Ryanair - 6
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Ryanair's routes to France e.g. Rodez, Angouoleme, Dinard etc.
are often there to serve British second home owners. With the pound collapsing against the Euro it'll be increasingly difficult to pay the euro mortgage on French homes and I would suggest that very few people will be buying property abroad with one only getting about E1.20 to the pound. A significant part of the Ryanair customers will not be flying as much.
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: England
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Why so many Ryanair knockers
It is simple, the people who have used Ryanair regularly in the past have had sufficient negative experiences to understand that a company that is so hostile to its customers, which refuses to acknowledge it can ever make a mistake and refuses to right wrongs cannot survive in the long term. MOL could present himself as an anti-establishment maverick people's champion when he was in charge of a small, up and coming airline challenging the big boys. He is now the big boy, the largest carrier in Europe and they use their power to attack their customers. Examples, their new website launch was a mess.. but passengers seeking redress have been hung up on and found it impossible to get redress. Many have been charged twice or more, found errors and Ryanair know this, but have done nothing to assist them. The low cost pioneer, SouthWest operates many of the same policies as Ryanair, but their culture is so different flying with them is like chalk and cheese. The staff of Southwest are fun, light-hearted and do everything they can to help you. If there is a problem, they are empowered to fix it. This stems from the top, their Chief Executive is friendly, open and relaxed and it is reflected in their culture. Ryanair's Chief Executive is hostile, paranoid and angry and it is reflected in the way he treats his customers and staff. This can't last, and in the next few years you will see that reflected in declining results which will end in the exit of MOL.
Join Date: Aug 2006
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jimworcs, I have to agree. The same policies that brought Ryanair to power and made MOL a Big Boy, now very rapidly need to be radically changed. It's still not too late for Ryanair to survive and to continue its growth, but my Goodness, they need an acute face-lifting, the new policy towards the customers not to loose the faithful ones and get even more in the future! It does not necessarily cost much money, it can be done wisely and cost-consciously, but it must be done NOW. Why the man brilliant and creative in economics who did achieve that much in the first stage of his firm's expansion is deaf to customers' opinions and unable to switch to another strategy when the situation changes?
Join Date: Oct 2007
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there will be no doubt MOL will leave Ryanair in the near future however the company is far from the doom and gloom people are predicting, Pax no's have steadily increased since they opened for business in 1985 expecting to carry 57million this year alone so whilst there are unhappy customers everywhere (alot in BA at the moment!!) im sure Ryanairs pax no's will keep increasing as long as they can keep there fares lower than there competitors, common sense prevails if Aer Lingus are offering a flight for 90 Euro and BMI are offering the same flight for 50 who are you going to fly with????
Join Date: Nov 2007
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Reliable service
Flew with Ryanair for the first time this week. 25 minute turnrounds were achieved at both ends - no delays at all. Excellent price, reliable, no-frills service. Using on-line check-in with only hand-baggage gave priority boarding. Very impressed! Perhaps some of the bigger players could take a leaf out of RA's book!
Wigglyamp (Ex BA)
Wigglyamp (Ex BA)
Join Date: Feb 2008
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I don't see how passengers can complain about getting continued bad customer service from the company. From my experience, a bad customer experience comes from being charged for the excess baggage, charged for their check in, being made to stand at the gate to get a seat.
But do they get cheap fares. Yes. Do they get on-time flights. Yes. Are their bags sitting somewhere in Italy waiting to be returned to them. No. Do they fly to places that other airlines could only dream of filling aircraft to. Yes.
Ryanair are a bus in the sky. You pay your fare, you get your transportation.
I agree, trying to get hold of Ryanair direct is a nightmare, and costly. That needs to be addressed.
However, it is handling agents that do a great deal of the "customer service" side for Ryanair. They are paid to do a job. 9 times out of 10 its with a smile. Sometimes, passengers wear you down to the point where that smile disappears.
Everyone says that they will not fly with them again, well be prepared to get the train or drive - or hire a private aircraft - because there isn't going to be anyone but Ryanair and a few others to fly you to that place in a few years. Fact.
Gone are the days of getting a hot towel after your meal, you wan't that, you fly BA, you lose your bags, you travel via another airport, you pay through the rough. The choice is yours.
I agree when things go wrong, you get no help from them. This should be addressed, but let's be honest, MOL just wants to make a name for the airline, has he done it. Yes. Has he done it in the right way? Time will tell.
But do they get cheap fares. Yes. Do they get on-time flights. Yes. Are their bags sitting somewhere in Italy waiting to be returned to them. No. Do they fly to places that other airlines could only dream of filling aircraft to. Yes.
Ryanair are a bus in the sky. You pay your fare, you get your transportation.
I agree, trying to get hold of Ryanair direct is a nightmare, and costly. That needs to be addressed.
However, it is handling agents that do a great deal of the "customer service" side for Ryanair. They are paid to do a job. 9 times out of 10 its with a smile. Sometimes, passengers wear you down to the point where that smile disappears.
Everyone says that they will not fly with them again, well be prepared to get the train or drive - or hire a private aircraft - because there isn't going to be anyone but Ryanair and a few others to fly you to that place in a few years. Fact.
