Aer Lingus - worth complaining

kevfuzz

Hi all,

I'm looking for advice on whether it's worth following up my complaint to Aer Lingus. I am extremely disappointed with how we have been treated but don't know as a consumer if I've any options.

Basically to cut a long story short, my family (4 adults, 2 children) booked a flight to Orlando with Aer Lingus. The flight was via JFK and the internal US flight was operated by Jet Blue.

On the way home I had a disaster where my first flight was delayed and so we missed our connecting flight from JFK to Dublin home. This I recognise happens regularly but where I have a complaint is that how we were treated by the Jet Blue staff was completely unacceptable. We were repeatedly given incorrect information in Orlando before getting the first flight and then in JFK when trying to organise a new flight to get us home. We also had to put up with extreme rudeness e.g. when the Jet Blue employee was trying to organise our hotel, another Jet Blue employee on the other end of the phone repeatedly just kept hanging up and telling the employee we were dealing with to stop calling. Apparently he couldn't be bothered trying to organise a hotel for us!

We also couldn't get our luggage for the night and no one in the airport we spoke to could help us. My father had his heart medication in his suitcase which he needed, I explained this to the airport staff but still they were completely uninterested in helping us. At 2am after 4 hours of this nightmare with dealing with the must unhelpful/rude staff we did finally get to a hotel and had flights rearranged for the following night.

When I got back I wrote Aer Lingus a lengthy 3 page complaint detailing everything. I said that given we had 2 young children with us we felt that it would have been reasonable to except that we should have been treated professionally with respect and have been given some level of urgency in resolving the situation.

The reply I received was a generic "sorry to hear that...." but your issue was with Jet Blue so not their problem. I don't accept this as our contract was with Aer Lingus. We never choose Jet Blue. I don't think this should excuse Aer Lingus from any blame.

Do you think it's worth trying to follow up or do I have any other options?

Thanks,
Kev.

MagicMarker

What do you expect Aer Lingus to do exactly? It's a completely different airline that you had the problem with, and you did choose Jet Blue when you booked the tickets.

amdublin

Tbh whenever you get delayed and end up on a layover you never get your luggage. It's best to keep important medication in your hand luggage for that reason (a couple of days supply anyway).

Also good practice in case your luggage gets lost.

ABajaninCork

I wouldn't bother. I complained to Aer Lingus about their service some years ago. Sent the letter recorded delivery too. They couldn't be arsed to reply...

Nanazolie

MagicMarker wrote: »

What do you expect Aer Lingus to do exactly? It's a completely different airline that you had the problem with, and you did choose Jet Blue when you booked the tickets.

The OP specifies that he/she booked the flight with Aer Lingus, and that the internal flight was operated by Jet Blue.
If I understand correctly, the whole trip was coordinated by Aer Lingus, with a leg of the journey operated by a 3rd party carier. IMO, this is still Aer Lingus' responsibility if the whole trip was planned with them. They can then ask Jet Blue for compensation but they have to deal with the issue themselves.

I had a quite good response from Aer Lingus when our bags were lost last summer, we got a refund for all costs, even if they exceeded their 180 euros limit. They refunded the bag that had been damaged too.

intellectual dosser

I forgot an ipod on an Aer Lingus flight, I remember calling them to try getting it back and I kept getting spun around in circles, being given alternative numbers or being connected to dead ends. In the end I gave up (Celtic Tiger Cub).

I regret that now - I let them off the hook. I really wish I had pestered them more. For all I know they deliberately have a crap medium for complaints just to deter people. I really wish I had kept hounding them - so I recommend you do now Kev. Let them have it.

RoboRat

I forgot an ipod on an Aer Lingus flight, I remember calling them to try getting it back and I kept getting spun around in circles, being given alternative numbers or being connected to dead ends. In the end I gave up (Celtic Tiger Cub).

In fairness thats not their problem either. You forgot it so therefore you lost it and its not unreasonable to expect you to ring around IMO.

intellectual dosser

RoboRat wrote: »

In fairness thats not their problem either. You forgot it so therefore you lost it and its not unreasonable to expect you to ring around IMO.

