In July 2018, my husband and two boys, aged five and two at the time, had a lovely holiday in Austria.
Just five hours before our departure, as we were driving to Salzburg airport, I received an email from Eurowings to say our 5pm flight to Stansted had been cancelled.
Fortunately, staff at the airport were extremely helpful, although they could not give us an explanation for the cancellation.
To get home that day we had to take a new flight to Berlin, which was delayed. We then legged it through the airport to make our connection – only to find out it was also delayed.
We then got a second flight to Heathrow airport, but it was so turbulent that we weren't allowed out of our seats.
It was midnight when we reached Heathrow and luckily, we managed to get the last bus to Stansted airport – at an additional cost of £60.
By this time, it was 1am and the kids were a mess.
We picked up the car at Stansted and drove home, seeing the amazing blood moon along the way. Finally, we arrived home at 4am.
Claim compensation for delayed and cancelled flights
Was I entitled to compensation?
The following week I leapt into action to make a compensation claim.
I did my research and discovered that under EU legislation (which remains the same post-Brexit), we were potentially entitled to €250 each and we might be able to claim for the £60 bus journey too.
All flights either to an EU country or from a country within the EU (including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) are covered by the EU regulation 261/2004.
This enables passengers to claim for compensation once a flight is delayed for over three hours, as long as the delay is not under ‘extraordinary circumstances’, such as weather or natural phenomena, for example, the Icelandic ash cloud of 2010.
Customers are entitled to between €250 and €600, depending on the flight distance and delay length.
If a European flight is cancelled altogether, passengers are entitled to a full refund or alternative flight and may be able to claim compensation too.
‘I heard nothing’
As instructed by various consumer websites, I first wrote to the airline, using a template, which stated our rights and how much compensation we were seeking.
I got an automated response saying my request would be processed within six weeks.
After seven weeks, I had heard nothing, so I decided to use complaints tool Resolver, which is a free online service. I uploaded my complaints letter, boarding passes and a copy of the bus receipt and filed a complaint.
Over the next year, I had a series of messages from Eurowings, via Resolver, asking for more information.
I immediately replied to all of these requests and eventually after I escalated the case, they agreed that we were entitled to compensation. But no compensation ever arrived.
By September 2019, I decided to try a different tactic and contacted the European Consumer Centre. They asked me to email information, so I sent them my Resolver case file, which had all the relevant documents.
By December, I had heard nothing, so I chased the European Consumer Centre and was advised they were unable to progress my case as they had not received the documentary evidence requested.
The evidence was clearly on the email chain but after further investigation, it appeared they required different information to Resolver.
At no point had they told me that the case file I sent them was not adequate, or that they needed additional information.
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Why I had no choice
At this point I caved. I decided I had no choice but to try a claims management company in the New Year and take the commission hit because some money was better than no money.
I really resented doing this as I have always advised other people to complain directly, but I felt I had run out of options.
On 28 January 2020, I logged a complaint via RefundMe.
It was a little bit fiddly as I had to set up four separate accounts and complaints, to cover each family member, but uploading the documents was quick and easy.
Within two weeks, they confirmed that our claim had been successful. I was still sceptical and wondered if Eurowings would actually cough up the money this time.
To my surprise, within another two weeks, the money was in my PayPal account.
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How much compensation did I lose?
Eurowings paid out a total of €1,000 but did not refund the bus ticket. RefundMe then took their 25% cut, plus 19% for German VAT, leaving us with €702.48.
The final sting in the tale came when the money was transferred to us via PayPal and their exchange rates.
I decided this was the best way to avoid excessive international bank charges, but we still lost almost €22. This was due to PayPal charging a €5.44 fee for each transfer and there were four separate payments (one for each family member).
In the end, we were left with £552 rather than the £873 paid out by Eurowings.
I contacted PayPal for an official comment, but though initially helpful they did not respond with one before my deadline.
It took a claims management company – usually viewed as the villains – less than a month to resolve my complaint and pay my family compensation.
Prior to this, I wasted 17 months trying to go via the free, non-exploitative route.
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How did Eurowings respond?
I recently got in touch with Eurowings about my experience and this was their response:
“We are very sorry that we could not fly you as planned. Indeed, 2018 was marked by severe disruptions in air traffic.
“Of course, we will comply with all justified requests.
"In exceptional cases, however, it may happen that, based on additional information that we only have at a later stage when assessing a flight cancellation, a different conclusion is reached, and we then reassess the matter.
“We can understand that this was irritating for you and would like to apologise for this once again.”
‘Time consuming and frustrating’
Although I was pleased to be awarded some compensation, the whole process was extremely time consuming and frustrating.
It also baffled me why a claims management firm with an automated system, would be more efficient than other organisations, which probably use similar ones.
Martyn James, a spokesperson for Resolver, said in my case the airline said it was processing my claim but as it never actually did, I could take them to their Alternative Dispute Resolution body to potentially recoup my losses from using a claims management company.
"It's incredibly frustrating when businesses say they're going to sort out complaints, then fall at the last hurdle by failing to do so,” commented James.
“This is a situation that happens quite a bit with airlines, so keep an eye on your bank statements and push back if you don't receive your compensation – and let us know."
I had let Resolver know several times that I had received no money and I wanted to escalate the case, so it is unclear exactly what happened here.
At the end of the day, I am still not an advocate of claims management companies as their fees are disproportionately high.
But I do think my experience demonstrates what a sorry state of affairs the UK consumer complaints system is in, and it's no wonder these claims companies are doing big business.
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