EasyJet says it is working hard to resolve the issue after a Bristol couple's holiday turned sour. BristolLive reports the couple, who were travelling back from Alicante with their teenage son and his girlfriend, claim they are still owed thousands by the airline after their flight back was cancelled.
Zoff Hayward and partner Liz Lewitt were shocked when their flight was cancelled on June 6. They were put up in temporary accommodation but spent only a night there before having to move and returning to Bristol four days later.
They claim they are owed £2,500 from EasyJet for the unscheduled days. Zoff said: "I was tracking the flight on the app and it didn't show anything amiss.
"A Spanish member of staff on the gate looked at our boarding passes and told us the flight was cancelled. I then went to the EasyJet bag drop, who told us there were no support staff at the airport as the airline is an online carrier, and the next Bristol flight was in four days."
The family were eventually told they would be put up in a hotel and they were sent to a resort anticipating a four-night stay until the next flight, but the next morning they were told they had to leave.
Zoff and Liz booked an apartment in Alicante with their own money for the three further nights before their flight to Bristol. On their return to the UK the family claimed their money back after being left £2,500 out of pocket.
Zoff said: ""We have now chased up the payment, which says it has been 'declined'. We spoke to someone from a call centre who confirmed the claim has been 'denied' and there has been no reason given."
Liz said: "EasyJet have been evasive and cut us off. The claim has been deemed as 'invalid' even though we received emails confirming it and it shows as pending on the 'manage my bookings' section online. It is now five weeks since we came back and we paid for everything ourselves. "
A spokesperson for EasyJet said: "We are sorry that Mr Hayward’s and Ms Lewitt's flight from Alicante to Bristol was cancelled due to air traffic control restrictions, which led to the crew reaching their maximum safety regulated operating hours.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is EasyJet’s highest priority. We did all possible to minimise the impact of the disruption for our customers, providing options to rebook or receive a refund along with information on arranging hotel accommodation and meals, which were sent to the family’s travel agent as their contact details were on the booking.
"We ask third parties to ensure they pass on any important information to their customers and we are sorry to hear that this was not shared with them. We provide hotel accommodation for customers for as long as required during times of disruption and so we are looking into their experience with our hotel accommodation provider and reimbursing the family for the alternative accommodation they arranged. Our team is in touch with Mr Hayward and Ms Lewitt to resolve this and reimburse them.”
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