Ryanair slated on ITV
 

Just watched a very interesting 15 mins of horror stories about passengers deserted on foreign shores due to "technical" faults.
Nice to see that this kind of poor customer service has made it onto national TV.
Anyone who works for Ryanair care to comment?:hmm:

Basically pax told flight cancelled..all the rest are booked..bugger off. (some poetic license here used with the language, but not the content)

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

Just a little more info would help ..... (but I've no doubt the stories will come as a surprise to only one "employee", good ole Leo the Hairy Camel).

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

Talking to a gal a couple of weeks ago who told me she had flown in from Snn to Luton for a ticket price of one (1) cent (euro money) .....
I suppose if you want to fly 'low cost' there can be drawbacks from time to time :)

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

And how much were the taxes and charges? Anyone remember when the ticket price WAS the taxes and charges?

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

The Ryanair web site does cover this but I guess it could spell it out a bit more...

http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/faqs.php

What happens if my flight is cancelled by Ryanair?
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If flights are cancelled by Ryanair and no suitable alternative flight is available, we will, upon application, fully refund all monies paid in respect of the cancelled flight, without further liability.

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

O'Leary quoted Dec.'05 Airliner World as saying low cost model will move towards free fares over the next 10 yrs, drawing revenue from buy on board, subsidy from other airport businesses, and gambling revenues. What kind of businessman develops a business around NOT charging people money for the service he provides...arrgh

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

You get what you pay for in this industry. If you pay a low cost fare you have to pay extra for customer service. That's why the Ryanair customer service department has one employee! When you pay a low cost fare you have to accept the fact that you may be left stranded - most passengers do not want to face this reality, they just look at the cost of the ticket. I had very little sympathy for any of the people stranded by Ryanair. You pay your money and take your chance.

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

SO if their customer service is so bad why are an increasing number of people choosing to fly with them....33,368,585 in 2005. Perhaps they are providing a much sought after product.

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

It happened to me last week on FR Salzburg to STN. For almost 3 hours we were told 'delay due to operational reasons.' At the end they cancelled it apperently due Wx at STN. I went online and the METARS were good enough for a VFR flight in a C152! We were stranded just how the other people on ITV were, and not offered a return flight for 6 days. We had to rebook with FlyBe into BHX and then get coach to STN. Cost: about 25x the FR ticket price! It looks like they can just tell pax 'exceptional circumstance' and then they dont have to fork out, even if it was their fault. Yes, flying FR is a gamble, but surely they can have 1 a/c on standby to pick up any cancelled flights within a day or so.

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

We were all "thrown" of one of his services recently and made to queue behind 300 others on the apron awaiting immigration procedures. The Captain had been asked to keep us on board "for our own comfort" but refused. Luckily it didnt start raining until we were driving home.

The number of times into the US I was told I would not be able to disembark my passengers until the immigration queues reduced. Perhaps the local airport should have adopted the same procedure with the Ryanair Captain.

Does anyone out there know if Ryanair has a customer services department? The airline doesnt answer letters! I know they dont care, but would love them to confirm the fact by phone.

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

Bottom line -- because they're cheap--that's the "much sought after product." It is the unlucky ones who get stuck who will think twice before booking again with Ryanair.

Generally, there's no need for customer service department when things run smoothly. Customer service is there for when things go awry. And when things go awry at Ryanair, they just point to the agreement involved in flying on one of their flights.

For the most part, they deliver what they promise. But when they don't...

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

Has anybody ever heard of a successful application for a refund? They don't answer the 'phone, etc. and get REALLY stroppy if you find a real (answered) telephone number and start trying to complain. Estimates for last year suggest that up to £20 million was made by Ryanair from unrefunded taxes, security charges, cancellations, etc. This is very much part of their business model.

woodpecker re your query some information is available at the following site (see the second paragraph) http://www.ryanair.org.uk/ - but you will need patience and determination. Mr. O'Leary has learned that he has much more patience and determination than most people and has concluded that it pays.

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

Apply the principle of self insurance when flying on an airline such as this. ie each time you fly save a portion of what you have saved over flying a regular airline to pay your expenses resulting from cancellations and delays. Decide for yourself if the savings outweigh the occasional inconvenience in the long run.

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

I don't have any complaints about RYR. I just don't fly with them! I prefer to pay a little more (though even that's not always the case) and fly on real airlines!

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

I've flown ryanair and BA weekly on the same route over the past year to Montpellier.

Frankly Ryanair generally do provide an excellent service hence why I was more than happy to fly with them.

Once the Ryanair inbound flight arrived there would be an immediate turnaround and we would invariably take off early and arrive back at stanstead early. They wouldn't wait around for official checkout closing time if all the passengers had already checked in. We'd be on the plane and off asap.

