Jump to content

RyanAir and Customer Relations.


Bugsy
 Share

Recommended Posts

Looking at their website they don't appear to list a telephone number but there is a fax number (+35318121230) which they ask you to fax - written in English to either Baggage Claims, Customer Service or Refunds Depts.  You have to give the flight confirmation number, flight details, dates/routes and passenger names. 

Hope you get a response - Let us know!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From www.saynoto0870.co.uk (a very useful website)

 

Main Database
Company Name0870 / 08710844 / 0845GeographicalFreephoneOther Information
RyanAir 0871 2460000  +353 18121212  Head Office, Dublin, Eire; Fax: +353 18121213; Reduce cost using 1899 or similar ~ Website
RyanAir 0906 2705656  +353 12497791  Bookings, Eire; Reduce cost using 1899 or similar
RyanAir 0906 2705656  +353 12497700  Customer services menu - Eire; Reduce cost using 1899 or similar
RyanAir 0906 2705656  +353 18121228  Customer services; Fax: +353 18121230 - Eire; Reduce cost using 1899 or similar
RyanAir 0871 2460000  01279 664210  Stansted Airport (STN) Baggage enquiries
Also for: 0870 0000303
Ryanairhotel.com 0871 2460004  +353 12750233  Cheaper to call direct to Eire; Reduce cost using 1899 or similar
Stansted Airport (STN) 0870 0000303  01279 662966  RyanAir Baggage Enquiries only; ask 'Left Luggage' for a number for other Airlines

Unverified Numbers Database
Company Name0870 / 08710844 / 0845GeographicalFreephoneOther Information
Ryanair   +353 1 8121212  Number of Caroline Green, head of customer services - email: [email protected]
RyanAir 0871 2460000  +353 12497791  Reservations; press 8 for reservations. cheaper to use a phone card then dial 0871!!
Ryanair 0871 2460009  01292 473100  Premium number to book MBNA promotion flights.Got a call back from this team on 01292473100.Haven't called it back to check.
Ryanair 08712460000  +353 12497791  International Contact Number (as listed on the website)for all things to do with bookings

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My sister spoke to their head office last week to ask if she could claim back a paid flight because my mother had recently had a stroke and would not be able to use it, even with a doctor's letter of proof they were not interested, only in the case of death. Think its a bit unfair as it would cost the same to transfer it to someone to use and money for nothing springs to mind. So yes, you can get through.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Easyjet found that you could provide low cost flights by cutting out all the frills that the established carriers provided. So their flights are well priced and the overall deal, in my experience is not unpleasant.

RyanAir took the no-frills business model and thanks to its deals with regional airports drove down the costs still more. We benefit by getting out-of-season flights at ridiculously low prices. However if a plane cannot land or take-off due to bad weather – there is no plan B, this is one of the frills dispensed with.

What RyanAir is desperate to avoid is providing ‘customer service’, as that would mean having to deal with people wanting refunds for reasonable reasons and suchlike.  

Their grabbing ways of finding means of adding charges for baggage etc. further alienate us - their customers.

I wonder if a different public relations policy, where the facts about the business model were honestly spelt out – “You pay the minimum price but you get the minimum in terms of service” – would be a way of getting us more on-side.

I also wonder if they doubled the price of all the flights under £50 if they would lose any business, how else would people travel?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is just taking the p***.

I've just booked a return flight for two people. The fare is a good price but when I came to pay they will not accept that my Credit Agricole card is a Debit Card (it is) and therefore a fee is charged, not one fee but FOUR @ €3.00. One for each flight/each person.

Total for 2 Passengers
Fare Price0.04 EUR
Credit card fee 12.00 EUR
EUR Web Baggage Fe12.00 EUR
Taxes, Fees & Charges129.98 EUR
Total Price 154.02 EUR

If any other airline is looking for somewhere to fly to, please come to Poitiers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I too really dislike Ryanair and usually fly with others, including Easyjet, if the extra cost is not too onerous. I just do not trust Ryanair and know that if anything does go wrong the chances of resolving it are virtually nil.

When I have no choice but to use them I prepare for the worst and keep my fingers crossed.

I guess my distrust goes back to the time they bought Buzz and simply cancelled all flights to Toulon and then took weeks to refund the fares. Easyjet came up trumps then with an alternative flight to Nice.

