I hate RYAN air

[LEO]

[quote user="Opifex"]It's amazing how mention of Ryanair can spark so many posts!!

We fly with the Ryanair several times a year and have never had any trouble with the service or staff. I appreciate that in exchange for a low fare I am not going to get anything more than a basic seat that will get me to my destination safely and, in all probability, on time. We always check that we have cancelled all the option boxes when making the booking, pay with a card that doesn't attract a surcharge, arrive at the airport in good time, and take our food and drink on board with us (in our single cabin bag).

As for the staff being discourteous, I once noticed cabin staff being a little abrupt with someone when they stopped the safety announcement and walked down the cabin to ask two women to stop talking. I thought this showed a comforting regard for safety rather than a lack of customer care. On the route we use the cabin staff normally have to look after an almost full plane for 90 minutes and then get them off and the plane reloaded in 25 minutes. It must be stressful and it surprises me that they stay as cheerful as they do.

The taxi we take to Luton is normally a new Mercedes, the driver is very polite, smartly dressed, and carries my bag, but he does charge more than the Ryanair fare to France. You get what you pay for.

[/quote]

New Mercedes,polite driver,smartly dressed,sounds like a pricey taxi to catch , a budget flight .

 Not relevant to the post , perhaps more relevant to,  "I like to impress" Opifex.

[Russethouse]

[quote user="woolybanana"]Nearly three thousand hits on Ryanair in three days. Wow! How many for North Africa?[/quote]

I guess there is a very, very slim chance we (as individuals)can influence RA, but nothing we can do about Egypt.....

[Pads]

[quote user="Shoop"]Would have prefered the words being considerate as apposed to miserable git but your entitled to your own opinion[/quote] I was only pulling your leg ...;) but I still cant think of another discription ;) Imin the you get what you pay for camp...I have never had a problem with them and fly some times as much a 6 times a year ..although now the dog has her passport I tend to drive now and its much more enjoyable ...

[Iceni]

[quote user="Russethouse"]

[quote user="woolybanana"]Nearly three thousand hits on Ryanair in three days. Wow! How many for North Africa?[/quote]

I guess there is a very, very slim chance we (as individuals)can influence RA, but nothing we can do about Egypt.....

[/quote]

Dream on Gay.

More likely that Ryanair directly affects us and we don't care about Egypt (Mods - Racist comment removed) John

[Quillan]

I often think people have short memories. When we moved down to our neck of the woods from the UK the only flight to London was via Toulouse on BA, the price then was about £320 one way. We looked at going by train and there was not much different. Now the pair of us can fly from Carcassonne, which saves an hours drive, for about £100. Yes it's not as comfortable as BA and you don't get the service BUT I look at it this way, it's simply a bus with wings and it's not exactly a long flight. OK if you want to put luggage in the hold it costs but come on it's not that much more. If you want all the facilities that RA don't offer go fly with a different airline and of course pay more.

[Russethouse]

 But why do people who fly with RA have to put up with a level of rudeness or ignorance not generally found in other airlines ? Its Ok comparing it with a bus trip but are bus drivers unhelpful or impolite ?

 I can only thank goodness the route I use most is operated by FlyBe and has been problem free so far.

[Sprogster]

Quillan, I just checked the BA website and the lowest scheduled economy fare from London to Toulouse is £135 return, which includes all airport taxes, passenger duties, checked in luggage allowance and BA allows two items of hand luggage. You also get free drinks and snacks on the flight. In the recent BA sale you probably could get a fare around £100 return.

Ryanair are not always cheaper these days, especially if you need to travel with checked in luggage, at short notice or during the school holidays, so it pays to shop around where there is an alternative.

Part of the secret of Ryanair's marketing success is the perception they are always the cheapest, which is not always the case.

