BMIbaby help again required!!

A question about : BMIbaby help again required!!

Hi

I am not sure what to do now.

I have written a number of letter to BMIbaby about being stranded in Barcelona for an extra week and asked them for reimbursement of reasonable travel expenses.

Their replies are standard that they are not paying out.

However, I notice from my bank account details that they have refunded our return flight ticket prices.

We did not request this because we did not find alternative transport back to the UK, we just kept ringing BMIbaby and rescheduling. They are saying that they are not obliged to pay for any expenses because they have refunded our flight costs.

I have written again pointing out that we did not use alternative transport and never asked for a refund and am awaiting a reply.

Has anybody else had this problem because they are trying to find a loophole!?

Any suggestions as to what we do next very much appreciated.

Best answers:

• Hi I'm in the same position as Sheringham, 25 aug.
  I've submitted a claim to Bmibaby and they've refunded my card the return flight and advised me that cos I made my own way home they are not liable for my expenses.
  However, I didn't make my own way home, they brought me home!
  Is this a ploy to deter me taking them to court?
  I'm about to submit a county court claim. Should I? They are still liable aren't they?
  Thanks
• its all a ploy to make you go away you have two choices complain to the enforcement body and wait for them to force BMI or go to the small claims court but you may not win. Safest and others might not agree is to wait for the enforcement body to crack down on them, the EU are saying they should, however with BMI there is the chance that they might not fight it if you go to court there is a thread on MSE with someone who won but it really up to the judge. Whatever you decide make sure you complain to the enforcement body.
• Great, thanks for that. I wondered if it was a ploy.
  I've written to the aug but they said they'll take 8 weeks to reply.
  I guess I'll rake bmi to court. From other posts I've read they don't seem to be taking a very ethical approach. Once again, thanks
• I have been asked by bmibaby to send in letters from our travel insurance companies stating that they will not pay out for our expenses due to the volcanic ash incident.
  I have now done this. Has anybody else done this and heard from bmibaby since? Or, has anybody heard anything else from bmibaby, are they stalling for time, again?
• Hi all
  Thanks for your posts they have been very helpful.
  To update you, I submitted a county court claim form and bmi baby have written offering me a sum in full and final settlement. The amount represents the cost of accom, food and two phone calls (it must be like being arrested!) LESS the amount they have refunded for the return flight home, which I came back on. There's nothing for inconvenience or food without receipts.
  I guess that I'll be lucky to get that and they have offered to reimburse the court fee.
  I've also rung my travel insurers who are allowing me to submit a claim for travel delay (Ј10 for each 12 hours delayed). There's no guarantee that it will be accepted but it's worth a try. I'll still be out of pocket but something is better than nothing.
  I guess bmi's strategy is to give return flights costs back until a county court claim is submitted then make an offer.
  Hope that helps
• Hi City boy
  Thanks for your post.
  Bmi have deducted the cost of the return flight as they have already refunded me that despite flying home with them.
  As a result they can deduct this can't they? They flew me home but later refunded the return flight CIA so effectively I've had the flight and the cost of the flight.
  Thanks
• Hi, I am so pleased for you, at least you have managed to get some expenses from bmibaby. I, too, was refunded the cost of the return flight, even though we still used bmibaby to return home and I have pointed this out to them and also sent copies of our insurance companyies' letters stating that they cannot help us. I am at present awaiting a reply. Do you think I should wait or take them to the small claims court?
• Hi there
  If I was you, personally I would issue a claim in the court against bmi as they soon responded. It is easy to do, you can do it online and bmi responded 7 days later. It will cost you, mine was Ј65, it depends on the value of your claim but they have offered to refund the court fee if I accept.
  I can't say they will respond positively but I would think it's worth a try.
  Let us know how you get on and good lyck
• After a lengthy process of:
• inital letter to Bmibaby (with receipts) quoting EU law, sent recorded delivery
• standard 'go away and contact your insurers' response from them after 2 months
• further recorded delivery letter outlining EU law regarding reimbursement of expense
• reply from Bmibaby acknowledging legal obligation but rejecting our claim on grounds that return flight had been refunded. (This was in fact the second rerouted flight which was also cancelled)
• further letter reiterating request for reimbursement and giving deadline for satisfactory resolution or small claims court proceedings.