Having said that they must be doing something right in the business sense as they seem to be very succesful in financial terms.

Andy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bugbear,

As i understand the Ryanair system, they charge a credit card fee whichever card is used, I dont have the details  of my last bill but  E3 for using a credit card seems about right,  not sure of the morality of it being per person though.

I seem to remember my last flight Dinard - Stanstead being something like E35 ish total which I was quite happy about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="powerdesal"]Bugbear,
As i understand the Ryanair system, they charge a credit card fee whichever card is used, I dont have the details  of my last bill but  E3 for using a credit card seems about right,  not sure of the morality of it being per person though.
[/quote]

I'm not actually too bothered about the amount, it's just the logic applied that as two people, as a couple,  making two flights (there and back) somehow equates to mutiplying the fee for using a card by 4.

Debit cards incur no charge and my card is definately a debit card, which everyone else in the world is OK with, apart from RyanAir.

Dear Michael referred to us (those travelling to and from France) simply as rich people with two homes. A statement which couldn't be further from the truth in our case.

[:@][:@]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

I actually wish to come to the defence of Ryanair. People want things for the minimum money these days but still expect a high level of service into the bargain. If people want smart service and great after-sales they should cough up and go with BA or the likes.

Ryanair do a great job in a market place mostly full of people who cannot afford to go with the smarter carriers. What these people need to remember is that if it had not been for the revolution in budget airlines they would most likely not be flying at all, or rarely at best. Furthermore this would impact directly on the viability and accessability of owning second properties abroad.

My wife and I have just moved from Sussex to St. Jean D'Angely in the Charente Maritime to run a B&B business. However, thanks to Ryanair I am able to keep the day job here in the UK for a while by commuting back from La Rochelle every weekend. Thanks to Ryanair I will soon have the option of Angouleme as well, with the added bonus of evening flights. Four of us recently took a weekend in the Charente for an all in cost of £48, including everything. That cannot be bad.

Prior to the advent of cheap flying we would not have made the move to France so readilly. It would not have been possible to make the jump whilst still maintaining a UK income to bed us in.

One must of course consider the polution aspect but there does seem to be an impression around that the more you pay for a flight the less damage it does to the enviornment. In an ideal world I would actually like to commute by rail, but while the SNCF do an excellent job at a good price, Eurostar has completely  failed to deliver a good product at a realistic price, instead offering a bad and inflexible product via 'Rail Europe' and that companie's completely useless website.

Let's stop knocking Ryanair. Their crew and stewards are always pleasant and helpful. They may not be the most highly trained in the business but their helpfulness inspires confidence. Only this weekend I have escorted an elderly relation to France and back and as arranged there were wheelchairs and assistants in all the right places at all the right time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="Etoile"]

I actually wish to come to the defence of Ryanair. People want things for the minimum money these days but still expect a high level of service into the bargain. If people want smart service and great after-sales they should cough up and go with BA or the likes.

[/quote]

As I said previously, I was not bothered by the amount charged, just the logic used. (two people, return flight, debit card charge multiplied by 4 ?)

I would love to fly BA but as far as I'm aware, they dont come to Poitiers.

 

"Let's stop knocking Ryanair. Their crew and stewards are always pleasant and helpful."

Just wait until you make a very small mistake on your booking, you may well have an entirely different view then.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I understand the principle of low cost no frills. I understand (but do not like) suffering a credit card loading but I do not understand how a credit card loading for each person, each flight can possibly be justified. And before anyone says it, I know I do not have to use Ryanair - I just feel that some things are not justifiable whatever the business plan is.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Write to the company secretary - guy called Jim Callagham saying you consider the credit card charge a penalty rather than an attempt to recover their additional charges they have incurred. propose a settlement of 80% of the amount charged and say if you have not recieved a reasonable proposal by the end of May you will persue the matter through the Courts in the Irish Republic.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anton your comments have sparked a thought in my mind and that is that the fees charged by Ryanair both for credit card payments and for changes to flight details are indeed penalties as you say. It follws that it  must be somewhat akin to the charges made by banks for overdrafts which have been held to be unfair and on which there are court cases running.

