A mum has been left almost £1,000 poorer after she claimed easyJet said her flight was cancelled - only for it to take off hours later.
Natasha Williams claimed she had to pay for alternative flights and accommodation for her family out of her own pocket following a trip to Berlin, after being told there would be no flight back to Bristol.
But the airlinerefused to reimburse her after saying there is "no record" of such a notice being issued, Natasha said.
Natasha said she initially tried to have her and her three children put on the next flight back to Bristol after being informed of the cancellation at the airport, but was told the next one wasn't for another four days.
She instead booked an indirect flight for the next day and overnight accommodation in Berlin, costing her more than £1,000 in total.
Other people in the same situation had also found other ways to get home, she said, including via Eurotunnel and bus.
Recalling the moment, she told DevonLive: "I went to the easyJet desk to be told that our flight was cancelled. It didn't show up on the screen or anything. I said 'well what do I do?' and easyJet said 'just rebook a flight and we'll reimburse you'."
"I looked online to see when the next flight was and it wasn't until Thursday and this was Sunday. My kids started crying, saying 'mum we can't stay that long, what are we going to do?'."
Natasha booked a Premier Inn room and AirFrance flight to Birmingham, via Paris.
But in a conversation with a fellow traveller soon afterwards, she learnt, to her great surprise, that her original easyJet flight was going ahead after all - and was about to set off.
She said: "We hung around [at the airport] for ages and this guy came over and said 'you were on our flight, weren't you? I've been on the phone to easyJet in Bristol, the flight isn't cancelled, apparently it's on the way. I'm just following it on the tracker.'
A woman working at the airport then "hurried us through", she said, and the family did eventually get on the easyJet flight.
Natasha said she later asked easyJet to be reimbursed for the money she spent on alternative flights and accommodation, which the family never used.
But it refused to provide her with any money as she did board her flight to Bristol as scheduled, she revealed, leaving her £1,000 out of pocket just two weeks before Christmas.
A spokesperson for easyJet said: "Ms Williams’ flight from Berlin to Bristol on 11 December 2022 operated as planned with 177 passengers including Ms Williams and her family on board.
"The flight was not cancelled at any time and we have no records to suggest that customers were advised that it was, so we are unable to reimburse her for any alternative travel arrangements that she chose to make."