I have received a cheque for Ј242 and a letter saying that this is a 'goodwill gesture'!! Rubbish!!!! They know full well that they would have lost in the small claims court. The sum sent does not meet that claimed, and I did think about pursuing the matter further, but I think the point is made. Keep on at them - look at the Air Users Council website for advice.

• How has BMI worked out the amount? Not to be personal, but is this amount a lot less than what you claimed for?
  I am still waiting a reply from them, I wrote showing them that our travel insurance companies would not pay for any expenses.
• Hi all
  Thanks for your help. This week I received a cheque from bmi for my hotel and food, in line with what they should pay under eu legislation. They also paid me the court fee and I undertook to advise the court that I have no further claim against bmi.
  I would recommend taking bmi to court as it worked for me - tho can't guarantee will for others!
  Thanks again and good luck
  Ps I'm pursuing my insurers for travel delay as well.
• Hi Cityboy legal action has to be considered, but we are still 2/3 months away from getting the Enforcement Bodys report, the report though it cant force the airline to pay out, can be used as evidence in a legal challenge. All of the evidence, including EU, EB, airline statements in the press and TV will be used as as part of the legal process. At the moment we have our take on the legislation and the EUs perspective but in a court case they will have bigger lawyers than we will, if any of us can get one to take the case on and they have told us they are ready for a fight. So the evidence is critical to the way the judge will see it, we for one will wait until we have all of the evidence we can and if that means waiting for the EB to come back then we will wait. So far no one has challenged our airline, but there is a case in mid Nov that we are keeping an eye on. We have seen BMI cave a couple of times so they look like they arent up for the flight like ours seems to be but I suppose we have to wait until November to see how hard ours fights.
  The good thing is that our airline has changed its public statements so many times that this can only be good in our case.
• Hi
  I have today received a letter and a cheque form Bmibaby and the cheque is for Ј150 as a goodwill gesture. They had already reimbursed our flight (which they should not have done because we did not ask them to because we flew back with them) for Ј140. They inform us to contact our travel insurance but we have already sent bmibaby details from our travel insurance companies that they will not pay out. Our hotel bill was 630 euros for 7 nights and we were in a 3* hotel. We obviously purchased food and taxi fares to the airport (twice).
  They are obviously trying it on but do I try to go to the small claims court, write back to them to ask them for more money as they have paid out more for other people, accept this money, or what?
  Any help gratefully received.
• Hi,
  I have just received a token gesture of Ј300 from BMI Baby (my total claim was Ј1097 for an extra seven days in Portugal).
  They also say that they are not liable for any more given:
  1. They had a flight that left on the evening of the 21st April (perhaps true - my original flight was cancelled on the morning of the 21st when airspace was already re-opened)
  2. All cancelled passengers were advised of this via email. (erm, no we weren't, I was checking hotmail every day)
  3. They stated this on their website (erm again, no they didn't I was checking this every day and help was none existent)
  How can they get away with being factually incorrect? Also, there was no representative in the airport to go to at all, the generic Groundforce staff in the airport said 'the next available flight with seats was the 29th of April' and we had no reason to believe otherwise, so we booked that. The call centre was continuously unavailable (have you ever tried phoning from abroad anyway - it is a nightmare watching your credit disappear whilst on hold).
  If their customer service had been up to scratch, they would have phoned or emailed with alternative arrangements, but we had neither and were left to fend for ourselves.
  I am now considering small claims court action as they have backed down a couple of times with other claimants. Did they claim they had tried to help with other applicants I wonder?
• Hi
  Has anybody had any more replies from BMIbaby? I have written back to them to state that Ј150 cheque for expenses incurred was not enough. We only asked for 'reasonable' expenses which included a room in a 3* hotel for an extra week, 2 taxi journies to the airport, and a couple of food bills. We have not asked for telephone bills to be covered, clothes that had to be bought, drinks, etc. I believe thes expenses are very reasonable in the circumstances.
  Just wanted to know if other people had heard anything, or is the airline hoping that we will give up and accept this very small cheques? Also, has anybody else had any luck with the small claims court?
• Hi Sheringham,
  Did they claim with you that assistance was made available and this therefore limits their liability? Can you recall any such assistance?
  My memory of this is:
  1. No help (at all) at the airport.
  2. Only flight cancellation detail on the website. No mention of flights returning with available seats.
  3. No proactive emails soliciting help.
  4. Phonelines being jammed.
  Did anyone have a similar experience. This detail will help my case.
  Ta.
  K