Report Abuse

“HORRRRRRIBLE”

written by valeriew18 on 05/12/2012

Letter written to RyanAir after horrible experience flying with them:

Let me just start by saying that I am completely and utterly disgusted with your airline. After two flights with Ryan Air, it is hard to find a single positive thing to say about your airline, but I am reporting you to the European Consumer Affairs Department, so it will be in your best interest to read all of what I have to say to you.

First of all, the fact that you try to say you are the “Low Fare Airline” is ridiculous. None of us are so stupid as to not notice that your flights listed as 26.99 Euros end up costing 50 Euros after all of the taxes. In addition to the obscene taxes, the fact that you charge a credit card fee for booking ONLINE (when there is no other way to book except with your Ryan Air credit card scheme) is laughable. Also, if you are not a European Union citizen, you cannot check in online, which is just another one of your ways to overcharge your American (one-time) customers. While both of my flights to and from Brussels were on time and landed safely, I would rather be five minutes late than hear that obnoxious bullhorn prior to listening to your advertisement stating that “Ryan Air lands its flights on time 90% of the time, beating all other airlines.” This may be true, but the main reason Ryan Air takes off and lands on time is because it leaves from airports IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE so there are no other planes or airlines that Ryan Air has to compete with to take off on time at those airports. You don’t have more than 5 planes leaving at one time from the Girona airport, so there is absolutely no reason why your staff would be too preoccupied to get each plane out on time, so I am amazed that 10% of your flights don’t arrive on time—it should be 0%. Bus rides to and from Barcelona and Girona (roundtrip) are 21 Euros, and Brussels and Charlemoine roundtrip bus fares are 22 Euros. With the bus fares, the lack of online-check-in option for non-EU citizens, the credit card fee, the fare, and the taxes, a flight listed as 26.99 Euros comes out to be around 100 Euros. No other airlines have mark-ups even close to as large as this, and no other airlines subject their customers to having to leave from airports an hour and a half outside of their actual departure and arrival cities. The airports you use DON’T EVEN HAVE CUSTOMS, which is extremely unsettling. In addition to this, I resent having to listen to Ryan Air’s incessant subliminal messaging during the entirety of the flights. Nobody cares about “Becoming a Millionaire with Ryan Air.” Nobody wants to listen to someone talking on the overhead speakers the ENTIRE flight. I was also woken up TWICE by your stewardesses to make sure my seat belt was on. I highly doubt that I would fly out of my seat because I wasn’t wearing my seat belt considering the fact that you can’t even MOVE in the 2x2 seats that give you no room and force you to sit straight up at a 90 degree angle to make for what are miserably uncomfortable flights. Nobody can move a muscle, let alone fly out of their seats in the unfortunate event that something bad actually happened, so the stewardesses should not be waking everyone up MULTIPLE TIMES to make sure (AGAIN, WHEN I HADN’T EVEN GOTTEN UP) that my seat belt was fastened. As if these issues alone wouldn’t be enough, the pilot on our way back landed back wheels first in such a manner so as when the front wheels came down, the entire plane felt like it was going to flip on the top and slide into the gate with its wheels up. It is NEVER A GOOD SIGN when everyone begins to clap because they are ALIVE when the deathtrap of a plane comes to a complete stop.

