Thanks for the replies everyone. Minor update, I booked a new flight on another airline. No problems, either at the gate or with immigration, so I'm now back in Spain. I wanted to wait until I was in Spain to contact easyJet, just to make it more obvious they were wrong.
Also, another question. I looked up EC261, and this part stood out:
An operating air carrier denying boarding or cancelling a flight shall provide each passenger affected with a written notice setting out the rules for compensation and assistance in line with this Regulation. It shall also provide each passenger affected by a delay of at least two hours with an equivalent notice. The contact details of the national designated body referred to in Article 16 shall also be given to the passenger in written form.
Not only was I not provided this, or any information, but I literally asked her for exactly this information when she decided to leave with my passport. It seems like she purposely violated this law. Assuming I filed a complaint, how severe are the penalties? I don't want to do that yet, but I would like to include it in my correspondence with easyJet in regards to a possible settlement.
Originally Posted by
Wallydd
Hi Alex,
Lets summarise;
1. US Passport
2. In Spain on a student visa.
3. Left Spain to Gatwick to do a visa run. Left on a student visa, to return on a standard Schengen visa/entry.
4. Got denied return boarding at Gatwick by Easyjet.
5. Presented information that contradicted KLM/Timatic data to the Gate Agent and Supervisor still denied boarding.
6. Got stuck in a hotel, wondering what to do.
Please correct me if the facts are wrong.
Yes, that is basically what happened.
1. Contact your bank/card issuer and get a charge back on the Easyjet tickets/payment.
I want to avoid this option until I see what easyJet says. I know it's there, but I'd rather the airline reimburse me directly.
Simplify and itemise the costs. Don't try for nonsense like they have to pay you because you are stressed, keep it to straight monetary costs.
I'm not planning on claiming emotional distress or anything, however I do feel that considering the multiple violations of UK and EU law, I shouldn't rule out additional damages. This went beyond a simple Involuntary Denial of Boarding.
4. Give up on her taking a picture of your passport, you aren't in the US and A asserting your rights.
I don't see what this has to do with the US. Privacy laws are pretty universal, and taking a picture of a passport on an unsecure, possibly personal cell phone in spite of the owner's repeated refusal, while physically preventing them access to their own passport is such an obvious violation of the law, and just general privacy that I don't think giving up on it is a good idea.
Keep to the facts and keep them cohesive and well presented, your initial rant isn't very clear.
I'm not sure what was unclear, you seem to have a pretty solid grasp of the facts.
Originally Posted by
irishguy28
I also completely disagree.
The only concern of the police officers at that time was to defuse a situation that was escalating (raised voices, shouting, possible unlawful detention of a passport).
They are not there to ensure that Schengen/Spanish immigration law is being correctly applied, or that Easyjet is properly upholding their end of a valid contract of travel.
To clarify this, the police involvement was mostly because I told the woman directly that unless she returned my passport immediately, I would call the police. She did not, so I kept my word. I could have pressed it further, but I honestly was just trying make them aware that the situation occurred, not get her arrested or anything. The only issue the police were involved with was the refusal to immediately return my passport to me, and since at that point I already had it back, they obviously didn't have a need to aggressively pursue a solution.
To the OP: this is one of the most woeful cases I have ever read on FT in the past 10-odd years. You clearly have a case against Easyjet, and if your depiction of that employee's behaviour has not been embellished (and I don't think it has been!), then she really needs to be called up for it.
To be fair to her, I do want to point out that the whole situation took place in a very short time period. Our entire interaction lasted about 15 minutes, and the incident with the passport was about 3-5 minutes. Also, she was the only employee I encountered who was openly rude and hostile. The other employees utterly refused to listen to logic and reason, but none were actually mean. They absolutely need to be retrained though.