The EasyJet Chronicles
This communication chain had some potential but the staff in the EasyJet customer relations department have all been lobotomised and alas, nothing of their sense of humour remains. Their parents must have had a sense of humour though, as their names are seriously weird!
For all those that have grievances with EasyJet, note the various contact detials included below (which are all but impossible to find via the EasyJet excuse for a website). If you have sent any light-hearted complaints to EasyJet, please paste them as a comment below and I'll publish the best ones on this page. There must be thousands of them!!
10th April 2010
EasyJet Airline Company Limited
Hangar 89
London Luton Airport
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU2 9PF
by email to: easyjet@mailnj.custhelp.com
Dear Customer Relations,
Does God Work for EasyJet?
I used to prefer EasyJet to Ryanair. Not by much you understand, but that Leprechaun is a nasty piece of work and those dayglo yellow headrests are really tacky. EasyJet was the lesser of two evils. Not any more. Ryanair has yet to completely ruin a planned holiday whereas you have done so comprehensively – and with a level of customer care that Attila the Hun would be proud of.
The story begins when my wife and I decided to go on a walking holiday to Madeira. On Sunday 17th January, we booked seats on a flight from London Stansted to Madeira Funchal departing on Tuesday 23rd March and returning a week later. We arranged our accommodation privately and paid for our apartment and the car hire in full.
On Friday 19th February, I received an email which began:
We regret to advise you that due to unforeseen circumstances we have had to cancel the flight….
Not as much as I regretted being advised, believe me. It said that you “had to cancel the flight”. This is a transparent lie. You did not have to cancel the flight at all; you CHOSE to cancel the flight. The plane didn’t have mechanical problems or if it did, you still had over a month to fix it. The pilot couldn’t have been ill or if he was, the chances are he would recover in time. Both airports were open and accepting flights. You did not endear yourselves to me by lying in the very first line of the email.
The email continued:
We would like to offer you one of the following in accordance with our obligations under EC Regulation 261/2004:
Presumably then, but for Regulation 261/2004, I would need a canoe. I never expected to appreciate a European Directive. However, Regulation 261/2004 had evidently come to my rescue and as a result, my first option was:
- A full refund of the cost of your flight ….
I didn’t want a refund; I wanted to get to Madeira. But that was OK because there was a second option:
- A free transfer to another flight on the same route within 30 days of the original flight date. If your flight is part of a return trip, you will be able to change any directly related sector(s) within the same booking free of charge to keep your initial intended length of stay.
That’s just peachy. I could stay in Madeira the same length of time – FREE OF CHARGE! Not at the SAME TIME you understand, just the same length. I could still go for a week, just not the week when I had a hire car waiting and a villa booked, both of which had been paid for in full. But it was FREE OF CHARGE. You were not going to charge me extra for ruining my holiday. That was very big of you.
The email continued:
Please click here to choose one of the options offered to you.
This is where you started to really take the piss. Pressing ‘here’ took me to a website button that allowed me to choose either the refund, or another flight. My button press decision was “FINAL”. Absolutely NO OTHER INFORMATION was provided. Could I see WHEN my new flights were leaving and returning before I pressed the button? COULD I HELL! What was I to do, book a flight when I wasn’t actually on holiday or risk not being able to go at all?!
Finally, there was a ‘helpful’ footnote:
Please ensure you cancel your travel insurance and/or car rental, if any.
Wasn’t that nice? You were reminding me to cancel my travel insurance so that it would be impossible for me to claim on said travel insurance for the considerable cost of the one thing you didn’t remind me to cancel, MY ACCOMMODATION! You complete blithering idiots!
I didn’t press the button. Why would I when I was presented with only two completely unacceptable choices? I dispatched a brief email of complaint to you, asking for a contact number so I could discuss alternatives. Within seconds, the auto-responder spat back a reply:
Please note that we are receiving high email volumes.
Really, good heavens! What a surprise.
Therefore it might take longer than usual to respond to your email.
Like, maybe a year or two…
As a consequence of this we would ask you not to send another email.
What would be the point, there’s probably no-one there anyway.
So I didn’t send another email. I waited patiently for a response. It arrived 26 days later on the 17th March, just 6 days before we were due to fly. But it wasn’t an answer to my email at all. It was the auto-responder again:
From our records, we have seen that we have not yet responded to your request and this is below our usual next day standard.
Forgive my scepticism but I doubt that very much.
Responding to our customers as quickly as possible is a top priority for us, so we have already doubled the size of our customer services team to meet this demand.
So there are now two of you! I’m pleased you have someone to talk to. However, it is now exactly 50 days since my email to you. The day of the flight has long since passed and I’m still waiting. I’ve had two customer satisfaction surveys (an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one) from my friend the auto-responder but no reply of any kind from a human being.
Perhaps the two of you could toss a coin to decide which of you replies. Then again, perhaps you only employ computers and nobody ever gets a reply. Perhaps though, you employ deities… because, fortunately for EasyJet, God intervened on your behalf.
