thats their fault?

Bit harsh, airport hotels aren't exactly where you want to be when you'd planned on being at a beachside bar.

I'd have thought (no legal expertise by the way), that you'd be entitled to compensation for the nights holiday accomodation that you paid for but didn't get, and for the 'together seating' that you didn't get either.

topper75

You have a good letter there alright but take out the food quibbles. They look silly. Vegetarianism isn't enshrined in the constitution. Sorry for your experience. I reckon they did OK with the hotel but should have provided more communication and got a rep in their with ye at least. I would say voucher for money off another trip at least by way of compo.

Leeby

topper75 wrote: »

You have a good letter there alright but take out the food quibbles. They look silly. Vegetarianism isn't enshrined in the constitution. Sorry for your experience. I reckon they did OK with the hotel but should have provided more communication and got a rep in their with ye at least. I would say voucher for money off another trip at least by way of compo.

That had occured to me, but the main reason I wanted to keep them in is to understand how much out of pocket we ended up being through having to buy our own food.

Drummerboy2

In fairness to Budget they did put you up in a hotel and did provide food. Its not their fault that you are both veggies. However they should have had a rep on hand to oversee all the ferrying of people from hotels to airport. Don't think you will have any luck with compensation.

ncmc

I'm interested to see how this turns out Leeby, please post back if Budget respond to you. I've heard they aren't the greatest people to deal with if you have a complaint but you never know.

It seems their greatest fault here is failure of communications. They did try and look after you with a hotel, but there should have been a rep with you at all times to tell you what was going on and keep everyone organised.

P. Breathnach

Drummerboy2 wrote: »

In fairness to Budget they did put you up in a hotel and did provide food. Its not their fault that you are both veggies. However they should have had a rep on hand to oversee all the ferrying of people from hotels to airport. Don't think you will have any luck with compensation.

With enough people to fill a plane, Budget should expect, and be prepared for, people with special dietary requirements (not just vegetarians, but also people like Jews or Muslims with religious restrictions on diet, and people with health needs such as being gluten-intolerant). Ham sandwiches would be unsuitable for more than vegetarians. Would you ask a vegan to scrape the butter off as well as discard the ham? [Okay, it was probably vegetable oil!]

Budget had their own problem in that flight delays are unpredictable, and often seem to stretch out beyond the first estimate [I was travelling home with a group a couple of days ago and we were told that our plane would be 40 minutes late; the group immediately arrived at a consensus that it would be 2 hours, and we were right.] But the delay is Budget's problem, and they do enough business to know how problems evolve and they should be able to deal with them when they do. Unless Leeby was hiding away and missing things, it looks to me as if Budget had a major failure in communicating what was happening, both in terms of the delay and what measures were being taken to deal with people.

I do not speak as a lawyer, but as one who has done well over the years in asserting my rights as a consumer. In a situation such as Leeby describes, I would expect to win some compensation.

Leeby, if your letter has not already gone, remember that Budget should know what happened. They will know, for example, if there was meant to be somebody on hand to communicate with you, but they might not know that you were not communicated with. Did Budget know from your booking that you and your boyfriend have special dietary requirements?

Leeby

P. Breathnach wrote: »

With enough people to fill a plane, Budget should expect, and be prepared for, people with special dietary requirements (not just vegetarians, but also people like Jews or Muslims with religious restrictions on diet, and people with health needs such as being gluten-intolerant). Ham sandwiches would be unsuitable for more than vegetarians. Would you ask a vegan to scrape the butter off as well as discard the ham? [Okay, it was probably vegetable oil!]

Budget had their own problem in that flight delays are unpredictable, and often seem to stretch out beyond the first estimate [I was travelling home with a group a couple of days ago and we were told that our plane would be 40 minutes late; the group immediately arrived at a consensus that it would be 2 hours, and we were right.] But the delay is Budget's problem, and they do enough business to know how problems evolve and they should be able to deal with them when they do. Unless Leeby was hiding away and missing things, it looks to me as if Budget had a major failure in communicating what was happening, both in terms of the delay and what measures were being taken to deal with people.

I do not speak as a lawyer, but as one who has done well over the years in asserting my rights as a consumer. In a situation such as Leeby describes, I would expect to win some compensation.

Leeby, if your letter has not already gone, remember that Budget should know what happened. They will know, for example, if there was meant to be somebody on hand to communicate with you, but they might not know that you were not communicated with. Did Budget know from your booking that you and your boyfriend have special dietary requirements?

No they didn't know of any special dietary requirements, I booked online and they don't ask so I just presumed there was no meal on the flight as it's not that long.

Leeby

Anyone any tips on how to sign off the letter? It basically says we were unhappy with the way budget travel handled the situation, and outlines the major complaints during the 24 hour period, I just don't know how to sign it off.

