6 hour delay...EasyJet has not responded..... [Archive]

GengisKhant

24th Apr 2006, 10:50

I experienced a delay of almost six hours on a scheduled Easyjet flight from Stansted to Alicante. The Easyjet staff were next to usless..., the Swissport staff even worse. Little or no information supplied during delay..., no refreshments at all for any passengers ..., and there were a number of children and elderly on this flight.

Sent formal complaint to Easyjet, and received an automatic response giving reference number.

Have hastened a number of times (incident took place on 16th march). but all I get is another automatic reference number.

Anyone know how I can contact Easyjet to get some form of response.????

GengisK :}

Getoutofmygalley

24th Apr 2006, 12:10

You could try telephoning the Customer Services Department on 0871 244 2366 to see if they can give you an idea as to how long it will be before you get a formal response, they might even be able to put you through to the specific department responsible for dealing with complaints.

PPRuNe Radar

24th Apr 2006, 12:36

Forget easyJet, complain to the top :)

EU Air Passenger Rights

Help and further information

If you are affected by denied boarding, a cancellation or a long delay and the airline does not give you what you are entitled to, complain to the relevant national enforcement body. For its name and address, contact the Europe Direct freephone on 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 or send an e-mail to [email protected]. Europe Direct can also give you details of organisations that advise or help with other complaints.

You may also inform the European Commission’s Energy and Transport DG, B-1049 Brussels, of the follow-up given to your complaint, by fax (32-2) 29-91015 or by e-mail to [email protected].

Leaflets with the information on this poster and more details may be found at the information desk and on the Internet (http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/air/rights/index_en.htm).

YOUR CONTRACT WITH AN AIRLINE SETS OUT OTHER RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS. ASK YOUR AIRLINE OR TRAVEL AGENCY FOR A COPY OF THESE.

Here is what easyJet are obligated to have provided:

Long delays

Immediate assistance

If you check in on time for any flight, including charters:

• from an EU airport, or
• to an EU airport from one outside the EU, when operated by an EU airline, and if the airline operating the flight expects a delay:
• of 2 hours or more, for flights of 1 500 km or less,
• of 3 hours or more, for longer flights within the EU, and for other flights
between 1 500 and 3 500 km,
• of 4 hours or more for flights over 3 500 km outside the EU,

the airline must give you meals and refreshments, hotel accommodation when
necessary (including transfers) and communication facilities.

When the delay is 5 hours or more, the airline must also offer to refund your
ticket (with a free flight back to your initial point of departure, when relevant).

If you do not receive these rights, complain immediately to the airline
operating the flight.

Later claims

When an EU airline is responsible for the delay of a flight anywhere in the
world, you may claim up to 4 150 SDR** for any resulting damages. If the airline does not agree with your claim, you may go to court.

You can claim from the airline with which you have a contract or from that actually operating the flight, if they are different.

I'd advise you to print out a copy of the flyer published by the EU which details this, and carry it with you every time you fly. Very useful to point to the relevant text if you are getting nowhere with the airline at the airport ;)

EU Air Passenger Rights (http://www.eu.int/comm/transport/air/rights/doc/2005_01_19_apr_poster_en.pdf)

The SSK

24th Apr 2006, 13:07

Mr Moderator, Sir,
The flyer contains a HUGE discrepancy compared to what actually appears in the legal text, and as such is extremely misleading to people in GhengisKhant's position.
The 'full refund and free flight back to origin' ONLY applies if, after 5 hours' delay, the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan
(Article 8.1.a of Regulation (EC) 261/2004)
All it really means is that you can say 'I've missed my appointment/footy match/granny's funeral, I'm scrapping my journey and I want my money back'. In those circumstances the airline can't tell you that your ticket is non-refundable. The 'flight home' bit is if you have already flown a sector of a multi-sector journey before you give up.

GengisKhant

24th Apr 2006, 14:52

Many thanks to you all for the information.

Getoutofmy galley..., thanks for the number..., only trouble is that the 0871 number does not work from outside UK. As I am chasing this issue from outside the UK, I am getting nowhere fast.