Yes, your spectacular failure to respond in any meaningful way to my plight and your contemptible attitude to customer care turned out to be completely and utterly irrelevant, thanks be to God.
Not 24 hours after the flight cancellation, the Big Customer Relations Department in the Sky sent the biggest storm to hit Madeira since the dinosaurs went on walking holidays there. Not only did it kill an alarming number of people that were unfortunate enough to get in its way, but it filled our holiday apartment with enough mud and rubble to build a causeway to Morocco.
As soon as I saw the breakfast news footage, I sprinted to the computer and hit the button to choose my refund before thousands of people tried to cancel flights that you hadn’t already cancelled yourselves and the whole system came crashing down around your ears. To my amazement, the button worked!
We ended up going to Norfolk. We had a very nice week.
However, I still want several things from you. First, please confirm just for my peace of mind that you had nothing to do with the storm in Madeira. Second, I would like a human being to write to me personally explaining exactly why you “had to” cancel the flight. Alternatively, a written admission that you lied in the notification email would suffice.
Next, I want a detailed explanation of why it is not possible to communicate with a human being when your regular and arbitrary cancellations wreak havoc with your customers’ travel arrangements. Finally, I require a full and sincere apology for the distress and inconvenience caused to me and all the other unlucky people who were booked on the same flight .
If I don’t receive a reply soon, the dear little auto-responder won’t know what’s hit it.
Yours etc
I received the following reply to the email copy of the this letter from one Özge Sarial, Easyjet’s Customer Experience Champion! It would seem that Ms Sarial had her sense of humour surgically removed at birth unless referring to me as ‘Ms’ is her attempt at levity. All those with complaints about EasyJet, please note that the letter includes the link to those well hidden customer relations phone numbers. Get calling.
13th April 2010
RE: easyJet [Incident: 100410-000802]
Dear Ms ******,
Thank you for contacting us.
I apologise for the inconvenience created by the disruption of your flight and I am sorry to hear that your holiday plans did not go as expected. The cancellation of your flight on 23 March was due to operational reasons.
Also, I would like to apologise for the delay in response. In case you need a speedy answer to a question in the future, I can advise you to call our contact centre. Because, we have been dealing with a huge backlog of e-mails. I have included an email for the telephone numbers that you can call us:
http://easyjet.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3158/kw/phone/r_id/166
I do hope I have been able to answer your question fully, if I have not, please click here and we will be more than happy to assist you further.
Yours sincerely
Özge Sarial
Customer Experience Champion
So, there is at least one person in the customer relations department! I couldn't very well leave it there could I? I clicked 'here' as suggested and was taken to a webpage that invited me to open an online account with EasyJet. I completed the email address, password and other details only to be told that I already had an account. I was redirected to a page that allowed me to retrieve the password and so re-entered my email address. The page promised to email me my password. It didn't. I tried again. No password. Don't you just love 'em.
To hell with it, I just hit the reply button:
15th April 2010
RE: easyJet [Incident: 100410-000802]
Dear Özge Sarial,
You have a very interesting name. You have an even more interesting title. Customer Experience CHAMPION!
Why are you a champion? Did you win the customer relations department egg and spoon race or could it possibly be that you are supposed to CHAMPION the interests of your customers?
If it is the latter, perhaps I could make a few suggestions so that you can fully exploit the considerable potential of your title:
- If your customer takes the trouble to inject a little humour into his complaint, make an attempt to respond in kind. Humour helps to dissipate the anger that most of your customers feel towards your employer.
- Try to include some information in your replies to customers. Providing information is HELPFUL!
- I think three apologies in two paragraphs is about right. Well done.
- NEVER say that a flight was cancelled ‘FOR OPERATIONAL REASONS’
This last point is perhaps the most important. Saying “for operational reasons” is akin to the mother who says “just because, darling” when her little daughter asks “Mummy, why is that man so fat?”. The answer is “Because he’s a lazy git and he drinks twenty pints of bitter a day, darling”.
In other words, be honest. There is enough bullshit in the world without you adding to it.
With this in mind, perhaps I can ask again: Why was my flight cancelled?
And another question as I appear to have decoded your incident number: Was mine really the 802nd complaint that you received on the 10th of April?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Anthony.
24th April 2010
RE: easyJet [Incident: 100410-000802]
Dear Ms ********,click here and we will be more than happy to assist you further.
Thank you for contacting us.
I would like to sincerely apologise for the delay in replying to your message. Please, be assured that this is not our usual standard.
Unfortunately, due to airspace closure leading to recent massive disruptions caused by volcanic ashes in the atmosphere we are receiving extremely high volume of correspondence. Therefore, the average waiting time for a reply has extended.
I can understand the situation you are in. However, I would like to inform you that flight is cancelled due to operational reasons means flights are subject to availability of slots from the relevant Air Traffic Control.
I hope the above clarifies.
Thank you for taking time to contact us.
