Meridiana isn’t in a hurry with compensation checks

Q|

My husband’s and my recent flight from London to Naples, Italy, on Meridiana, an Italian airline, was delayed by more than seven hours. As a result, we missed the first day of our escorted hike and did not arrive at our hotel, located a few hours southeast of Naples, until nearly midnight.

After we had returned from our trip, we were advised to invoke EU 261, the European consumer protection regulation. It states that if a flight is delayed more than three hours and the distance traveled is more than 1,500 kilometers (932 miles), each passenger filing a timely claim is entitled to a payment of 400 euros (about $427).

We immediately filed a claim. We received an automated message from Meridiana saying that the company would not be responding right away, and later an email stating that we had not completed the Meridiana form on its website, which requested identical information.

We then provided all the pertinent information again, and we submitted it by email to the Meridiana customer-care email address about two months after our flight. It has been more than 75 days since we submitted the necessary forms and documents to Meridiana, and neither of us has received any communication or compensation from the airline. We have a valid claim, the facts are clear, and we have supplied the required documentation.

We would like to receive the 400 euros each that are due to us under the EU regulation.