It might not have been their fault, but I don't think its a lot to ask for a decent process of dealing with lost property. It shouldn't be difficult. Basic customer service.

RoboRat

It might not have been their fault, but I don't think its a lot to ask for a decent process of dealing with lost property. It shouldn't be difficult. Basic customer service.

Basic customer service deals with issues you have with their service. Their service in this case is about transporting you from one airport to another - not finding your property if you leave it onboard. You think it shouldn't be difficult to have a decent process to deal with lost property but I disagree - I would guess that there are a lot of people who leave things on the plane on a daily basis, then take into account the fact that these planes are going all over the world, some doing multiple trips a day with passengers from all over the world. To me, that sounds like a very complex operation which would require a lot of resources.

intellectual dosser

RoboRat wrote: »

Basic customer service deals with issues you have with their service. Their service in this case is about transporting you from one airport to another - not finding your property if you leave it onboard. You think it shouldn't be difficult to have a decent process to deal with lost property but I disagree - I would guess that there are a lot of people who leave things on the plane on a daily basis, then take into account the fact that these planes are going all over the world, some doing multiple trips a day with passengers from all over the world. To me, that sounds like a very complex operation which would require a lot of resources.

We are going off topic - I don't think we'll agree.

I suspect you're right about there being a lot of people who leave stuff behind them on a daily basis - that in itself justifies some sort of process with lost property.

I could understand not getting my ipod back due to the difficulties you mentioned - but I couldn't even get a straight answer from them. Couldn't speak to the right people.

RoboRat

I see your point too but I think its something to do with legal responsibility... once they acknowledge your loss and if they locate it, then they are responsible for its safe return. If people weren't so happy to sue then I am sure that it wouldn't be an issue.

kevfuzz

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I'm just very frustrated with the whole situation and really all I wanted was a more 'human response' from Aer Lingus but instead I got a 'it's not their fault' excuse.

I only briefly mentioned a fraction of the problems in my OP but suffice it to say no part of the ordeal was dealt with in anyway professionally. We were made feel like we were just an inconvenience to them.

The issues may have been with Jet Blue specifically but as my booking was all through Aer Lingus I didn't feel like Aer Lingus should be able to completely wash their hands of it.

endofrainbow

Sorry but I don't believe this is an Aer Lingus problem. Your contract with them is to get you from point A to point B (which they did - albeit 24 hours later). You don't say why the first flight was delayed but I am guessing it was JetBlue's fault otherwise there would have been no obligation on them to assist you with getting an hotel for the night.

Once bags have been checked in, they are subject to a security search and sent to a sterile area and cleared for loading onto the aircraft. This is standard practice and not unique to Aer Lingus or JetBlue.

With regard to your father's heart medication ; never EVER pack valuables/essentials in hold luggage - bags can and do go missing.

My impression of your post is your complaint is about the rudeness and misinformation provided to you by JetBlue staff of which Aer Lingus have no control.

You've written your letter of complaint, received a response and now it's time to move on.

Del2005

kevfuzz wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm looking for advice on whether it's worth following up my complaint to Aer Lingus. I am extremely disappointed with how we have been treated but don't know as a consumer if I've any options.

Basically to cut a long story short, my family (4 adults, 2 children) booked a flight to Orlando with Aer Lingus. The flight was via JFK and the internal US flight was operated by Jet Blue.

On the way home I had a disaster where my first flight was delayed and so we missed our connecting flight from JFK to Dublin home. This I recognise happens regularly but where I have a complaint is that how we were treated by the Jet Blue staff was completely unacceptable. We were repeatedly given incorrect information in Orlando before getting the first flight and then in JFK when trying to organise a new flight to get us home. We also had to put up with extreme rudeness e.g. when the Jet Blue employee was trying to organise our hotel, another Jet Blue employee on the other end of the phone repeatedly just kept hanging up and telling the employee we were dealing with to stop calling. Apparently he couldn't be bothered trying to organise a hotel for us!

We also couldn't get our luggage for the night and no one in the airport we spoke to could help us. My father had his heart medication in his suitcase which he needed, I explained this to the airport staff but still they were completely uninterested in helping us. At 2am after 4 hours of this nightmare with dealing with the must unhelpful/rude staff we did finally get to a hotel and had flights rearranged for the following night.

