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I'm trying to help a friend of mine. He was supposed to travel from Berlin to Amsterdam with Easyjet along with 3 other people. At the time of boarding, my friend and one of his companions (along with other people) weren't allowed to board because there was no more place in the plane, apparently the plane was smaller than what was sold, his friends did fly. They didn't offer a flight for the same day so he was forced to flight with another airline that he paid. Now they don't want to refund because in their system it says there's no registry of board denial and he's marked as a no-show so terms don't apply. How can he prove or make them pay a refund?

mts
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Mariana VG
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    Your friend should have recorded the interaction with Easyjet on his phone, ideally doing a close-up on the name badges. That's the only way of getting solid proof of oral statements these days. – JonathanReez Oct 03 '16 at 09:51
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    It looks like your friend is not alone: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/dec/05/easyjet-complaints-compensation-claims-denied – Fiksdal Oct 03 '16 at 09:52
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    If your friend payed for the flight using a credit card he should dispute the charge. – Kris Oct 03 '16 at 10:09
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    Could be a long shot but you could request CCTV footage of yourself at the gate at that specific time (using the freedom of infomation act). I would think that most gates would have CCTV on them. Even then it may still be a longshot – User1 Oct 03 '16 at 10:10
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    @Fiksdal "It looks like your friend is not alone" Yes, the question clearly states that he was with three other people. ;-) – David Richerby Oct 03 '16 at 12:37
  • Mariana, what about your friend's companion? Did easyJet admit that that person was denied boarding? – Fiksdal Oct 03 '16 at 12:52
  • the simple answer is "phone the credit card company and have the charge reversed". – Fattie Oct 03 '16 at 13:10
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    @JoeBlow 1. That still leaves the passenger out of pocket for the different between the cost of the second ticket he bought (last-minute, so probably at an inflated price) and the price of the EasyJet ticket. 2. If boarding was denied on the outbound leg, the passenger will need a new ticket home, again likely at last-minute price. 3. If boarding was denied on the return leg, part of the charge the passenger would be reversing would be the cost of the outbound ticket, which they actually used. – David Richerby Oct 03 '16 at 13:26
  • @DavidRicherby - for sure, you're totally right. I'm a pretty wiley, aggressive, indeed mean-spirited, businessperson .... and I just got screwed like a confused teenager for $4000 from Apple. Shit happens: sometimes you lose one you know? :O I fear that Friend doesn't have a hope in hell, unfortunately: all the suggestions about how to "prove" what happened will just go in the round file; I think it's incredibly unlikely a "solicitor will take the case". And sadly if you see my comment under mts's answer - it's entirely possible that (tragically) the airline is 100.0000% correct. – Fattie Oct 03 '16 at 13:32
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    What happened exactly? In my experience (including with EasyJet), there would be several calls for volunteers to take the (EU-mandated) EUR 250 compensation and hotel night (they have to do that under regulation 261/2004). As EasyJet only operates two aircraft types and has very high passenger load factors, you have to be unlucky to be the only four passengers to be denied boarding if they switch an A319 for an A320 (and surely they would have a record of doing this). They would typically need 10-20 (which was also the case of the EasyJet flight on which it happened to me). – Relaxed Oct 03 '16 at 13:36
  • Thus ... why doesn't Friend have some paperwork on what happened? In the (horrible) situation in question, it's easy to go to the desk and get some sort of officialness on what happened. What, really, should the airline do based on nothing more than someone saying "this happened"? I also don't buy the "discount airlines are particularly mean-spirited" angle. I just flew with BA/AA (for goodness sake) and got screwed in a minor way over some issues - it's the same all over. It's not 1970 anymore. By all means fight the system, but unless you're over 80, can this be surprising? – Fattie Oct 03 '16 at 13:38
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    @Relaxed Wikipedia says that EasyJet currently flies A320s with two different interior configurations: one with 180 seats and one with 186. So a change of plane could very well result in being overbooked by exactly four people. – David Richerby Oct 03 '16 at 13:41
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    Is there a "small claims court" in Germany? I think if you can some sort of proof you have a good chance of winning - businesses no-show to small claims court quite a lot. – pjc50 Oct 03 '16 at 14:27
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    You friend should have asked for a refund right then and there. He should have said get me on a plane today or I want a full refund. – paparazzo Oct 03 '16 at 17:52
  • @DavidRicherby Good point, I missed that. – Relaxed Oct 03 '16 at 18:27
  • @DavidRicherby: Or six? – Lightness Races in Orbit Oct 03 '16 at 19:25
  • I expect that the staff at the gate said there was no more space, but that the person did not get their boarding pass scanned at the gate, e.g. they did not show up at the gate, as they were told at the gate there was no space for them. – Ian Ringrose Oct 04 '16 at 08:44
  • If you're in the UK, I would strongly suggest discussing this with the Citizen's Advice Bureau. If you're not in the UK, the country you're in will probably have a similar service. The CAB is a good place to go for this because they're a free service. This is a low-value dispute, so involving lawyers or the courts is difficult, but CAB a free and in a position to offer meaningful advice. – Simba Oct 04 '16 at 12:25
  • Isn't it usual that persons who are in immediate danger of becoming a no-show are urgently called for by the PA system? I assum ether would be some record about such a PA if it had been - so the lack of it discredited the no-show story ... – Hagen von Eitzen Oct 04 '16 at 19:40
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    @HagenvonEitzen That's not so common anymore, it's possibly limited to passengers who have hold luggage, as waiting a few minutes is still less hassle than finding their luggage? – Relaxed Oct 04 '16 at 19:51
  • Please continue this discussion in the chat. – RoflcoptrException Oct 05 '16 at 08:19

