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Ryanair in financial difficulty?

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Ryanair in financial difficulty?

Old 20th Apr 2020, 15:34
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Ryanair in financial difficulty?

I ask this because they offered me a refund for a cancelled flight. However, today I received an e mail stating they would give me a voucher or if I wanted a refund "You can request a cash refund however bear in mind we will place your request in the cash refund queue until the COVID-19 emergency has passed". That sounds like alarm bells of an airline in financial difficulty to me.
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 15:38
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Not necessarily, just trying to hold on to their cash, like many others. Very O'Leary-esque!
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 15:39
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Perhaps this line from their 2019 results might answer the question;
In considering management’s assessment of the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern, the Committee had regard to available sources of finance including access to the capital markets, the cash on hand of approximately €3.2bn at March 31, 2019 and the sensitivity to changes in these items.
https://investor.ryanair.com/wp-cont...ual-Report.pdf

JAS
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 15:49
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Anyone know how to request a cash refund ? I can't see any way of claiming the cash without having to go through a 3rd party - e.g. payment card chargeback, travel insurance, court, etc
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 16:05
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Lets not shed a tear for Ryanair. They won’t crumble. Well not yet anyway.
Would be funny if O’leary came cap in hand to the money markets, and then they refuse to lend a penny.

whats happening to all the zero hour pilots, are they furloughed , or simply earning zero money for zero hours work?
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 16:17
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On the two recently cancelled Ryanair flights as soon as I received the cancellation via email one of the three options was to request a refund. I duly filled in the form and hit the send button. As soon as I had finished there was an email from Ryanair in my inbox thanking me for my request and I would receive the refund in due course. A follow up email from them days later informed me of a possible delay due to high volume of requests. Currently await refund into my bank.
Following Ryanair cancellation I booked with Easyjet who later cancelled but no offer of refund just the usual rebook or voucher. Subsequently, only yesterday requested a refund via 'Resolver' to my card provider......today received a text from Nationwide along the lines that a request had been received and don't pester them because they are busy.

Have now received a Voucher from Ryanair although I requested a cash refund, they do give you the option on that email to request a refund by pressind 'here'......upon doing so it sends you into a page that says you can request refund but no way of doing it.......Hmmmmmm

Last edited by ericlday; 20th Apr 2020 at 16:48. Reason: Update from Ryanair....
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 16:44
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I very much doubt that Ryanair is in any kind of financial difficulty.

However, there is a truly vast quantity of refunds to be processed and I suspect that a refund back to card needs rather more manual input than simply issuing a voucher. Having said that, O'Leary has no reason to make the process of a cash refund particularly quick - we do know that the company is extremely effective at making money by offering a basic service with add-ons? I'm just a bit surprised that there is not an option to accelerate your cash refund in exchange for a small payment? I suspect that may be illegal though.
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 17:14
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I heard (radio 4, moneybox live) of people trying to rebook using voucher on the special refund/rebook website and being quoted £125 when flights on regular Ryanair website were as low as £16.99.

I’d take a voucher from BA but cash only from Ryanair.
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 17:14
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No idea how true this is, but report that Lauda Air (subsidiary of Ryanair) cannot pay April salaries for German-based staff and wants pilots to move to the short-time working scheme that makes the German Govt liable insted - article in German
https://www.austrianaviation.net/det...icht-bezahlen/
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 17:45
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No refund

Had similar for a flight canx in mid march..told initially not covered..then they would look into it. Made a further application..nowt. As it is I won't be flying anytime in the next six months especially after Air France put on a small airbus to Marseille and filled it up. No social spacing. And as my French brother said " Parisians- serves them right".
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 19:48
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Exact same happened to me today, despite choosing a refund option I was issued a voucher and told I wont get a cash refund if I choose someone until the pandemic is over.

I've filed a section 75 complaint with my card issuer as this is a illegal
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 19:51
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Would be very surprised if they are in financial trouble, more likely that MOL is playing his usual games and keeping hold of your cash for as long as possible whilst accruing enough interest to offset some of his losses. Cash is king and the longer he has your money the more time he buys for his business!
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 20:58
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Originally Posted by davidjohnson6
No idea how true this is, but report that Lauda Air (subsidiary of Ryanair) cannot pay April salaries for German-based staff and wants pilots to move to the short-time working scheme that makes the German Govt liable insted - article in German
https://www.austrianaviation.net/det...icht-bezahlen/
Seems to be something lost in translation - think its more "will" not rather than "cannot" so more a dispute about accepting reduced hours. If all the unions agree, the article says salaries will be paid in the first week of May.
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 21:31
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No company has millions of £££ just sitting in bank account earning -2%, it can be tied up in various accounts for access when needed. All airlines are managing cash tightly at the moment, they want to be around next year.
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 21:32
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I’m pretty certain I’ve read somewhere that United were offering cash refunds, but you’d have to wait 365 days for it! 😳

