Turbulence over Ryanair flight to rugby cup final
Q Michael Clarke from Dublin contacted Smart Consumer about flight tickets he purchased with Ryanair. He booked two flights for himself and a friend several months ago to go to Edinburgh for the Heineken Cup final on May 23.
Later, he received an email from the airline stating that the flight time had been changed from 1.30pm to 8pm, and was asked to either accept the flight change or get a refund.
He writes "I didn't mind the flight being brought forward an hour or put back 20 minutes but Ryanair know as well as I do what time the match starts (5pm) so this is wholly unacceptable". As he wanted to attend the match Michael had no option but to cancel the flights and seek a refund and he booked ferry tickets instead. He has received a refund for his flight but not for his friend, a ticket that he also paid for.
A Smart Consumer contacted Ryanair for an explanation as to changes in its schedule and received the following answer: "Ryanair amended its winter schedule for Edinburgh on February 23. It later came to light that the Heineken Cup weekend was included in this wider schedule change and the initial schedule was restored for that weekend".
It seems, therefore, that Ryanair restored the original flight time to ensure fans could make it to Edinburgh for the game. Unfortunately for Michael, he had already cancelled and booked the ferry so a long journey to Edinburgh is in store for him instead.
In relation to the refunds, Ryanair say that the second passenger had also been sent emails about the initial schedule change but did not respond looking for a refund and "he remains booked on the original scheduled flight". Michael had paid with his credit card for both flights but it is worth remembering that emails from the airline will be sent to the addresses provided for the passengers, so although he didn't pay himself, Michael's friend should now also respond to the emails from the airline to confirm or change his travel arrangements.
Q Jacqueline O'Connell emailed Smart Consumer with a situation that should provide a warning to anyone buying match tickets online.
In December she purchased three premiership tickets for March from a UK online ticket shop and paid €604.65. She says "a few days before we were to travel I still hadn't received the tickets so I contacted the company to be told that the ticket would be delivered to our hotel in Liverpool before the match and to forward on the name and address of the hotel and a contact number also. To make a long story short we never received the tickets.
"On arrival home I contacted the company and have done so many times since to get my visa card refunded but as of yet they have not done so".
A Unfortunately for Jacqueline, this is not the first time that someone has bought tickets online, paid handsomely for them, and not received them.
There are many ticket-selling sites online, and many are 'touts' that sell you a ticket they don't yet have and may never, in fact, get. The tickets are usually sold above face value and it can be very difficult to get your money back when something goes wrong. The advice is simple -- only ever buy from the official ticket agent of the game or event in question. That's the only way you can be guaranteed of getting the legitimate ticket you paid for.
Jacqueline should contact the European Consumer Centre (www.eccireland.ie) as they deal with cross-border consumer complaints and will endeavour to find a solution.
