Advertisement:

This week, disgruntled Ryanair customers took to social media to share stories of the Irish low cost airline’s latest mess up. After a summer of Ryanair delays and cancellations, the company started sending out unsigned compensation checks in response. And while this is most likely just an administrate error, it’s yet another huge home goal against the airline’s reputation.

Ryanair delays and cancelations

On Thursday July 12th, Ryanair cancelled 30 flights between Ireland and the UK, due to a 24-hour strike. Eight days later it happened again. For two days between July 25th and 26th passengers travelling within Spain, Portugal and Belgium were left stranded. And to round out the summer, August 3rd and 10th saw 250 German flights affected, along with 104 to or from Belgium, 22 Swedish and 20 to and from Ireland.

This level and duration of strike action is truly unprecedented for an airline, but what came next just added insult to injury. Out of a batch of 20,000 Ryanair compensation checks, around 200 customers found their checks were unsigned. And some customers with signed checks tried to cash them only to have them bounce, adding to yet more cost.

Ryanair unsigned checks

Gordon Fong from Bournemouth, is one of those to receive an unsigned check. He flew home from Spain but was diverted to another airport, leaving him with a 150-mile taxi journey to get home. After jumping through hoops to complete his EU 261 compensation forms with all the right evidence – he was relived to receive the check some 60 days later. However, he soon noticed there was a catch. His £440 Ryanair compensation check was unsigned and therefore, invalid.

And Ryanair bounced checks too

Karen Joyce suffered a similar experience when her anniversary holiday flight was cancelled last year and she applied for a refund on the ticket price. She had waited 11 months for the compensation from Ryanair and was quick to deposit it. But her bank soon sent her an unexpected letter. The Ryanair check had bounced, costing her around $20 in bank fees.

A missed chance to make a good impression

As they say – when things go wrong, putting them right can make you look like a great company. So it’s a real shame that this Ryanair compensation story isn’t a positive one. If they had just paid up quickly and accurately as they said they would – we might have a good news Ryanair story to share.

Advertisement:

After all, Ryanair originally refused to pay passengers affected by the strike, althogether, claiming under EU261 legislation, no compensation was payable when the reason for the cancellation is outside of the airline’s control. Ryanair’s rational being, the pilots’ union was acting unreasonably by not agreeing to their offer. Therefore the strike was totally beyond the airline’s control.

The airline has responded to the news by saying it was an admin error and this is believable. They must be processing checks hand over fist at Ryanair Central right now. But if they invested in a decent back office set up, they wouldn’t have this problem. But if they took a more reasonable stance with their staff, they wouldn’t have this issue either.