I do hope I have been able to answer your question fully, if I have not, please
Yours sincerely,
Dipti Rani
Customer Experience Champion
I thought I'd have one last try:
25th April 2010
RE: easyJet [Incident: 100410-000802]
Dear Dipti Rani,
I see that you have taken over from Özge Sarial. Like Özge, you too have an unusual name. I am beginning to wonder if you use a random name generator to reply to emails. I even tested it with an anagram solver but many of the answers were extremely rude so I had better not pass on the results. Be that as it may, your names certainly add a bit of interest to your otherwise exceedingly dull replies.
I see too that you are also a Champion but not, it seems, at answering the questions put to you by your customers.
You tell me that a flight cancellation "for operational reasons" actually means "flights are subject to availability of slots from the relevant Air Traffic Control".
I average about 50 flights a year and I've spent many an unhappy hour sat on the tarmac waiting for a slot from Air Traffic Control. More often than not, the pilot comes on to tell me and my fellow sufferers that he's still waiting to find out about his allotted slot long after we are supposed to have departed. It is not something he knows in advance.
How in God's name then could you possibly have known on 19th February (when you cancelled my flight) that a slot would not be available on 23rd March (when it was actually due to fly)?
Go on, be a devil. Try honesty for a change. Stop the bullshit and tell me why my plane was cancelled.
Anthony.
Needless to say, the exchange continued without any honest explanations ever being provided and I got rather bored. Then several months later, out of the blue, EasyJet decided to get back in touch. I have absolutely no idea why, but I could hardly pass up the opportunity to shake the tree once again to see what fell out.....
This is what landed in my inbox:
20th October 2010
Dear Ms ********,
Thank you for contacting us.
I would like to sincerely apologise for the inconvenience that the disruption to your flight may have caused to you.
After looking into this matter for you, I can confirm that the amount of £355.42 has been returned to the card used in the booking on 24 February 2010, therefore this amount has already left our account.
My best advice to you would be to contact your card company, if you have not received the amount. I will be more than happy to supply any details required by your card company to assist with your enquiry.
Once again, I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this has caused you.
I do hope I have been able to answer your question fully. To update your query, please reply to this e-mail and we will be happy to assist you further.
Yours sincerely,
Lalit Rathor
Customer Service Representative
So, it seems that they still think Anthony is a girl's name but hey, I am in touch with my feminine side and have no problem with that. What I do have a bit of an issue with is their sheer mind-bending incompetence... and the very very strange names of the EasyJet customer relations staff.
I replied as follows:
Dear Lalit Rathor,
Thank you most sincerely for your curious email. It's always a pleasure to hear from EasyJet though I must confess to being just a little disappointed to receive an email from a Customer Services Representative when all the previous emails have been from Customer Services CHAMPIONS! No matter, I'm sure you will be promoted soon.
Anyway Lalit, if I may, I will respond to the main points of your email line by line as if we were having a chat:
Lalit: "Thank you for contacting us".
Anthony: "I didn't contact you".
Lalit: "I would like to sincerely apologise for the inconvenience that the disruption to your flight may have caused to you".
Anthony: "The flight was cancelled. There was no flight to be disrupted".
Lalit: "After looking into this matter for you, I can confirm that the amount of £355.42 has been returned to the card used in the booking on 24 February 2010, therefore this amount has already left our account".
Anthony "I know. That's why I didn't contact you".
Lalit: "My best advice to you would be to contact your card company, if you have not received the amount. I will be more than happy to supply any details required by your card company to assist with your enquiry".
Anthony: "That's very kind of you but I have indeed received the amount, which is why I didn't contact you... or the credit card company".
Lalit: "Once again, I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this has caused you".
Anthony: "Its very nice of you to apologise a second time but there's no need. I've come to enjoy these little exchanges and I shall miss them when you finally manage to stop contacting me".
So you see Lalit, that was why I described your email as curious. I didn't contact you (at least not for over six months) so I am somewhat at a loss as to why you replied! Surely, working as you do for such a bunch of idiots, you must have thousands of current and highly justified complaints to deal with without serving another volley in our protracted email tennis match. I think it's time we headed for the cyberspace changing rooms. However, before we do, please answer me one last question:
I have received emails so far from Ozge Sarial, Dipti Rani and now Lalit Rathor. These names are a little unusual I'm sure you'll agree. Perhaps next time I'll get a reply from Zaphod Beeblebrox. So, my final question is:
Are these actually your real names or do you make them up from left over scrabble letters?
I look forward to hearing from you (or Zaphod).
Sincerely,
Anthony
Far from heading for the changing rooms, another reply ws received from one of the strange-named cusytomer services representatives:
Dear Mr ********, [They finally got my gender right!]
Thank you for contacting us.
I appreciate your curiosity and frustration regarding this matter.
I would like to inform you that we received a refund request from this email address on 13 October 2010. [No email of any kind had been sent] This is the reason why we responded to your request in the first place.
The names you have mentioned in your email are of our customer service representatives.