[just john]

[quote user="Quillan"]I often think people have short memories. When we moved down to our neck of the woods from the UK the only flight to London was via Toulouse on BA, the price then was about £320 one way. We looked at going by train and there was not much different. Now the pair of us can fly from Carcassonne, which saves an hours drive, for about £100. Yes it's not as comfortable as BA and you don't get the service BUT I look at it this way, it's simply a bus with wings and it's not exactly a long flight. OK if you want to put luggage in the hold it costs but come on it's not that much more. If you want all the facilities that RA don't offer go fly with a different airline and of course pay more.[/quote]

I remember those days (just[:D]) but things have moved on, the days of Low Cost airlines ( and ferries, if not petrol) are with us, and in a way I'm glad that MOL has set his stall out and established his reputation. MOL's price is not the issue; just the underhand way he goes about extorting it and the way people are treated. I remember Freddie Laker's Skytrain, and Speedferries; I certainly see scope for a new entrepreneur, with an all in price structure and . . . with a smile. 

[pachapapa]

[quote user="woolybanana"]Nearly three thousand hits on Ryanair in three days. Wow! How many for North Africa?[/quote]

And still going strong!  What the punters dont realise is that advertising and exposure are closely related. Is nubiggins paid by RA?[:D]

[pachapapa]

Picture of North African RA passengers at security check in...I think![;-)]

[IMG]http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/16786/slide_16786_233953_large.jpg[/IMG]

[Quillan]

[quote user="Sprogster"]Quillan, I just checked the BA website and the lowest scheduled economy fare from London to Toulouse is £135 return, which includes all airport taxes, passenger duties, checked in luggage allowance and BA allows two items of hand luggage. You also get free drinks and snacks on the flight. In the recent BA sale you probably could get a fare around £100 return. Ryanair are not always cheaper these days, especially if you need to travel with checked in luggage, at short notice or during the school holidays, so it pays to shop around where there is an alternative. Part of the secret of Ryanair's marketing success is the perception they are always the cheapest, which is not always the case.[/quote]

I know but I am talking a quite a few years ago before RA flew to Carcassonne. The knock on effect was it forced airlines like BA to dramatically review their pricing. The initial result was that BA stopped it's Heathrow flight for about three years and then bought it back. For me there would be the added hours travel plus for visitors to us it's not exactly easy to find your way round the ring road on to the motorway as there are no sign's yet it's the road that goes to Narbonne and it does not even say that.

The bottom line is if you don't like them don't fly with them, it's very simple really. Nobody is dragging you on the aircraft. As for the staff, well to be honest I don't care if they a rude or whatever, RA works for me.

Anyway I picked dates in April, (out on the 2nd and return on the 9th) a 7 day return from London, on RA its £70.98 and on BA it's £153 that's a £82 difference, yep I don't mind being treated badly and save that amount on the flight plus what I save on diesel, car parking and time.

[dave21478]

Man, are you lot still greetin on about this?

Call me cynical if you like but.....

Man flies Ryanair, has ok trip. Says nothing, or maybe posts "had good trip with Ryanair", 3 or 4 people reply saying, yeah, they are fine. End.

or

Man flies Ryanair, gets bummed by an interpretaion of the rules or whatever the reason may be, posts up a moan and dozens of people are now discussing Ryanair and potentially thousands are reading this. Ryanair Ryanair Ryanair Ryanair Ryanair Ryanair Ryanair Ryanair Ryanair Ryanair Ryanair Ryanair......on and on. Sure, its not the most flattering discussion, but the thread also contains enough usefull stuff like routes and costs to generate a little interest, but people are still talking about the company which is all they want. Any publicity is good publicity for them as far as Oleary seems concerned, which is why every now and then they announce some shite like charging for the toilet or standing room only....stories which are just unworkable in reality, but have enough hints of fact to generate outrage and therefor discussion online and in the papers.

[cooperlola]

Undoubtedly, Dave, ROL is a canny businessman and truly knows his job.

 

It has always seemed to me though, that the idea that smiling is easy and costs nothing is rubbish.  Clearly, a huge proportion of the population finds it very difficult to be courteous and polite and to look people straight in the eye and smile.  I meet them, and have met them in every country I have ever visited - just as I have met (happily rather more of) the other sort.  And I'm sure that running a cattle truck day in, day out, and being paid very little for it (whom do you think takes the hit when you want to fly for a budget price?  Mr O'Leary? - I rather doubt it) has the effect of wearing down even the most easy going types.  This must be made even worse when they are expected to keep to  rules which even they probably thought were ludicrous when they first joined the company but which they are paid to enforce, and penalised for if they are caught when they don't.  And certainly passengers who are hussled along and told to do things they would rather not whilst paying for the privelege, are not the kindest on the planet either.

