Suing Easyjet

[lancs69]

I'm suing easyjet but need a bit of advice.

I cancelled a flight as I couldn't make it (not ill, no death in family etc).

I paid £200 for it and they won't give me a penny!

I am aware they SAY they have a "no refund policy" but I thought UK law says companies aren't allowed to charge unreasonable amounts.

My point is a £10 admin fee I could accept as reasonable, but to keep all £200 is extortionate and illegal surely!!!????

I know it says in their terms and cons they don't do refunds, but I will be stating a similar case that went to court where the banks lost! They charged people around £30 for going overdraw, and even though it was in their t&c's it was deemed illegal so millions of people were able to claim back money from the banks. The banks now only charge around £10 on average.

Surely this case is similar, and charging me £200, when they will go and re-sell my seat for even more money, shouldn't be allowed.

Am I right???

 

[MokaBox]

Hi lancs69.

No. I'm afraid you are not right.

Some airlines charge a premium for flexible tickets allowing you to change the flight from one to another. EasyJet are an economy airline though, and one of the conditions that you have to accept is that you cannot just cancel and get a refund.

I had to miss a RyanAir flight just a couple of weeks ago. The thought didn't even cross my mind to request a refund because I know what the Terms and Conditions are.

If you go ahead with this you will be fighting a losing battle. Give it up now.

 

[lancs69]

I still think it's unfair to charge this much, even though its in the t&c's!

They should make their profits by selling flights not from keeping people's money who have had to cancel!

 

[ethical PR]

You bought a cheap non refundable ticket and you decided to cancel presumably for a reason not covered by insurance, or you didn't take out insurance and now you want to sue the airline because it won't give you a refund?

If you thought the t & c's were unfair you shouldn't have bought the tickets and instead paid out for tickets giving you more flexible cancellation terms.

Unbelievable

 

[lancs69]

So what#s the key difference between this case and the one the banks lost regarding bank charges??

They also had it in their t&c's, but lost in court as £30 for being overdrawn is extortionate!!!

If £30 is extortionate then £200 is!!

 

[SuffolkDesigns]

So what#s the key difference between this case and the one the banks lost regarding bank charges??

They also had it in their t&c's, but lost in court as £30 for being overdrawn is extortionate!!!

If £30 is extortionate then £200 is!!

The difference is that the plane will take off with your seat empty.

It seems that you are not interested in getting advice, so then go for it, take them to court and spend a lot more on a case you will never win.

Next time pay £500 for tickets with an airline that allows you to change dates and/or cancel.

 

[Socio South West]

If you disagree then you need to only buy flights where you can get refunds.

I bought cheap insurance, and now find that not only are my hands tied as to where I can get a replacement carpet following a burst pipe, but firstly the nominated supplier I have to choose from their list HAS to call them on an 090 line at 90p per minute to get an authorisation code to proceed AND has to pay the Insurance company 15% of the bill.....
My problem is that I don't want a carpet from Argos, B&Q or Carpet Right - I want a decent carpet from a small reputable local businessman but these draconian terms prevent them from becoming nominated suppliers.

So I am waiting until my renewal comes up again to move to a more expensive, but more flexible, insurer..... and in the meantime my floor is bare.

 

[lancs69]

It won't as I've cancelled it and they have sold it to someone else, the flight is now FULL.

Also around £70 of the money was for taking my golf clubs!!

 

It won't as I've cancelled it and they have sold it to someone else, the flight is now FULL.

Also around £70 of the money was for taking my golf clubs!!

Give up golf,its a silly game anyway.

 

[kulture]

It won't as I've cancelled it and they have sold it to someone else, the flight is now FULL.

Also around £70 of the money was for taking my golf clubs!!

As everybody has said, you have no case. You purchased cheap tickets which cannot be cancelled. The terms clearly said no refund. You cancelled and received no refund.

How do you know the seat was re-sold?

How do you know that they did not reserve space in the hold for your clubs?

Give up and move on.

 

[businessfunding]

You could make a small attempt at suing them and double your losses.

Or you could go all out, pour many, many hours and incur lots of legal fees. If you win you will get your £200 back and may recover some or all of your legal fees.

Learn the concept of value against price & move on..

 

[guest_12]

If you believe they sold your seats then turn up for the flight and watch the panic as the check in girl tries to find you a seat.

If they dont provide you a seat you would be intitled to a refund otherwise these things happen I have missed a few flights in my life and not once have I tried to get a refund, its just common sense - buy cheap buy twice!

