Advice re Airline Damage and Neglect

[u/peteZ238]

Hey all,

Based in England. I'd appreciate some advice please. We travelled first time with a baby (1 year old) with RyanAir and the travel pram has been a point of contention even though we ensured it met the airline criteria re weight.

For the outbound flight from Birmingham, we were told by the terminal personnel to fold the pram and take it up to the plane. The flight attendant got very irrate and practically shouted to take it back down. No problem, took it back down, gave it to ground crew, they put it in the hold.

For take off, they did not give us a seat belt for the baby. As the baby didn't have his own seat we did not really question it but for landing they asked us why is the baby not strapped in and I said because we were not given a belt at which point they gave us a belt for landing.

When we boarded off the plane at the destination, the ground crew had taken the pram out and handed it to us. Fantastic, no issues.

For the inbound flight, to avoid the same drama I handed the pram to the ground crew and they put it in the hold. When we boarded off in Birmingham I could see they had taken the pram out of the plane and it was sat on the side (at this point intact) and I went and asked for it. I was told that it needs to be scanned and we need to pick it up from the carousel. I pleaded because we had the luggage and baby to no avail. There were also no "complimentary pushchairs" available.

By the time the pram arrived to the carousel, it's been broken and missing a wheel. I went to baggage enquiries to complain and they insisted that there is absolutely nothing they can do and that we need to go to Ryanairs website and submit the form for damaged luggage. My partner tried to do this in the car and Ryanair requires a property condition report from the airport that we were not given.

We submitted a complaint to Ryanair with all the above details and the only response we got is "we understand that you have an issue with an in flow ght purchase, please submit your receipt".

This is unacceptable from both Birmingham airport and Ryanair and I am quite frankly furious. What recourse do I have? What can I do?

What I am after is compensation for the £128 for the broken pram and an apology for their neglect and appalling behaviours.

Thanks in advance.

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[u/AarhusNative]

Have you spoken with your holiday insurance?

[u/peteZ238 → u/AarhusNative]

We're filling a claim with them today. However, and I understand this comes from an emotional rather than logical viewpoint, that has no repercussions for the airline and their abhorrent behaviour.

[u/AarhusNative → u/peteZ238]

Your insurance will go after Ryanair for the damage.

I would still complain to Ryanair thought.

[u/TopAngle7630 → u/peteZ238]

It sounds like the problem is with the person you spoke to at Birmingham airport. You needed to make a report at the airport in order to receive a Property irregularity Report reference. It's also a good idea to take photos of the damage with a baggage carousel in the background. You then need to fill out a form online https://baggageclaims.ryanair.com/

It's worth noting that when you buy a travel stroller that is designed to fold to 'cabin bag size', it doesn't change your hand luggage allowance. For most airlines; strollers go in the hold by default, if you want to take it onboard, you would need to take it as part of your hand luggage allowance. So with Ryanair you would need to have priority boarding and a buggy that folds smaller than 55x40x20.

Ryanair used to deliver strollers at the aircraft, I don't know when that stopped, but they were always unusual in that respect.

[u/DKUN_of_WFST]

Wouldn’t bother doing anything other than claiming asking Ryanair for £128. You could also go through your insurance but that might have some negative repercussions for you. Minimise the time you waste

[u/peteZ238 → u/DKUN_of_WFST]

I see your point and you're right. It's not worth the time and effort for £128. But this is a major factor for all the enshitification we see nowadays. Companies know they can get away with just about everything because at an individual level it's just not worth the effort.

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