I hope this clarifies the situation regarding our refund response.
I do hope I have been able to answer your question fully. To update your query please reply to this email and we will be happy to assist you further.
Yours sincerely,
Akanksha
Customer Service Representative
Akanksha! Bloody ridiculous! We have Özge, Dipti, Lalit and now Akanksha - and they expect me to believe that these are their real names! I reckon its just total bollocks from beginning to end!
I'd had enough. I decided to let it lie (and fly with any carrier except EasyJet).
If you have had a crazy exchange with Easyjet, do share it with us. Use the 'Contact Dear CustomerRelations' page or comment on this page directly below.
April 7th, 2011 - 21:41
Re: Baggage [Incident: 110320-000161]
From:
Mark Turner [Chat now]
To: easyJet Customer Services
Kevin,
I have one more Easyjet flight booked this year in a couple of weeks and from then on I will be flying BA from Bordeaux, since I fly regularly it will be one less seat on that route. I sincerely hope that you and your airline fade into corporate history where you belong. I will do my best to encourage friends, family and clients to avoid Easyjet and will happily now travel the extra 10 mins to Bordeaux to pick them up or to fly from LHR to TOU thus allowing the avoidance of the gate farthest away from the terminal, the constant delays, the dreadful scrum at boarding and having to deal with Easyjet employees who wouldn’t know what customer service is if it bit them on the backside.
You still miss the point which I am banging on and on about.
HAD A MEMBER OF YOUR STAFF INITIALLY LISTENED TO ME AND NOT TREATED ME LIKE ONE OF A HERD OF CATTLE THEN THIS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED!
I WASN’T LATE FOR THE FLIGHT WHICH YOU CONTINUE TO INFER. I WAS SIMPLY NOT LISTENED TOO AND PUT AT THE END OF AN ENORMOUS QUEUE AND WAITED UNTIL I WAS CALLED OUT IN A MAD RUSH.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND? I am not sure that you do, given your language use.
Please try to spell correctly when writing to me and stop using the word prescribed (not proscribed) as it is not correct, the clue here is pre (meaning before) and scribed (meaning written)… to have a ‘prescribed item’ it would have to be specific, there is no specific mention of drill bits anywhere in any written document to which you have referred. I would therefore suggest you use ‘prohibited’. Of course, this is debatable since I carried them on the outbound route in hand luggage and did not try to dismantle the plane.
Rest assured you have lost a customer… and without customers, no customer services. Future’s looking bright and I wish you all the best.
I will be forwarding on this correspondence to whom I consider appropriate.
Sincerely,
Mark Turner
________________________________________________________________________
Pour réussir dans le monde, il ne suffit pas d’être stupide, vous devez aussi avoir de bonnes manières. Voltaire
From: easyJet Customer Services
To: wombat_markt@yahoo.com
Sent: Thu, 7 April, 2011 10:13:22
Subject: Baggage [Incident: 110320-000161]
Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support centre.
If this issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may reopen it within the next 90 days.
Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.
Subject
Baggage
Discussion Thread
Response Via Email (- Kevin Fitzpatrick -) 07/04/2011 08.13 AM
Dear Mr Turner,
Thank you for replying.
I am sorry but I am unable to refund you the rescue fee that you paid to get on the next flight. You tried to board a plane with proscribed objects in your hand baggage. Granted, you were on time for your flight, but as security found these items in your hand baggage, you were held up as you switched the contents over to your hold baggage.
As you were on time for your original flight you were charged a rescue fee so you could board the next available return flight.
If you had have kept to the carrier’s regulations, that we ask you to read and accept before you confirm your easyJet booking, none of this mess would have occurred, and you would have been allowed to board your flight quite freely. Unfortunately you did not, and I am afraid that you are not entitled to a refund of your rescue fee.
Yours sincerely,
- Kevin Fitzpatrick -
Customer Service Representative
Customer By Email (Mark Turner) 06/04/2011 08.41 PM
Kevin,
I know about the excess baggage as after rejigging I paid an extra forty pounds on the luggage in the hold. Admittedly I did not need to transfer everything but given the wait for the next flight I was happy to pay that to lighten my hand luggage… to get charged the extra 43 pounds for a seat that is clearly empty, as a ‘rescue fee’ however just smacks of profiteering at your customer’s expense… even though I go back to the point THAT HAD YOUR STAFF LISTENED TO ME THEN THIS WOULD NOT HAVE
HAPPENED AS I WOULD HAVE HAD AMPLE TIME TO BOARD SAID AIRCRAFT… do you understand??? LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN… It’s not difficult.
As to your point below there is conjecture as to whether or not I posed a security risk. I maintain I did not as I would have presented as much of a risk with my biro in my pocket… however as stated previously, not the point. Listen, listen, listen…
And yes, there is something you can do… you can give me my 43 pounds back. End of. I paid over the odds for said
flight because it was rugby weekend, paid for excess baggage due to the moronic behaviour of HM Border Control and then paid an extra 43 pounds to be ‘rescued’ by a bunch of thieves. In my twenties and thirties I worked all over the world and flew to many destinations… I have at times been delayed by days only to be accommodated by my airline at no extra fee. This business practice is theft, plain and simple and I would be happy to see this one through as your company’s behaviour is testament to all that
is wrong with the corporate model at the moment. Do the decent thing and remember that without customers you all go home early and give me back my money that you have stolen.
