Ryanair Ltd., the Irish low cost airline may face a £347 million lawsuit over allegation of hidden charges including £160 fees to change names on tickets. The class action lawsuit aiming to pursue for refunds is going to be filed by an online campaign uniting people who have paid such fees. The campaign has so far been able to collect signatures from 5,000 people while eyeing to amass support from 75,000 in a bid to ensure action's success.
According to the advertisement displayed in Ryanair's website, it charges £15 for re-issuing a boarding pass, £45 for checking in at the airport, up to £70 for checking sports equipment and bikes. The budget carrier also charges up to £90 to change a flight and £160 per passenger to change a name. Casehub, a crowd-sourcing legal site that mobilizes the campaign, charges 35% commission from successful lawsuits, reports Mail Online quoting a statement furnished in its website.
Rayanair argues that such fees help keeping fares low for everyone else and such claim from Europe's most profitable airline has apparently instigated Casehub to pursue for refund. Success in the lawsuit will enable the deceived Rayanair clients to get their money back while setting a legal precedence to put an end to these charges, according to a report published in The Sun.
EU Consumer law declares any unfair term as invalid. An airport check-in fee is unfair since it charges for the second time against the same service. Consumers need to purchase a ticket aiming to check in the airport, reports Daily Star quoting Michael Green, the Cambridge law graduate, also the founder of Casehub. The Casehub founder continues representing his argument against realizing charges for issuing a boarding pass. However, a boarding pass is generated automatically while any body checks in online. The barcode appeared on the ticket, is a shortcut for information. He finds unfair means in issuing boarding pass as a proof of purchasing ticket since the airline gets the ticket purchase information readily from their database. The law graduate also finds instances of imposing unfair charges in case of name changing. Such charges are imposed refraining customers from dumping their pre-purchased tickets with excess rebates. However, imposing the same charge for rectification of a miss-spelt name is definitely unfair, observes the campaign founder.
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