The BA flight would invariably never take off before schedule.
Yes the service onboard BA was far better (and the clientele not quite so chav) but frankly looking at the number of passengers that ryanair flies I doubt the number of complaints is any different to other airlines.

For 2 months my flights were 0.01 EUR before tax. (although unfortuatenly it was my company benefiting rather than me). And yes - I have once received a refund from Ryanairs customer service department after two flight numbers were mixed up on their live flight information screen.

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

Mr O'Leary's 'free ticket' model may not be a bad idea (for him). As we have read elsewhere on this Forum, obtaining a ticket for even 1p constitutes a Contract between Carrier & passenger to be delivered to agreed destination in a reasonable time. Failure to comply is Breach of Contract in Civil Law attracting compensation for loss/expenses for the aggrieved Party. It could be pursued in the Small Claims Court under Consumer Law (service not provided?) The EU directive on passenger compensation would not apply in UK, except to suggest a benchmark level of compensation for pax. If you don't pay for carriage (ticket) in UK law there is no contract
The EU are considering the 'extraordinary' loophole eg if due to poor servicing, inadequate staffing levels as these are events that could be met by contingency planning
No one wants to fly a u/s airplane in u/s weather but any delay/cancellation should be expedited at the carrier's expense to fulfill the Contract
Failure to re-imburse passenger tax & other surcharges for a cancelled flight could be fraud as they are only applicable on departure.
The result will be higher min fares for the locos
In retail you are required to show the price and cost/100g for Cornflakes or the APR for a loan Maybe airlines should price routes at basic cost/mile with extras and discounts for early/late booking to achieve load factor shown seperately eg car insurance
These are only my thoughts, I am not aware of case law, maybe lawyers can comment. The lesson of the ITV prog was only those who complain may get a result. Next time my flight is cancelled/delayed for several hours I will require a written & signed explanation from the airline

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

Thanks ATSE for the info.

A lot of the issues regarding Ryanair are with regard to their handling agents staff who are required to wear Ryanair uniforms. The general public assume that wearing the uniform = working for them. I remember talking to a young girl in Brussels (working for a handling agent) who had to come to work with three different uniforms (one of which was BA) so as to "look the part" when dealing with each airlines passengers.

Surely Ryanair would be interested in the way there passengers are treated.

We drive to Bournemouth and arrive early to be in the "first thirty" to stand a chance of getting seats together in the emergency exits rows. All well and good but when it gets to the gate it becomes a bun-fight! The record was set last week with nine youths (who had checked in late) ducking under the rope to the head of the "first thirty" queue and being allowed to board after the families. With regard to the families themselves I might just start a "rent a kid" scheme! To see a group of eight all of whom were for me adults except one girl about 14 years old swanning past the queue is taking the p**s.

Worse was to come on the return at Gerona where the check in desks opened twenty minutes late and the single queue (about 120 in all) stretched across the hall and out the door. On opening the desks the supervisor then "invited" the second half of the queue to come forward to another desk.

From being in the first half dozen of the original queue we received numbers 27 and 28. Those behind us with over number 30 were livid!

Were the "uniformed staff" interested? No! Did the "single uniformed staff member" at the boarding gate check the numbers? No! Were there many p***ed off passengers? Yes!

Are Ryanair interested in feedback? No!

The cost of our cheap tickets? £130 of which almost £50 was taxes and "aviation levies" whatever they may be!

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

Many of us who have experienced the cancellation of a Flight by Ryanair will possibly be aware as I was, that the reason given for the cancellation (if indeed they even bother to give a reason) can be a blatant lie!

Also, I would be curious to know whether, if you do not in fact bother to claim a redfund, do they then still pass on the tax to the Govt. or, as I suspect, just keep the money. If so, then this must be fraudulent (theft of taxes?) and I'm surprised that the relevant authorities have not latched onto this.

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

I fly from Athens to Birmingham quite regularly with airlines such as Air France and Lufthansa. I tried to save myself some cash over Christmas and flew with Easyjet into Luton direct from Athens. I saved a little on the ticket price but after paying for a bus and taxi home the price worked out about the same. When you consider that I get a free flight for every 7 flights with Lufthansa (air miles) it really isn't worth bothering with easyjet, even on a good day!

Re: Ryanair slated on ITV
 

Hoping,
It really depends upon when you buy your ticket as to wether or not it is cost effective to fly the "low cost" route. Frequently the cost of a ticket is very low if booked far enough in advance. However, as the departure date becomes closer the lo-co's ticket prices increase and in many cases will exceed those of the full-service airline. The best advice is to shop around and beware that not all the lo-co's operate to the principal airport for your destination.