Gone are the days of getting a hot towel after your meal, you wan't that, you fly BA, you lose your bags, you travel via another airport, you pay through the rough. The choice is yours.
I agree when things go wrong, you get no help from them. This should be addressed, but let's be honest, MOL just wants to make a name for the airline, has he done it. Yes. Has he done it in the right way? Time will tell.
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Lets us be clear...
I am not expecting high levels of service, hot towels, meals, etc from Ryanair, no do I expect perks such as interlining that you might get from legacy carriers. I acknowledge that their fares are by far the cheapest, and that when the experience goes well, it is an excellent service for a remarkable price.
The issue I have with Ryanair is that when they get it wrong, they are not willing to hold up their hands and admit it. Instead, they adopt a highly belligerent attittude towards their customers, make it next to impossible to get any kind of resolution and deliberately compound the problem by making it an ordeal for the customer to get any kind of redress. They exploit international boundaries to disempower customers, have "outsourced" their customer services to companies who have no power, nor often, even the necessary information to help and advise customers and their staff attitudes to customers is to say the least patcy and often downright hostile and aggressive.
I deliberately did not compare Ryanair to BA, but instead to Southwest. Southwest also operates a low cost model, does not interline, uses more remote airports, etc... but the difference in their attitute to their customers is dramatic. It is time for MOL to stop playing the victim and allow the airline to mature into a grown up company that has some sense of responsibility to it's customers and some understanding of its obligations.
I do not want Ryanair to fail, but it surely will if it does not change its strategy.
The issue I have with Ryanair is that when they get it wrong, they are not willing to hold up their hands and admit it. Instead, they adopt a highly belligerent attittude towards their customers, make it next to impossible to get any kind of resolution and deliberately compound the problem by making it an ordeal for the customer to get any kind of redress. They exploit international boundaries to disempower customers, have "outsourced" their customer services to companies who have no power, nor often, even the necessary information to help and advise customers and their staff attitudes to customers is to say the least patcy and often downright hostile and aggressive.
I deliberately did not compare Ryanair to BA, but instead to Southwest. Southwest also operates a low cost model, does not interline, uses more remote airports, etc... but the difference in their attitute to their customers is dramatic. It is time for MOL to stop playing the victim and allow the airline to mature into a grown up company that has some sense of responsibility to it's customers and some understanding of its obligations.
I do not want Ryanair to fail, but it surely will if it does not change its strategy.
Join Date: Nov 2000
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Jimworcs
Are you just another of the complete and utter idiots who are myopic fools?
What part of huge profits don't you understand?
What part of huge amounts of money in the bank don't you understand?
What part of " you will do anything for a cheap ticket" don't you understand?
When the going gets rough FR will survive...because they are cheap.
DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Are you just another of the complete and utter idiots who are myopic fools?
What part of huge profits don't you understand?
What part of huge amounts of money in the bank don't you understand?
What part of " you will do anything for a cheap ticket" don't you understand?
When the going gets rough FR will survive...because they are cheap.
DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Yeah slim shady
I remember when M&S got cocky, making over a billion in profits and thought it was invincible.... what happened to them again? The world is littered with the debris of arrogant companies who believe they are totally invincible. We'll see....
Join Date: Feb 2008
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I didn't know about the new hand baggage rule, that's interesting. I can see many web check passengers being caught out on this one. However, most UK security points have gauges at them, which is about the same size as the FR one is it now? I don't know if this is the same in Europe.
An a separate issue, who is the handling agent in DUB for FR? They never charge for anything, while in EDI it seems servisair charge for every KG, even when it hits 16.0 on the scale. Do FR employ "mystery flyers" to check up on agents?
An a separate issue, who is the handling agent in DUB for FR? They never charge for anything, while in EDI it seems servisair charge for every KG, even when it hits 16.0 on the scale. Do FR employ "mystery flyers" to check up on agents?
Join Date: Jul 2006
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An a separate issue, who is the handling agent in DUB for FR? They never charge for anything, while in EDI it seems servisair charge for every KG, even when it hits 16.0 on the scale. Do FR employ "mystery flyers" to check up on agents?
Join Date: Sep 2007
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I have had some 160 flights with Ryanair, and never had a "negative experience", quite on the contrary : cheap/very cheap tickets, nearly always on time, professional and most often cheerful cabin crew, never had any problem.
Even if I had a problem with my next flight, that would still be much less than 1 %. Not bad, in my opinion.
Even if I had a problem with my next flight, that would still be much less than 1 %. Not bad, in my opinion.
Join Date: Oct 2007
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Ryanair incentivise 3rd party handling agents by doing a 60/40 deal with them, or something like that. It makes the agent push more on excess and bag charges and brings in the ancilliary revenue.
The product of ryanair is cheap, affordable, on-time but the failing in ryanair has always been customer service. The attitude has always been that if you don't like it then there will be someone else along to fill your seat and to a certain extent that is understandable but with the rate of expansion and the split of supply/demand it's a more risky strategy.
I personally find the staff rude, unhelpful and very "cold".
