We all know that Michael O'Leary's reign of terror has led to a complete breakdown in the concept of customer service in air travel.Ryanair's business model includes cramming so many seats on a plane as to make them utterly uncomfortable for anyone but a midget to sit in. It also involves charging people extortionate taxes and additional levies for 'luxury extras' like baggage and wheelchairs.
They are known in the aviation industry as 'Ryanscare - a fright with every flight' for their fast and loose attitudes to safety procedures during their terrifyingly short turnarounds at poorly equipped regional airports.
And their policy of blaring adverts for crap like scratchcards during red-eye flights is definitely going to result in some sleep-deprived passenger assaulting staff one of these days.
But their latest wheeze is an attempt to steal money which they are not authorised to take from their own customers.
Ryanair have sent out an email to any customers who booked a flight out of the UK before the 7th of December for travel after the 1st of February this year. I've included its full text below.
Basically, because Gordon Brown doubled UK Air Passenger Duty in the last budget, Ryanair are now attempting to levy a further unauthorised charge on these customers.
I booked and paid for such a flight. But now, because Ryanair's business environment was changed in the budget, they want to try and up the price of my flight. Sorry, O'Leary, you thieving scumbag, but we had a deal. You offered a price and I took it.
Just because your business climate changes doesn't give you the right to renege on an agreed price and levy further charges at a later date.
My credit card company has been warned to reject any attempt by you to take any further payment from me for my flight. And if you attempt to do so, I'll be in touch with the Consumer Association and my lawyer.
I urge anyone else who received a similar email to behave likewise.
Here's the text:
Dear Customer,
In his budget speech on 6th December 2006, the UK Chancellor, Mr Gordon Brown MP, announced his decision to DOUBLE “UK Air Passenger Duty”. This tax grab which is applicable to every passenger departing from a UK airport will generate £1bn. in tax revenues for the UK Government, but will do nothing for the environment.
Unfortunately, as you booked your flight - confirmation number DELETED before the 7th December 2006 with a travel date after the 1st February 2007 (see the below flight details), we have no alternative, in this instance, but to act as the UK Chancellor’s tax collector.
In accordance, with Article 4.2.2 of Ryanair’s General Conditions of Carriage, the additional tax amount required by the UK government will automatically be charged to the credit card or debit card used to pay for this flight booking. These credit/debit card transactions will automatically take place over the next 2 weeks
UK Air Passenger Duty Rates – applicable per person for each departing flight from a UK airport which was booked before the 7th December 2006 for travel from the 1st February 2007 onwards.
£10*(GBP) per person for each UK domestic flight (£20 on a return UK domestic flight)
£10* (GBP) per person for flights from the UK to an EU/EEA airport
£40* (GBP) per person for flights from the UK to an airport outside the EU/EEA – e.g. Morocco
*or local currency equivalent
Ryanair condemns the UK Chancellor’s unfair and regressive tax on ordinary passengers. And we urge you to write to Gordon Brown MP at ministers@hm-treasury.gsi.gov
12 comments:
You might want to read the terms and conditions of your purchase to see what they're allowed to do. You'll probably find they're within their rights.
The problem is really Gordon Brown, why introduce retrospectively on bookings? Why not introduce it on bookings made from 1 Jan 07? Oh, more tax revenue, that's why!
If you don't pay, they'll probably stop you flying and then your stance will see you stuck at the airport with nowhere to go.
Ryanair really are the cuntiest cunts around. We stopped using them about a year and a half ago on principle. Unfortunately my principles tend to slip when money's tight, and the bastards know it.
Al, I've checked and there is nothing to prevent me from doing this and then offering to pay the surplus at check-in on the day, in pennies, which is what I intend to do.
Al, I've checked and there is nothing to prevent me from doing this and then offering to pay the surplus at check-in on the day, in pennies, which is what I intend to do.
Check harder. Pennies are only legal tender up to the value of 20p.
Yes. They are cunts. They stopped us going to Scunthorpe on Saturday and they didn't care. The cunts.
Ryanair are thieving and dangerous cunts. The entire flight operation is primarily based on time and cost at the cost of careful considered judgement of pilots. Now couple this with "minimum" service work and mark my words, Ryanair will be judged when the first lose an aircraft. I am saying when NOT if!!!
Ryanair are the Tony Balir of the airline world.
That Cunt O'Leery thinks because he has fucking nazi terms and conditions on the tickets that he is right to rob you. Blairs presidency has been rank with the same cuntish odour!
"""JC Skinner said...
Al, I've checked and there is nothing to prevent me from doing this and then offering to pay the surplus at check-in on the day, in pennies, which is what I intend to do.
2:15 PM """
-Yeh thanks a bunch JC Skinner, just make the rest of us late why dont you. After all, we're all so rich that we can affoard ten thousand flights on Ryanair if we don't make it by check in -you ****!
ryanair asre the scum of the industry-cheats, gangsters and con men
THe gypo bastards are charging me £40 to check in, because i didn't check in online 4 hours before it was only 3 hours and 57 minutes! Wankers. Yet you can check in at the airport up to 40 minutes before you fly? Fucking robbing bastards
Did anybody notice the double negative in the small print- '...and will not do nothing for the environment...' you can tell that (enormously biased and outrageous) email has been typed hastily by a bunch of (basically illiterate) crooks eager to scam the proletariat out of every last penny (up to the the value of 20p, and then it's payable by card, for another fee, of course). They are the worst company I have ever given money to... or perhaps they are just more unabashedly transparent with their ridiculous and unfair levies than other companies that actually have to worry about consumer satisfaction?
Ryanair dumped us in the wrong country. After having us sitting strapped in seatbelts waiting for a take off for 1.5 hour in Stansted, they delivered us to the wrong country - to Spain instead of Portugal. 10 mins before landing the pilot snnounced that for the reasons unknown to him we were unable to land in Faro that evening and would be landing in Malaga instead. 'But don't worry', he said, 'the coaches are waiting outside'. No coaches outside, of course, not a single Ryanair rep around. After looking for the said coaches for an hour, we found buses upstairs (how insane?) only guessing they were the Faro ones as there weren't even any signs or English speaking reps. So we were on that bus for over 6 hours travelling through the night through Spain and Portugal, with no airconditioning, drinks, or toilets. Obviously, a day of holiday wasted as had to catch up on a sleepless night. No compensation, not even a response from RyanAir until complaining to the Civil Aviation Authority. And a 2 hour plane journey turned into a 10 hour hell by plane and bus for no good reason - perfect weather, no technical faults. Something that RyanAiar wouldn't admit is that they took off late and that made them late for Faro airport which has a curfew after 11pm. So, instead of paying a late-landing fine for their own cock-up, they chose to put people through hell to save money. And before anyone screams 'you get what you pay for', a flight to a beach holiday in summer couldn't be that cheap, could it?
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