When I got back I wrote Aer Lingus a lengthy 3 page complaint detailing everything. I said that given we had 2 young children with us we felt that it would have been reasonable to except that we should have been treated professionally with respect and have been given some level of urgency in resolving the situation.

The reply I received was a generic "sorry to hear that...." but your issue was with Jet Blue so not their problem. I don't accept this as our contract was with Aer Lingus. We never choose Jet Blue. I don't think this should excuse Aer Lingus from any blame.

Do you think it's worth trying to follow up or do I have any other options?

Thanks,
Kev.

Did you complain to JetBlue? Since AerLingus has told you to PFO, correctly IMO, then go to the people who treated you badly. US companies are supposed to have better customer care than Irish so see if it's true.

robfowler78

endofrainbow wrote: »

Sorry but I don't believe this is an Aer Lingus problem. Your contract with them is to get you from point A to point B (which they did - albeit 24 hours later). You don't say why the first flight was delayed but I am guessing it was JetBlue's fault otherwise there would have been no obligation on them to assist you with getting an hotel for the night.

Once bags have been checked in, they are subject to a security search and sent to a sterile area and cleared for loading onto the aircraft. This is standard practice and not unique to Aer Lingus or JetBlue.

With regard to your father's heart medication ; never EVER pack valuables/essentials in hold luggage - bags can and do go missing.

My impression of your post is your complaint is about the rudeness and misinformation provided to you by JetBlue staff of which Aer Lingus have no control.

You've written your letter of complaint, received a response and now it's time to move on.

From reading the op it was aerlingus that arranged the other carrier the op had no hand in it therefore aerlingus have to be responsible for how there associates act with their customers. If the op had of received an apology I'd say he would have been happy with that maybe.

P. Breathnach

Del2005 wrote: »

Did you complain to JetBlue? Since AerLingus has told you to PFO, correctly IMO, then go to the people who treated you badly. US companies are supposed to have better customer care than Irish so see if it's true.

It's clear from the original post that kevfuzz purchased his tickets from Aer Lingus. It follows that Aer Lingus are responsible for the entire transport package, and are answerable if things go wrong.

Icepick

Don't give them any more business. It's the most powerful tool consumers have.

intellectual dosser

P. Breathnach wrote: »

It's clear from the original post that kevfuzz purchased his tickets from Aer Lingus. It follows that Aer Lingus are responsible for the entire transport package, and are answerable if things go wrong.

I agree with this.

Below is an article from today's Irish Times, I know JetBlue aren't European, I wonder how far this law can extend?

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/1024/1224325627809.html

"EUROPEAN AIRLINES will have to compensate passengers by up to €600 if their flights are delayed by over three hours following a landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice yesterday."

Food for thought.

Icepick

intellectual dosser wrote: »

I wonder how far this law can extend?

The article says passengers flying within the EU. So that shouldn't be just European airlines.
typical lame journalism

gurramok

P. Breathnach wrote: »

It's clear from the original post that kevfuzz purchased his tickets from Aer Lingus. It follows that Aer Lingus are responsible for the entire transport package, and are answerable if things go wrong.

Which is probably correct. Aer Lingus is in a "worldwide alliance" for the USA market.
http://corporate.aerlingus.com/companyprofile/ and http://corporate.aerlingus.com/companyprofile/ourpartners/

Aer Lingus further enhances connectivity options to the USA, Canada and the UK, through its airline partners; Aer Arann, Jetblue Airways and United Airlines. It is now easier than ever to connect to continental US destinations with the UK, Europe and Ireland via JFK New York, Boston or Chicago.

