1flyer

So,

I was flying LIS-MPM on a broken J seat (electronics broken, not reclineable). The FA told me TP would refund the ticket price. I contacted them via the web form. I never received a reply to my complaint

I believe I am entitled to a 75% refund of the ticket price. Several courts in the EU have ruled that a broken J seat is equivalent to an involuntary downgrade to Y.

I would now like to an appropriate period to refund or otherwise pass the claim on to a lawyer.

However, I can't find the appropriate email contact address. I won't go through the web form again. TP doesn't even email you a carbon copy of your complaint.

Can someone help me out with the contact details?

tff

The most efficient way to do so is via facebook or twitter.

CPH-Flyer

I have never heard of any cases saying a non functional seat is equivalent to a downgrade in terms of EU261/2004 compensation. Do you have some specific examples?

If the FA promised a refund, I am fairly certain that is way above and beyond what they are capable of promising. While I do believe compensation is in order, neither a full refund, or 75% seems appropriate to me.

1flyer

Thanks. I wrote them via FB and they acknowledged my request within 15 min. Let's see if they'll reply on the actual complaint...

If not, I see myself lawyering up. The story is actually a bit more ridiculous. (They initially bumped another J pax and gave me his seat. 10 min later they gave back the seat to that pax and demanded I return to the broken seat. They said I had no choice as they were fully booked.)

dtxdnc

In such similar cases, as passengers, do we need to ask for some report from the FA to use it as evidence later, or should we take photos or something. How can we proof ourselves that we are dont lie. What should we do to get some evidence/proof about the incident during the flight ?

Did you do such thing ?

CPH-Flyer

If the recline does not work, it can be difficult to take a picture of. Some airlines have issued tablets to their crew where they can log things like this, and you could ask to see them log it.
Generally I find that airlines don't deny that things happened, it is more a matter of whether they find them due for compensation. It is usually not necessary to secure evidence.

The problem with a broken seat, if it is only discovered after take off and the cabin is full, there is little that the crew can do. Sometimes they can move the seat manually, if it is recline not working.

1flyer

Some German court rulings say article 10 of EU261 applies here.

In hindsight, I do agree with you. I think they said that to calm everybody down. Particularly the other C pax which they initially moved (so I could take his functional C seat) was really upset. And, of course, I wasn't exactly thrilled that, after all, they reversed course and told me I had to go back to the broken C seat (or move down to eco).

No, I have no evidence. The FA remembered it vividly, through. I met him on my return flight. He tried to be helpful on both the outbound and inbound (as far as that was possible given the defect). The only thing I noted down is the name of the ground staff worker who (ultimately) advised me that I would have to accept the broken C seat, move to eco, or deplane. (Deplaning was not really an option -- the destination is kinda hard to get to. It would have meant a substantial delay for me.)

They discovered it before boarding. They actually started boarding eco prior to C. We sat in the bus on the tarmac for like 15 min. The plane departed slightly delayed because of it. They only informed me about the issue when I boarded. That ground staff spend quite some time on the plane talking to me and that other pax.

After having served dinner, they tried. They were only able to move it partially. The resulting position was completely unergonomic so I had to ask them to move the seat back upright.

1flyer

So, I contacted them via FB. No reply (other than a confirmation they got my message).

Often1

First, If you are promised something such as this by a FA, ask for some reference which you may cite, such as their name. There is no requirement of a refund and thus it is not likely to occur.

Second, Unaware of any EU precedent for the proposition that a non-functioning seat is a downgrade. The fact that some local judge in a small claims type non-precedential proceeding in another country did something silly does not change EU law. Moreover, neither LIS nor MPM are in Germany. This is a simple way of saying, don't hold your breath expecting a refund under EC 261/2004.

Third, you may have more luck with a complaint pointing to the problem, how it impacted you and not making this a regulatory issue where the carrier is more concerned about establishing an internal precedent.

CPH-Flyer

It would be an interesting addition to the interpretation of the regulations. I have tried to Google my way to the cases, unsuccessful. Do you a bit more specifics on the cases? Or a good access point to German court rulings?

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