Something like... I would appreciate an urgent response on this matter, yours sincerely, Leeby? But I think that sounds wrong! I don't know! Any ideas?

BuffyBot

With enough people to fill a plane, Budget should expect, and be prepared for, people with special dietary requirements (not just vegetarians, but also people like Jews or Muslims with religious restrictions on diet, and people with health needs such as being gluten-intolerant). Ham sandwiches would be unsuitable for more than vegetarians. Would you ask a vegan to scrape the butter off as well as discard the ham? [Okay, it was probably vegetable oil!]

Only if they've been pre-notified of special requirements.

P. Breathnach

Leeby, I would sign off with something like: I would like to receive within the next ten days your proposals to remedy the situation. [Don't get heavy in the first letter; act as if you expect them to give a reasonable reply. You might get one.]

Buffybot, Leeby's reason for not notifying Budget of special requirements was that there was no expectation of meals in transit. Do you really think that a passenger should give notification of special requirements in case of major delay? We are at the stage where every restaurant that takes itself seriously caters for vegetarians.

Tails142

I dont think you'll get anything, they went out of their way to put you up in a hotel and get you food and that. Not their fault your picky eaters or have medical disorders. Unlike muslim/jewish, vegetarianism isnt a religion :pac:

I presume it was a weekday so strolling down after 10am and expecting breakfast isnt gonna be a runner, everyone knows that you have to get up before 10, sometimes 9.30 on weekdays to catch hotel breakfasts.

I also presume that the delays were related to the radar fault at Dublin airport, something entirely out of Budget Travels control and something that affected everyone in the East of the country that was going on holidays for almost 3 or 4 days after the initial fault occured. I think even still the airports radar isnt running at full whack and takeoffs and landings per hour ar at 85% capacity meaning that flights are still being delayed at rish hour.

They'll probably give you a 150 quid gift voucher off your next Budget Holiday package or something, but in my opinion you dont really deserve anything. Harsh but true.

growler

I thought that budget would have been legally oblidged to put you up for the night and providing meals for the duration of your delay (usually hotel vouchers in my experience) , except for the dietary thing I think they've followed the law, i would expect that had you the receipts for all the expenses you've outlined above you'd, at a minimum be entitled to that much to be refunded and possibly some compo for the missed nights holidays. I'd be surprised if there wasn't some clause in the airline charter thing re veggies / religious types, but I'd also imagine there was some point in your booking / terms and conditions which tells you of a need to inform them in advance etc etc.

Probably not worth the aggravation to pursue this long term tbh, send em a letter or two and see if you can get a few quid back (you'll probably get budget vouchers lol , but often worth complaining about such things anyway).

Bluetonic

Can i suggest you read up on what your legal rights are before you send of an emotional letter. There are plenty of sites with the legal rights outlined clearly. Your letter will be extremely unprofessional if its not written with your legal rights in mind.

Did you at any stage ask the people providing the food to cater for your special needs? Did they refuse you? I find it strange that any hotel/any person would refuse someone even the simplest of dietary requests.

Breakfast in the Regency is served until 10am - thats not anyones fault, but dare I say your own for not checking.

To be honest seems that everything that was done was as per it should have been. I await the answer to your food issues as that would be the only thing I would have issue with.

Can I ask what compensation you are looking for?

mikedragon32

Bluetonic wrote: »

Can i suggest you read up on what your legal rights are before you send of an emotional letter. There are plenty of sites with the legal rights outlined clearly. Your letter will be extremely unprofessional if its not written with your legal rights in mind.

Did you at any stage ask the people providing the food to cater for your special needs? Did they refuse you? I find it strange that any hotel/any person would refuse someone even the simplest of dietary requests.

Breakfast in the Regency is served until 10am - thats not anyones fault, but dare I say your own for not checking.

To be honest seems that everything that was done was as per it should have been. I await the answer to your food issues as that would be the only thing I would have issue with.

Can I ask what compensation you are looking for?

I was thinking the same.

It strikes me as odd that you could be so hungry and not make a point of getting up early enough for breakfast.

Leeby

Tails142 wrote: »

I dont think you'll get anything, they went out of their way to put you up in a hotel and get you food and that. Not their fault your picky eaters or have medical disorders. Unlike muslim/jewish, vegetarianism isnt a religion :pac:

I presume it was a weekday so strolling down after 10am and expecting breakfast isnt gonna be a runner, everyone knows that you have to get up before 10, sometimes 9.30 on weekdays to catch hotel breakfasts.

I also presume that the delays were related to the radar fault at Dublin airport, something entirely out of Budget Travels control and something that affected everyone in the East of the country that was going on holidays for almost 3 or 4 days after the initial fault occured. I think even still the airports radar isnt running at full whack and takeoffs and landings per hour ar at 85% capacity meaning that flights are still being delayed at rish hour.

