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3 of us were booked on a flight from Sofia, Bulgaria to London Stansted on 2nd July and the original departure time was 9.00 hours when booked last year.

The outward flight (with another airline) in June was cancelled due to Covid so we could not get to Bulgaria anyway.

Ryanair changed to flight to 12.00 hours and then 12.05 hours in June, and at the time they sent a link to complete a refund form for the reason of 3 hour delay (from 9.00 hrs) which was duly done They are now denying the original change of 3 hours, citing only the 5 minute change made in June. Also they have changed my itinerary records to only the new time and are refusing a refund.

Jane W
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    What is your question? – Traveller Aug 27 '20 at 12:31
  • Have you sent them your booking receipt with the original time on it? – DJClayworth Aug 27 '20 at 13:08
  • No, unfortunately I didn’t print any e-mails and the original confirmation itinerary has been adjusted to show latest departure time with no record of old time. – Jane W Aug 27 '20 at 13:19
  • Didn’t your receive an e-mail at the time with the details of your booking? – jcaron Aug 27 '20 at 13:56
  • I did dated back in Sept 2019. This was a confirmation with the flight details but this is now showing 12.05 the latest time. This sounds strange I know but I assure you it is genuine. In hindsight I wish I printed it last Sept. On a live chat they would not answer why they had sent me a link to the refund form. – Jane W Aug 27 '20 at 14:38
  • I'm searching for tickets now, and it seems that every Thursday (and much of the rest of the week) flight Ryanair operate from Sofia to Stansted departs at 12.00. Are you absolutely certain you can't be mistaken about the initial departure time? – Chris H Aug 27 '20 at 15:35
  • Absolutely Certain. As stated above this was booked last September. I remember noting that we would have to check in early for a 9 am flight. Also in June – Jane W Aug 27 '20 at 15:47
  • I was advised it was now a midday flight and sent a link (as stated above) to apply for a refund. – Jane W Aug 27 '20 at 15:48
  • @JaneW how long before the flight was the initial change (to 12.00) made? Do you still have the mail (or however else they told you) informing you of that change? – Chris H Aug 28 '20 at 09:30
  • @JaneW it's possible to send smart emails that would only show the latest information. Essentially, instead of text and numbers they send you an image and once you open the email, the email client asks the server for the image (and they can update image as often as needed or generate a new one every time the email is opened). I'm not saying Ryanair does this but it's fairly easy to set up. The problem is unless you take a screenshot of the email you'll never know how the original looked like. – kiradotee Aug 29 '20 at 09:40
  • There is actually a genuine reason to do this tactic for departure times in emails as if you didn't notice if a flight was changed, whichever email you open you will always see the correct time. But of course, this makes any claims like yours very hard to prove in such instance, and of course helps the company to not pay money for claims if they make it harder for customers to make the claims. – kiradotee Aug 29 '20 at 09:44
  • Thank you for explaining. I could not understand before how an old e-mail could be changed. – Jane W Aug 29 '20 at 12:21
  • Did you pay by credit card? When did you pay? – Acccumulation Aug 29 '20 at 20:42
  • @kiradotee Seems like if they do this, a spoliation of evidence argument can be made, and the burden of proof should be on them. – Acccumulation Aug 29 '20 at 20:43
  • @JaneW the old email wasn't changed. The email contained links or elements that got pulled off the server in real-time. Did you accept the 3-hour change at that time? Or did they make the 3-hour change and then the 5-minute change one right after the other? – Harper - Reinstate Monica Aug 30 '20 at 15:19
  • In answer to the last 3 comments. A debit card was used in Sept 2019. Thank you re: spoliation of evidence argument advice. The 3 hour change was not accepted, that is the whole point. My Sept 2019 confirmation of itinerary originally showed 09.00 hrs. In June this year it was changed to 12.00 hrs and then 12.05 hrs quite soon after. I had kept the original e-mail from Sept 2019 in my archive e-mail file but on opening this now is says the latest time. Thank you! Kiradotee (yesterday's comment) for explaining how this can be done by them. That was very helpful. – Jane W Aug 30 '20 at 16:32

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If you don't have any document that confirms the original 09.00 departure time, then it is extremely unlikely that they will consider a refund.

Search your emails and saved documents thoroughly, or if you happen to know someone who booked on the same flight get a copy of one of their documents. But without that you have pretty much zero chance.

DJClayworth
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  • I have learnt the hard way to always do a screen shot or print off a copy at the time of the original booking. I am using an Arbitrator to argue this case on the grounds of the 'deceit' for want of a better word. Will post if I get anywhere! – Jane W Aug 29 '20 at 12:24
  • I eventually received my due refund from Ryanair today in my bank account! – Jane W Dec 30 '20 at 15:08
  • Always persist if you feel you are in the right, even if it takes 6 months plus. THEIR recent comments 'After double checking we find you are due a refund?! ' – Jane W Dec 30 '20 at 15:11
  • @JaneW I'm glad. It would be really helpful to people reading this if you would write your own answer explaining what you did and what happened. – DJClayworth Dec 30 '20 at 15:47
  • I used 'Resolver' who initiate a letter on your behalf. After several months of waiting RyanAir just sent a general letter with links, so not addressing my particular issue. – Jane W Jan 01 '21 at 10:12
  • There was a final link, 'if your problem isn't solved' so 'again' I repeated my issue but with the addition of a 'screenshot of the original departure time' which I now had. My husband thinks, though, the fact that the CAA in Sofia (Bulgaria) also wrote influenced the outcome. – Jane W Jan 01 '21 at 10:17