I was bumped from Easyjet flight 8830 on October 9th Bodrum to Gatwick for the reason that the incoming aeroplane was one seat short of the required capacity. This was despite the fact that I was at the gate with my boarding pass having arrived at the airport two hours before the flight. I was informed that I would be delayed by 8 hours for the corresponding flight to Stansted, which arrives at 11:15 pm and that I would be taken to a hotel in the meantime.
It took more than 2 hours after the Gatwick plane left before I was informed what would be happening and taken to a hotel. Clearly, the staff at Bodrum, who were all charming, did not have a clear procedure in place as to how to handle such an issue, which I suspect is by no means a one off.
On leaving the hotel there was no certainty as to who should pay the bill. At first it was to be me, then it was Easyjet and then half way back to the airport a call came in to return to the hotel so that I should pay the bill, to be reimbursed at Bodrum. At the airport I was told that London would make the refund.
I was also advised that my onward transit from Stansted would be handled at the airport. The Bodrum staff insisted that I would be sent to Gatwick but, since I live in central London, that was clearly not my preferred choice at that time of night. However, I did not pursue the issue with the Bodrum staff because understandably they did not appreciate the geography and I expected to be able to sort it out with Customer Services at Stansted.
But EasyJet CUSTOMER SERVICES AT STANSTED IS NOT OPEN AT THAT TIME OF NIGHT, a quite incredible oversight which even the most second rate rail franchise does not make. Even the Stansted Express have platform staff on duty at 12:45 but Easyjet do not staff their desk at 11:45pm, at a time when they have a number of incoming flights.
The compensation regulations governing an incident such as this to an airport which is 2680km distant from Gatwick and for a delay of 8 hours 15 minutes require a payment of 400 Euro. I have contacted Easyjet twice on the matter but three weeks later they have refused to even reply. It would appear that I have to sue them in the County Court to comply with their legal obligations, which I am now doing. If they are this cavalier about one regulation how about more important safety concerns.
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