This part is interesting:
http://www.aerlingus.com/help/help/aerlinguspartnerships/#d.en.1564

Changes & Refunds
Changes for this booking must be made through Aer Lingus. Change fee is €100/$150 per person in each direction, plus any difference in cost between the original price paid and price available at time the change is being made.
Changes, subject to availability, can be made up to 2 hours prior to scheduled departure of flight. Changes permitted from same country of origin only.
Refunds are not permitted on Aer Lingus/JetBlue connecting itineraries with the exception of Aer Lingus Premier Class segments. JetBlue flights are non-refundable.
Changes or cancellations to itineraries must be made through Aer Lingus.
IRL: 0818 365000 (8:00am-6:00pm Mon-Fri & 9:00am-5:00pm Sat & Sun)
USA: 800 984 3512 (8:00am - 8:45pm ET Mon-Fri & 9:00am - 6:15pm ET Sat & Sun)

As all changes are made through AL, I'd get legal advice especially when AL refused point blank to deal with you.

Jetblue should have helped you also. For example, I recently went through Orlando MCO on a connecting flight to Heathrow on British Airways while the 2nd flight was on AL back home from Heathrow.
Flight back from MCO was delayed 3 hours and BA were very helpful in accommodating us on the next available flight from Heathrow to Dublin even though it was an AL flight. AL and BA are partners so both airlines helped the consumer, same should apply to AL and Jetblue.

kevfuzz

Hi all,

Thanks for the feedback. Food for thought.

That article in the Irish Times certainly is interesting. It's a pity it only seems to apply to the EU.

To answer why I missed my connecting flight - the Jet Blue crew for the flight were delayed in getting to MCO so while we had the plane, we'd no crew.

As someone above guessed, I'd have been happy if Aer Lingus had just acknowledged we'd been let down and simply apologised.

Thanks guys,
Kevin.

Flawless21

Hi guys,

I've had similar treatment to kevfuzz, although slightly different circumstances and am wondering if anyone can advise.

I booked a work trip for myself and 2 colleagues via the Aer Lingus website last June, and paid - as a package - for flights to JFK with AL, connecting flights to Phildelphia with JetBlue and 2 nights accommodation in Philly. Before we even boarded the flight in Dublin, Aer Lingus had decided to wait for passengers to connect from a Paris flight which had been delayed. We sat on the tarmac for 2 hours before moving, and then had to return to the gate due to a technical fault, which only took a few minutes to sort out. We were concerned we were going to miss the connecting flight, but the pilot pledged to try and make up the time.

As it got closer to our check-in for the JFK-Philly leg, and we were still airborne, the crew assured us there would be ground crew at the door of the plane to whisk us through to make the flight. This didn't happen. We had to exit the plane as normal; we landed at 21.00 and our flight was at 21.30 from a different terminal. There was nobody to meet us and we had to wait for our baggage, as normal. We made it to the Customer Service desk, where we were told they booked us on a flight at 12.15pm the following day. I explained that we were booked on a time-sensitive job and had arranged to meet people in Philly for set meetings; they had also travelled to meet us and we had scheduled to work with them all day Friday, with all of us leaving on Saturday. After 2 hours, we eventually got a McDonald's voucher and accommodation in a 2-star airport hotel.

To cut a long story short, we were charged for the 1st night accommodation in Philly, which was much more expensive than the dodgy hotel in JFK, I had to pay for the second night's accommodation in the same hotel for the people we were meeting, as we had to split the work over 2 days. I also incurred additional rates for consultants I had engaged for 1 day, but were now working an extra 1/2 day, and a Saturday at that.

When I checked with my insurance, they would only cover accommodation and subsistence, but not any other additional expenses. Aer Lingus sent a letter to all those affected on the flight, offering the same (although they had already done this), but claimed the flight was delayed due to a technical fault. I have asked them several times to state exactly what the fault was, and pointed out the sequence of events prior to that, which showed the delay was due to the fact that Aer Lingus decided to wait for connecting passengers, so it was delayed regardless of any faults. This has not been addressed and they are refusing to take any responsibility, as it wasn't delayed by more than 3 hours, even though it was their decision and this was admitted at the time. I have incurred over €3,000 in additional expenses as a direct result of the delay which they will not even consider.

With insurance policies not covering additional expenses of this nature, and Aer Lingus declining to outline the EXACT nature of the technical fault they claim caused the delay, where can I go from here? I can't afford to lose the €3,000 I have already paid out to the hotel, workers and other expenses.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as someone has to pay!

dukedalton

Flawless21 wrote: »

Hi guys,

I've had similar treatment to kevfuzz, although slightly different circumstances and am wondering if anyone can advise.

