200 to sue Ryanair for delays and non-flights

[Dub13]

The Irish Times (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0214/1233867937240.html?via=mr)


PAUL CULLEN, Consumer Affairs Correspondent


MORE THAN 200 Ryanair passengers are suing the airline after their flights were cancelled or delayed and the company refused to pay compensation.
Dublin legal firm Lavelle Coleman, which is handling the claims on behalf of 120 sets of passengers, this week lodged court summonses in two test cases.

The firm is acting in Ireland and Britain on behalf of Euclaim, a Dutch company which specialises in fighting compensation claims on behalf of disgruntled airline passengers. Last week, British Airways settled 22 claims taken by Euclaim in respect of 45 passengers whose flights had been cancelled.

Under EU rules, airline passengers are entitled to compensation of up to €600 each when their flights are cancelled or subject to long delays, and can also claim food, accommodation and other expenses incurred.

However, airlines do not have to compensate passengers where problems are caused by “extraordinary circumstances” such as bad weather, strikes or security threats. In practice, carriers tend to claim exemption also for technical problems and difficulties with air traffic control.

Ryanair has refused to engage with Euclaim, saying it deals only with complaints made directly in writing. “We will never deal with greedy, ambulance-chasing organisations who promote a compensation culture where people are encouraged to seek compensation which is clearly outside of EU261 legislation,” a spokesman said.

British Airways, in settling with Euclaim, agreed to pay the full €600 compensation due to each passenger, including a group of 23 who were flying from London to Lisbon but had to wait over 24 hours after their flight was cancelled.

BA is contesting a further 120 claims, some of them from Irish travellers, and has filed a defence in a test case which has entered the British courts and is being watched closely by the airline industry.

Michael Rattenbury of Lavelle Coleman said BA’s decision to settle some cases followed a ruling by the European Court of Justice which narrowed the grounds for an airline claiming exemption from the EU compensation regulations.

The court ruled that technical faults cannot be counted as extraordinary circumstances.

Most of the Ryanair claims relate to cancelled flights and some involved denial of boarding. Mr Rattenbury said overbooking was less common with Ryanair than with many other airlines.

Ryanair says it deals with complaints from customers within seven working days. It claims to have the best record of any European airline for punctuality and cancellations.

Euclaim operates on a “no foal no fee” basis, but takes 27 per cent of any compensation award.

Mr Rattenbury said no complaints were received about Aer Lingus.

[Garrett]

Fair play ...

I'm suprissed it's taken this long for someone to stand up to Ryanair for the way they treat their passengers ...

God knows, there's enough from this site alone to form a class action against Ryanair !

[Lfchitman]

C'mon lads, if it wasnt for ryanair all our lives would be duller. I couldnt afford to fly as much as i do.

The only way this is possible is to cut costs and basically this is what frustrates passengers.

I personally hope ryanair continue to be highly profitable and keep offering cheap flights. how else can i travel from cork to dublin return for 2c including taxes, coz i got that price last year.

[Niall]

C'mon lads, if it wasnt for ryanair all our lives would be duller. I couldnt afford to fly as much as i do.

The only way this is possible is to cut costs and basically this is what frustrates passengers.

I personally hope ryanair continue to be highly profitable and keep offering cheap flights. how else can i travel from cork to dublin return for 2c including taxes, coz i got that price last year.

Doesn't mean they can treat people like sh!t.

[Lfchitman]

Doesn't mean they can treat people like sh!t.

Its not like they set out to treat people like sh!t, this is about them not paying compensation for delayed flights etc. Its them trying to cut costs. Im not debating if these people deserve compo or not, but its because ryanair have this attitude that flights remain cheap.

Personally I think that its because people have travelled more with ryanair than other airlines that they perceive themselves treated badly. I havnt been treated better by aerlingus, bmi, aer arann or other airlines. Their policys may be better, like reserved seats, no check in charge, no baggage crap. but the way staff treat you is the same.

Fact is, without ryanair these airlines would continue to treat people like crap by maintaining their cartel and keeping prices high. Ryanair has made other airlines reduce their prices and by doin so has treated us better than any other airline ever could.:D

[SUPERFAN]

if this case proves that technical difficulties are not a valid reason for cancelling a flight the floodgates will open...

