FINAL CALL

On August 15 at 0610, I arrived at the gate for my 0620 Ryanair flight [from London Stansted] to Venice Treviso and was not allowed to board. I was in a state, having run from a bus I had taken from Victoria that was 20 minutes late, and had an issue with the baggage inspectors.

At the gate was a couple with two children, one of whom was autistic. The Ryanair staff member was one of the most unsympathetic employees I have ever encountered. She refused to listen to our pleas, knowing the difficulties and expense of obtaining another flight. She hid behind the excuse that the flight was closed. The children were upset at the thought of not going on their holiday. The family also had checked baggage, which would delay the flight even longer to remove from the plane rather than allowing us to board. It should be noted that the display monitors read “final call”. When I asked about that, another Ryanair customer service person said there was always a delay in changing the status of a flight on the monitors.

We all returned to the customer service desk outside the security area to arrange another flight. The coup de grâce was the agent who helped me get on another flight promising that with the £100 that she charged me, she would make sure I wasn’t charged extra for priority boarding, fast-track and the premium seat that I had paid for on my missed flight. Lo and behold, when I checked my credit card statement I was indeed charged. What a complete joke.

Allan Seiler, London