Brooce, I don't think you will get very far with anything else. Have you read the T and C's? In my opinion Ryanair is just a "bus service" from Ireland to UK (in fact they are sometimes cheaper than a bus fare )

Think about it, would you be taking a Bus Company to court if the bus didn't turn up/had no seats etc etc? If you would, then go for it. I really don't think I would bother!!!!!!!!

Madsue
You may regard Ryanair as a bus service, but they are not, they are a registered Airline and as such should obey the rules. I don't know about any court cases in the UK or Ireland but today I read about a couple in Germany who had taken them to court after being stranded in Oslo and the airline were made to pay all expenses that the couple had incurred.
Ryanair are notorious for leaving people stranded in out of the way places read http://www.airlinequality.com for many instances. Unfortunately in broooce's case the airline used the technical problem excuse( used often)
which pretty much lets them out of doing anything.
I have travelled with Ryanair and as yet haven't had any problems, but they are not always the cheapest, quite often BA or Lufthansa can give me a cheaper flight.

Sorry Judith, I appreciate that my post read wrong!!!!! What I was trying to say, was that Brooce did actually get a flight with Ryanair, just that he didn't get any help with fares back to the city or overnight accommodation.

I was likening it to a bus service, in that, you wouldn't expect them to provide accommodation, meals, phone calls etc etc if a bus was cancelled.

Madsue

Yes you are right, Ryanair did provide Broooce with a flight the following day so I don't think she/he will get anything more from the airline.

Brooce

This is an outfit employs more lawyers than you can shake a stick at. Many have tried to get them to cough up but few have suceeded. That said if you do win you will have the undying admiration of most who work in the Aviation Industry!!!

Just to give you an idea of what they are like when victims of the tsumani returned home, most of the airlines honoured the tickets they had and flew them onward, regardless of the dates they were booked on at no extra cost.Ryanair refused and charged them the going rate...

Think you might have to write this off to experience

A boycott of the airline would be better,the only way to hit home.This might get rid of them and leave room for the pros.

I can only comment on my experiences with Ryanair and acknowledge that the other posters on this thread have been treated poorly. However, I have lost count of the number of flights I have taken with them and really cannot fault one flight. (I'm sure I will have though in years to come). I would just like to point out my latest experience. I had reason to transfer my fifteen year old on to a later flight than ours due to an exam date that I had overlooked. Ryanair assured me that this was ok. He checked in with his uncle the following day from us to fly Liverpool - Reus. His uncle signed the parental disclaimer and left my son in the hands of Ryanair. Although he is fifteen the prospect of him flying on his own was quite daunting. The staff however from Ryanair were marvellous. They kept one girl with him through immigration, sat with him in the cafe and took him to the boarding gate. Prior to boarding, he was taken on his own to the plane and given the choice of any seat before general boarding commenced.

Constantly throughout the flight he was asked if everything was OK by a stewardess and asked if would like to be accompanied by a Ryanair ground services person at Reus. He declined the offer, however was aware that a Spanish girl with Ryanair hi vis vest followed him from the steps and waved to him as he went into the arrivals lounge to meet me.

Like I said, this is only my experience but am sure you have to agree a very good one to have.

From my point of view, well done Ryanair.

Please take ryan air to the small claims court. Please please please. You will never win but atleast it will be another story to deter people from using this company.

I have to say that i have taken a few fights with ryanair from liverpool. And i can't fault them, flights have been on time and there has never been a problem.

I think we all forget that it wasn't that many years ago when flights were very expensive and non-existent from regional airports. Now there is a wide choice for everyone. OK the so called low costs and not always cheap and things do go wrong, but many people have had opportunities to travel where previously this would not have been possible because of airlines like RyanAir

UPDATE

just got home from my summer hols, before I went I asked the ECC in Dublin to take up my case and basically threatened to take Ryanir to the small claims court in Ireland.

I received a letter on my return today which basically says ryanair have agreed to pay my expenses which total about £257, but not the 250 euros for a cancelled flight.

A part victory, I will sleep on it and consider pressing for the rest.

broooce

I am flying ryanair next week and not sure if the flight will be cancelled due to the current ptoblems. I hope not. So if that cancel does that mean we have to re-pay for another flight the next day? And is it true they would not need to provide accommdation?

whats it like cipping out on the floor at the airport? lol

Futurebride..

It is worth checking their website before you set off for the airport as they have been posting details of cancelled flights.

If the flight is cancelled, Ryanair will ask you to book on to the next available flight (this is where a quite dash to the internet can win over queueing at the airport ticket desk or even telephoning) The next flight available flight could be in a few hours or few days - the key word is "available" as they won't put you on the next flight - just the next one with seats. If flights are busy this could take days. Alternatively they would refund your money for that proportion of the flight and you make your own way back (perhaps possible between Dublin and Gatwick, not so great if you are stuck in Malpensa) - but you are not likely to get back the difference in the cost of the new fare home.

If the delay is a direct result of the recent security issues they would not provide accommodation. I'm not actually sure Ryanair have ever been know to provide accommodation even when the delay could be their fault. They simply cancel the fligth and tell you to rebook or refund you.

Another of the delights of flying "low-cost".