A Ryanair customer has been fighting the company for compensation for almost four years and has vowed not to give up.
Tom Phillips, who works for Reach PLC, and members of his girlfriend's family found themselves trooping off one of the budget airline's planes after a lengthy three-hour wait back in March 2019.
They claim were told a lack of available de-icers at Dublin Airport had led to delay, which was turned into a cancellation once the 190 passengers had made it back into the terminal.
Having picked up the bad news on his emails and with no representatives nearby to help the confused passengers, Tom said he picked up the vacated tannoy and announced the bad news to fellow passengers.
His good deed was met with a cry of 'shut up you eijit' from the irate passengers, who eventually came to terms with the fact they wouldn't be flying to London that night.
After a police officer cleared the assembled crowds out of the closing airport, Tom claims the party discovered the next flight home they'd be able to catch was in two days' time.
When they eventually got back to London, Tom says he began what would prove to be a mammoth and so far fruitless battle with Ryanair to recoup some of the £1,500 spent on last minute hotels and replacement flights - as well as missed work and lost holiday days.
"I have opened three complaints about this and I've heard nothing," he told The Mirror.
"I've tried again during lockdown, and I was met with straightforward denial. We were going round in circles.
"It's almost four years down the line. I am determined to get somewhere with this. I'm really getting frustrated with Ryanair thinking they can get away with this.
"I've been met with utterly unprofessional customer service. It feels like they're constantly reading from a script."
Tom had received no response from Ryanair for three and a half years, until the Mirror contacted the budget airline on his behalf.
His girlfriend has subsequently been contacted by Ryanair.
A spokesperson from the company said: “This flight from Dublin to London Gatwick on 3rd March 2019 was regrettably cancelled due to adverse weather conditions at Dublin Airport, which were entirely beyond Ryanair’s control.
"Affected passengers were notified via email/SMS and advised of their entitlements. This passenger opted for a refund, which was both requested and processed on 5th March 2019.
"As this flight was cancelled due to extraordinary circumstances outside of Ryanair’s control, no compensation is due. However, this passenger is entitled to reasonable receipted expenses and a member of our Customer Services Team will be in contact to assist with this.”
