READERS' FORUM: HAVE YOUR SAYMARK CROWTHER sent us a mail after having a run of bad luck in connection with Ryanair and its flights into and out of Shannon airport.
“We have a small holiday home on the west coast of France and we use Ryanair to fly over to Nantes every Easter,” he writes. “Aer Lingus don’t fly outside the summer months and Aer Arann don’t fly from Dublin, so we are restricted in our choice.” In 2008, the Dublin-Nantes flight times for the return leg of their flight didn’t suit so they decided to fly from Nantes to Shannon and catch a cheap flight from Shannon to Dublin later that evening. “A month before they flew, Ryanair cancelled the Shannon-Dublin flight, but not the Nantes-Shannon leg so they ended up travelling back to Dublin on Bus Éireann, which was “an interesting, if slow, experience”, he says.
Last year they booked direct flights both ways with the airline. “Six weeks before our flights, I booked the hire car for the holiday. The following day, Ryanair changed the flight arrangements. I had to change the car hire times and had to pay a fee for changing the booking. The following week, Ryanair did it again. I had to change the hire details again, and pay another change fee.”
Last November he booked his Easter flights with the airline and on January 24th he received the dreaded “change in departure/arrival time” from Ryanair. “I haven’t yet booked the car, as at this stage, I don’t trust Ryanair. They still have plenty of time to change their minds again. Needless to say, we only use Ryanair for this Easter trip. The rest of the time, mainly the summer, we use Aer Lingus or Irish Ferries. Yes, Ryanair are cheap but their customer service is rubbish, and you can’t trust them.”
We got in touch with Ryanair to see if they would like to comment on our reader’s opinion of the airline.
We sent Ryanair details of our reader’s complaint and in response the airline’s head of communications Stephen McNamara said that “on occasion airlines may be required to amend flight schedules”. He said EU guidelines mandated that passengers were given a minimum of 14 days notice of such changes. “In this highly unusual case the passenger was provided with seven weeks and 10 weeks notice of the required changes. In cases where schedules are changed by more than three hours passengers can opt for a refund or to travel on the amended schedule departure. This passenger accepted the schedule change. Ryanair apologises for any inconvenience caused in this highly unusual situation.”
Tesco coining it when counting your coins
ANOTHER READER who does her shopping in Tesco sent us a mail about the coin counting machines commonly found in the stores. Called Coinstar, the machine charges a fairly hefty 9.9 per cent to count your loose change. “However the coins could be used easily to pay for groceries using the coin slot on one of the self service tills so the 9.9 per cent seems like an awful waste of money to me.” To us too.
Clamping costs €90 at some Aldi stores
GEMMA McCABE does a lot of shopping in an Aldi outlet in Arklow although following a recent expensive and unpleasant experience she may be reconsidering where she spends her money. The store’s car park is adjacent to the Arklow Shopping Centre, she writes, and she frequently pops across to the centre after she has finished her Aldi shop to pick up some extra bits and pieces.
She did that on a Sunday recently and was less than impressed when she returned to her car to find that she had been clamped. “I couldn’t see any meters,” she writes but did see “about four or five other cars clamped”. It was only then that she saw a sign “high up on the poles around the car park” warning that there was a 90-minute time limit on parking before cars were liable to be clamped.
“Honestly, there were a couple of signs dotted about, but they were in small writing and high up! No where was there a sign on the way in or anywhere obvious,” she writes. “It cost me €90 to get de-clamped. I just think this is outrageous in this day and age. Clamping at a supermarket?”
We contacted Aldi and were told that it is “necessary” to employ a clamping service at four of its stores – Arklow, Carlow (Hanover Road), Gort and Ennis as they had been “subject to an ongoing problem of illegally parked cars, preventing Aldi customers from using the car park”. The statement noted that customers are provided with free car-parking for 90 minutes with an additional 15-minute grace period and it claims its clamping policy is “clearly signposted” in each of these store car parks.
