Originally Posted by
Carl Johnson
The rule became void once the airline interfered with his ability to follow it. He failed to check in 40 minutes before the scheduled departure time due to an act of the airline. The beneficiary of a rule isn't entitled to the benefit of a rule if it interferes with someone who is attempting to follow the rule.
The law doesn't work that way and "attempting to follow the rule" isn't the requirement. Following the rule is. If you agree that you will forfeit your ticket if you arrive late well... that's a decision you make to get a cheaper ticket. You can book a flexible ticket if you prefer.
He failed to check in 40 min prior to departure because he didn't arrive at the airport in time.
However since Ryanair doesn't allow you to check in at the airport I'm a bit unsure as to what he was doing. I'm going to assume he was actually checked in to the flight and was late to drop the bags off. The wording in Ryanairs CoC is "The Bag Drop desks close strictly 40 minutes before the scheduled time of departure. We reserve the right to cancel your reservation and to deny you boarding without refund if you do not comply with these deadlines." which in my opinion is pretty clear. He could've simply walked through security and onto the plane which he had another 10 minutes to reach before the gate closed but somehow he didn't want to do that but went and picked a fight with the helpdesk instead.
Suppose I hire someone to put a roof on my house and he has to pay a penalty if the work isn't done by Friday. On Friday, I lock the gate and won't let the workers on the property, so the work doesn't get done by Friday. I'm not entitled to say "oh, the work wasn't done on Friday" and collect the penalty.
Well, you do have an entitled attitude. As far as I'm aware Ryanair don't work on the M25 so they didn't stop him from arriving earlier.
Also, it looks to me like some of the commentators here think there's some sort of "rule against flying Ryanair" and that was the rule the letter writer failed to follow. But there isn't any legal rule like that - one that charges a customer with knowing a business doesn't live up to its obligations, so that the business is then freed from the duty to live up to its obligations.
There also isn't any rule forcing Ryanair to allow the passenger to travel at all after he missed the flight, as stated by his contract with them which I'm assuming he didn't bother reading.
There is however some contractual laws regarding the CoC he signed when booking a ticket. Maybe he should've read it and he would've found that he wasn't allowed to drop his bags off late. Ryanair is very clear on what you can and can't do.
Ryanair kept the passenger from following the rules, so he didn't have to follow them and they are responsible for his losses.
I fail to see which rule they kept him from following, perhaps you could be so kind and point out where in the letter he writes that a Ryanair employee put a gun to his head and told him to stay at home instead of going to the airport? I missed that part.
And as I've told you repeatedly Ryanair doesn't care when you arrive at the airport. They don't care when you reached Easygate's gate. They don't care how you get there. They care about which time you reach their desks. I have a hard time believing his story since it seems so hyperbole and everyone who disagrees with him is called names so no, I actually don't think Ryanair said everything was fine. I think they told him where the line was and that it probably would be fine. I think he is lying.
And yes, it is an unwritten rule of aviation in Europa that if you prefer to be treated like a human being and want any leeway don't save the £30 by taking a LCC. This is a well known fact.