Ryanair's positive PR policy strikes again

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Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 11,159

After cancelling a return flight to Prestwick from Lubeck, stranding 40 Scottish members of a church group, Ryanair did the decent thing and offered them a seat on the next available flight.

Trouble is, the next available flight leaves this Thursday !!! Ryanair sticks to it's "cancellation policy", passengers club together to get a bus home. :rolleyes:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4476568.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4477580.stm

Original post

Member for

20 years 10 months

Posts: 1,089

In fairness to FR (and there's something I don't often say!) their cancellation policy is no secret. It's there for everyone to see.

What amazes me is that people never learn and carry on booking with them, then complain when it goes wrong.

You pay your money, you take you chance.

1L.

Now, having defended FR, I must go and lie in a darkened room.

Member for

19 years 8 months

Posts: 1,953

You pay your money, you take you chance.

Indeed - pay peanuts, get treated like monkeys :rolleyes:

Come back BA, all is forgiven! ;)

Andy

Member for

18 years 6 months

Posts: 42

I take it that the new European directive Ryanair made all that fuss about doesn't actually have any practical benefit to pax at all?

Member for

21 years

Posts: 4,209

I'm trying to dig out the leaflet the Northern Ireland Travel Advisory Group (or something like that) gave me about 5 copies of that details the amounts of compensation allowed, but cant find one at the moment.

Needless to say they can expect a significant amount of compensation from that incident, however possibly not enough to cover the cost of hiring a bus.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 11,159

In fairness to FR (and there's something I don't often say!) their cancellation policy is no secret. It's there for everyone to see.

What amazes me is that people never learn and carry on booking with them, then complain when it goes wrong.

You pay your money, you take you chance.

1L.

Now, having defended FR, I must go and lie in a darkened room.

All true but surely a policy that will backfire as in this case, with customers vowing never to use them again? OK I'm sure Ryanair don't care much about 40 passengers they've lost, but as the title of my thread suggests, it's perhaps one PR disaster after another that may put the public off this kind of lo-co travel for good.

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/51610.html

Member for

20 years 10 months

Posts: 1,089

Ren,

Don't get me wrong, I'm the last person to defend this treatment of passengers as right.

You raise an interesting point about putting people off loco's. I remember quite a while back reading an article in a newspaper business section about potentially how quickly FR's poor treatment could in theory result in no-one being willing to travel with them. Don't they say a happy customer tells 2 people, an unhappy one tells 9? So potentially every 100 unhappy passengers loses 1000 potential future passengers.

Of course some people will put up with anything for a low price.

1L.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 11,159

Ren,

Don't get me wrong, I'm the last person to defend this treatment of passengers as right.

Of course some people will put up with anything for a low price.

1L.

I have nothing but respect for your opinions on the matter, sensible and reasoned as ever. My view as someone who worked in the public service industry for a while, concurs with your's.

I don't believe the paying public will ever put up with being treated like cattle under these circumstances for very long. Yes they may pay bargain basement prices, but not always...?

Ryanair are always quick to point out just how few of their flights suffer complete cancellation in circumstances such as these, so maybe given the profitable revenues they so often trumpet, they could do something for a bunch of elderly church goers who probably didn't realise just what exactly and who they were dealing with ?

Result.... positive PR and not another bad headline.... :mad:

Member for

20 years 10 months

Posts: 1,089

so maybe given the profitable revenues they so often trumpet, they could do something for a bunch of elderly church goers

I'd like to think so. If only MO'L thought like the you and I.

1L.

Member for

19 years 9 months

Posts: 1,105

I have nothing but respect for your opinions on the matter, sensible and reasoned as ever. My view as someone who worked in the public service industry for a while, concurs with your's.

I don't believe the paying public will ever put up with being treated like cattle under these circumstances for very long. Yes they may pay bargain basement prices, but not always...?

Ryanair are always quick to point out just how few of their flights suffer complete cancellation in circumstances such as these, so maybe given the profitable revenues they so often trumpet, they could do something for a bunch of elderly church goers who probably didn't realise just what exactly and who they were dealing with ?

Result.... positive PR and not another bad headline.... :mad:

if you look back over the years at Ry,Im still to find any occasion that they have paid out compensation to any , until they are taken to court
This company is out to make money at any cost and sod the passengers ,And to give money away ,I think mister Olearhy(sorry about the spelling)would have a heart attack

Kevin