M. Turner Bsc(Hons) A.C.S.I
________________________________________________________________________
Pour réussir dans le monde, il ne suffit pas d’être stupide, vous devez aussi avoir de bonnes manières. Voltaire
Response Via Email (- Kevin Fitzpatrick -) 06/04/2011 08.13 AM
Dear Mr Turner,
Thank you for contacting us again.
I sent you a response to your previous email on March 24th 2011 at 11:43am. Incase you did not receive it, here it is again:
*******************************************************
Dear Mr Turner,
Thank you for contacting us.
When you arrive at the airport we cannot guarantee how long the queues at the check-in can be, and that is why we advise passengers to arrive in plenty of time before the scheduled time of departure so as they are able to board their flight. If passengers arrive late at the airport due to some emergency at home or traffic issues, or being held up in security for example, staff at the airport can offer rescue fee, currently £43.00 per passenger. This is not a free transfer and can only be done within first two hours after scheduled time of departure (STD).
When you had to put your tools into your hold baggage, if it was over the 20 KG weight allowance, then again you would have been subject to an excess weight fee, which at the airport is £10.00 per kilo.
In regards to your explanation of the legal requirement, Section 1 Article 2 (J) of REGULATION (EC) No 261/2004 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL states:
‘denied boarding’ means a refusal to carry passengers on a flight, although they have presented themselves for boarding under the conditions laid down in Article 3(2), except where there are reasonable grounds to deny them boarding, such as reasons of health, safety or security, or inadequate travel documentation;
As you were carrying articles onboard deemed unsafe by the airport authorities, this regulation states that you were denied boarding on the grounds of health and safety and security, and the health and safety and security of our passengers is paramount.
I have read your concerns, and I can understand your frustration, but I am afraid that there is nothing that I can offer you.
Yours sincerely,
- Kevin Fitzpatrick -
Customer Service Representative
*******************************************************
I do hope that this clears it up for you.
Yours sincerely,
- Kevin Fitzpatrick -
Customer Service Representative
Customer By Email (Mark Turner) 05/04/2011 07.41 PM
Any response???
________________________________________________________________________
Pour réussir dans le monde, il ne suffit pas d’être stupide, vous devez aussi avoir de bonnes manières. Voltaire
—– Forwarded Message —-
Well, I guess turning up 1hr 45 mins beforehand just won’t do, with a queue a mile long with flights being called out so
that passengers can jump the queue and sprint to the terminal is also part of your procedure. Perhaps I should have checked in the previous evening at 8pm as your unhelpful manageress seemed to infer. Drill bits are not prescribed, neither are they particularly dangerous… Are pens forbidden? As they too would represent the same risk? All this is an aside however as it is not this point. You are being as obfuscatory as your staff at LGW, is there some sort of course that you go on at Easyjet? How not to
listen to your customers? A very simple point, if I had been listened to in the first instance then this incident would not have happened, it is the apportionment of blame in this scenario which is the crux.
I will be sending all of this discourse onward to my media chums as I am appalled by your lack of customer service and now will be flying BA to Bordeaux and I will be recommending all clients and friends do the same. I will also be considering a further complaint to the CAA and discussing how your
terms and conditions (which you seem so ready to hide behind) encompass REGULATION (EC) No 261/2004, 10 namely:
“Passengers denied boarding against their will should be able either to cancel their flights, with reimbursement of their tickets, or to continue them under satisfactory
conditions, and should be adequately cared for while awaiting a later flight.”
Since you too seem to be part of the ‘no, not listening’ process that Easyjet seems to embrace so readily I wonder if you should compare and
contrast the two documents, your terms and the legal requirements as I will be making that suggestion to the CAA firstly, then to the other regulatory bodies within the EU.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2004/l_046/l_04620040217en00010007.pdf
To correct your points below:
Easyjet does not provide the same service for every passenger, you simply charge extra for any differential service. Speedy boarding and the such. The usual scrum normally being too much for many to endure. The
term ‘rescue fee’ also seems disingenuous in this instance and should be labelled ‘piracy fee’ or just simply ‘theft’ as this is indeed what it is.
And no, you have not answered this question fully as I require an explanation of said charge in relation to the legal requirements at the link above. In the meantime I too shall study the legal issues arising from Easyjet T’s & C’s and will come back with more questions at a later date.
