My complaint:
I booked a party of 6 for flights from Dublin to Faro for 7-10th of Nov. At the time of booking I had no info on baggage required from the group as it was a short stay and we decided to leave it closer to check in to decide. Two parties carry delicate equipment and are very anxious about cargo going in the hold as baggage handlers are not very careful. We booked all bags as check in because all priority and cabin bags were sold out closer to the flight date. One party; myself, knowing the policy paid for an extra bag at 20KG in order to at least try and offset any further cost at the gate.
At boarding I was subjected to rude and very unhelpful reactiion from a male and female attendant who steadfastly refused to listen to me explain why my bag could not go in the hold. In fact I was told by the female that she didnt care what I had in the bag it wasnt travelling and neither was I. She held up a sign saying refusal to board in a most aggressive manner and through gritted teeth literally spat the words at me saying there was no way I was getting on the plane with my bag. It was an embarrassing and very stressful way to be treated and other passengers were also upset by her demeanour and disgraceful treatment of me. I did ask that she consult the pilot as Iam aware he is the final arbiter on who does or does not fly on his flight. I was refused this on the basis that he could not be contacted. Then the male member said that they were making a comment on my reservation to the flight attendants due to my resistance to their imposition of policy. My response was that they hadnt even considered the circumstances or the additional payments that I had made. I was informed that only 100 Priority seats are sold which begs the question what do passengers such as I do who have very delicate personal equipment travelling, it seems like there is no solution if you miss the priority window. As a last resort I paid the additional €25 but she refused to let me carry the bag and put the yellow cargo hold tag on it as I left.
To say that this experience was distressing and stressful is an understatement. Ryanair need to get their policy sorted that can accommodate exceptions to the rule. As it happens my bag got home safely but within it was very sensitive equipment worth a lot of money.
I have great difficulty with a company that treats customers in this way and as an Irish citizen feel that Ryanair do not reflect the general welcoming good nature of Ireland and afterwards I felt ashamed of an airline that is associated with our country irrespective of how successful it is. Shame on you Ryanair!
Suggested solution:
Refund the cost of baggage and flight with a letter of apology for the appalling treatment at the gate at Faro, and copy the other 5 passengers also in my group who were equally distressed.
