CUSTOMER SERVICE

Customer service
Critics have accused Ryanair of poor treatment of customers whose flights have been cancelled. The airline formerly refused to provide accommodation or meal vouchers when flights were cancelled or delayed, a practice which became illegal within the EU on February 17, 2005 [5]. Ryanair also refuses to refund taxes and fees when passengers cancel their tickets. Recently they revised their practice on this subject by introducing an administration fee of £14 per ticket for handling refunds, a fee which exceeds the amount the passengers may be eligible for. Norwegian consumer authorities have fined Ryanair £43,000 for this practice.
Having complained about having to compensate customers for cancelled or delayed flights Ryanair is now suing the UK government for compensation for losses it claims it incurred through cancelled or delayed flights over the recent (August 2006) security alerts.[13]
In common with other airlines, Ryanair also sometimes makes changes to its flight times at relatively short notice. However, several factors make this particularly problematic in the case of low-cost carriers in general and Ryanair in particular:
the company notifies affected passengers by email rather than by telephone, so there is sometimes a delay before the passenger learns of the change (passengers on holiday may not have regular access to email);
because Ryanair does not provide connecting flights, many passengers make their own connections by booking separate tickets. If the Ryanair flight time change makes the connection impossible, the passenger loses the cost of the connecting flight unless this is covered by travel insurance;
the only way for a passenger to contact Ryanair is through a premium rate phone line. An Early Day Motion in the British Parliament which was put forward in 2006 criticized Ryanair for this reason and called on the company to provide customers with a means to contact the company by e-mail.[14]
Ryanair staff are notorious for behaving rudely to passengers. There have been several incidents.[15][16][17]