[redforever]

I hope this goes through even though they offer cheap flights, they pride themselves on another flight on time, if this is thier practice they should compenate when they do F U as this causes un told problems to families with kids, fans travelling to matches or the customer dosent matter for what reason.

The customer is king end of... Sort it out Michael.

[Bren100]

Doesn't mean they can treat people like sh!t.

They also treat their staff like sh!te which in turn falls onto the passangers too. But hitman does have a point.

[kop75]

they treat everyone like shit!
and i still use the *******s a lot

having no telephone or email address for complaints means their complaints are only a fraction of what they should be due to most people not being arsed to write off to them.

[Lfchitman]

having no telephone or email address for complaints means their complaints are only a fraction of what they should be due to most people not being arsed to write off to them.

If people cant be bothered to write off to complain then the complaint can't be very important. If your looking for compensation from nearly any business in Ireland today, only complaints in writing are acknowledged.

[Niall]

They also treat their staff like sh!te which in turn falls onto the passangers too. But hitman does have a point.

Never said he didn't but i have a point as well;)

[byrnetred]

If people cant be bothered to write off to complain then the complaint can't be very important. If your looking for compensation from nearly any business in Ireland today, only complaints in writing are acknowledged.

ohh yes the old make it as difficult as possible policy

just like the "can i apply for my taxes back please"?

yes you can apply for the 18 yoyos back but its going to cost you 20 to do so

ryanair make their profit on credit card charges, luggage and priority boarding

air fares are cheap everything else is a premium...

[Lfchitman]

ohh yes the old make it as difficult as possible policy

just like the "can i apply for my taxes back please"?

yes you can apply for the 18 yoyos back but its going to cost you 20 to do so

ryanair make their profit on credit card charges, luggage and priority boarding

air fares are cheap everything else is a premium...

Everything is the same in this country, ryanair get a bad doing.

Im flying to krakow thurs morn with ryanair. I know there systems so i simply print off my boarding pass, have a luggage container 55 x 40 x 20 to carry on. Take hotel samples of shampoo, get there early and ill get a good seat.

This will mean I dont pay an extra penny and its not much to ask, people are just lethargic and cant be bothered planning their journey well, they end up with oversized luggage, meaning baggage and check in cost, they end up last in the queue for this reason and get a shit seat, then they have to wait on other side for baggage and this affects travel arrangements on the other side and this is all ryanairs fault :mad:

no its not, its the persons fault, ryanairs policys are available for eveyone to see if they just bothered, and these procedures are not specific to ryanair either. all charge baggage now on european flights.

[redabbey]

Everything is the same in this country, ryanair get a bad doing.

Im flying to krakow thurs morn with ryanair. I know there systems so i simply print off my boarding pass, have a luggage container 55 x 40 x 20 to carry on. Take hotel samples of shampoo, get there early and ill get a good seat.

Good points but I always think reverse priority boarding is better:D:D What is the point of queing to get a good seat?

[Niall]

Everything is the same in this country, ryanair get a bad doing.

Im flying to krakow thurs morn with ryanair. I know there systems so i simply print off my boarding pass, have a luggage container 55 x 40 x 20 to carry on. Take hotel samples of shampoo, get there early and ill get a good seat.

This will mean I dont pay an extra penny and its not much to ask, people are just lethargic and cant be bothered planning their journey well, they end up with oversized luggage, meaning baggage and check in cost, they end up last in the queue for this reason and get a shit seat, then they have to wait on other side for baggage and this affects travel arrangements on the other side and this is all ryanairs fault :mad:

no its not, its the persons fault, ryanairs policys are available for eveyone to see if they just bothered, and these procedures are not specific to ryanair either. all charge baggage now on european flights.

Assume you weren't on the flight to Birmingham for the Manc game in September so;)

[SUPERFAN]

Assume you weren't on the flight to Birmingham for the Manc game in Septmeber so;)

yeah,have a looks at this thread Lfchitman and you might see why a lot on here have a dim view of ryanair...
http://irishkop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5399

[WexRed]

This thread is about how sh1t people get treated around cancelled flights not the Ryanair avoidable charges or complaining about their other ways. Keep it on topic there's another thread for the latter.

