A Canadian in Sweden

Ryanair blows

know, I know. You get what you pay for. Still, Ryanair has left me breathless with their customer relations today.

Long story short: I am stuck in Rome for the next 12 hours. I should be back in Sweden by now.

The Ryanair flight out of Venice this morning was 4 hours late. Not due to weather or mechanical difficulty, but because "the aircraft was not on schedule", whatever that means. My trip back required 3 legs: Venice-Rome, Rome-Stockholm, then Stockholm-Umea (on SAS). Well, naturally my connections were ruined because of the 4 hour delay in Venice. I arrived in Rome 10 minutes before my next flight left, so the gate was closed by the time I got there.

Now, Ryanair has a policy that if you miss your flight and need to reschedule, they will put you on the next available flight to your destination for 75 euros. Fine, except there is only one flight to Stockholm per day. Obviously, regardless of what happens, I can kiss my SAS flight to Umea goodbye.

So I get into line to try to sort this stuff out. A lot of people are also in line, and there are only 2 client reps at the desk. 2 1/2 hours later, I finally get to the front of the line.

"Sorry", I am told. "The 75 euro thing only applies within 2 hours of the flight leaving."

"Ah, " I patiently reply. "But I arrived within 10 minutes of the Stockholm flight. I have just been waiting in line for 2 1/2 hours. Check my arrival time."

"No, no," the lady answers, shaking her head slowly as if talking to a small child. "Our computers only allow us to rebook within 2 hours. You are 30 minutes too late."

"But that is your fault for only have 2 people working the desk with 200 people in line"

"Sorry."

"OK, how much is a ticket, then?"

"250 euros."

"Book it. I hate you all."

Actually, the conversation was a bit longer than that. However, I did refrain from using colourful language, trying to keep in mind that the lady behind the desk was having as bad a day as I was. I don't envy her her job, that is for sure. I saw a bunch of people just lose it on her. I avoided being a boor.

So tomorrow, after spending an additional 50 euros for a crap hotel room in Rome, I will have to spend another 50-60 euros for a train ticket to Umea, because I am sure as heck not spending another couple hundred bucks for ANOTHER airfare. Plus I get to spend 6 hours on a train. Yay.

Look, I understand the limited liability thing. I really do. Say a flight is late, and because of that a passenger misses a business meeting and because they miss the meeting they lose a million dollar contract. Although it is arguably the airline's fault, they cannot be held responsible, or all airlines would rapidly be put out of business. However. In this case, it just seems to me like Ryanair could have at least offered a discount on the fare. That just seems like smart customer service policy. Since they have inconvenienced me like I have rarely been inconvenienced before and basically hung me out to dry, it will be a cold day in hell before I use their airline again.

When Air Canada looks good by comparison, you really should be worried.

posted by Jeff @ 10:33 AM