A holidaymaker has issued a warning to other travellers after receiving just over 10 per cent of their delayed luggage claim from the budget airline, Ryanair.
Posting on Reddit, the user shared a post titled ‘Ryanair delayed luggage claim awarded £61 from £600 claim’ on the channel r/LegalAdviceUK.
They shared that while boarding a Ryanair flight to France in July, the airline did not load their suitcase onto the plane.
When the case didn’t come out at luggage claim in France, they registered the missing case at the airport.
Thankfully, the traveller had an AirTag in the case so they could track its location and saw that it had been left behind in Manchester.
‘My suitcase had all of my clothes, electronics, chargers, sun creams and insect repellants,’ the user wrote.
‘So naturally, I had to get replacements as I had no way of knowing if the case would ever arrive.
‘Luckily, by some miracle, we were reunited on the last day before I left for home; however, I’d spent a fair whack on replacing a lot of like-for-like clothes from Uniqlo along with a few other bits.
A holidaymaker has issued a warning to other travellers after receiving just over 10 per cent of their delayed luggage claim from the budget airline, Ryanair
‘Ryanair requested all of my receipts for purchases made, to which I submitted photos of everything.
‘The total was around £600 and I was fully aware that they would try to lowball me and say that they wouldn’t cover certain things.
‘Cut to today, three and a half months later, of incurring credit card interest on the purchases, and they happily tell me that I am entitled to a reimbursement of a whole £61.08.’
The user shared the original email from the airline, which reads: ‘Ryanair apologise for any inconvenience caused.
‘Ryanair always makes every effort to reduce the number of damaged and delayed baggage items and is therefore the European airline with the fewest damaged and diverted items.
‘If an item of baggage is diverted, Ryanair uses advanced baggage tracking systems to locate it and return it to its owner as quickly as possible.
‘In conclusion of this matter, we confirm that we are in the process of arranging a payment by bank transfer in the amount of GBP 61.08, in full and final settlement of your claim. Please allow 14-20 working days to receive this payment.’
The airline added that the expenses incurred were been viewed as ‘excessive expense’ and therefore the awarded value was decreased.
The traveller said that while boarding a Ryanair flight to France in July, the airline did not load their suitcase onto the plane
The user wrote: ‘I have replied to this email to register my displeasure and have stated that at no point during the registering of my case being lost or speaking with several agents from Ryanair online during my stay in France was I ever made aware of any stipulations or limits to what was considered a “necessary” purchase.
‘I’m wondering if anyone else has gone through something like this and how I should proceed.’
The post prompted debate in the comments about whether the user was excessive in claiming £600 worth of belongings.
One comment, which has been upvoted almost 300 times, read: ‘You are meant to buy essentials to get by. £600 for less than a week is clearly taking the proverbial. Did you read Ryanair’s policy before splashing out?’
Another user wrote: ‘£600 is more than I spend on clothes for the entire year, not a week. I would expect that there is a list of what is considered “essential” in this situation, and whilst I cannot point you exactly to it, I bet it doesn’t cover £600 worth of clothes.
‘Unless you were going for a black tie event and needed to purchase a ball gown, I don’t see how you can justify that total.
‘I agree £60 is low, would maybe expect £100-150 range myself if you add toiletries, charger, towel to the mix, so I understand why you would want to dispute it, but it depends on what was on the receipts exactly.
‘Not a fan of Ryanair, but statistically, out of thousands of bags they handle every day, someone’s bag has to be lost. It sucks it was yours this time, and you should be reimbursed, but there is no way they pay everyone £600 for a lost suitcase, particularly since it was eventually delivered to you.’
However, others jumped to the user’s defence, claiming the amount was reasonable for a week of outfits.
The post prompted debate in the comments about whether the user was excessive in claiming £600 worth of belongings
One user wrote, ‘Where would one buy a week’s worth of essentials for £61?’ while another replied, ‘Primark, about 10 years ago.’
According to Citizens’ Advice, you have the legal right to claim compensation from the airline if your checked-in luggage is delayed, lost or damaged. You only have the right to claim for a problem with cabin baggage if it’s the airline’s fault.
If you have travel insurance or home contents insurance that covers luggage, you’re likely to be better off making an insurance claim instead. You’ll probably get more money and find it easier to claim this way.
They add that airlines often want receipts for everything included in your claim, and they won’t usually pay ‘new for old’ replacement for anything lost or damaged or for anything valuable, fragile or perishable in checked-in luggage.
According to the Ryanair website, travellers can contact their local Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) body with their complaint if they are unhappy with the assessment of the claim.
Ryanair commented: ‘We cannot comment on an unsubstantiated Reddit thread.’