PPRuNe Radar..., Thank you for the information..., on reaching my destination, I obtained a copy of the EU regulaton 261/2004, and quoted chapter and verse as to their non-conpliance in my original complaint, which was forwarded to Easyjet the day after the incident. I will be following up your pointers in an attempt to get some satisfaction from easyjet on this matter. I have now printed a copy of 261/2004, and will keep this with me in future, as I still fly regulary around Europe.

The SSK...; Thank you also for your contribution. My aim here is not compensation, but to get Easyjet to ensure something like this does not happen in the future..., though I am not holding my breath.

I have been involved in the movement of walking freight and the normal sort in one way or another (within the military AT fleet & A&D Industry) for 40+ years, and never have I experienced such tardy and disorganized service. A little communication, and some basic organization would have made this delay, whilst not acceptable, at least bearable. The Easyjet staff would not reveal the Easyjet Luton Ops number to me, and claimed that they did not know the formal passenger complaints process. On requesting the presence of the duty manager, the Swissport official gave me the same runaround. Totally unacceptable!!

I will feed-back any successes or otherwise...,

GengisK :ok:

Shanwickman

24th Apr 2006, 18:32

I have just dialled the 0871 from outside the UK and it does work for me.
Just drop the 0 from the number, hence dial +448712442366.
Hope this helps

PAXboy

24th Apr 2006, 19:01

Thanks for the link PPRuNe Radar but it's now a broen link and redirects to the main page. Given the size of the site...!!!!! Do you have a suggestion for a search string, once on the EU site?

Thanks

PPRuNe Radar

24th Apr 2006, 19:22

Link should work now :ok:

Whilst also no help for this thread (easyJet seem to have escaped being found out so far :( ), there is also a useful site which gives 'real' telephone numbers for 0870 ones (the latter attracting a higher call rate of course !!).

Worth a go if you ever need to get hold of a faceless organisation or company.

UK Say No To 0870 (http://www.saynoto0870.com/search.php)

VNAVSPD

24th Apr 2006, 19:43

The Easyjet staff were next to usless..., the Swissport staff even worse

If the delay occured at Stansted, all of the staff would have been working for Swissport, even those wearing the Easyjet uniform. If your delay exceeded 2 hours, then I really don't understand why LRV's were not issued. Easyjet's ground handling manual states that for a delay of more than 2 hours, 3.00 GBP must be issued to every passenger, and then for every 2 hours subsequently, provieded that the ETD is more than 40min away. i.e. you will not recieve a refreshment voucher if the flight is due to depart in less than 40minutes. The airline believes that it is easier in these circumstances to provide the equivillant refreshments on board.

At Stansted, Easyjet LRV's are issued by swissport. They do not have to be authorised by the airline, as per the GHM above!

XSBaggage

24th Apr 2006, 20:37

Pprune Radar, having a flyer with you may not always work.
All handling agents or airlines are obliged to have copies available for pax. When a Ryanair flight is cancelled or delayed though, the ticket desk agents are to hand a copy to each pax they dealt with saying something along the lines of "this is what you are entitled to under the EU compensation laws. Ryanair do not accept these regulations though and you will not be receiving any of the compensation described. They would rather you took them to court."
Maybe EZY are trying the same, but in a less brazen way. I have not heard of anyone taking FR to court yet. Maybe other LCCs should follow their lead?

XSB.

PPRuNe Radar

24th Apr 2006, 21:06

Small claims court in the UK might be the way to go. Wonder if Ryanair would even turn up ?? (Judgement can be made even if they don't).

As for the EU Regulation and airlines choosing to comply or not, they have no choice and can't pick and choose which they like and which they don't. Enforcement and punishment by the EU is another matter of course !!

occasional

24th Apr 2006, 22:42

My experience is that the English small claims court is very effective - and some good publicity for that system would be welcome.

The Scottish small claims system is however considerably inferior.

XSBaggage

25th Apr 2006, 18:24

But are Ryanair governed by the Irish courts? They seem to have all angles covered. Personally I do not like the EU compensation rules, and I admire Ryanair´s "balls" in doing this, but I do think that a bit of customer service goes a long way. Even a meal voucher and a low value phone card would help. I think that the Easyjet situation that started this thread could have been alleviated by just a little understanding. I admire Ryanair´s balls but would not like to see them as a benchmark in the industry.