They'll probably give you a 150 quid gift voucher off your next Budget Holiday package or something, but in my opinion you dont really deserve anything. Harsh but true.

Re: them going out of their way to give us food, I wouldn't have thought one meal in 24 hours really counts. I do accept what you're saying about the breakfast though, it was a weekend (Sunday morning). It was just after arriving at the hotel so late after a day like that, we kind of conked out. Especially as we were told we'd be on a plane within 12 hours. They sais "it may be 4 hours, it may be 8 hours, we just don't know, but it will be in the next 12, your rooms will be called to wake you up." So expecting to be woken up during the night or early morning by this call to get up and out to the airport, we hadn't expected to be in the hotel for breakfast. But you're not wrong, I probably should've taken the precaution to set an alarm aswell. To be honest I haven't stayed in a hotel since I was a kid with my parents, so I wasn't really thinking about breakfast being so early. But I do accept what you're saying.

The reason for the delay was indeed out of Budget Travels hands. It was the weekend before the radar problems in Dublin so it wasn't down to that. It was the plane that was supposed to be taking us developed technical problems before it took off from Malaga. I have said in my letter to them that I do completely understand that the reason for the delay itself was not one that could be helped, obviously if they could prevent it, they would have. It was the way we were left during the delay that bothered me.

Leeby

Bluetonic wrote: »

Did you at any stage ask the people providing the food to cater for your special needs? Did they refuse you? I find it strange that any hotel/any person would refuse someone even the simplest of dietary requests.

Can I ask what compensation you are looking for?

Yes we did ask for different food, it was a cafeteria queue style situation with the options of two things, a chicken curry and a beef stew. We asked was there anything vegetarien but were told no, and they'd no time to be cooking up special requests as they were feeding many a hungry passenger. I also asked if it was possible for me just to have the potatoes or whatever goes with it, but it was all in the one pot rather than being dished out separate, so not really possible either. We just accepted this, as we saw no point in kicking up a fuss when the delay was only going to be four hours, and kicking up a fuss would only delay the queue of people behind us.

As for what I'm looking for, I don't knw really. I was given a complaint form when I was there (by the way, when I spoke to the rep she did seem to agree with me, but all she could do is give me the complaint form so I could take it up with customer service) But the complaint form states at the bottom that they won't give a written reply. This struck me as a bit stupid, I guess they wouldn't want to admit any fault on paper, which is why I decided to write a letter instead. It's not like I'm looking to claim "emotional damage" or anything! Would mainly like the night we missed in the apartment to be refunded, and the €10 extra we paid to sit together to be refunded.

Leeby

growler wrote: »

i would expect that had you the receipts for all the expenses you've outlined above

I'd be surprised if there wasn't some clause in the airline charter thing re veggies / religious types, but I'd also imagine there was some point in your booking / terms and conditions which tells you of a need to inform them in advance etc etc.

Probably not worth the aggravation to pursue this long term tbh, send em a letter or two and see if you can get a few quid back (you'll probably get budget vouchers lol , but often worth complaining about such things anyway).

Yes we kept receipts where possible.

I've gone back through the terms and conditions and can't find anything about notifying them of dietary requirements, but there again it's possible I missed something.

That's what I was thinking aswell, I'm not about to go running to small claims court or anything, but want at least a letter from them acknowledging that the situation was handled badly and a refund for what I'm obviously entitled to (i.e. the seats together, and hopefully the missed night in the apartment)

Bluetonic

I don't think it's too much to ask for the refund of the seating charge, however the loss of the nights accomodation isn't a valid claim - your own travel insurance should cover that.

The food situation is something you really should have settled at the time, I do think that any reasonable travel agent would refund you the small costs involved. If you could manage to get confirmation from the Regency that they refused to cater for you then you should be successful - if not then I can foresee problems.

You might also find the reimbursement of the seating charge might equal the admin charge to process it.

The monetary issue here appears to be very small. If you have a moral standing on this then taking professional legal advice is the way to go.

Leeby

Bluetonic wrote: »

I don't think it's too much to ask for the refund of the seating charge, however the loss of the nights accomodation isn't a valid claim - your own travel insurance should cover that.

The food situation is something you really should have settled at the time, I do think that any reasonable travel agent would refund you the small costs involved. If you could manage to get confirmation from the Regency that they refused to cater for you then you should be successful - if not then I can foresee problems.

You might also find the reimbursement of the seating charge might equal the admin charge to process it.

The monetary issue here appears to be very small. If you have a moral standing on this then taking professional legal advice is the way to go.

I booked the travel insurance through budget aswell, I had thought of going straight to the insurance company about the nights accommodation lost but figure that budget will point me in that direction if appropriate.

Can I ask what you mean by the reimbursement of the seating charge possibly being equal to admin costs? Surely if the mistake is theirs, they'll be covering their own admin costs?