Sincerely,
Mark Turner, BSc(Hons) F.C.S.I
________________________________________________________________________
Pour réussir dans le monde, il ne suffit pas d’être stupide, vous devez aussi avoir de bonnes manières. Voltaire
From: easyJet Customer Services
To: wombat_markt@yahoo.com
Sent: Thu, 24 March, 2011 10:28:28
Subject: Baggage [Incident: 110320-000161]
Easyjet
________________________________________________
Name:
Mark Turner
Title:
Baggage
Date:
20/03/2011
Our Reference:
110320-000161
Booking Reference: EHJGPGX
24 th March 2011
Dear Mr Turner,
Thank you for replying.
It is unfortunate that you missed your return flight, but easyJet do recommend that you turn up at least 2 hours before departure time, incase there is any hold ups at check-in and security, as any time later than this may cause you to miss your flight. The young staff member may have told you to go to the back of the queue, as there would have been other people in the queue waiting longer
than you.
Common sense or not, our policy states that dangerous or sharp items, such as drill bits and hand tools, cannot be taken onboard as hand baggage. It is unfortunate that you missed your flight due to the fact that you tried to take proscribed items onboard, but, at as mentioned above, easyJet recommend that you arrive at least 2 hours before the scheduled time of departure, incase incidents like this occur.
I regret that I can only deal with your claim based on the terms and conditions you
agreed to when you booked. I am unable to make any exceptions as easyJet strives to provide the same service for all passengers. You agreed not to take any sharp or dangerous items onboard when you agreed to our terms and conditions when you first made your easyJet booking. Without doing this you would have been unable to finalise your booking, so I am afraid we cannot reimburse you if you missed your return flight, and had to pay a rescue fee.
I do hope I have been able to answer your question fully.
To update your query please reply to this e-mail. We will be happy to assist you further.
Yours sincerely,
- Kevin Fitzpatrick -
Customer Service Representative
This email (and any attachments) may contain privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the person we sent this email to please do not distribute, copy or rely on the information (or any attachment) it contains. If this came to you by mistake we are very sorry, please tell us straightaway and then delete it.
Unless explicitly stated any opinion expressed in this e mail may not be the same as easyJet and the content does not represent a contract. In addition we cannot accept responsibility (including negligence) for any loss or damage, for example (but not limited to) a computer virus, caused as a result of this email (or any attachments). We reserve the right to retain and monitor all email communications.
easyJet Airline Company Limited. Registered office: Hangar 89, London Luton Airport, Luton, Beds, LU2
9PF, United Kingdom. Registered in England, company number: 3034606
Response Via Email (- Kevin Fitzpatrick -) 24/03/2011 11.43 AM
Dear Mr Turner,
Thank you for contacting us.
When you arrive at the airport we cannot guarantee how long the queues at the check-in can be, and that is why we advise passengers to arrive in plenty of time before the scheduled time of departure so as they are able to board their flight. If passengers arrive late at the airport due to some emergency at home or traffic issues, or being held up in security for example, staff at the airport can offer rescue fee, currently £43.00 per passenger. This is not a free transfer and can only be done within first two hours after scheduled time of departure (STD).
When you had to put your tools into your hold baggage, if it was over the 20 KG weight allowance, then again you would have been subject to an excess weight fee, which at the airport is £10.00 per kilo.
In regards to your explanation of the legal requirement, Section 1 Article 2 (J) of REGULATION (EC) No 261/2004 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL states:
‘denied boarding’ means a refusal to carry passengers on a flight, although they have presented themselves for boarding under the conditions laid down in Article 3(2), except where there are reasonable grounds to deny them boarding, such as reasons of health, safety or security, or inadequate travel documentation;
As you were carrying articles onboard deemed unsafe by the airport authorities, this regulation states that you were denied boarding on the grounds of health and safety and security, and the health and safety and security of our passengers is paramount.
I have read your concerns, and I can understand your frustration, but I am afraid that there is nothing that I can offer you.
Yours sincerely,
- Kevin Fitzpatrick -
Customer Service Representative
Customer By Email (Mark Turner) 24/03/2011 11.07 AM
Well, I guess turning up 1hr 45 mins beforehand just won’t do, with a queue a mile long with flights being called out so that passengers can jump the queue and sprint to the terminal is also part of your procedure. Perhaps I should have checked in the previous evening at 8pm as your unhelpful manageress seemed to infer. Drill bits are not prescribed, neither are they particularly dangerous… Are pens forbidden? As they too would represent the same risk? All this is an aside however as it is not this point.
You are being as obfuscatory as your staff at LGW, is there some sort of course that you go on at Easyjet? How not to listen to your customers? A very simple point, if I had been listened to in the first instance then this incident would not have happened, it is the apportionment of blame in this scenario which is the crux.
I will be sending all of this discourse onward to my media chums as I am appalled by your lack of customer service and now will be flying BA to Bordeaux and I will be recommending
all clients and friends do the same. I will also be considering a further complaint to the CAA and discussing how your terms and conditions (which you seem so ready to hide behind) encompass REGULATION (EC) No 261/2004, 10 namely:
“Passengers denied boarding against their will should be able either to cancel their flights, with reimbursement of their tickets, or to continue them under satisfactory
conditions, and should be adequately cared for while awaiting a later flight.”
