Ryan Air...help

[CASSI1977]

I was hoping someone could help me. A couple of months back I ordered online 2 tickets for me and my partner to fly to Rome with Ryan air mid March time, they had an offer and including taxes they came to around £65.00. However my partner is unable to go due to unforseen circumstances. I have checked the website and they will not offer a refund they only offer a refund if the travelling partner dies and on this condition you have to produce a death certificate!:o

For someone else to go I have to pay an admin fee of £70.00 just to change the name on the ticket which I think is a joke and that would cost more than the amount I paid for the 2 tickets originally. I paid on my credit card and I was wondering if I have a case to get my money back.

 

Thanks:confused:

[StudentInDebt]

Claim on your travel insurance. You don't really have a case to get a refund from Ryanair and they are not shy about telling you on their website:

 

Ryanair refunds

All Ryanair fares are non-refundable - except in the case of a flight cancellation or a significant flight time change.

[CASSI1977]

Thanks for that but how would I go about that as i only take out insurance when I go somewhere and as I am not able to do go I wouldn't take it out??

 

Forgive me I may be being blonde on this one!!??? :confused:

[MAGZY]

I'd ask them to give you the money back or show you a breakdown of the £70 costs (i.e. are they true costs) and then take them to the small claims court if they don't pay up. I have done something similar with BMI when they charged me £50 to cancel a flight. I don't think it actually cost this much in reality and I seriously doubt that it costs Ryan Air £70 to change a name !

 

Change the name (at a cost of £70) then ask fo the refund/ breakdown of cost. Then follow the same claim procedure as for the bank charges.

Ryan air and BMI (et-al) will never discose these charges in court because they are comercially sensitive and are making money from them (just like the banks are with charges)

 

Go for it!

 

Magz

[121o121]

Well if you haven't got travel insurance then I don't think there's alot you can do...

 

How about a letter to them detailing your circumastance and appealing to their better nature? You could say that your a regular flyer with them and that you don't want this matter to put you off flying with them in the future. I doubt they'd check any of your details in depth if you were to do this. I can't think of anything else you can do to be honest.

[MAGZY]

"Appeal to their better nature"

Can I say that I have searched high and low for this with BMI and it doesn't actually exist - maybe it does in a 4th dimension where pigs fly

[StudentInDebt]

I'd ask them to give you the money back or show you a breakdown of the £70 costs (i.e. are they true costs) and then take them to the small claims court if they don't pay up. I have done something similar with BMI when they charged me £50 to cancel a flight. I don't think it actually cost this much in reality and I seriously doubt that it costs Ryan Air £70 to change a name !

 

Change the name (at a cost of £70) then ask fo the refund/ breakdown of cost. Then follow the same claim procedure as for the bank charges.

Ryan air and BMI (et-al) will never discose these charges in court because they are comercially sensitive and are making money from them (just like the banks are with charges)

 

I'm no expert on such matters but I would have thought you'd find it difficult to enforce an English Regulation on an Irish company.

[barracad]

Change the name (at a cost of £70) then ask fo the refund/ breakdown of cost. Then follow the same claim procedure as for the bank charges.

 

On what basis? It is not a penalty charge as there has been no breach of contract.

 

Even though the fee may be seen as excessive, it is a charge for a service which is being agreed to in advance.

 

 

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[MAGZY]

It's a punitive "charge" or "fee" for doing something that would otherwise be quite straightforward. And it is this fee that you are contesting in court.

 

There's no difference between this and the punitive charge for going overdrawn with your bank. Both are excessive and unlawful.

 

Am unsure about the Irish company though..they may have a uk registered office where you could serve the summons?

[MAGZY]

The question is "Is £70 for changing a name reasonable?"

 

Section 15 of the sale of goods and services act 1982 allows you to find out in a court of law....

 

15. Implied term about consideration

 

1.

Where, under a contract for the supply of a service, the

consideration for the service is not determined by the contract,

left to be determined in a manner agreed by the contract or

determined by the course of dealing between the parties, there is

an implied term that the party contracting with the supplier will

pay a reasonable charge.

 

2.

What is a reasonable charge is a question of fact.

 

I doubt Ryanair or any of the other airlines will like you to find out - so call their bluff.