Although these issues are all of incredible importance, they are not the main reason why I am writing today. I unfortunately made a mistake and booked my flight for today, the 26th, instead of yesterday, the 25th, to fly back to Girona from Charleroi. I was told by the check-in attendant to go over to the ticket office and they would be able to help me. After the ticket attendant told me that there were available seats and that Ryan Air could accommodate me on the flight yesterday (so I could fly back with my friends and not have to stay in a foreign country for a night by myself), she proceeded to tell me that to switch my flight would cost me 215.38 Euros. Shocked, I asked her what my other options were, and she told me that was the only option. Since getting back to Barcelona, I have spoken with several of your Ryan Air employees (one of which knew NOTHING about the company and actually HUNG UP ON ME WHEN I QUESTIONED YOUR PRACTICES), and I have found out that I DID, in fact, HAVE OTHER OPTIONS. If the unbelievably rude woman working in Booth 60 at the Ticket Desk had told me that I could have called and booked my new flight on the phone for 55 Euros OR booked it online fort 25 Euros OR been refunded for my flight today and THEN buy the new flight, then I would have been able to save 160-190 Euros. However, since the woman told me I had no other options, I was forced to buy the ticket right then and there from her. While she was telling me my “one option,” she and her other colleagues in the ticket booth were laughing and “high-fiving,” another indication to me that your airline is incredibly unprofessional and basically just a huge scam. On my way out, the door opened a little quicker/harder than I had anticipated, and it flew into the Ticket Office. The miserable woman began to bang on the glass like a gorilla barbarian just to try to scold me for opening the door too hard. This not only made a scene and made your airline look EVEN MORE PATHETIC AND UNPROFESSIONAL, but it was extremely uncalled for and unnecessary. You must forgive me if I don’t gingerly shut the gate behind me after having a 10 minute conversation with RUDEST, MOST INCOMPETENT WOMAN ALIVE (and nobody would tell me her name, but SHE REALLY NEEDS TO BE FIRED). After booking my flight and checking in, I was told by others than I could have been refunded or could have exchanged the credit for my first ticket and use that credit to help me pay for the extremely-ridiculously-priced new fare (And by the way, you should NEVER charge that much when you actually have an available seat on the flight that would not have been filled if I had not changed my flight.) Charging that much is unfair, and completely lying and saying that there are no other options is unethical, ILLEGAL, and extremely poor business strategy. Also, I find it preposterous that your phone attendants HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENS TO COMPLAINT FORMS WHEN THEY ARE SUBMITTED. I am very curious to know exactly what Ryan Air’s training system looks like—It most likely consists of how NOT to be helpful, polite, professional, or proper because I did NOT SEE ANY OF THESE QUALITIES IN ANY OF YOUR EMPLOYEES. Because I can not for the life of me find out where these complaint forms are going, I am going to submit them to all of the European Complaint Counsels so that I can be sure that they are acknowledged and not simply thrown away. I know that you can afford to refund me my money I spent on yesterday’s ticket (especially because I know you are going to sell my plane ticket that I am not using today to someone else, and you are claiming you aren’t refunding it because you are waiting until the plane has already left so I would have no way to get any money back). The fact that I was charged 215.38 for my ticket yesterday and 87 for my roundtrip ticket to Charleroi IS RIDICULOUS. There is absolutely NO REASON FOR YOU TO CHARGE ANYONE THAT MUCH, especially because I could have bought it online for 25 Euros or on the phone for 55 Euros, but I was misinformed and had to believe the gorilla woman and buy the 215.38 Euro ONE-WAY ticket (for those of you who are algebraically-challenged, that means I paid almost THREE TIMES AS MUCH FOR THE ONE WAY TICKET AS I DID FOR MY ORIGINAL ROUNDTRIP TICKET BECAUSE I WAS LIED TO=LAWSUIT).

I’m sure that you are aware of how quickly bad reviews of airlines circulate through International Student Programs. You probably are also aware that in every International Student Program Handbook, there are good AND HORRIBLE reviews of restaurants, stores, and (unfortunately for you), AIRLINES. You can rest assured that every student in my program will be receiving an email from me with this exact complaint letter so that they can be aware of the INADEQUACY, RUDENESS, UNPROFESSIONALISM, BARBARITY, OVER-PRICING, SUBLIMINAL MESSAGING, AND LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT RYAN AIR HAS. I will also make absolute sure that my review of your airline is placed front and center in multiple International Student Handbooks. I cannot believe you could hire and employ such rude, moronic, inconsiderate people. Incorrectly informing consumers that there are “no other options” for them is ILLEGAL because you are misinforming and misrepresenting the situation just so you can squeeze as much money out of them as possible because you know that THEY WILL NEVER BE RETURNING TO YOUR AIRLINE I have already spoken with my International Program Director about the steps I need to take to ensure that my review is placed in every future International Student Handbook, and all of the other students in my current program are being informed of this inadequate airline as we speak.

I expect to hear back from a MANAGER (not an incompetent, low-level employee) within the next 48 business hours (yes, two business days to those of you who can’t comprehend/who misrepresent numbers). If I do not get refunded or compensated in any way, I will proceed to post my review of your company on every single review website that I can find. I am curious as to how your company has managed to stay afloat considering that your entire “Customer Service Department” is completely in shambles. It is laughable that your slogan is “The Friendly Airline” because everything my friends and I have witnessed is THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE. You will be hearing from me (and European Consumer Services) very soon, so I suggest that you respond to me immediately. I expect a refund, and I will not rest until I get some sort of consolation check for all of the trouble and inconvenience you have caused me.