I booked a work trip for myself and 2 colleagues via the Aer Lingus website last June, and paid - as a package - for flights to JFK with AL, connecting flights to Phildelphia with JetBlue and 2 nights accommodation in Philly. Before we even boarded the flight in Dublin, Aer Lingus had decided to wait for passengers to connect from a Paris flight which had been delayed. We sat on the tarmac for 2 hours before moving, and then had to return to the gate due to a technical fault, which only took a few minutes to sort out. We were concerned we were going to miss the connecting flight, but the pilot pledged to try and make up the time.

As it got closer to our check-in for the JFK-Philly leg, and we were still airborne, the crew assured us there would be ground crew at the door of the plane to whisk us through to make the flight. This didn't happen. We had to exit the plane as normal; we landed at 21.00 and our flight was at 21.30 from a different terminal. There was nobody to meet us and we had to wait for our baggage, as normal. We made it to the Customer Service desk, where we were told they booked us on a flight at 12.15pm the following day. I explained that we were booked on a time-sensitive job and had arranged to meet people in Philly for set meetings; they had also travelled to meet us and we had scheduled to work with them all day Friday, with all of us leaving on Saturday. After 2 hours, we eventually got a McDonald's voucher and accommodation in a 2-star airport hotel.

To cut a long story short, we were charged for the 1st night accommodation in Philly, which was much more expensive than the dodgy hotel in JFK, I had to pay for the second night's accommodation in the same hotel for the people we were meeting, as we had to split the work over 2 days. I also incurred additional rates for consultants I had engaged for 1 day, but were now working an extra 1/2 day, and a Saturday at that.

When I checked with my insurance, they would only cover accommodation and subsistence, but not any other additional expenses. Aer Lingus sent a letter to all those affected on the flight, offering the same (although they had already done this), but claimed the flight was delayed due to a technical fault. I have asked them several times to state exactly what the fault was, and pointed out the sequence of events prior to that, which showed the delay was due to the fact that Aer Lingus decided to wait for connecting passengers, so it was delayed regardless of any faults. This has not been addressed and they are refusing to take any responsibility, as it wasn't delayed by more than 3 hours, even though it was their decision and this was admitted at the time. I have incurred over €3,000 in additional expenses as a direct result of the delay which they will not even consider.

With insurance policies not covering additional expenses of this nature, and Aer Lingus declining to outline the EXACT nature of the technical fault they claim caused the delay, where can I go from here? I can't afford to lose the €3,000 I have already paid out to the hotel, workers and other expenses.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as someone has to pay!

That someone, unfortunately, is you. What caused the delay is irrelevant. Aer Lingus were not legally obliged to inform you as to what caused the delay. They may have given passengers a reason (or excuse, or lie, or whatever they like) but they did so as a courtesy. And as the delay was less than three hours, they are not obliged to offer you recompense.

Flawless21

Thanks Duke. It's just galling that I had to pay out so much that I have no way of getting back.

dukedalton

Absolutely. Sore one!

Flawless21

To be honest, if I had known this would be the case, I would have kicked up at not having someone to meet us at the door, as they had promised. As a new, small business, I can't afford those kind of expenses, on top of the corporate and travel insurance policies that cost a few grand as well.

dukedalton

I've done similar trips but I always err on the side of caution as regards connections. Might cost a little more if you have to add an extra night's accommodation by getting there early but at least that's something you book yourself and is a cost you are in control of- when something like yours happen the costs can get out of control. Still sucks though!

Flawless21

Yeah, I thought by booking everything through Aer Lingus, it would be safe, given that JetBlue is a codeshare partner, and the accommodation was also part of the package. Normally, it wouldn't be a major problem, but it was a very important and tight work trip. Not only did I have egg on my face by having to call late at night to rearrange our early morning meeting (two people didn't get the message and were waiting for us to pick them up at 8.30 in Philly the next morning), but I had to make sure to be more than accommodating to everyone, assuming I'd be compensated in return.

I was offered a €100 voucher by Aer Lingus, but having discovered I was entitled to communications costs, I have a few bob to claim in Vodafone calls.

Thanks for your advice, Duke.