On the relevant topic of how they deal with these complaints I reckon its irrelevant whats being charged for the flight in this regard. Some people say its hit and miss with Ryanair in this regard I say the law says otherwise and that can't be ignored just because something is cheap. A bargain isn't much of one when you incur considerable additional cost from being stranded or have a whole trip destroyed. Regardless of price the same consumer regulations apply to all airlines not depending on how much they're charging.

If their business plan doesn't allow for the law then tough sh1t they are not above it. Consumer rights still stand despite being often blatantly stamped on these days. I think anybody that thinks it isn't extremely difficult to get your due compensation is very naive. The writing in is only the first smokescreen, wait until that letter was "never received by us" and then the next and even the registered letter !

Its only fair that a fair claim but dealt with errrmm fairly. We're not talking frivolous claims or a compo culture here. People should be compensated for their considerable inconvenience especially when having to fork out money to cover extra accommodation, fodd and transport without having to fight tooth and nail for it. I'm sure that amount would generally be far less than 600 a head if processed without having to go to court to get it.

[liverbird!!]

Ryanair Suing Liverbird for wasting Money, they keep offering me back the money, but i keep refusing, stating that if i except it back we'll no longer have any airline to abuse!:o









I'll get my coat:cool:

[Lfchitman]

This thread is about how sh1t people get treated around cancelled flights not the Ryanair avoidable charges or complaining about their other ways. Keep it on topic there's another thread for the latter.

On the relevant topic of how they deal with these complaints I reckon its irrelevant whats being charged for the flight in this regard. Some people say its hit and miss with Ryanair in this regard I say the law says otherwise and that can't be ignored just because something is cheap. A bargain isn't much of one when you incur considerable additional cost from being stranded or have a whole trip destroyed. Regardless of price the same consumer regulations apply to all airlines not depending on how much they're charging.

If their business plan doesn't allow for the law then tough sh1t they are not above it. Consumer rights still stand despite being often blatantly stamped on these days. I think anybody that thinks it isn't extremely difficult to get your due compensation is very naive. The writing in is only the first smokescreen, wait until that letter was "never received by us" and then the next and even the registered letter !

Its only fair that a fair claim but dealt with errrmm fairly. We're not talking frivolous claims or a compo culture here. People should be compensated for their considerable inconvenience especially when having to fork out money to cover extra accommodation, fodd and transport without having to fight tooth and nail for it. I'm sure that amount would generally be far less than 600 a head if processed without having to go to court to get it.

Firstly, this entire thread is about money and cost. thats what people want as compensation, Im pretty sure they aren't looking for a public or private apology.

There is and has been a bloody compo culture in this country for far too long now. Its being promoted by lawyers and judges to pay there disgraceful charges. The sad reality is, they're the people that make the money out of this, not the victims. If ryanair or other airlines start to pay out on claims without the inconvenience of looking for it, then people would believe they are missing out and claims would go out of all proportion. Ryanair have the best economists working on consumer behaviour, cost benifit analysis and risk analysis, they would clearly have worked out the best way of dealing with these claims.

It does indeed matter if something is cheap. I know when im buying many different items, eg. used car, electronic goods etc The better price I get the less warranty I get and in fact I bought a car for 6000 that was up at 7500. only when i told the dealer i didnt want a warranty could i get him down that far.

Just back from Krakow today myself, I gave a good look at why people got frustrated by ryanair and I can see why. They dont have the planning ability to avoid these charges. Ryanair have the most on time flights, thats a fact! Its the volume of business that people do with ryanair that causes the mass of frustration with this airline in particular.

The only problem i had with them, and its not the airlines fault really.
Before boarding the flight they were checking peoples bags for size. They didnt check my bag but I was one of very few Irish they didnt. The polish stewardess called on multiple Irish passengers to place the bag in the size checker. Not 1 Polish person was called on even though it was so clear they had oversize bags.

I personally will not blame Michael O Leary for this :D

[ronan]

Need to start our own airline and charter planes on match days!

[GaryMc]

Ryanair Rule ;)

[General]

Ryanair Rule ;)

LOL. Groveller!!!! One thing that hasn't been mentioned lads-if you don't like the airline, if you don't like their policies, don't fly with them. No point in repeatedly using Ryanair and then repeatedly moaning about them!!