[MAGZY]

If course it would be cheaper and easier to legally change your name than pay ryan air £70 - do it here for £7.50 with a statutory declaration which is a legal document stating that you wish to change your name and wish to be called that from now on. This is then presented with your passport and your ticket forming legal confirmation of the name change.

 

Change your name for £7.50 - change of name deed, Deed Poll or Statutory Declaration - Changing Your Name

[StudentInDebt]

But as a contract with Ryanair is probably going to be conducted under Irish Law how do you propose to enforce English law on it?

 

If you bought a toaster online from Spain and it broke down would you try to enforce the SOGAS against the Spanish shop you bought it from?

[MAGZY]

Even by their own admission they are not really an Irish company since they do most of their business is in the UK - but sadly, not legally binding enough for you to issue a claim through the county court:

 

Guardian Unlimited Business | | Ryanair chief admits his airline is not really Irish

 

Since you purchased the service in the UK then you still have some rights as a consmer but you should take legal advice on this as it could be costly claimng back money in a foreign court.

Some (not very helpful) advice here:

Consumer Direct: Factsheet - Buying overseas

 

Interesting that Ryanair can threaten to sue OUR UK government over the hand baggage affair and terrorism. but sadly they make it impossible for the likes of CASSI1977 to do the same.

 

Something has to give from Ryanair here?

[MAGZY]

Claim on your travel insurance. You don't really have a case to get a refund from Ryanair and they are not shy about telling you on their website:

 

Ryanair refunds

 

Non sensical statement StudentInDebt. That's like saying "You don't really have a case to get a refund from The Halifax and they are not shy about telling you on their website:

 

Bank Account Charges "

 

The Non refund statement is unenforcable in the unfair terms in contract 1997 and even if they charge you then this charge would be punitive and not be reasonable under s.15 of the sale of goods and services act 1982

 

The ONLY hurdle here is issuing a claim because they are an irish company - who have offices in the UK and do most of their business here.

[Bookworm]

Well, others have sued Ryanair before (the wheekchair fiasco affair springs to mind, and the lady who thought she was going to land near Lyon and ended in St Etienne, nearly 2 hrs drive away, etc...) so it must be do-able.

[StudentInDebt]

Interesting that Ryanair can threaten to sue OUR UK government over the hand baggage affair and terrorism. but sadly they make it impossible for the likes of CASSI1977 to do the same.

 

Welcome to the open European skies.

 

You may be able to apply the UTCC regs afterall - from the BBC

 

The OFT said it expected other airlines to learn the lessons of Ryanair's case.

 

"We expect other airlines using similar terms to stop doing so immediately," said the OFT's director of services Ray Hall.

 

"Continued use of such terms will be considered a breach of Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999."

[MAGZY]

Ryan air have reduced their cost of changing a name to £45 which is still excessive.

I rang up their customer services just now and asked them how much it would cost to change a name on a ticket if one was to get married. The cost of this is a very reasonable £7

 

So it proves by default that the charge of £45 to change a name is excessive - when they admit that it only costs £7

 

thoughts?

M

[Tom87]

I can't comment on the issue of which country/how to take action against a foreign company, but I can definitely say that there is concrete case law as to draconian charges. The rule is that while a company is legally allowed to charge whatever it likes as admin/penalty charges, if the charge is exorbitant it must be explicitly stated - i.e. NOT just sitting in the middle of the Ts & Cs, but written clearly somewhere like on the booking confirmation or highlighted on the website. I think any court will agree the charge of £70 for changing a name falls under draconian/exorbitant, and should be subject to this rule.

 

One case to suggest if making a claim/seeking advice from a solicitor is called Interfoto Picture Library Ltd v Stiletto Visual Programmes Ltd [1989]. There are many other similar ones. Basically it involved a company having an exorbitant penalty charge. The company argued the charge was written in the Ts & Cs so the customer should have known. But it was held that was not relevant - where a charge is seen as exorbitant, it must be very clearly and explcitly stated - written in the smallprint is not enough.

[pappy12]

I thought I should mention that the cost to change a name now with Ryanair is an incredible £110.

 

How on earth they can justify a simple change of a name by that amount, a month ahead of the flight is anyone's guess, but I think it's shocking.