irishguy28

O’Leary vows to address customer service ‘issues’ after airline is voted worst company in UK poll

irishguy28

And a PR on their own website:

http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryana...trategy-at-agm

· Launching the @Ryanair Twitter page.
· Removing the Recaptcha security feature for individual passengers from 30 Oct next (Recaptcha will remain in place for high volume bookers, screenscrapers, travel agents etc.).
· Ryanair’s mobile app will from Tues 1 Oct be downloadable free of charge (previously €3).
· Booking flow redesign to go live in December.
· Passenger registration/retention service live for summer 2014, substantially reducing the time it takes to complete bookings.

TPJ

wow, wow, wow - people started voting with their feet...

[declaimer: earlier this year, I used FR to fly KRK-Skavsta (dba STO) and was quite happy with FR]

johnny5a

and at the same similar time Ryanair charge a poor chap £160 to change to an earlier flight to get home after hearing his whole family had perished in a fire.

If Ryanair is going to change, looks like they'll need to replace their whole customer service team as the existing group would be too ingrained in the existing culture.

Note: I've not flown with them at all and have no plans to.

irishguy28

Ryanair has already refunded Dr. Sattar and written to him to apologise.

http://www.independent.ie/business/i...-29592819.html

FT Guest xyzpdq

But they only did so after the story hit the news. Extremely poor customeR service by FR.

But, hey. No one should be surprised to be kicked at, spat on and in other ways humiliated by FR.

greg5

Indeed. I had red wine spat all over my shirt once on a BA TATL trip by a Ryanair pilot on a trip over to SEA to pick up an aircraft. Classy lot.

Steve Oh

Far too little, way too late.

FlyerTalker688786

Dont understand your logic here. So you think Ryan air should let people change their flights for free or cancal for free as long as he can claim his family is in emergency? Although I dont like Ryan air I think certain degree of measure is needed. In the end the front line staff may not know if the claim is genuine. Once the story is proved refund is much easier than wasting time in airport trying to prove the story. I am not saying people should be suspected first but for a company following a correct procedure is more important than emotionally binding.

irishguy28

I don't think anyone would get far with a checkin agent of any airline with a similar story until it had made the news and therefore the story was known independently to be true.

FT Guest xyzpdq

My point is that the only reason FR did compensate was not out of customer service or what ever rules they were supposed to follow. the did ONLY because it was going viral and hurting FR from a business perspective. The could not care less about the customer in questions and his tragedy.

But I am split, if one is so careless/neglatant/daredevillish to actually buy a FR ticket - then you know what could come your way. Planes being cancelled with no compensation, planes leaving all pax behind, exhorbitant fees, etc. You name it, FR can deliver. As potential customer you should know that a FR ticket is a lottery ticket. You have good chances of winning and actually get to your destination in time - but there is also a great likelyhood of a (very) poor experience.

TProphet

The stats are pretty good for FR - >90% of flights arrive on time. They have one of the lowest mishandled bag rates in Europe, primarily because people avoid checking bags on FR wherever possible.

If you know what the rules are and play by them (print your own boarding pass in advance, take the scheduled flight, don't check a bag, cabin bag meets weight and size requirements) then you have a pretty good chance of getting to your destination without any problems. Where you'll have problems is if you need anything that is normal at another airline and FR charges ridiculous amounts of money for (from a carry-on bag that is normal for most airlines and exceeds the smaller FR carry-on requirements, to the lack of allowance for a personal item in addition to the carry-on bag, to needing a printed boarding pass for whatever reason).

I don't book FR because OLCI doesn't work if you have a non-EU passport. In the past, FR has had an "unwritten policy" where they recognize the exception and issue boarding passes at the airport at no charge; however, I have recently read about people with US passports being unable to check in online and fined at the airport because they have no pre-printed boarding pass. OK, fine, just a business decision on the part of FR. If they do not want the business of visitors to Europe I'll book easyJet, Vueling or Transavia, all of which are more convenient from Amsterdam anyway.

Gauchoec

I used the online check-in in August and September with no problem. I did have to insist a couple of times that they stamped my boarding pass. They'd say is not necessary when flying inside Schengen, but the boarding pass clearly states that I should get the "DOC's VALIDATED" stamp. Don't want to meet someone at the arriving airport playing strictly "by the written rules".

BrightlyBob

I have flown all over Europe via Ryanair, never paid more than £100 return inc all fees. I only fly for leisure and would say I fly between 5-10 return journeys pa, over half of which are FR, the rest being Easyjet & Jet2, flying almost exclusively from MAN. Ryanair have flown me to France for £2, Belgium for £10, Poland for £20, Portugal for £30, Hungary for £35, Spain for £40 RETURN inc all taxes/fees. I could go on and on.

Yes, Ryanair rules are strictly enforced, yes their website is a gigantic cross-sales mess, yes the flight itself is like an airborne flea market selling non-stop. BUT it's enabled me to travel all round Europe and explore my fellow Europeans cities. To enjoy the differences, and appreciate the similarities, to understand their cultures. To be clear, to me and those like me (who value travel but have a relatively limited budget for it) Ryanair has enabled me to see 5/10 times more of Europe than would have been possible with the flag carriers. Ryanair has in my view done more for European integration than any number of those governmental institutions and councillors jollies.

With Ryanair it's easy enough, stick UNDER all the limits and luggage dimensions, arrive early, queue early, research the rules each trip to ensure no changes and adhere slavishly to their rules, they only last as long as the flight.

Then FLY, for less than the cost of the supplements charged by the flags.

Ikaz

They have just made another announcement on their website:
http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryana...-next-6-months

It includes:

1. The “Recaptcha” security code will be removed from the Ryanair.com website for individual bookings next week (on 1 Nov next).
2. From 1 Nov, customers who book directly on the Ryanair.com website (i.e. not via travel agents or screenscrapers) will be given a 24 hour grace period from the time of their original booking, to correct any minor errors (i.e. spelling, names, routings) made in their original booking.
3. From 1 Nov, Ryanair will operate “quiet flights”, prior to 8am in the mornings and after 9pm in the evenings. During these quiet flight periods no PA’s will be made on board other than required safety announcements. Ryanair will also dim the lights during these quiet flights so that any customers who wish to snooze, can comfortably do so.
4. From 1 Dec, Ryanair will allow passengers to bring a 2nd small carry-on bag (small ladies handbag or small airport shopping bag) no bigger than 35 x 20 x 20 cms which will allow a bottle of wine or equivalent to be carried.
5. From 1 Dec, Ryanair’s boarding card reissue fee will be cut from €70/£70 to €15/£15 for customers who have already checked in online. Customers who fail to check-in online will continue to pay a €70 airport check-in fee.
6. From 5 Jan, Ryanair’s standard airport bag fees will be cut from €60/£60 to €30/£30 at the bag drop desk, and from €60/£60 to €50/£50 at the boarding gate, bringing them into line with competitor airline standard airport bag fees.

I must say that I am surprised about all of this, they must have been loosing a lot of customers with their previous rules to change all of this
(But it will not change much for me, I am quite happy about my experience with Ryanair, I know what to expect and have never had any problems, just the odd unpleasant experience with a snowstorm once)