Me and a few mates went to Edinburgh for the weekend (very nice city by the way) from Cardiff. Online check-in done the day before for both directions, flight out was delayed but got us there without much fuss.
On the way back yesterday, flight is due to leave at 8:20pm. One of the other guys checks Edinburgh departures around 5pm on his iphone and all seems fine. Then we get a phone call from another mate at the airport who is catching an earlier flight to Bristol - he tells us the flight back to Cardiff has been cancelled. We call BMI baby "customer services" on an 090 number @ £1.20 a minute
where some woman in an Indian call centre tells us to speak to the people at the check-in desk (you can probably guess where this is going).
So we immediately jump in a taxi to the airport, loads of people already at the desk. 2-3 people behind the desk are from "BMI" and not BMI baby so they keep saying in order to shirk the responsibility (why were they there then?) and that the plane has a "techincal fault". They tell us the next flight with spaces is on WEDNESDAY!
We ask how they are going to get us home. They reply that they aren't and they can only give us a refund for our flight. Someone quotes EC regulations that states they must make alternative arrangements for us. By the glazed look on their faces it appeared that they are not familiar with them. Their view was essentially "we are not going to help at all, you have to wait a few days for a refund or hang around till Wednesday to get home."
The flight to Birmingham was £92 each with FlyBe, then we hired a car in Birmingham for £107 between 4 of us plus £30 for fuel to get back to Cardiff. We're going to go through the court system to reclaim all of our expenses since they are refusing to give us anything except £50 back for the flight. There was one girl there who was a student and had £60 in her account but they didn't care that she couldn't get home.
The conversation went something like this:
Her: "what am I supposed to do? I've only got 60 quid and the flight to Birmingham is 92 and then I have to get a train to Cardiff"
Them: "there is a flight on Wednesday which we can put you on"
Her: "what do you want me to do? sleep in the airport until Wednesday?!"
Them: "well there is a flight to Birmingham leaving in 1 hour"
Her: "So you will pay for that"
Them: "No you have to pay for it, we will refund you for this flight"
Her: "OK refund me for this flight and I'll book that one"
Them: "oh we can't give you a refund now, you have to wait a few days"
Her: "are you ****ing kidding me?! How the hell am I supposed to get home?!"
Them: "We can put you on a flight on Wednesday..."
Her: "lots of swearing"
Them: "we don't work for BMI baby, you have to call this number: 090....."
Of course the 090 call center just tells you to talk to the people at the desk so you end up in an infinite loop.
This morning I got an email:
Welcome home, baby!
As a thank you for flying with bmibaby, here’s a great value way to make the most of your holiday prints...
Disgusting.
On the way back yesterday, flight is due to leave at 8:20pm. One of the other guys checks Edinburgh departures around 5pm on his iphone and all seems fine. Then we get a phone call from another mate at the airport who is catching an earlier flight to Bristol - he tells us the flight back to Cardiff has been cancelled. We call BMI baby "customer services" on an 090 number @ £1.20 a minute
where some woman in an Indian call centre tells us to speak to the people at the check-in desk (you can probably guess where this is going).So we immediately jump in a taxi to the airport, loads of people already at the desk. 2-3 people behind the desk are from "BMI" and not BMI baby so they keep saying in order to shirk the responsibility (why were they there then?) and that the plane has a "techincal fault". They tell us the next flight with spaces is on WEDNESDAY!
We ask how they are going to get us home. They reply that they aren't and they can only give us a refund for our flight. Someone quotes EC regulations that states they must make alternative arrangements for us. By the glazed look on their faces it appeared that they are not familiar with them. Their view was essentially "we are not going to help at all, you have to wait a few days for a refund or hang around till Wednesday to get home."
The flight to Birmingham was £92 each with FlyBe, then we hired a car in Birmingham for £107 between 4 of us plus £30 for fuel to get back to Cardiff. We're going to go through the court system to reclaim all of our expenses since they are refusing to give us anything except £50 back for the flight. There was one girl there who was a student and had £60 in her account but they didn't care that she couldn't get home.
The conversation went something like this:
Her: "what am I supposed to do? I've only got 60 quid and the flight to Birmingham is 92 and then I have to get a train to Cardiff"
Them: "there is a flight on Wednesday which we can put you on"
Her: "what do you want me to do? sleep in the airport until Wednesday?!"
Them: "well there is a flight to Birmingham leaving in 1 hour"
Her: "So you will pay for that"
Them: "No you have to pay for it, we will refund you for this flight"
Her: "OK refund me for this flight and I'll book that one"
Them: "oh we can't give you a refund now, you have to wait a few days"
Her: "are you ****ing kidding me?! How the hell am I supposed to get home?!"
Them: "We can put you on a flight on Wednesday..."
Her: "lots of swearing"
Them: "we don't work for BMI baby, you have to call this number: 090....."
Of course the 090 call center just tells you to talk to the people at the desk so you end up in an infinite loop.
This morning I got an email:
Welcome home, baby!
As a thank you for flying with bmibaby, here’s a great value way to make the most of your holiday prints...
Disgusting.