 

[iArtist]

I got a refund from EasyJet despite what their terms said, so it is possible depending on the circumstances and how long you're prepared to go to war with them over it.

It took me around 6 months sending the occassional email.

I did it for a pal who missed a flight due to indactors on their site being ambiguous as to whether or not taking it was taking off due to snow. No joy re their phone lines either. So kind of different circumstances but still, they weren't budging ...

I wouldn't bother suing, just a massive waste of everyones time.

 

Always amazes me that so many complain about budget airlines even though they are cheap as chips.

I do wonder how Ryanair became the largest airline in Europe.

 

[Vectis]

I'm suing easyjet but need a bit of advice.

I cancelled a flight as I couldn't make it (not ill, no death in family etc).

I paid £200 for it and they won't give me a penny!

I am aware they SAY they have a "no refund policy" but I thought UK law says companies aren't allowed to charge unreasonable amounts.

My point is a £10 admin fee I could accept as reasonable, but to keep all £200 is extortionate and illegal surely!!!????

I know it says in their terms and cons they don't do refunds, but I will be stating a similar case that went to court where the banks lost! They charged people around £30 for going overdraw, and even though it was in their t&c's it was deemed illegal so millions of people were able to claim back money from the banks. The banks now only charge around £10 on average.

Surely this case is similar, and charging me £200, when they will go and re-sell my seat for even more money, shouldn't be allowed.

Am I right???

Actually, you're not suing EasyJet are you? You haven't asked any questions here about suing them. You've just come on here for a rant because you cancelled your booking and they kept your money.

Next time, read the T&C.

 

[MokaBox]

Sirearl...you've touched a nerve.

I fly with RyanAir every month, they drive me crazy. Everybody hates them but everybody uses them, they are living proof that you can be hated and popular at the same time.

In my case I use them because they are the only airline to fly to the closest airport to my house in Italy. The flight is almost always completely full. From the moment you enter their website they bombard you with other products to buy...insurance, car hire, hotels, a suitcase for God's sake!!!!. You have to scroll down the menu to find "no thank you" for almost everything, and then when you come to confirm your flight and print your boarding pass IT STARTS ALL OVER AGAIN! On my last flight back with them last week a guy was even trying to sell "Speedy Boarding" passes to passengers in the queue.

Many of the on board staff they use are poorly trained and have an attitude problem. Not long ago I was on a flight where two of the hostesses were arguing as we boarded the plane.

They are given targets to sell products to the passengers during the flight, so the selling just NEVER STOPS!!!

I don't know how far they can push it before customers stop using them out of principle, but they certainly seem to be trying to find out.

 

[MokaBox]

Vectis. The OP wasn't coming on here to rant.


I was.

 

Sirearl...you've touched a nerve.

I fly with RyanAir every month, they drive me crazy. Everybody hates them but everybody uses them, they are living proof that you can be hated and popular at the same time.

In my case I use them because they are the only airline to fly to the closest airport to my house in Italy. The flight is almost always completely full. From the moment you enter their website they bombard you with other products to buy...insurance, car hire, hotels, a suitcase for God's sake!!!!. You have to scroll down the menu to find "no thank you" for almost everything, and then when you come to confirm your flight and print your boarding pass IT STARTS ALL OVER AGAIN! On my last flight back with them last week a guy was even trying to sell "Speedy Boarding" passes to passengers in the queue.

Many of the on board staff they use are poorly trained and have an attitude problem. Not long ago I was on a flight where two of the hostesses were arguing as we boarded the plane.

They are given targets to sell products to the passengers during the flight, so the selling just NEVER STOPS!!!

I don't know how far they can push it before customers stop using them out of principle, but they certainly seem to be trying to find out.

Cheap is best.

"Easyjet, Monarch, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic, have never been involved in an accident that resulted in passenger fatalities (figure from 2009)."

 

[Trisha&ChrisPlant]

Sirearl...you've touched a nerve.

I fly with RyanAir every month, they drive me crazy. Everybody hates them but everybody uses them, they are living proof that you can be hated and popular at the same time.

In my case I use them because they are the only airline to fly to the closest airport to my house in Italy. The flight is almost always completely full. From the moment you enter their website they bombard you with other products to buy...insurance, car hire, hotels, a suitcase for God's sake!!!!. You have to scroll down the menu to find "no thank you" for almost everything, and then when you come to confirm your flight and print your boarding pass IT STARTS ALL OVER AGAIN! On my last flight back with them last week a guy was even trying to sell "Speedy Boarding" passes to passengers in the queue.

