Flight Delay Compensation Procedures

dodgystats

Hi All,

Long story short.... Less than 2 yrs ago, myself and my girlfriend had a Falcon/Thomson package deal to Turkey.

It was direct flight to Dalaman but there was an issue with the Plane in Dublin(which was an Air Contractors plane) so Thomson brought a plane over from England to replace it(This was the plane to bring the UK passengers to the same destination).

They then proceeded to fly us to Gatwick(not on the original schedule but nobody minded as we were on our way to Turkey!) with a 45 minute stop to pick up other passengers and then head to Turkey.

This plane then had a fault and we were left in Gatwick Airport for 9 hours!!

We applied for Compensation with Thomson(about 7 months back and forth with letters and documents etc) but were told we were not entitled to it as there was "Extraordinary Circumstances" for the delay where the "cargo door was damaged by human error on the part of a third party"

After seeing some TV programmes recently, and reading some new articles, technical issues cannot be seen as "Extraordinary Circumstances" which was decided in some High Court rulings recently.

I feel that If I write and send all the same evidence as last time, ill get fobbed off with some other excuse.

I was just wondering if anyone has had success in getting compensation for a flight delay.

Do you need a solicitor in order to be taken seriously by them?

Thanks!!

duffman13

dodgystats wrote: »

Hi All,

Long story short.... Less than 2 yrs ago, myself and my girlfriend had a Falcon/Thomson package deal to Turkey.

It was direct flight to Dalaman but there was an issue with the Plane in Dublin(which was an Air Contractors plane) so Thomson brought a plane over from England to replace it(This was the plane to bring the UK passengers to the same destination).

They then proceeded to fly us to Gatwick(not on the original schedule but nobody minded as we were on our way to Turkey!) with a 45 minute stop to pick up other passengers and then head to Turkey.

This plane then had a fault and we were left in Gatwick Airport for 9 hours!!

We applied for Compensation with Thomson(about 7 months back and forth with letters and documents etc) but were told we were not entitled to it as there was "Extraordinary Circumstances" for the delay where the "cargo door was damaged by human error on the part of a third party"

After seeing some TV programmes recently, and reading some new articles, technical issues cannot be seen as "Extraordinary Circumstances" which was decided in some High Court rulings recently.

I feel that If I write and send all the same evidence as last time, ill get fobbed off with some other excuse.

I was just wondering if anyone has had success in getting compensation for a flight delay.

Do you need a solicitor in order to be taken seriously by them?

Thanks!!

What kind of compensation? Where you delayed for much more than the 9 hours you mentioned? Did you suffer a loss as a result of the delay? Where you given food or vouchers in Gatwick?

dodgystats

Compensation based on Regulation 261/2004. Arrived in Turkey at 4am instead of 3:20pm -so lost half a day of the 7 day holiday as well. We were given £10 each for the delay in Gatwick.

duffman13

dodgystats wrote: »

Compensation based on Regulation 261/2004. Arrived in Turkey at 4am instead of 3:20pm -so lost half a day of the 7 day holiday as well. We were given £10 each for the delay in Gatwick.

Being very honest they followed procedures and made an effort to keep you comfortable ie the £10. If the flight was cancelled yes you would have got a type two compensation of 400 euros I think. However because it's loss of time its way more complex. It would probably require a solicitor and a lot of effort for what will no doubt be a minor sum in the event of winning the case.

I understand your frustration but I can't see them agreeing to pay compensation when they know what you would have go through if you were to take them to court.

Edit: Just seen there is case law of delays of over three hours being compensated. Perhaps reference them in your next letter. Sturgeon v Condor, and Bock v Air France( C402/07 and C-432/07)

scb66

just wondering did you get anywhere with this? I see websites offering no win no fee for these claims.

whiterebel

This thread is nearly 3 years old, so you probably won't get an answer.

CeilingFly

scb66 wrote: »

just wondering did you get anywhere with this? I see websites offering no win no fee for these claims.

yep, plenty of vultues out there to scam compo - guess who ACTUALLY pays. Yep the customer ALWAYS pays in the end.


I'd say the british airlines can't wait til brexit for this scam to be ended.

beechwood55

scb66 wrote: »

just wondering did you get anywhere with this? I see websites offering no win no fee for these claims.

You can do this easily yourself. We got compensation (of approx €1,200 for two people) from British Airways three years ago. Flights to US delayed by 14 hours. It was simple - an email to BA giving the flight details and quoting the relevant EU directive. Got a reply 2 days later asking for bank details. Another 2 days later and the money was in our account.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Batgurl

I've used resolver.co.uk. No fee. Totally simple to use. Got the required €250 in my account within 2 weeks for a 3 hour delay within Europe. Mate has just got €400 payment for a 6 hour delay.

At the end of the day, if you are delayed because of something they screwed up, they should be held accountable. My time is valuable and they can pay me for any of that that they waste.

quadrifoglio verde

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Ryanair compensated me fairly pronto for an overnight delay in paris, due to there being an issue with the plane.
A friend of mine recently got 600 back from Norwegian after being delayed for a day in Providence as the crew were sick.

Low cost airlines in my experience have no issues refunding.
If and only if I got nowhere with them myself would I consider using one of the no win no fee companies

scb66

Thanks for the replies ( only seeing them now sorry), most helpful. I've started the process with Thompson myself, I know it might take an age but if we get 1600 back will be worth it. Depending on their response will see if I need help from resolver. The automated message said they will follow eu law etc...Cheers! Will post update as i get it.

scb66

Thanks for the replies ( only seeing them now sorry), most helpful. I've started the process with Thompson myself, I know it might take an age but if we get 1600 back will be worth it. Depending on their response will see if I need help from resolver. The automated message said they will follow eu law etc...Cheers! Will post update as i get it.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

scb66

An update.

Thompson/Falcon said they would get back to my request within 28 days and exactly 28 days later I got a reply saying it was nothing to do with them. (Not sure why it took 28 days to reply)

So I went to this website and got advice on how to write a letter to claim:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-delays#resolver

I wrote to the airline (Alba star) according to the advice above and they got back within 2 hours and 1 week later I got compensation. Happy with what I got.