We've
all grumbled about extra charges on budget flights – for everything
from choosing your seat to printing off boarding passes.
But when Lucas Marshall was landed with a £320 bill by Ryanair for checking his family in, he decided to take a stand.
The father of four took the airline to court and, when Ryanair did not pay up, he sent bailiffs to its HQ.
Lucas Marshall took Ryanair to court
after he was landed with a £320 to print out his family's boarding
passes at the gate, because he had been unable to do it at home due to a
problem with the booking reference
Now
he is celebrating his victory over the multimillion pound firm – and
plans to display his £610 compensation cheque on the wall at home.
Mr
Marshall, 34, had been travelling back from the Canary Islands with
wife Michelle, 42, and children Lewis, four, Ellenor, seven, Lucy, 13,
and Carly, 16, when he was unable to print boarding passes because of a
problem with his booking reference.
With minutes to spare, he paid the fee for the boarding passes and checking in so his family did not miss the journey home.
To add
insult to injury, his children were dotted around the aircraft on the
flight and Ellenor, then six, had to sit next to strangers.
Mr
Marshall, who owns a landscape gardening firm, said: ‘I don’t like
getting walked over. The point is some people will get back and say,
“I’ll leave it, I won’t bother.”
‘But I thought that’s ridiculous. They take £300 off you for a piece of paper when really everything is already paid for.
For the father-of-three, it was the 'principle' of the matter which encouraged him to fight for it back
‘To
me it was about the principle. I hated the fact that they forced me. I
was at the end of the holiday and I was worried, I thought, “I haven’t
got this money to spend.”
‘You’ve
got ten minutes to cough up the money. I said, “I haven’t got the
money.” They said, “You can use your credit card.” It’s a case of them
bullying you to get the money.’
When
the family returned from the holiday to Fuerteventura in February last
year, Mr Marshall, of Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, sent letters to
Ryanair’s English office and the firm’s HQ in Ireland – urging the
airline to do ‘the sensible thing’ and refund the money.
He
had been charged £320 in euros for the costs of checking in at the
airport and reissuing boarding passes, as well as an administration fee.
When the airline did not respond to his complaints, he took his case to
court.
Ryanair failed to respond to the court
notice, so the bailiffs were sent in to the Essex office to reclaim the
money. Mr Marshall was given this cheque, which he now plans to frame
and keep on display in his home
Ryanair
failed to reply to the court notice so the case was automatically found
in Mr Marshall’s favour and bailiffs were sent to the headquarters in
Stansted, Essex, to reclaim the money.
In December he received a £610 cheque – but he has still not had any apology from the airline.
Mr
Marshall said: ‘They didn’t file an acknowledgement or anything – they
just kept ignoring me all the way through. When I got the cheque I was
absolutely over the moon and not for the money.
‘It
wasn’t about the money it was about the principle – it was, “You’re not
walking over me.” You can’t picture the bailiffs going in – I would
have loved to have been there.’ Ryanair declined to comment.