XSB

TightSlot

26th Apr 2006, 07:33

I admire Ryanair´s balls but would not like to see them as a benchmark in the industry.XSB
:)
Ryanair ARE the benchmark in the industry - they make money!! That's precisely why so many people are worried about them IMHO.

SelectMgt

26th Apr 2006, 21:29

Speaking of taking the airline to court to get compensation, easyjet within the last 3 months or so have been in Belfast courts several time, and not winning either!

Anyone have any idea what ratio of loosing and winning is for FR when taken to court?

Rupert369

26th Apr 2006, 21:53

Con-Trail

26th Apr 2006, 22:59

From what I understand is that Ryanair and the likes are not complying with the regulations for compensation of IATA. They would obviously have to settle any claim made against them in court and they appear to willingly settle any amount with the claimant. The problem is when you want to make a claim, you have to pay for the trail (so does Ryanair). But ofcourse, Ryanair being a big established company can afford to drag a court case out indefinately so that you as an individual get to a point where you just cannot afford to continue this.

However, this is different for Easyjet because they are claiming to comply to IATA's rules and regulations concerning passenger travel.

I'd like to add that I do not know all the details and most of this is "hear-say" so please correct me if I'm wrong

C-T

The SSK

27th Apr 2006, 09:19

Nothing whatsoever to do with IATA. The Denied Boarding Regulation is EU law, directly applicable in every Member State.

To the best of my knowledge, IATA don't make rules any more (not enforceable ones anyway). The days when IATA inspectors would roam the world, counting the number of cherry tomatoes on each plate and fining over-generous miscreants, are long gone.

Getoutofmygalley

27th Apr 2006, 14:03

I'm struggling to understand how Easyjet and particularly Ryanair can get away with so obviously breaking the law. Are they exploitng a loophole or are they really getting away with flouting it? Please could somebody explain?!
It really makes me angry - they are happy enough to accept EU intervention when it works in their favour, such as the open skies policy, but not when it works for their customers, and I hope they will be taught that you can't have it both ways.
I fly with Ryanair regularly, and have never ever had a serious problem. Judging from what one reads online, however, it is only a matter of time, and if they don't offer me what I'm entitled too, I'll look forward to seeing them in court.

Rupert, I can assure you that the 99.9% of times easyJet does comply with the EU rulings. I can only assume that there has been a MASSIVE break down in communications between the handling agents in Alicante and NMC in Luton.

And how do I know 99.9% of the easyJet complies? It's because I am crew and I always ascertain from the handling agents downroute when things have gone tits up that the pax have had what they are entitiled to!

XSBaggage

28th Apr 2006, 20:22

TightSlot, I agree. Meant though I hope they dont become a benchmark for customer service levels! That doesnt bear thinking about, but I fear that in Europe it is a situation we are edging ever closer to.

Con-trail I agree, Ryanair are once again using their sheer size to bully the customers on whos side they so often claim to be on. I think also (not 100% sure though) that they employ lawyers full time to deal with such court cases, therefore would be paying them a wage anyway, and not on a "per trial" basis. Luckily I have never had serious problems with FR (except a cancelled flight but was reaccommodated on one a couple of hours later) and I honestly think that despite having a lawyer in my immediate family would just let the matter go. Just the type of mug Ryanair screw on a regular basis :O .

thomsonfly.com

29th Apr 2006, 13:11

derekvader

29th Apr 2006, 21:23

This relatively new EU law on compensation is an absolute disgrace, and is another way in which the airline industry is discriminated against by the bureaucrats in Brussels. I have never recieved compensation or a refund for having to stand-up on a long train journey because the train operator has decided to sell more tickets than seats, nor have I ever recieved a free drink or phone call when my train has been delayed substantially.

Haven't you? "Local" train operators might not give out free drinks, but the long distance operators GNER and Virgin (rail) both give drinks and stuff when there's a delay. GNER in particular are good at putting on taxis to get people home.

The thing with overbooked trains, even if you failed to reserve a seat, you can generally find a tip-up seat in the vestibule, or they sometimes open up first class to standard class peeps, or you can stand for a station or two if necessary until seats clear, or you can get the next train which is probably only 0.5 - 2 hours later. Plus if you book a seat on a train and get a reservation you know you will actually have a seat. Anyway there are lots of ways for passengers to achieve a satisfactory resolution.