3 Answers3

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As proof your friend could sure use his friends/companions/colleagues eyewitness accounts of his denied boarding, plus his printed boarding pass and transportation tickets to the airport, even though as @chx points out, this may not be convincing them enough. Also worth enquiring with the airport if they have any records that they are able to share in a court case, but I would not expect much from that.

As a strategy I would go for a combination of these steps,

  • insisting on his claims via customer service
  • insisting via social media, especially facebook & twitter
  • after step 1 fails, ask for a conciliation by the Schlichtungsstelle

if even the last step fails (it takes a while but I have made excellent experiences), I would threaten and go for legal action. Plenty of lawyers have specialized on similar claims and their willingness to take up the case is a good indication of your chances of success.

Also if what you say is true, your friend would have right to EU compensation payments.

mts
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    These issues are complicated, and the customer always loses, every single time. For example: did Friend actually get processed by the staff member - or instead - is it the case that the staff member just generally stated, to the crowd as it were, "no more places, sorry" and Friend did not actually get processed through the computer as checking-in-but-no-seats? It's tricky. – Fattie Oct 03 '16 at 13:13
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    (+1) Given EasyJet's usual fares, a lawyer might be a bit expensive and they probably know it (although if you add the €250 compensation times three, you might be getting somewhere). – Relaxed Oct 03 '16 at 18:25
  • Before going to a lawyer, get a written statement of their decision not to compensate, and then don't try getting compensation again, just file a lawsuit. You win, easyJet pays your lawyer. – Alexander Oct 05 '16 at 09:29
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You can't prove it, at best -- I do not know how Berlin has this -- you might have a record of passing through security if the boarding pass was scanned. But even so, it'd be very hard to prove your friend haven't passed the time drinking in the bar and became a no show. If you go for a full blown court trial then witnesses might help of course but otherwise...

If his boarding pass was scanned as everyone else's during boarding at the gate then it should be a slam dunk and the airport should have a record for sure but I suspect that wasn't the case.

  • Agreed. In addition to that Easyjet is known for having an unscrupulous behavior. Perhaps this has to do with Easyjet being a low cost airline.. – MopMop Oct 03 '16 at 09:50
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    @Agathe: it “has to do with it”, but it’s not excused by it. If a low-cost airline has no food and terrible legroom, that’s fair enough — you get what you pay for. But when an airline is systemically dishonest and breaks its own rules, that’s not ok, low-cost or otherwise. – PLL Oct 03 '16 at 11:55
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    @PLL I know ... Unfortunately these days when you pay less you rarely have what you expected.. – MopMop Oct 03 '16 at 11:57
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    @PLL It's not "breaking its own rules", it's breaking the law. – David Richerby Oct 03 '16 at 12:39
  • so, whenever that sort of thing happens, make sure to get processed, and to get a written statement of the processing staff – njzk2 Oct 03 '16 at 20:03
  • @Agathe that's in large part because many people have inflated expectations of what they should get (not meaning you shouldn't get a refund when denied boarding because of overbooking). – jwenting Oct 04 '16 at 06:17
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It's not clear from your question whether you did that already or not but the first thing to do is probably to send a letter (preferably by registered mail) to lay out your claim to reimbursement and compensation, citing EU regulation 261/2004. Interaction on the phone or what you may have been told at the airport carries less weight.

Best case scenario, the fact that you appear to know your rights might convince them it's easier to get rid of you by paying a few hundred euros. Worse case scenario, you have something a little stronger than your word to buttress further action (it's not unimpeachable proof of anything of course, but it counts).

See also the EU Air passenger rights page for more details on the regulation and some other actions you might take.

Others have reported getting a good response by turning to social media (as opposed to private communication through emails and phone, which often leads nowhere in my experience).

Relaxed
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