Since you too seem to
be part of the ‘no, not listening’ process that Easyjet seems to embrace so readily I wonder if you should compare and contrast the two documents, your terms and the legal requirements as I will be making that suggestion to the CAA firstly, then to the other regulatory bodies within the EU.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2004/l_046/l_04620040217en00010007.pdf
To correct your points below:
Easyjet does not provide the same service for every passenger, you simply charge extra for
any differential service. Speedy boarding and the such. The usual scrum normally being too much for many to endure. The term ‘rescue fee’ also seems disingenuous in this instance and should be labelled ‘piracy fee’ or just simply ‘theft’ as this is indeed what it is.
And no, you have not answered this question fully as I require an explanation of said charge in relation to the legal requirements at the link above. In the meantime I too shall study the legal issues arising from Easyjet T’s & C’s and will
come back with more questions at a later date.
Sincerely,
Mark Turner, BSc(Hons) F.C.S.I
________________________________________________________________________
Pour réussir dans le monde, il ne suffit pas d’être stupide, vous devez aussi avoir de bonnes manières. Voltaire
From: easyJet Customer Services
To: wombat_markt@yahoo.com
Sent: Thu, 24 March, 2011 10:28:28
Subject: Baggage [Incident: 110320-000161]
Easyjet
________________________________________________
Name:
Mark Turner
Title:
Baggage
Date:
20/03/2011
Our Reference: 110320-000161
Booking Reference: EHJGPGX
24 th March 2011
Dear Mr Turner,
Thank you for replying.
It is unfortunate that you missed your return flight, but easyJet do recommend that you turn up at least 2 hours before departure time, incase there is any hold ups at check-in and security, as any time later than this may cause you to miss your
flight. The young staff member may have told you to go to the back of the queue, as there would have been other people in the queue waiting longer than you.
Common sense or not, our policy states that dangerous or sharp items, such as drill bits and hand tools, cannot be taken onboard as hand baggage. It is unfortunate that you missed your flight due to the fact that you tried to take proscribed items onboard, but, at as mentioned above, easyJet recommend that you arrive at least 2 hours before the
scheduled time of departure, incase incidents like this occur.
I regret that I can only deal with your claim based on the terms and conditions you agreed to when you booked. I am unable to make any exceptions as easyJet strives to provide the same service for all passengers. You agreed not to take any sharp or dangerous items onboard when you agreed to our terms and conditions when you first made your easyJet booking. Without doing this you would have been unable to finalise your booking, so I am afraid
we cannot reimburse you if you missed your return flight, and had to pay a rescue fee.
I do hope I have been able to answer your question fully. To update your query please reply to this e-mail. We will be happy to assist you further.
Yours sincerely,
- Kevin Fitzpatrick -
Customer Service Representative
This email (and any attachments) may contain privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the person we sent this email to please do not distribute, copy or rely on the
information (or any attachment) it contains. If this came to you by mistake we are very sorry, please tell us straightaway and then delete it.
Unless explicitly stated any opinion expressed in this e mail may not be the same as easyJet and the content does not represent a contract. In addition we cannot accept responsibility (including negligence) for any loss or damage, for example (but not limited to) a computer virus, caused as a result of this email (or any attachments). We reserve the right to retain
and monitor all email communications.
easyJet Airline Company Limited. Registered office: Hangar 89, London Luton Airport, Luton, Beds, LU2 9PF, United Kingdom. Registered in England, company number: 3034606
Response Via Email (- Kevin Fitzpatrick -) 24/03/2011 09.28 AM
Dear Mr Turner,
Thank you for replying.
It is unfortunate that you missed your return flight, but easyJet do recommend that you turn up at least 2 hours before departure time, incase there is any hold ups at check-in and security, as any time later than this may cause you to miss your flight. The young staff member may have told you to go to the back of the queue, as there would have been other people in the queue waiting longer than you.
Common sense or not, our policy states that dangerous or sharp items, such as drill bits and hand tools, cannot be taken onboard as hand baggage. It is unfortunate that you missed your flight due to the fact that you tried to take proscribed items onboard, but, at as mentioned above, easyJet recommend that you arrive at least 2 hours before the scheduled time of departure, incase incidents like this occur.
I regret that I can only deal with your claim based on the terms and conditions you agreed to when you booked. I am unable to make any exceptions as easyJet strives to provide the same service for all passengers. You agreed not to take any sharp or dangerous items onboard when you agreed to our terms and conditions when you first made your easyJet booking. Without doing this you would have been unable to finalise your booking, so I am afraid we cannot reimburse you if you missed your return flight, and had to pay a rescue fee.
I do hope I have been able to answer your question fully. To update your query please reply to this e-mail. We will be happy to assist you further.