The product of ryanair is cheap, affordable, on-time but the failing in ryanair has always been customer service. The attitude has always been that if you don't like it then there will be someone else along to fill your seat and to a certain extent that is understandable but with the rate of expansion and the split of supply/demand it's a more risky strategy.
I personally find the staff rude, unhelpful and very "cold".
Join Date: Sep 2007
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I have never met "rude, unhelpful, very cold" Ryanair cabin crew members - I don't meet any other Ryanair staff, as I always web-check.
I have often met Ryanair CC who were very helpful with people unused to flying or old or somehow in need. Many are quite cheerful. (A recent exemple : "Karim" on CRL-TRN yesterday).
Of course, if you are a frequent customer of the best first class on the most luxuous carriers, you are bound to be disappointed by Ryanair. As I am a frequent customer of Belgian bus and train companies, I feel differently.
I have often met Ryanair CC who were very helpful with people unused to flying or old or somehow in need. Many are quite cheerful. (A recent exemple : "Karim" on CRL-TRN yesterday).
Of course, if you are a frequent customer of the best first class on the most luxuous carriers, you are bound to be disappointed by Ryanair. As I am a frequent customer of Belgian bus and train companies, I feel differently.
Join Date: Apr 2008
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I don't complain - it does what it says it on the tin
My first post – I have no vested interest in any airline and am not in the industry.
I fly frequently to/from UK/Ireland/Europe and occasionally long haul. I therefore tend to fly Ryanair frequently, using the high frequency Irish routes where there is little chance for much going wrong for long. When I am paying 1p for a flight and have no hold luggage and something does go wrong (VERY infrequently), I am an old hand – I simply wait to be bumped or I make alternative arrangements quickly whilst everyone else is shouting. I admit this is only possible because (a) I am a single traveller with flexible arrangements and (b) on the high frequency routes it’s not long before another plane arrives from somewhere. I do not feel that I am entitled to any recompense or payment if I do incur extra charges because I never pay more than £15 single inclusive. I block book tickets during sales and promotions and may or may not use them. I still have a return ticket from 1991, London to Antwerp, at £158 return to remind me of the scandalous fares I used to be charged before the advent of loco in Europe.
When I fly somewhere ‘new’ or somewhere with a less frequent loco service , I normally now choose NOT to fly loco but take a ‘legacy’ scheduled carrier where there is/should be better mitigation for me if something goes wrong. The price difference between loco and scheduled, where I need to take hold luggage, is now usually negligible (taking account of baggage fees and transfer costs from ex-Cold War airfields or similar normally used by locos).
For flights of less than 4hrs duration I am happy if the cabin crew appear competent (I couldn’t care less about their attitude as I never speak to them) and the aircraft is airworthy. For flights longer than that, I expect more and therefore I pay more.
In summary, Ryanair’s customer service may be woefully lacking but I don’t use it. I never call them, I never try to contact them if something has gone wrong – I just shrug my shoulders and make alternative arrangements, usually whilst everyone else is screaming blue murder. I do not expect anything from them other than getting me from A to B, roughly around the times they said they would. If I fly legacy scheduled, my expectations are higher, though not always met. It’s like comparing shopping at Lidl with Waitrose.
I fly frequently to/from UK/Ireland/Europe and occasionally long haul. I therefore tend to fly Ryanair frequently, using the high frequency Irish routes where there is little chance for much going wrong for long. When I am paying 1p for a flight and have no hold luggage and something does go wrong (VERY infrequently), I am an old hand – I simply wait to be bumped or I make alternative arrangements quickly whilst everyone else is shouting. I admit this is only possible because (a) I am a single traveller with flexible arrangements and (b) on the high frequency routes it’s not long before another plane arrives from somewhere. I do not feel that I am entitled to any recompense or payment if I do incur extra charges because I never pay more than £15 single inclusive. I block book tickets during sales and promotions and may or may not use them. I still have a return ticket from 1991, London to Antwerp, at £158 return to remind me of the scandalous fares I used to be charged before the advent of loco in Europe.
When I fly somewhere ‘new’ or somewhere with a less frequent loco service , I normally now choose NOT to fly loco but take a ‘legacy’ scheduled carrier where there is/should be better mitigation for me if something goes wrong. The price difference between loco and scheduled, where I need to take hold luggage, is now usually negligible (taking account of baggage fees and transfer costs from ex-Cold War airfields or similar normally used by locos).
For flights of less than 4hrs duration I am happy if the cabin crew appear competent (I couldn’t care less about their attitude as I never speak to them) and the aircraft is airworthy. For flights longer than that, I expect more and therefore I pay more.
In summary, Ryanair’s customer service may be woefully lacking but I don’t use it. I never call them, I never try to contact them if something has gone wrong – I just shrug my shoulders and make alternative arrangements, usually whilst everyone else is screaming blue murder. I do not expect anything from them other than getting me from A to B, roughly around the times they said they would. If I fly legacy scheduled, my expectations are higher, though not always met. It’s like comparing shopping at Lidl with Waitrose.
Last edited by Steviec9; 13th Apr 2008 at 17:03.