Ryanairs Hidden Costs (Literally!!) (Ryanair)

Member Name: TravelSick

Product:	Ryanair
Date:	03/07/01 (186 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap

Disadvantages: not really cheap when you add the cost of stolen goods!, old noisy aircraft, poor attitude of staff

Well what can I say? Cheap, no frills airline, short flight to Dublin, what can possible go wrong??

If you have ever flown with Ryanair before, you'll know what to expect from a reasonable service at a low cost - but for a short 40 minute flight between Luton and Dublin, the service isnt really important.

We arrived at the airport, 3 hours before the flight, and had a few beers (as you do, when your off on a lads weekend) in the bar. As soon as the check-in desks opened, we were there, raring to go, eagerly handing over our bags to be sent into the abyss of the airport baggage systems.

We were called to the gate on time, and proceeded out onto the tarmac to board the 1970's 737. Walking past the engine, which was full of dents, I climed the steps to the rusty door which protects us from the outside elements at 30,000 feet. The flight left on time, and was over in a flash - arriving 10 minutes ahead of schedule. So, Ryanair are as they say, punctual (on this occasion).

Then the fun began, leaving the aircraft, we waited for a whole 2 minutes for the bags (again, your thinking, whens the bad bit going to happen aren't you?) which arrived in perfect condition (i.e. no scratches rips or dirt) and made our way to the coach which took us promtly to Dublin city centre where our accomodation was situated.

Now this is where the fairytale gets nasty! It was time to unpack, throw on our glad rags and get out on the town. To my friends shock, his two new bottles of aftershave were missing from his bag. Initial thoughts were that he had left them at home, but after checking through the rest of the bag, we noticed that his, and my sunglasses casting £80 and £95 respectively were also missing. The aftershave, and sunglasses were in different secitons of the bag and had gone!!

This is where we think - What do we do. We're in another country, and our bags which had been in the hands of Ryanair had been pilfered!
So we did the natural thing, and phoned the airline. We found that as well as the service on board, Customer services are also in the no frills category. "Phone the Police on this number" they said. So we phoned the police and a random Irish voice answered saying - you have the wrong number!
Great, we'll leave it till we go back on sunday and speak to someone at the airport v- BIG MISTAKE!!

Sunday 9am (Check in for return leg): We complained to the sales staff, who directed back through the bowels of the airport to the arrival area. At the lost luggage office, the Ryanair memberof staff completed a report, and told us to write to the address she handed on a compliments slip.

Since then, we have received a letter, stating that "Because you did not report this upon collection of your baggage, we are not in the position to offer compensation".

Basically, Ryanair expects its passengers to empty their bags as soon as they recieve them, and check to make sure nothing is stolen. Good plan to cover themselves isn't it? No wonder they just announced £75 Million profits - the £250 of sunglasses and aftershave can be included in the next profit announcement.

We're still fighting them, until we get compensation, but my advice is, LCOK YOUR BAGS and check your valuables are still there on arrival, but saying that, they even stole a role of sticky tape we used for getting bits of fluff off clothes!

Look out for my sunglasses at the Ryanair stall at a car boot sale near you!

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