Yours sincerely,
- Kevin Fitzpatrick -
Customer Service Representative
Customer By Email (Mark Turner) 23/03/2011 07.58 PM
Well that was worth the wait and the effort… It seems that common sense prevails on this side of la manche and not at LGW or the UK in general. You do not seem to be addressing the issue which is that I knew there may be a problem, I notified your staff as to said problem, was told to go to the back of the queue instead of allowing me enough time to deal with said problem and was therefore stuck at LGW for a morning and your service ran late (which to be fair it always does on the LGW TOULOUSE route).
Please address this issue as this is my complaint, not that security at LGW is retarded and lacks common sense.
Quite how a set of drill bits is a weapon still is beyond me, perhaps I may revolve them from one of my bionic nostrils?
Thanks for the link. Here’s one for you
http://www.ihateeasyjet.co.uk/portal/
It seems that you prevalent attitude of batting away customer complaints…. no, actually, customers in general is winning you few friends. Perhaps you should try accepting blame once
in a while and stop trying to fleece your customers.
Sincerely,
Mark Turner….
How many e-mails do I have to send before I get a response to this? And is there any particular strange format you want me to send it in?
________________________________________________________________________
Pour réussir dans le monde, il ne suffit pas d’être stupide, vous devez aussi avoir de bonnes manières. Voltaire
From: easyJet Customer Services
To: wombat_markt@yahoo.com
Sent: Wed, 23
March, 2011 12:41:52
Subject: Baggage [Incident: 110320-000161]
Easyjet
________________________________________________
Name:
Mark Turner
Title:
Baggage
Date:
20/03/2011
Our Reference: 110320-000161
Booking Reference: EHJGPGX
23 rd March 2011
Dear Mr Turner,
Thank you for contacting us.
I would like to sincerely apologise for the long delay in responding to your email and can assure you that this is not of our usual standard.
The agent
that read your previous email was unfortunately unable to open your attachment, so they were unable to deal with your request. I have read the attachment on your previous email (incident no.110304-001449) and I am afraid that I am unable to recompense you the fees that you were charged.
Our policy states if anything is sharp, or can be used as a weapon, it cannot be taken onboard as hand baggage. It was very well that you were allowed onto your outbound journey with these items in your hand baggage, but
you should not have been allowed to board.
I have included a link below informing you of our baggage policies:-
http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Book/regulations.html#baggage
I regret to inform you that, on this occasion, I am unable to adhere to your request and refund the excess fees that were incurred due to your trying to carry dangerous items onboard.
Yours sincerely,
- Kevin Fitzpatrick -
Customer Service Representative
This email (and any attachments) may contain privileged
and/or confidential information. If you are not the person we sent this email to please do not distribute, copy or rely on the information (or any attachment) it contains. If this came to you by mistake we are very sorry, please tell us straightaway and then delete it.
Unless explicitly stated any opinion expressed in this e mail may not be the same as easyJet and the content does not represent a contract. In addition we cannot accept responsibility (including negligence) for any loss or damage, for
example (but not limited to) a computer virus, caused as a result of this email (or any attachments). We reserve the right to retain and monitor all email communications.
easyJet Airline Company Limited. Registered office: Hangar 89, London Luton Airport, Luton, Beds, LU2 9PF, United Kingdom. Registered in England, company number: 3034606
Response Via Email (- Kevin Fitzpatrick -) 23/03/2011 11.41 AM
Dear Mr Turner,
Thank you for contacting us.
I would like to sincerely apologise for the long delay in responding to your email and can assure you that this is not of our usual standard.
The agent that read your previous email was unfortunately unable to open your attachment, so they were unable to deal with your request. I have read the attachment on your previous email (incident no.110304-001449) and I am afraid that I am unable to recompense you the fees that you were charged.
Our policy states if anything is sharp, or can be used as a weapon, it cannot be taken onboard as hand baggage. It was very well that you were allowed onto your outbound journey with these items in your hand baggage, but you should not have been allowed to board.
I have included a link below informing you of our baggage policies:-
http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Book/regulations.html#baggage
I regret to inform you that, on this occasion, I am unable to adhere to your request and refund the excess fees that were incurred due to your trying to carry dangerous items onboard.
Yours sincerely,
- Kevin Fitzpatrick -
Customer Service Representative
Auto-Response 20/03/2011 07.56 AM
Reference Number: 110320-000161
Dear Mark,
Thank you for contacting easyJet.
Your message has reached our customer service team and we will endeavour to respond to your query as soon as possible.
If you booked directly through easyjet.com and are seeking a reroute or a refund due to a cancelled flight, you may be able to help yourself through our “manage bookings” facility at easyjet.com.
If you require urgent assistance relating to imminent travel, please call us.
Yours Sincerely
easyJet Customer Services
May 20th, 2010 - 11:39
At least they offered you some sort of alternative flight. When Ryanair did this to us, they just gave us the £24.99 we’d paid for the flight and said ‘on your bike’ – which actually ended up as on the ferry and a two day each way drive to the south of France. If we make up our own holiday package now we book car hire and hotels either with a very flexible cancellation policy or with cancellation insurance.