2023-08-16 11:55:11
Two elderly British men confessed to being “horrified” following Ryanair charged them £110 (regarding $140) to print their tickets at the airport.
Ruth and Peter Jaffe, aged 79 and 80 respectively, had to pay this surcharge at the airport following mistakenly downloading their return tickets instead of their departure tickets, they told the BBC.
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His case triggered a flurry of complaints on social media regarding the low-cost airline’s fares.
Ryanair claimed that these fees were in line with its policy, as the couple had not checked in online for the correct flight.
However, for consumer rights expert Martyn James the couple’s experience had “struck a chord” with many others affected by unexpected surcharges.
an innocent mistake
The Jaffes were flying from London’s Stansted Airport to Bergerac, France, on Friday.
Ruth Jaffe, 79, told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today program that she found Ryanair’s website “very confusing” but thought she had managed to print her tickets correctly the day before the flight.
But when he got to the airport he realized that he had accidentally printed the wrong tickets.
“Then they told me I had to go to the Ryanair counter to get a boarding pass and there they charged me 55 pounds (US$70) per person. I was horrified,” she said.
She added that it was not easy for her husband to walk from one side of the airport to the other. “He was quite nervous and upset.”
Peter Jaffe, 80, explained that they had no choice but to pay what was being asked, as there were people waiting for them in France.
Online billing can also help avoid queues. (GETTY IMAGES).
On Sunday, her daughter posted on the social network X – formerly Twitter – that her mother had made “an innocent mistake”.
“110 pounds for 2 sheets of paper that took 1 minute. What a shame,” he wrote in his message to the low-cost airline.
He added that his parents also had to pay an extra fee to sit together, as Peter has a disability.
The post went viral, surpassing 13 million views, as numerous social media users voiced their complaints regarding the high cost of printing boarding passes at the airport and other “surprise” fees.
“I can feel the rage,” posted one X user.
Another urged Ryanair to “do the right thing” and a third opined that “there should be laws that protect the elderly.”
Another user also pointed out that it would have been cheaper to go to the nearest stationery store, buy a printer and print the tickets.
When asked regarding the numerous reactions on social media, Ruth Jaffe replied: “I think people hate Ryanair.”
“If you’re an older person and you weren’t raised using computers from a young age, it can be very difficult,” she said.
And he also highlighted the airline’s intention to “make money, as evidenced by the fact that we have to pay more to sit together.”
The couple filed a complaint with Ryanair, although they do not expect to receive anything in return.
“I think he’ll say it’s in the fine print and it was our fault. Which is true, but it was a justifiable mistake,” Ms Jaffe argued.
“It is very unfair”
Expert Martyn James told the BBC that the couple’s experience highlights “a real problem” regarding what happens if, like the Jaffes, you make such a mistake.
“It is very unfair to penalize people who have made an innocent mistake,” he said, adding that airlines should commit not to charge customers in such cases.
He explained that users have a few options if this happens to them. They can complain to the airline, as the Jaffes did, or take it to an alternative dispute resolution body or small claims court.
“But none of this guarantees compensation and a lot of people don’t have the time or energy to do it,” he said.
In any case, he stressed that “if more people complain regarding the lack of transparency, more airlines will start to reconsider these rates.”
James remarked that online check-in benefits airlines as they need less staff at the airport.
He added that these additional fees are not something new.
“For years airlines have been removing things that used to be free and charging for them,” he said.
The case of the elderly couple “touches a chord with many people because they are angry at having suffered these surcharges, whether it is for luggage, to sit next to their family member or something else.”
Ruth Jaffe, 79, described Ryanair’s website as “very confusing”.
The airline said in a statement: “Under Ryanair’s terms and conditions, which these passengers accepted at the time of booking, they were unable to check in online prior to arrival at Stansted Airport (August 11) despite receiving a reminder by email (August 10) for online check-in. These passengers were correctly charged the airport check-in fee (£55 per person).”
“All passengers traveling with Ryanair agree to check-in online prior to arrival at the airport and all passengers receive an email/SMS reminding them to do so 24 hours prior to departure.”
“We are sorry that these passengers ignored your email reminder and did not check-in online.”
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