Many of the on board staff they use are poorly trained and have an attitude problem. Not long ago I was on a flight where two of the hostesses were arguing as we boarded the plane.

They are given targets to sell products to the passengers during the flight, so the selling just NEVER STOPS!!!

I don't know how far they can push it before customers stop using them out of principle, but they certainly seem to be trying to find out.

Your post just reminded me of this gem:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00c079x

Trisha

 

[Moneyman]

Cheap is best.

"Easyjet, Monarch, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic, have never been involved in an accident that resulted in passenger fatalities (figure from 2009)."

take 2009 and most airlines are free from crashes.

You are wasting your time fighting an airline. You book. you dont turn up or cancel you lose.

 

[superdooper500]

If you can afford to contemplate david vs goliath legal action with no actual legal standpoint to support your case, and you can afford to pay £70 to bring your golf clubs with you, then you can afford to lose £200 down to YOUR poor planning of your upcoming itinerary. Easyjet offered a flight, at a time you needed, and a price you were prepared to pay. Through no fault of easyjet's you've now decided you don't want the flight you booked. Why should they pay?

Life is too short to waste negative energy on something which is clearly your own fault.

 

[thelegalstop]

Unfortunately this is the case with the low budget air lines. And when you bought the ticked you agreed to their T&C, which include they are not obliged to give a refund if you decide not to take the flight. I believe there was something about delayed flights, when it is their fault, but I do not remember very well. Any way this is not the case. If you do have the resources, you can go for it, but you may lose more than 200

 

[iArtist]

In the OP's defence can I just say while I don't support legal action in this case they do have a point. Just because something is in the terms doesn't make it enforceable, legal or fair.

I once got a few hundred quid in compensation out of BT for 'crackling on the line'. Their terms did not allow 1p for this fault let alone a few hundred. I sent them an invoice which in the list of charges included a couple of hundred for my time spent trying to resolve the problem over a two day period.

They rejected it initially .. haggled and then we settled on a sum.

I also once got £250 for a pc repair out of Electricity board when they turned electricity off for 1 second and it resulted in one of my work PC's going kapputt. I sent them a copy of repair bill and told them as they knew they were going to turn the electricity off as oppose to it just 'going off' they should have advised us so we could power down our PC's.

So, it's not always a case of 'OBEY the T&C's'.

It is reasonable to suggest that T&C's aren't fair. We are too complacent in this country which is why these big companies get away with so much.

 

[businessfunding]

In the OP's defence can I just say while I don't support legal action in this case they do have a point. Just because something is in the terms doesn't make it enforceable, legal or fair.

I once got a few hundred quid in compensation out of BT for 'crackling on the line'. Their terms did not allow 1p for this fault let alone a few hundred. I sent them an invoice which in the list of charges included a couple of hundred for my time spent trying to resolve the problem over a two day period.

They rejected it initially .. haggled and then we settled on a sum.

I also once got £250 for a pc repair out of Electricity board when they turned electricity off for 1 second and it resulted in one of my work PC's going kapputt. I sent them a copy of repair bill and told them as they knew they were going to turn the electricity off as oppose to it just 'going off' they should have advised us so we could power down our PC's.

So, it's not always a case of 'OBEY the T&C's'.

It is reasonable to suggest that T&C's aren't fair. We are too complacent in this country which is why these big companies get away with so much.

The fundamental difference is that you are claiming compensation for the results of their actions (or inactions) whereas the OP is the one who has breached the contract.

It appears that many large organisation (including local Government) have a compensation bucket they dip into to keep aggravated parties quiet).

 

Cheap is best.

"Easyjet, Monarch, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic, have never been involved in an accident that resulted in passenger fatalities (figure from 2009)."

take 2009 and most airlines are free from crashes.

You are wasting your time fighting an airline. You book. you dont turn up or cancel you lose.

Ryanair have never ever in the whole history of the company lost a passenger.

Not something BA and most of the others can say,so suits me sir.

 

[JonathanSEO]

Ryan Air rule supreme.

They have the newest fleet of any airline to maintain their record of arriving on time.

Can't knock them.

 

[Charlie B ACS]

Ryanair have never ever in the whole history of the company lost a passenger.

