EasyJet - Lack Of Organisation and Communication. (easyJet)

Member Name: Lee24100

Product:	easyJet
Date:	11/09/08 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap.

Disadvantages: No allocated seats and a lack of staff trained in customer service.

I have only had one experience with EasyJet, flying to and from Majorca in July/August 2008.

Having looked around for cheap deals and packages we decided that it would cheapest to book our own flights and hotels separately so we could look for the best deals separately. We began our search for low cost flights and soon found Ryanair to be the cheapest option, yet when going to book our flights it soon became apparent that what Ryanair had originally quoted was the price before baggage, handling and debit card fees. After these had been added to the total EasyJet became the cheapest option so we therefore booked our flights with them.

Our outbound journey was uneventful; with the only complaint being the fact that EasyJet does not allocate seats meant that my girlfriend and I could not sit next to each other. We knew this was a risk though, so it would be unfair to blame EasyJet for this. In fact it was more down to the fact that two pairs of fellow passengers would not move next to the windows and allow us to sit in aisle seats so we were a width of the plane apart.

Our journey back however was a completely different kettle of fish. Everything went smoothly and we were soon to depart on our 23.55 flight until we got to the gate and we realised that there was a slight delay to our flight. This delay got pushed back twice as our plane didn't turn up. Eventually our plane landed and the inbound passengers got off. Passengers with young children then started boarding only to be stopped half way through. After about 10 minutes the people that had boarded started filing back into the departure lounge. We were then told 'Your flight has been cancelled due to a mechanical fault. We are sorry'. That was it, no information as to what to do next was forthcoming until some passengers towards the front of the queue started to push for more. We were then told to get our baggage and head towards the sales desk.

We did this and soon found out that the shutters on this desk would not open so we were told to go to the checkout desk. Communication once we got here was non-existent. There were rumours of some kind of priority system for booking new flights but this soon turned into a free for all. This lack of communication caused a few heated exchanges of views between some passengers, and upon getting to the front of the 'queue' we were greeted by a man with a sheet of paper with a pen. Due to the time (now 4am) the computer systems were not up and running and so he was forced to write down who had booked what flight on a piece of paper without knowing how many spaces were on this flight. After putting our name down for a flight we were offered a coach to a hotel. We declined this offer because our flight was in 10 hours and we were told that we would have to pay for the hotel and would have to 'claim it back' from EasyJet. We settled for a night in the airport.

After a sleepless night we found out that we could claim Euro4.50 to buy food and water to buy in the airport. We weren't told this by EasyJet but fellow passengers who had spent the night in the airport with us. With the over-inflated airport prices this didn't go very far at all. While trying to get this 'compensation' we also pushed for a speedy pass so we could be one of the first boarding our next flight. This was consistently declined by a less than helpful assistant, until we found one man who saw sense and decided to give us speedy boarding providing we came to his desk when checking in again!

Once we had made it to said mans check in desk, our flight home was a little less eventful, apart from the fact we couldn't get a flight back to our original destination, Stansted, and found ourselves in Luton. Luckily for us we hadn't driven to Stansted to catch our outbound flight so we just had to find our way home from Luton.

Overall, I accept that the flight cancellation couldn't be avoided and was in our own interest of safety. However, due to EasyJets incompetencies in customer services (having worked in customer services departments before, I know this is no way to treat customers), and their complete disorganisation when anything doesn't go to plan I wouldn't recommend flying with EasyJet, especially if you have young children. A few extra pounds and flying Ryanair might save you a lot of hassle in the long run!

Summary: Good unless anything unexpected happens.