20 February 2024 , 09:53
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Three friends were left stunned when they went to board their Ryanair flight and were told there was only one seat left on the plane.
Jack Manifold, 22 and pals Harvey Reddington and Leo Warburton, also both 22, decided to "stick together" rather than one of them flying home and the other two remaining in Portugal. Jack explained that their flight back from Lisbon to Manchester Airport on January 22 had already been delayed around three hours when they were told at the gate only one of them could board, Stoke Sentinel reported.
The next available flight back to Manchester was more than 24 hours later - but as the trio decided not to split by taking the one available seat on the original flight, Harvey was told he must fork out €100 (£85) to book his place on the plane.
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The friends caught a Ryanair flight home the next day (Markus Mainka/imageBROKER/REX/Shutterstock)Jack claims that a member of staff told them that Harvey hadn't booked it there and then, flights and accommodation for him and Leo would have been "withheld" - stranding the lads in Lisbon with nowhere to stay.
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The three of them flew home the following day, but they are still waiting for €800 (£680) compensation despite the 14-day window to receive it having now gone by.
"This was supposed to be a cheap getaway. We are students and are hard up for cash as it is. It's not on. We've still not had an explanation as to why this happened. And I shouldn't have to chase up the compensation either," said Jack, who is on a placement year working at Stockport-based Robinsons Brewery.
He explained that the issue only came to light when they were waiting to board the flight having been told they would only be allocated seats at the gate.
"They stood the three of us to one side and said there was only one seat left on the plane. At such short notice we were expected to split at the gate, with one of us flying home and the other two staying in Lisbon. The next available flight was over 24 hours later. We decided as mates we would stick together. What if this was a family? Or a carer and two dependents?" Jack explained.
"Ryanair - through their contractor GroundLink - would only offer accommodation and alternate flights for two of us as there was a seat on the plane. We were threatened that if the third passenger didn't pay for the alternate flight on the spot then the accommodation and flights for the other two would be withheld."
Two days after they got home, the friends received a notification from Ryanair saying that they had issued compensation for two of the three individuals.
"They said the money would be received within 14 working days - a ridiculous timeframe," Jack continued. "We tried to fight for compensation for the third person but this was rejected. Their customer service is appalling. It has now been 14 working days and we still haven't received the compensation promised."
Over the weekend Jack spoke to a Ryanair customer service rep online and was told that the compensation payment would take weeks long to meet them, due to a spike in customers requesting pay-outs, he claimed.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: "Due to minor technical issues with the original aircraft, we were forced to make an aircraft change from an 8200 (197 seats) to an 800 (189 seats). As a result, two passengers on this flight from Lisbon to Manchester (22 Jan) were moved to the next available flight to Manchester departing the following day (23 Jan). A third passenger travelling as part of the group chose not to fly (22 Jan).
"The offloaded passengers were provided with full duty of care including overnight accommodation and meals, and our customer service team are currently processing the EU261 claims.
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"The third passenger who decided not to travel voluntarily was incorrectly charged for the new flight by gate staff at Lisbon Airport. This passenger is entitled to a refund and a member of our customer service team is in contact to process this claim. However, as this passenger chose not to travel, they are not entitled to overnight accommodation, meals and refreshments or compensation. Ryanair apologises for the inconvenience caused."
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