Though a number of their passenger have gotten lost from the very outlying airports used

 

[Deleted member 59730]

http://www.ihateryanair.org/

Also

I think that leaving children and disabled people at wrong airports on the other end of the country and in the middle of the night is fairly irresponsible.

 

[David Griffiths]

I fly with RyanAir every month, they drive me crazy. Everybody hates them

Everybody? You sound like a TV presenter. "everybody does this" or "we're all doing that"

It is patently untrue that "everybody" hates Ryanair. I don't have the slightest problem with them, basically because they "do what they say on the tin"

I can get a return flight to the South of France for less than a single railfare to London. I'm happy with that. I know that there are extra charges for some things. Not a problem. If I don't want to pay for them I don't use them, or I don't book.

I don't care if they try to sell me hotels, car hire or something else. I know that they are going to do it. I can live with it. It might suit me to buy, it might not. I don't look down on the cabin crew for selling - it's their job. And some people do buy, so there is a demand

I'm not going to get wound up over something that I know is going to happen.

 

[MokaBox]

Chill out.

I was just having a rant.

 

[David Griffiths]

Chill out.

I was just having a rant.

And I was just being rational.

Apart from ranting about being included in "everybody" that is!

 

[kulture]

And I see that the thread has been completely de-railed. Well done!

Back to EasyJet. They sold a seat and luggage space, you chose not to use them. You did not have a reason that can be covered by the insurance.Tough.

It is not at all comparable to the banks.

 

[iArtist]

The fundamental difference is that you are claiming compensation for the results of their actions (or inactions) whereas the OP is the one who has breached the contract.

It appears that many large organisation (including local Government) have a compensation bucket they dip into to keep aggravated parties quiet).

Very true. I think in ops case, I'd just suck it up and move on. It's like putting a deposit on a holiday, wedding dress , venue so on and so forth. You cancel outside terms and you geenrally know ..that's it, kiss bye bye to money.

It would be nice if an automated system was in place re all these things, that if the item is resold you just pay for their costs with regards to re letting the item, admin etc.

 

[FirstClassVirtualOffice]

I can't believe the OP has even posted this thread, and hasn't ever paid for other things they decided they didn't need and realised they could not get a refund.

We sell a service and if our customer found that after all, they didn't need it, they would get no refund after purchase. Lots of companies sell a service as an outright price and offer no refund. It's hardly a new concept.

My family have a caravan and if they take a booking then they take full payment. If customer cancels, there is no refund (officially that is, but unofficially they'd actually offer them another date if they could re-sell the cancelled dates but they don't tell customers in advance of this in case they try it on and start chopping and changing their dates) but to cover their back, they do state no refunds upon paying their full payment and they can't be sued because of this.

Hotel rooms do the same. Cheaper prices for non-refundable bookings, or higher prices with chance to cancel/change and not lose your money. Though after a certain time there is still always cut-off for cancellation, resulting in no refund.

The airlines tell you its non-refundable when you book. Why accept that and then complain afterwards? Strange.

The suing bit was funny as a solicitor would be charging more than £200 for the first letter to the airline and their initial consultation.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

OP, this thread is pathetic!

I'm not sure what kind of business you run, but if I order an item or some service from your business, for delivery in a few days, (and agree that once I buy it there is no refund) then I change my mind and decide that I don't want it after all, would you give me a full refund?

 

[Financial-Modeller]

...I bought a newspaper this morning but then realised I had heard most of it on the news programme on the radio. The newsagent refused to give me a refund so I'm going to sue Rupert Murdoch...

 

[CRichardson]

This thread really is ridiculous to be fair... It's like eating a bar of chocolate then giving them the wrapper and requesting a refund because the wrapper wasn't edible!

 

[Psl]

Cheap is best.

"Easyjet, Monarch, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic, have never been involved in an accident that resulted in passenger fatalities (figure from 2009)."

I hope they never do but if they did have an accident that didn't result in fatalities, then they would probably try and charge passengers for the cost of the rescue/emergency services, after selling you a scratch card to determine which passenger goes down the emergency shoots first

 

[eetherington]

As many people have said before you are not entitled to a refund if you cancel at the last minute, it should say in their t and c that if you give enough time for the airline to cancel then they can give you some money back and the closer it is to the flight time the lower the refund is. From their point of view if supposedly they gave you the £200 back, that seat would be empty and therefore the airline would have lost the profit on that seat which also is a suable claim to you (loss of profits)

 

[eldirect]

I wish you the best od luck. Don't spend too much money trying.