Airlines on the other hand have a long history of deliberately screwing their customers by booking more of them than they can possibly carry, so it was about time something was done about it.

You've also still got the likes of Ryanair cancelling flights at the drop of a hat, or rescheduling them to useless times at minimal notice, giving the airline industry in general a bad name.

No, any "discrimination" against airlines is entirely deserved if it forces them to clean up their act.

GengisKhant

4th May 2006, 16:13

The following text was received from easyjet today - 48 days after the original submission.....

"Where your flight is delayed for 5 hours or more, if you chose not to fly, we will give you a refund of the fare paid via the original method of payment (inclusive of all taxes and charges but exclusive of credit card fees if applicable) for the journey not used and for the journey already used where the flight no longer serves the purpose of the original travel plan. This refund can be claimed by contacting Customer Service on 0871 244 2366 (calls cost 10p per minute; calls from mobiles and other networks may cost more)."

Therefore, it would appear that Easyjet are not operating within the new EEC directive 261/2004 regarding compensation for delays.

This matter has now been escalated to office of Drector of European Commission of Energy and Transport in Brussels for their attention.

GengisK :hmm:

Lite

4th May 2006, 18:32

Unfortunately I'm going to have to agree with thomsonfly, in so much as every time I have used Midland Mainline between the East Midlands & London and there has been some kind of the mishaps alerted to above, I have never been offered any special treatment. If I've booked a seat in advance and this seat hasn't been reserved or worse is oversold, I've never been offered an upgrade, compensation or a free snack usually a mumbled "sorry." The suggestion that I can sit in the jumpseats by the loos on my 2 hour journey is like suggesting flying pax sit on the jumpseat in the galley despite having paid for a proper seat. Delays are rarely announced if they're under 20 minutes, and lengthy delays have never resulted in me being offered anything free - be it a phonecall, fax, meal, drink or taxi home. Perhaps the train operators need to have these rules introduced so there is a level playing field.

Final 3 Greens

4th May 2006, 20:22

Perhaps the train operators need to have these rules introduced so there is a level playing field.

Perhaps the airlines need to start to pay VAT on fuel, then you can b*tch about level playing fields.

Globaliser

4th May 2006, 22:41

Perhaps the airlines need to start to pay VAT on fuel, then you can b*tch about level playing fields.Perhaps, then, the train operators ought to bear the full commercial cost of building and maintaining the railway too?

Lite

5th May 2006, 09:02

These constant myths on the airline industry being hugely environmentally unfriendly are wrong, and need to be corrected. IATA states that airline fuel efficiency improved 20% in the last decade, nearly 5% over the past 2 years alone. Today's modern aircraft consume, on average 3.5 litres per 100 passenger kilometres. This is similar to a small compact car but with 6 times the speed. Next generation aircraft—the Boeing 787 and Airbus A380 are targeting fuel efficiencies below 3.0 litres per 100 passenger kilometres. Air fuel should not be taxed because air transport pays entirely for its own infrastructure—a US$42 billion annual bill. Airlines pay when they land, when they fly and when they park. This is completely different from both road and rail. On top of that air transport is a cash cow for many governments. In Europe every rail journey is subsidised between €2.4 and €7.4. But every air journey contributes between 4.6 and 8.4 Euros in government revenues and avoided expenditure.

We're talking about customer experience, and airlines shouldn't have to face the burden of accommodating pax via a law, when other travel industries don't have to.

occasional

5th May 2006, 12:14

Thomsonfly,

This relatively new EU law on compensation is an absolute disgrace, and is another way in which the airline industry is discriminated against by the bureaucrats in Brussels.

In an ideal world airlines would keep spare aircraft and crews to the extent that the cost of keeping those spares was less than the total cost to passengers of the delays and cancellations which could be avoided thereby.

Given that some airlines are not noted for idealism, one way of ensuring we get as near as possible to the ideal world is to ensure that airlines pay an appropriate level of compensation to passengers, and can in consequence determine exactly how much a spare aircraft might be worth.

Discrimination doesnt necessarily come into it !

Final 3 Greens

8th May 2006, 07:04

Lite

8th May 2006, 16:28

Perhaps, then, the train operators ought to bear the full commercial cost of building and maintaining the railway too?
In which case the airlines should bear the full commercial costs of building airports and runways?

