Ryanair, Europe’s largest low-cost airline, faced the heat of social media anger over the summer after they were hit with mass strikes and cancellations.
Since April of this year, well over a million Ryanair passengers in Europe have experienced delays or cancellations. The latest one-day pilots' walk-out on 10 August led to the cancellation of nearly 400 flights and left some 50,000 people (either departing or returning from holidays) stuck in airports.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The airline said "a very small number of cheques" processed in July had been issued as compensation to customers without a signature due to an "administrative error" <a href="https://t.co/XHD21Mzwmf">https://t.co/XHD21Mzwmf</a></p>— RTÉ News (@rtenews) <a href="https://twitter.com/rtenews/status/1032148073147973632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Under European regulation (and for as long as the UK is still a part of Europe), customer therefore were able to demand proper compensation for their delayed or cancelled flight.
Related coverage: <a href="https://thegoldwater.com/news/33550-EU-50-000-Tourists-Affected-As-Ryanair-Strikes-Video">50,000 tourists affected as Ryanair strikes (Video)</a>.
Known as EU261 and hung on posters at any European airport, the compensation for intra-European flights is set at €250 for flights of up to 1,500km and €400 for longer flights.
However, due to an administrative error, many of the cheques sent out were without a proper signature on them, and therefore unusable.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ryanair has apologised for sending incomplete cheques to passengers whose flights were delayed or cancelled, leaving them unable to bank their compensation <a href="https://t.co/DzcuCFzpGe">https://t.co/DzcuCFzpGe</a></p>— The Times of London (@thetimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/thetimes/status/1032184053821263873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Mr Gordon Fong received €600 as his flight home from Spain was first diverted and then landed at a different UK airport (leaving him with a 150-mile taxi journey to his home in Bournemouth), but when he took time off from work to cash it, the bank told him the cheque was useless.
Mr Fong: "When I received the cheque there was no signature. I took time off work to drive to the bank but was told by the teller I couldn't use it. I had to go back to the website to try and get them to respond and send a new cheque, but I still haven't had a reply."
Another couple, who saw their 25th wedding anniversary trip ruined because of the Ryanair strike, was even charged with an extra fee by their bank.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nearly 200 Ryanair compensation cheques bounce due to blank signature <a href="https://t.co/vLsqE2O5ej">https://t.co/vLsqE2O5ej</a></p>— The Independent (@Independent) <a href="https://twitter.com/Independent/status/1032199198349910016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Ms Karen Joyce: "I was totally dumbstruck. We were loyal Ryanair customers and for them to bounce the cheque as well I just thought was disgusting,"
Ryanair has issued a UK-wide apology for the mishap and blamed the problem on an "administrative error".
Source:
Twitter: #Wednesdaywisdom #Franco #22Ago #QAnon #MAGA #KAG
The Ryanair checks in the mail, promise to pull out and that Haji was helping that sheep get over the fence are the biggest lies in the UK