Easjet flight booking compensation

[nautical]

Here's the scenario around our summer holiday flight bookings to Majorca this year:

1) Last December I booked outbound & return flights to Majorca with Easyjet for this summer
2) Fast forward to June, more than 14 days before we fly, and Easyjet cancel our outbound flight. No suitable alternatives were available so I chose the refund option and rebooked with BA instead
3) Subsequently, I receive email confirmation from Easyjet of my refund request for the outbound flight
4) During our holiday I receive a standard reminder email from Easyjet about our forthcoming return flight home
5) On arrival at Palma airport for our return flight we're unable to check in. Instead, we're directed to the Easyjet Customer Service desk who advise that our booking, but not the flight itself, has been cancelled...no explanation given
6) I checked my email and confirmed nothing was received from Easyjet advising us of the booking cancellation
7) As it was an evening flight, the only remedy offered to us was to rebook on the same Easyjet flight (the flight wasn't cancelled, but our booking on it was) to ensure we got home that day. However, the cost for the flight is now £110 more than our original booking
8) After returning home, my credit card statement confirms Easyjet had refunded the original amount for both flights

Having booked the flights well in advance, I'm miffed that Easyjet had us over a barrel for the return flight at the airport, giving us no practical option other than to repurchase the same flight at greater cost if we wished to get home that day. It later became clear that, in response to my refund request for the outbound flight, they'd cancelled our whole booking and not just the outbound flight.

I wrote to Easyjet to reclaim the £110 additional cost for the rebooked flights since they were responsible for cancelling the whole booking and not telling us they'd done so. Their response has been to deny my claim as they'd refunded the cost of the original booking...they clearly think it's sufficient, but I don't. So, given their stance which I don't expect to change, what potential recourse do I have to pursue the £110 (though I'm probably not minded to go to court over it)?

Looking at the now infamous EU regulation 261/2004, this seems to apply to "cancelled flights", "delayed flights" or "denied boarding" rather than, in our case, a cancelled booking...the flight itself was never cancelled as Easyjet CS staff confirmed to me at the airport.

I know many airlines are struggling at present and are looking to save every penny, but I don't think that entitles them to almost extort money out of customers who have acted in good faith at all times.

Thanks in advance for all advice offered.

nautical

[Lootman]

It later became clear that, in response to my refund request for the outbound flight, they'd cancelled our whole booking and not just the outbound flight.

Yes, in general my experience has been that if one leg of your itinerary is cancelled then subsequent legs are also cancelled. So for instance if your ticket is from A to C via B, and you do not show up for the A to B flight, then the B to C flight is automatically cancelled.

I am guessing that Easyjet cancelled both legs when the first leg was cancelled. But they certainly should have told you that, and refunded you for both legs. Had they done that then you could have rebooked both legs with BA, rather than just the outbound leg.

Whether they will accept that responsibility is another matter of course.

[barchid]

I had flights booked in September to Pisa & back with Ryanair, not known as easy refunders, but I was offered free transfers or my cash back (the option which I took, & duly received it in 3 weeks), as the flight out was running but the return was cancelled and as the alternative was more than 4 hours different from my booking I was entitled to refund/transfer.
Due to that offer by Ryanair I'll be quite happy to book with them again, when covid permits, as I felt that I had been treated very fairly.
WRT easyjet wouldn't the small claims court be the best way for recompense ?

[AF62]

Airlines have certainly been strongly criticised in the past when they have cancelled (and refunded) outbound flights but refused to refund the return on the basis that flight was still operating.

Although you say you only asked to cancel the outbound flight tickets, since I presume these were on the same booking as the return then it is important to know what the refund request form said and what the refund confirmation from EasyJet said.

Did you overlook that these mentioned that the return was cancelled when you requested a refund of the booking due to the cancelled outbound flights, as you mentioned you didn’t check your credit card statement to see you had been refunded for both?

[nautical]

Thanks for your responses.

AF62 - your reply prompted me to walk through Easyjet's refund claim process again as directed by their email advising of the cancellation of our outbound flight. After jumping through a number of online hoops, I noticed this sentence on one of the refund pages:

"Once the online refund request is processed, it will be applied to all flights on the booking, excluding any flights that have already been flown."

Since I did indeed purchase both outbound and return flights in one booking, this must be the nougat of information I didn't fully take account of while I was in claiming-a-refund-for the-outbound-flight mode (its the only place in their refund process where they state this and it isn't highilghted in any way). So, I guess that answers my query and would render any further action a waste of time.

Note to self: It's not just your 14 y/o son you need to remind to "read the paper fully first before answering any questions"

Thanks again,

nautical

[dealtn]

Thanks for your responses.

AF62 - your reply prompted me to walk through Easyjet's refund claim process again as directed by their email advising of the cancellation of our outbound flight. After jumping through a number of online hoops, I noticed this sentence on one of the refund pages:

"Once the online refund request is processed, it will be applied to all flights on the booking, excluding any flights that have already been flown."

Since I did indeed purchase both outbound and return flights in one booking, this must be the nougat of information I didn't fully take account of while I was in claiming-a-refund-for the-outbound-flight mode (its the only place in their refund process where they state this and it isn't highilghted in any way). So, I guess that answers my query and would render any further action a waste of time.

Note to self: It's not just your 14 y/o son you need to remind to "read the paper fully first before answering any questions"

Thanks again,

nautical

You've got to nothing to lose by asking your credit card company too for compensation. The worst outcome is they say no.

[nautical]

I'm not sure on what basis I would ask the credit card company for compensation if Easyjet has followed their refund policy of cancelling all flights on a booking regardless (save for not drawing as much customer attention to this point as they should) if they haven't committed any legal transgression?

Thanks

nautical

[AF62]

AF62 - your reply prompted me to walk through Easyjet's refund claim process again as directed by their email advising of the cancellation of our outbound flight. After jumping through a number of online hoops, I noticed this sentence on one of the refund pages:

"Once the online refund request is processed, it will be applied to all flights on the booking, excluding any flights that have already been flown."

Easy to overlook.

I am surprised they don't have an option in the process for 'do you want to keep the return leg anyway' but I suppose it complicates things and people would get confused and complain (either if they did or didn't), and EasyJet is a low cost airline so will want to keep things to a minimum.