EU orders Ryanair to get an email address for customers to complain
Ryanair has been breaking EU rules by making it difficult and expensive for customers to make complaints.
The low-cost airline insists that all bookings are made via its website, and charges hefty fees to those who fail to check in online.
However, it does not allow people to make a complaint or get a refund by email.
Instead, customers are forced to use premium-rate phone lines, which cost up to £1 a minute, or send a letter via post or fax.
Now, the European Commission has said the airline is in breach of EU directives that cover e-commerce and internet-based companies.
In a letter, Michel Barnier, the Commissioner responsible for the internal market and services, states that the airline’s communication policy is ‘incompatible’ with Article 5 of the EU e-commerce directive which requires firms such as Ryanair to have an email address.
He said: ‘The e-commerce directive obliges member states to ensure that information society service providers render the details of the service provider, including their electronic mail address, easily, directly and permanently accessible to the recipient of the service and the competent authorities.’ Mr Barnier added that it seemed the law is possibly ‘not being fully enforced’.
As a result, the Commission said it would be contacting the Irish authorities to make sure Ryanair obeys the law.
A spokesperson for the European Commission said it is now up to the National Consumer Agency - Ireland’s consumer rights authority - to take action.
If it fails to do so, the Commission could take legal steps against the Irish authorities to enforce the legislation.
Ryanair’s head of communications, Stephen McNamara, confirms that customers cannot contact the internet-based company via email.
‘There is no email address for customers to contact us on. Instead they can put it in writing or contact our reservation helpline,’ he says. ‘It won’t keep me awake at night because our process has worked for the past 15 to 20 years.
‘We aim to reply to letters and correspondence within seven days of receiving it. If we do implement an email address, then it will probably just slow down the whole process.’
He suggested the airline might introduce an email address, but would not confirm if Ryanair has been contacted by the European Commission or Irish authorities regarding the breach.
Earlier this year, the airline had its knuckles wrapped after a Spanish judge ruled it was illegal to ‘fine’ customers who had forgotten to print their boarding passes in advance.
The airline also bowed to EU rule-makers in April last year after the Icelandic volcanic eruption caused travel chaos. Ryanair made a U-turn on its decision to fight claims in court by conceding that it would pay compensation as per EU regulations.
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Ryanair has been breaking EU rules by making it difficult and expensive for customers to make complaints.
The low-cost airline insists that all bookings are made via its website, and charges hefty fees to those who fail to check in online.
However, it does not allow people to make a complaint or get a refund by email.
Instead, customers are forced to use premium-rate phone lines, which cost up to £1 a minute, or send a letter via post or fax.
Now, the European Commission has said the airline is in breach of EU directives that cover e-commerce and internet-based companies.
In a letter, Michel Barnier, the Commissioner responsible for the internal market and services, states that the airline’s communication policy is ‘incompatible’ with Article 5 of the EU e-commerce directive which requires firms such as Ryanair to have an email address.
He said: ‘The e-commerce directive obliges member states to ensure that information society service providers render the details of the service provider, including their electronic mail address, easily, directly and permanently accessible to the recipient of the service and the competent authorities.’ Mr Barnier added that it seemed the law is possibly ‘not being fully enforced’.
As a result, the Commission said it would be contacting the Irish authorities to make sure Ryanair obeys the law.
A spokesperson for the European Commission said it is now up to the National Consumer Agency - Ireland’s consumer rights authority - to take action.
If it fails to do so, the Commission could take legal steps against the Irish authorities to enforce the legislation.
Ryanair’s head of communications, Stephen McNamara, confirms that customers cannot contact the internet-based company via email.
‘There is no email address for customers to contact us on. Instead they can put it in writing or contact our reservation helpline,’ he says. ‘It won’t keep me awake at night because our process has worked for the past 15 to 20 years.
‘We aim to reply to letters and correspondence within seven days of receiving it. If we do implement an email address, then it will probably just slow down the whole process.’
He suggested the airline might introduce an email address, but would not confirm if Ryanair has been contacted by the European Commission or Irish authorities regarding the breach.
Earlier this year, the airline had its knuckles wrapped after a Spanish judge ruled it was illegal to ‘fine’ customers who had forgotten to print their boarding passes in advance.
The airline also bowed to EU rule-makers in April last year after the Icelandic volcanic eruption caused travel chaos. Ryanair made a U-turn on its decision to fight claims in court by conceding that it would pay compensation as per EU regulations.
www.dailymail.co.uk
CIAO
_goa