OMAA
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 22:00
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Originally Posted by davidjohnson6
No idea how true this is, but report that Lauda Air (subsidiary of Ryanair) cannot pay April salaries for German-based staff and wants pilots to move to the short-time working scheme that makes the German Govt liable insted - article in German
https://www.austrianaviation.net/det...icht-bezahlen/

Lufthansa, easyJet, Condor, ... are all using the short-time working scheme. Why would Lauda not do it?
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Old 20th Apr 2020, 23:18
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Following cancellation by Ryanair of my flights for 31 March (two flights x three people each) I applied for the refund option via the link on the website at the time. Received an acknowledgment confirming that refund would be applied to my original payment method. Afew days later, emails advising not to contact them due volume of enquiries - everything was being processed. Finally, a couple of days back, email advising that I'd been allocated a VOUCHER to be used by mid-April 2021. NOT what I asked for.

I actually had 49 flight sectors booked at the point of lockdown, several of these with Ryanair / Laudamotion. All my Summer travel windows are occupied by other existing bookings (if they happen). So that means my voucher use will be limited to a short window in mid-Winter. And whilst there were three people on my booking, the other two are in the C-19 'vulnerable' category so may not be minded to travel at all. Which leaves one very high-value 'voucher' to use in a short and unsuitable period of time. If the voucher arrangement had been valid for two years (accommodating S2021 season) I'd have stuck with it. But they are not. So I'm pressing on for refund as originally agreed.

They say that if you want a cash refund you must click on a link in your email and apply via the webpage. But the landing page is actually one long catalogue of ways to rebook using your voucher. Hmmm. Down near the bottom of the page, you are invited to contact Ryanair by 'CHAT' to progress your case further. There is a chatbot ... well, Ryanair won't have programmed that to process refunds! But they also list hours in which agents will engage with you to address your query. You have to select a category of enquiry and fill in afew details. Then the page says you're in a queue and the next available agent will engage with you. Well, on Saturday I joined that queue at 14:51BST. By 19:00BST (end of their Saturday staffed hours) ... no response whatsoever. Gave it afew more minutes. NOTHING. They just ignore you.

Haven't contacted them today. Instead chased up the even more evasive AIR EUROPA. They're the worst. Believe me ... they make Ryanair look like bloomin' saints.

Tomorrow, attention turns back to Ryanair. I'll try the contact channel again. They'd be wise to engage with me. I book about thirty sectors per year with them for myself and many more for friends who ask me to book their trips for them. I can afford to switch future business to alternative carriers if Ryanair make it clear they cannot be trusted to honour their contractual obligations. It's up to them.

Meanwhile, carriers which have so far handled refunds for me very well are: SAS SCANDINAVIAN, NORWEGIAN, IBERIA EXPRESS, EASYJET*. Jury is out on AIR BALTIC ... I've applied for cash refund with them but keep getting emails from them pleading with me to accept vouchers instead. Well, since the route I booked was a new service which will not now launch this year the answer to that one is 'no'. Hall of shame: AIR EUROPA, RYANAIR.

As a very frequent flyer, I'll remember the companies which behaved honourably through all of this. And those which let themselves down. Yes, they're under pressure. But that includes the ones which are doing things right.

Note: I've read others complaining about EasyJet non-refunds. They were fine with me (one booking refunded smoothly). But more EasyJet cancellations in process ... I'll see how they do with those.
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Old 21st Apr 2020, 00:07
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Has anyone tried using the small claims court or other legal routes to get heir money back? Or tried charging interest on the outstanding amount?
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Old 21st Apr 2020, 00:20
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Originally Posted by Dairyground
Has anyone tried using the small claims court or other legal routes to get heir money back? Or tried charging interest on the outstanding amount?
The husband of one of our Captains has given Ryanair another 7 days to pay before taking the matter to court, with the ultimate intention of having them wound up if they don't pay.

He is in business and is very legally minded (but not a lawyer), and I believe his intention is to force them to pay up as soon as possible rather than having to wait. I have no doubts he'll follow it through if they don't, so taking a tough stance will likely work against them, as (his words) they're not going to risk having to clear all their liabilities to avoid bankruptcy, so it won't go that far, therefore payment on receipt of a statutory demand is very likely.

I was looking earlier and was surprised the cost of getting to the stage where it could land them in extreme financial trouble is less than £400 (in the UK, not sure if the second part would have to be done in Ireland), which naturally they'd have to pay on top of the flights they owe him for already (not sure how many/how much).

I've only met him briefly, but I wouldn't want to call his bluff if I were in FR's position.
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Old 21st Apr 2020, 00:28
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Similar problem with another Airline however the ticket was purchased through PayPal. Money retrieved by PayPal and returned after months of delays and promises by the airline. The bank also mentioned I could lodge a Credit Card transaction dispute for failure to provide the service, for a fee.
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