That's really the whole point of what was said, the airline industry largely funds their own infrastructure.

anybodyatall

9th May 2006, 00:17

That's really the whole point of what was said, the airline industry largely funds their own infrastructure.
but do they, really?

Crepello

9th May 2006, 05:34

but do they, really?
They pay commercial landing fees, as negotiated with the airports they serve. In some places airlines exploit the airport's commercial weaknesses, in other places the reverse applies; an archetypal pigeon/statue tossup.

In terms of carbon emissions... nope, they probably don't.

Quick word in defence of EZY: About three years ago, I was delayed 5 hours at LPL awaiting a flight to AMS. Good weather; seemed to be operational problems. Information wasn't overwhelming but we were looked-after and got refreshment vouchers. Granted, in those days of LPL's unimaginative catering, the vouchers covered only sausage and chips, from which my heart is still recovering. But the gesture was appreciated.

GengisKhant

9th May 2006, 08:20

Had Easyjet (Swissport) offered some information and eventually refreshments, there would be no reason for the complaint.

I would have complained to Easyjet regardless of the EU regulations.

The fact that the EU has introduced legislation, now clarifies the requirements and standardizes criteria that airlines should adopt. Having regulations and a route to an independent complaints authority now gives Joe Public the opportunity to press the airlines to respond to complaints, and hopefully, get the the likes of Swissport to train their staff in dealing more sympathetically with customers.

The other issue I have is that Easyjet has issued a standard worded response stating their delay policy, which by the way, does not meet the EU directive. Also, Easyjet have not indicated any action that they are likely to take regarding what was the basis of my complaint e.g. the lack of information from the handling staff at the gate.

GengisK :*

The SSK

9th May 2006, 08:43

The other issue I have is that Easyjet has issued a standard worded response stating their delay policy, which by the way, does not meet the EU directive.

I might be missing something, but I read the text you posted on May 4th and it seemed to me that it covered the relevant part of the Regulation (not a Directive, btw) pretty well, it certainly explained it better than the legal text does.

GengisKhant

10th May 2006, 12:02

What was missing from the Easyjet response, but was included in the response from the EU was the following:

"the airline must give you meals and refreshments, hotel accommodation when necessary (including transfers) and communication facilities."

"When the delay is 5 hours or more, the airline must also offer to refund your ticket (with a free flight back to your initial point of departure, when relevant)."

The Easyjet statement "Where your flight is delayed for 5 hours or more, if you chose not to fly, we will give you a refund of the fare paid via the original method of payment ..... "if you choose not to fly" is the Easyjet get-out clause....!!

The EU regulation is worded differently, which, if your point of departure is where you are heading for e.g. you are on the return leg of a return journey under the same booking reference, then, when the delay is in excess of five hours, as compensation, you should be refunded that element of the fare. Also, the refreshment issue was where Easyjet (Swissport) fell down badly,

I believe that Easyjet should at least issue an apology to those who were delayed. They should have easy access to all passengers e-mail addresses through the booking reference number on their system.

GengisK :*

ManfredvonRichthofen

11th May 2006, 18:47

I had a similar issue with easyjet

All I was hoping for really (at some point) was an apology. No money back, nothing like that. Just a "sorry for your inconvenience". That would have been enough for me.

What I got was "oh just **** off" from a delightful young lady in an orange easyjet uniform, who "didn't even work for easyjet, so no, didn't care", and a 6 hr delay on a 40 minute flight.

I would like to add that I am very reasonable, polite and softly spoken.

Never used easyjet since. Never will either.

masalaairlines

16th May 2006, 12:06

I have had similar issues with Easyjet, and have voiced them here before. What it seems to often come down to is that the Service Agents (such as Swissport) distance themselves from the company. They state they have not yet recieved authorisation from Easyjet, Luton regarding refreshment vouchers etc. but when you prompt them to telex or phone them to request this they say they are also not authorised to do so!

A friend of mine had an unfortunate situation 2 days ago whilst returning from Basel. His Easyjet flight back to Luton was cancelled after a 2 hour wait, and the PAX were taken to a hotel with no further instruction by the agents Swissport! No telephone calls were authorised. No evening meal vouchers/breakfast vouchers were given. (Passengers who knew their rights ate and kept their recipts!) In the morning there was complete chaos in the hotel! There was no pickup and no information whatsoever. Not a single Easyjet telephone number was working (the UK 0871 code does not work from Germany... the hotel was in Germany!) They got through to the information counter at Basel, who only could supply them the false numbers they already had and also a "what do you expect from a cheap airline?"