I spent a few months several years back working in a supermarket once and my, was it an eye-opener.  Whilst I felt it was made a much more pleasant job if I smiled at the customers and was pleasant to them, several of my colleagues (whom I had known before in my other guise as a customer) were indeed incapable of interacting pleasantly with them.  Behind the scenes, most of these people (and they tended to be the full rather than part-timers like me) were great and I think that the clients would have been amazed if they'd actually got to know them.  However, often they had just got worn down by years of having to be appogists for the company (no names, no pack drill) who paid them a wage which barely covered the cost of their rent, let alone a decent car and the ability to feed their families, whilst having to deal with customers who looked over their heads rather than straight at them and moaned about things which the poor staff had absolutely no control over.   Sadly, also this business was one of the few in our small town which regularly had jobs for the unqualified, so they had little choice as to where to work and thus even those who should not have been allowed near the public, had little option but to put up with a job they detested with all that that implied in terms of customer service - or lack of it.

Dave, I think Ryanair is a subject which touches a lot of us - not necessarily because we use them, but because it's a microcosm of an eternal problem - what do you sacrifice in the name of saving/making money and who ultimately suffers as a result?

[Quillan]

[quote user="dave21478"]Man, are you lot still greetin on about this?

..... which is why every now and then they announce some shite like charging for the toilet or standing room only....stories which are just unworkable in reality, but have enough hints of fact to generate outrage and therefor discussion online and in the papers.

[/quote]

You forgot to mention the possible charge for toilet paper, by the sheet, but he did say each sheet would have a photograph of himself printed on it. Personally I like the man and I like what he does and the fact that he can laugh at himself. Does it hurt him or his business, well after the damning documentary a couple of years ago his sales went up not down so probably not. As was said, you pays your money and takes your chances and to be quite honest I have been insulted by staff in the best, and most expensive, of places and providing I get what I want I don't give a toss.

[Russethouse]

The theory that good customer service together with reasonable prices works as business model is surely proven by John Lewis and Waitrose, who don't seem to have suffered quite so much in the recession as others.

And before any one says they are expensive I'll point out that they stock goods at a variety of prices, now have more offers,  price match and coupons. Have their customer service standards dropped ? Not in my opinion.

[Quillan]

Yes but I would say John Lewis and Waitrose are like the BA's of this world and Asda's and Liddl are like the RA's of this world and there is no comparison you simply shop where you want to shop and sometimes you prefer to pay a little more for better service where as others think b*gger the service give it to me cheap.

[woolybanana]

[quote user="Russethouse"]

The theory that good customer service together with reasonable prices works as business model is surely proven by John Lewis and Waitrose, who don't seem to have suffered quite so much in the recession as others.

And before any one says they are expensive I'll point out that they stock goods at a variety of prices, now have more offers,  price match and coupons. Have their customer service standards dropped ? Not in my opinion.

[/quote]

Is this the secret of success at John Lewis?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1352835/Shop-assistant-sues-John-Lewis-sex-discrimination-female-colleague-slapped-times.html

[cooperlola]

It may no longer be true but when I last lived in the UK, Waitrose seemed amazingly expensive to me, and also to have a very limited rage of goods (although the latter might have been simply to do with the size of our particular branch).     I'm glad if it's changed for the better.

[Cjlaws]

I'm surprised by the number of posters here who assume that Ryanair employees will be rude to them. How many of you have had that happen to you?

For my part I fly with Ryanair a couple of times a year and have always enjoyed the experience. The crew members are always polite and smiling. Mind you I'm always polite and smile at them, and I've never tried to board with hand luggage that doesn't comply with the regulations.

Edit:

For rude and inefficient service Buzz took the biscuit. But they went bust very quickly, perhaps as a result of their level of service.

