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easyJet: slow boarding, no refund

July 17, 2007

What happens when you start charging a fee for everything that isn’t bolted down on a plane? Madness, that’s what you get. At least that’s what Ron Di Costanzo got when he flew from Barcelona to London on discount carrier easyJet.

Di Costanzo decided to spring for speedy boarding privileges, which promise the “best chance of being first on board with the first choice of seats!” Unfortunately, he wasn’t offered priority boarding that day. So he wrote to easyJet asking for a refund.

Here’s the correspondence:

I purchased Speedy Boarding for the flight. There was no Speedy Boarding that day in Barcelona. I expect a refund, not a credit. I paid you, you accepted the money, you failed to provide the service.

Ron Di Costanzo

[Just a minor comment, but it does pay to be polite, as I've noted before. "I expect a refund," doesn't always fly with a customer service agent.]

Dear Mr Di Costanzo,

Thank you for your email regarding flights.

I am so sorry to learn that you were not able to make use of our ‘Speedy Boarding’ service recently and I can appreciate that this must have been disappointing.

I regret to advise that this service is non-refundable, as confirmed in our terms and conditions at the time of booking. Unfortunately I am therefore unable to offer you any reimbursement.

I do hope this incident will not stop you from choosing easyJet in the future.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us Mr Di Costanzo. If you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again via the contact us section of the easyJet web site.

Yours sincerely,

Konstanze Gabriel

Whether the boarding was speedy or not on that day is irrelevant. easyJet’s response makes it clear that it hasn’t taken the time to consider its customer’s complaint, which is that he paid for a service he claims he didn’t get.

Oh, and as to the question of whether Di Costanzo will give the airline another chance, he says, “As for flying easyJet again. Don’t be a jerk!”

This is a cautionary tale for airlines that are flirting with more fees. Spirit, Skybus … are you reading this? Don’t let this happen to you.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

7 comments

  • gamsmmtl

    It’s a gimmick which doesn’t make any sense or logic.
    Maximum 15 minutes difference (all the Easjet planes are small) don’t make you arrive sooner (specially your seat row is in the back of the plane your will get off the last). And unless you are in the windows seat why pay to be bothered to stand up when others passagers arrive to get their seat. There was a reason for overhead storage but today with the luggaged restriction applied zealously by airlines to squize the money from the passengers, the overhead compartments have usually plenty of spaces now. Most people prefer put their cabine luggage under the seat in front of them. On my last Air France full flight from Paris to Montreal, my overhead compartment is empty.
    Thank Ron Di Costanzo for warning us. I think EasyJet must reimburse him the non-provided service.
    Of course, after luggage, foods, boarding, soon, the airline will install the coin machine for the toilets on theirs planes or may be we will pay for oxygen too.

  • Charlie Leocha

    I’m not sure whether you have flown Easy Jet within Europe, but my experiences are quite good. Their service and on-time performance when I flew with them were fine and the planes are in exceptional condition. Mr. Di Costanzo is cutting off his nose to spite his face. Use the credit. Though he is irritated, BA wouldn’t give him much more satisfaction, especially if his luggage was lost, which presumably costs far more than the Speedy Boarding charge.

  • Nancy Miller

    A couple of years ago, a young friend of mine checked in a bag at Malaga for his flight to the UK.

    The bag did not arrive and I offered to assist with making inquiries with the airline (I’m a former travel agent and airline employee, so I speak the lingo).

    Many transatlantic calls and letters later, we finally gave up. We kept getting conflicting information (they found the bag, then maybe lost it again) and never got the bag back (or the iPod inside).

    That’s when I decided I will probably never fly Easyjet.

  • Trevor

    I had a horrible experience with EasyJet as well. They have a vague baggage rule that can be read a number of ways, I read the weight restriction as per bag, not total per passenger and ended up paying about 120 euros extra for myself and travelling companion. Call after call, letter after letter, no useful response other than I’m wrong, and out the money. I would rather pay 200euros more and fly a different airline, never again will I travel EasyJet. Interestingly enough, while in Barcelona discussing this EasyJet problem with a fellow American tourist, she recalled a similar problem and hasn’t flown EasyJet in years. Being a discount airline doesn’t mean abusing customers.

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  • Jon

    I have flown Easyjet and other discount airlines throughout Europe on many occasions over the last few years. They have been much better to fly with than some of the other discount airlines. They were always helpful and on time. Their baggage weight limits are higher than most and I disagree with the comment that these requirements are vague – they are very clear on their web site and in every airport where they operate. The only drawback for any of these airlines is that they generally do not fly out of the major airports in larger cities so if you fly to Zurich you need to fly from Basel instead or from Gerona instead of Barcelona. On these small planes priority boarding has limited value, although it does have some.

  • http://elliot kevin mendelsohn

    I dreaded my first easyJET flight. It was a dream. The airbus 319 was a fine plane with seats that were not narrow. They fly usually out of MAJOR airports. I caught them from London GATWICK, as well as Stansted. They fly out of MILANO as well as NAPOLI, only three miles from downtown.And I agree, baggage limit is 44 pounds, as wellas a generous carry-on limit.

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