The processing charge for credit cards is usually a % of the amount of the transaction as far as I recall and not a fixed sum. I could understand a charge per booking (if it was reasonable) but a charge per person does seem way out of order.

Maybe once there is a decision on the bank cases the OFT might take an interest but even if the charge is unfair and has to be withdrawn I am sure O'Leary will find a way to make it up!

Andy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all

Whilst I understand to some extent the cross-reference to banks being taken to court about unfair charges (which I personally feel will only result in us ALL paying for something that in the UK has been for the most part free up til now), no-one can say that these ryanair charges aren't transparent if you care to look at this http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/faqs.php?sect=CHARGES.  [:-))]

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="Etoile"]

I actually wish to come to the defence of Ryanair. People want things for the minimum money these days but still expect a high level of service into the bargain. If people want smart service and great after-sales they should cough up and go with BA or the likes.

[/quote]

Etoile

Perhaps the pioneer of cheap flights was Freddie Laker but such was his PR that he was a hero to people. I do not think that O'Learys PR is such that people think he is a hero.

I have flown several times with Ryanair (Stanstead to Carcasonne) and as I live near Gatwick the cost of getting to Stanstead, car parking etc greatly increases the cost. In addition, I have always found the cabin crew to think that they are far superior to the passengers. Added to that the facilities at both Stanstead and Carcasonne then it is a very unpleasant experience.

Now, Easyjet Gatwick to Toulouse. I find the relaxed attitude of the cabin crew excellent. Whilst relaxed they give good service.

However, when all the extras etc are taken into account, things like baggage, priority boarding etc then BA are often cheaper.

For my BA fare, I can check in on line 24 hours before and select my seat. I can then drop my case at the airport, board in a civilised manner and sit in my selected seat. Receive a drink, including wine or beer and something token to eat AND the seats recline. The planes may be older but they still get me there with far less hassle than the other two.

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

P2

If it wasn't for R/Air BA would not be offering prices at their current level, they have to compete. O'Leary has changed european  flight prices forever, and good luck to him. I can't wait till he starts opening up the US market, that'll be really interesing. All this whinging about R/Air is pathetic, half the people on this site maybe wouldn't have second homes in France if  R/Air and their like hadn't happened. So he profits from the CC charges but he's still cheaper than BA. To compare this to the the overcharging of the banks is ridiculous.he provides a service, he gets you from A to B, the banks just rip you off !!!

Rock on O'Leary

Regards

Wilko

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="Wilko"]

P2

All this whinging about R/Air is pathetic, half the people on this site maybe wouldn't have second homes in France if  R/Air and their like hadn't happened.

[/quote]

Really.................................? I'm thinking that the same could be applied to your comments

As someone who has only one home I guess I fit into the 'other half' then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've negotiated a few CC deals in my time. Visa/Mastercard Interchange charges vary between 1% and 4% per transaction depending on the size of your business. LyingAir certainly would be at the lower end, so let's guess 2%. The rest is pure profit to Mr O'Leary. I'd be curious from a professional point of view where they are booking that profit. Maybe they are using it to inflate their passenger revenue figures? In my opinion it isn't passenger revenue, it should be classed as profit on financial transactions (usually loans).

Also, if Mr O'Leary runs an Irish registered company I'm not sure the OFT remit can touch him. Anyone know for sure?

Personally I use BA for business and EasyJet for everything else. BA for convenience and service. EasyJet for price and service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="Wilko"]

P2

If it wasn't for R/Air BA would not be offering prices at their current level, they have to compete. O'Leary has changed european  flight prices forever, and good luck to him. I can't wait till he starts opening up the US market, that'll be really interesing. All this whinging about R/Air is pathetic, half the people on this site maybe wouldn't have second homes in France if  R/Air and their like hadn't happened. So he profits from the CC charges but he's still cheaper than BA. To compare this to the the overcharging of the banks is ridiculous.he provides a service, he gets you from A to B, the banks just rip you off !!!

Rock on O'Leary

Regards

Wilko

 

[/quote]

Ah but RA are not always cheap. Searched for fares to go to France for a weekend in June. The dearest at nearly £300 was........Ryanair with BA and Easyjet cheaper.

So please do not run away with the myth that 'if it is Ryanair then it is cheap'.

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...