[just john]

[quote user="dave21478"]Man, are you lot still greetin on about this? [/quote]
It's good to vent your spleen occasionally Dave, how are  the customers at the gite/restaurant business [:D]

[quote user="Russethouse"] The theory that good customer service together with reasonable prices works as business model is surely proven by John Lewis and Waitrose, who don't seem to have suffered quite so much in the recession as others. And before any one says they are expensive I'll point out that they stock goods at a variety of prices, now have more offers,  price match and coupons. Have their customer service standards dropped ? Not in my opinion. [/quote]

Quite so RH, in fact lots of happy shoppers, and mostly happy staff I might add, I'm pretty sure the bean counters do OK too thank you very much.[:D]

[quote user="Russethouse"] [quote user="woolybanana"]Nearly three thousand hits on Ryanair in three days. Wow! How many for North Africa?[/quote]
I guess there is a very, very slim chance we (as individuals)can influence RA, but nothing we can do about Egypt.....[/quote]

But it will do for us, what price Brent Crude now and the £8 gallon or 2e litre . . ., Perfectly Peaceful to shut the canal
Remember 1967 and the Six Day War, the canal was closed for over eight years by an Egyptian blockade until 1975.
What price Far eastern trade. What could a poor Arab do? at least put up charges . . .

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Cjlaws"]I'm surprised by the number of posters here who assume that Ryanair employees will be rude to them. How many of you have had that happen to you?
For my part I fly with Ryanair a couple of times a year and have always enjoyed the experience. The crew members are always polite and smiling. Mind you I'm always polite and smile at them, and I've never tried to board with hand luggage that doesn't comply with the regulations.
[/quote]However, I know quite a lot of people (not you, of course, m'dear!) who tell me they have been polite and got a rude response but whom I have seen "in operation", as it were, and thus I know very well that they were probably bl**dy unpleasant, because they always are, especially to "service" personel.  A close member of my own family is a real embarassment to go out in public with because they just put the backs up of everybody they come into contact with by being universally patronising and unpleasant and yet they have absolutely no idea (in spite of the filthy looks and indifferent service they invariably get) that they are, even when it's pointed out to them.

But how many of us truly knows - or is ever prepared to acknowledge - how pleasant and/or rude they really are?

[Cjlaws]

Coops -

I quite agree with you. But I was really asking how many of the posters on this thread who assume that Ryanair crew are rude have flown with Ryanair, and if so, were the crew actually rude to them?

[Russethouse]

[quote user="cooperlola"]It may no longer be true but when I last lived in the UK, Waitrose seemed amazingly expensive to me, and also to have a very limited rage of goods (although the latter might have been simply to do with the size of our particular branch).     I'm glad if it's changed for the better.[/quote]

I think they have had to change with the times - they now have an 'essentials' range which is perfectly good but less expensive as well as price matching Tesco's, plus the offers, (BOGOFs) coupons etc. They are my nearest supermarket and I shop there several times a week, but every now and then I go to Tesco for lines Waitrose don't do (for example my mothers carers like Daisy disinfectant so I buy it in bulk every couple of months)

[Sprogster]

For the best example that low cost and good service can go together, look no further than the large fast food chains like McDonalds.

Unfortunately, the lack of transparency on pricing by the low cost carriers leads to passenger confrontation, and the third party companies who provide the airport ground handling are increasingly fed up with being stuck in the middle.

Unfortunately, this is unlikely to change until regulation is tightened by the EU authorities, something that apparently is being looked into.

[MrCanary]

In answer to Cjlaws question - no, I have never suffered rudeness from a member of the Ryanair flight crew teams...

But I stopped flying with them 3 years ago when they set up their cottage industry of ripping people off. And I have seen their very rude CEO on tv a number of times.

Incidentally, I mentioned earlier in this thread about my son flying to Amsterdam with KLM from Norwich...

His 12kgs hand baggage allowance can be spread over two bags and if he arrived at the airport having forgotten to check-in on line, there would be no charge to do so there. (And don't forget I mentioned he has a free 23kgs bag allowance for the hold as well.)