It would be the principle of it with me. The reason travel companies/airlines have such a cavalier attitude to their legal obligations with regard to service and delivering what they advertise is that they are allowed to get away with it.

Peter

Yes it is the principal, I may have been allergic to Pork for example and eaten it on the basis that a Vegetarian meal would be expected to be Pork free.

why1,

This should never happen and you have every right to complain and to expect a satisfactory answer. You did all that you could to ensure that the airline were aware of your requirements. You have my sympathy.

As I recall, the initial post was

Apparently there were not enough meals for everybody and my Wife and Daughter missed out along with several other people.

For this post and thread, I stand by the mountains and mole hills comment.

Jordy has named the airline - we can now all do our bit if we choose. We are living in a very sad society if we feel that our only option is to sue.

Peter of York, I agree with the principle that everyone is entitled to what they pay for. Any action should however be considered against the damage, loss or inconvenience caused.

These things should never happen, but everyone makes mistakes. Personally I already try to avoid KLM (amongst several other airlines) as, in my opinion they are well below par. I cannot believe that they deliberately go out of their way to deprive passengers of their snack. Neither do I believe that a great deal of harm can have been done.

Only my view, of course, but surely a sense of proportion should prevail.

Nuff said

Peter

Thanks to everybody who sent me advice on my original query.

Just for the record at no time did I mention prosecution or indeed any other action, I simply wanted to be sure if the Airline was obliged to provide a meal. I now have the answer ie they are not obliged. Therefore I will advise my wife and daughter to have a meal before boarding the return flight.

Oh and for those who are implying I over reacted, My 6 year old daughter left the house at 13:00 to catch the flight from UK to Amsterdam, she was given a sandwich on that flight and then had nothing further until she arrived in Israel at 03:00 the next morning.

Jordy

Our members will be able to offer you advice on how best to deal with your holiday complaints and how to deal with the Tour Operators. However please remember that this will be non qualified advice. We therefore suggest you seek professional assistance from someone qualified in Travel Law.
We have teamed up with Ros Fernihough, Travel Law Solicitor, to provide the best information available.
Ros has offered our members free impartial legal advice. Please note that Ros does not read or post on this board any contact to her must be made via :-

Tel :- 01922 621114

You should consult Ros for expert advice. We tend to have different opinions. For example, I don't think the answer to your question is that they are "not obliged to provide a meal", because they advertise and make much of meal provision on the KLM website.

This however is little consolation if your wife and daughter didn't get one, nor does such a cavalier attitude to honesty and customer service as KLM demonstrates bode well for getting a meal on the return journey.

I don't think you have over reacted at all, you've just asked a very reasonable question.

Peter

The usual pat reply from Peter Of York
He wants to sue everyone
hehehehehehe

Hi btman and welcome to Holidaytruths
Perhaps, before you continue posting here, you could make yourself familiar with our Terms- and Conditions of posting

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=968

Specifically:

3. Show respect and courtesy to all other users
Do not allow yourself to be drawn into conflict with another user. We will not accept personal attacks from one user toward another and this will be dealt with very severely. If a situation arises that you feel may be getting out of hand inform a moderator or Admin via Personal Messaging . We will then attempt to deal with the situation.

Many thanks

MarkJ HT Mod

Once again we have a problem.

What started out as a simple request for advice is turning into a long ramble with everyone putting their few pence in.

I suggested at the start

"If you should have got it and did not then a polite letter to the airline will most likely result is a refund and apology."

Now if someone wishes to sue then just get on with it. But please be aware. It could cost you a lot of money.

The court might find in your favour - they might also consider that my original suggestion was a far more sensible idea.

They might just consider that it is frivolous litigation, in which case they could award costs against you.

We all express our personal points of view - and that is what they are personal.

In my personal viewpoint the topic is exhausted. Time it was locked.

fwh

The point is that if you are expecting a meal then you may not have eaten for some time.And as for sueing,i am against alot of litigation but then again if the companys dont get chastised by getting fined they wont change... a hard one though

These topics do make for interesting reading. It is good to see peoples different point of views and takes on a situation. And no one has been too rude

I do admit that i would be a tad cross if my six year old went 14 hours with only a sandwich, it would do me the world of good mind you!

I agree with you Wendy, I like to read everyones view as well as it helps you to think what you would do if you were confronted with a similar situation.

I know a lot of people have said they feel a lack of meal is a trival matter, but I still beleive that if you have paid for something or it is deemed to be included in the cost of the ticket you should receive it.

If people don't complain then services will not improve or even be maintained. A well worded letter is never wasted.

Just to square the circle, I called my wife and they had a good return flight with KLM, nobody missed out on meals. overall a good experience.

However when they took a Taxi from Newcastle Airport the Driver refused to take his car up the single track road to our House and dumped them and their bags outside the Village Hall. A friendly neighbour came to the rescue, so alll's well that ends well

Jordy

First Choice have telephoned to say they are refunding my meal, I did say that the point was that they shouldn't be serving Pork in a Vegetarian meal, rather than the £7.00. To which the very nice lady did say that this was also being addressed by the relevant people. So credit where credits due a positive response from First Choice to a complaint.

I think it was alot easier a few years ago, when everyone on the flight got a meal and the airline didn't mention it in the prices, now there seems to always be confusion over who is and who is not entitled to a meal.

I couldn't have put it better myself.

I can't beleive they make that much money out of it with the number of querys they must have to sort out. Plus they need a system where they seat all the 'meal people' together to make it easier for the staff, so thats more 'admin' costs. What a complicated mess all to fleece the passengers for a few extra quid.

Or, to phrase it another, "What a complicated mess all to cut out all the possible extras for the passengers so they can save a few extra quid as they can appear as cheap as possible when responding to clients demand to be insanely cheap".

You could just avoid charter flights, and it's not an issue.

You could just avoid charter flights, and it's not an issue.

Since when has KLM been a charter airline?

Or alternative, First Choice, which is what was being talked about.

Afraid you are wrong TS the thread that was started was about KLM