My friend eventually called me back in the UK and I then managed to get through to Easyjet at great expense, and so the chain of instructions commenced. It seemed the blame was being put on Swissport... eventually all PAX were instructed to make their own way to airport (30min taxi ride) and organise their own transport back to the UK and to keep all receipts!

XSBaggage

16th May 2006, 15:01

I dont think that rude staff should affect ones choice of an airline. My attitude is that people in the service sector are humans too, and are perfectly entitled to swear and "give as good as they get". I also, from personal experience, dont think that this affects other peoples choice of airline too. I have seen so many REALLY CRAZY situations where someone "will absolutely never ever fly ...... again" and next week are back with a smile. The thing though that airlines need to do to retain passengers is maintain a good punctuality and safety record, and sort out the problems rapidly when things go wrong. Thats enough for most people.

XSB

ManfredvonRichthofen

16th May 2006, 16:03

My attitude is that people in the service sector are... perfectly entitled to swear and "give as good as they get".
XSB

couldn't disagree more
don't get me wrong i am never rude to service sector staff

but that is simply not acceptable
I deal with extremely cantankerous and rude people in my job. i consider it part of the job. if i gave as good as i got i'd be out on my arse in a flash, and rightly so

Getoutofmygalley

16th May 2006, 16:15

I agree with ManfredvonRichthofen, I recently had 2 Russian ladies on a flight and they were the rudest passengers I have ever encountered. As much as I would have liked to tell them where to go, I just (when walking away for the umpteenth time) paused, briefly closed my eyes and exhaled - other passengers around were watching and several said to me "you must have the patience of a saint" which made me feel a damn sight better than if I had told them to foxtrot oscar (or worse!) :)

XSBaggage

16th May 2006, 19:17

Okay maybe swearing is a bit much, depending on the provocation. But I have been on a customer service course where it was suggested that if a pax swore at you and you used the same word back it would make them realise how daft they sounded and defuse the situation. Tried it a few times and it worked. But I prefer not to "lower the tone" as it were. But I definitely think that "zero tolerance" works in the service sector.

XSB

jet2impress

17th May 2006, 13:57

Why do some pax get so up tight with the crew over the smallest of delays. Shouting at the crew will not help rewind time or get them to start dishing out free drinks. OMG, how much would fares go up if you gave out free drinks everytime you had a 35 min delay?? :ugh:

masalaairlines

17th May 2006, 15:40

.... free drinks everytime you had a 35 min delay?? :ugh:
Yes, I don't think anyone here wants something like that. Just after a 2 hour delay when the law states so! Though you're right! It's never the crews fault. They shouldn't get the abuse.... though I have been on delayed flights sometimes where there have simply been a few too many pre-emptive "nanny" announcements stating that the crew don't deserve any abuse as the delay cannot be blamed on them!

jet2impress

17th May 2006, 18:43

They shouldn't get the abuse.... though I have been on delayed flights sometimes where there have simply been a few too many pre-emptive "nanny" announcements stating that the crew don't deserve any abuse as the delay cannot be blamed on them!

I know exactly what you mean. I am not too keen on those annoucments either. (from the flight deck). It makes me cringe a bit whilst hiding in the galley. I think it sort of invites the pax to 'bring it on' so to speak. Ask some of them NOT to do something and they do it anyway, just because you have asked them not to. :E

edited to 'edit' the quote... I made a mess of the first one!

Globaliser

17th May 2006, 19:14

I dont think that rude staff should affect ones choice of an airline.I must beg to differ. Having rude staff is one of the best ways of putting people off your airline. The customer-facing staff are the front line, the face of the company. They may not be the only thing that matters in people's choice of airline (where they have a choice), but it is an important factor.

Those who whinge about staff, and yet come back again, probably fall into one of three categories:-Those who actually have no choice of airline - eg dictated by employer Those who are shackled to an airline by a frequent flyer scheme Those who buy on price and consistently go for the lowest-priced option - to whom the airline's service standards probably matter less