Paid for seats on Ryanair then told to move...would you complain?

[plinkyplonly]

I suffer with quite bad vertigo and anxiety when flying.
I've realised if I can look out to the horizon I can stop going really dizzy.
I reserved seats 6a and 6b 3 months ago.
We boarded and took our seats.
After boarding was complete we were told we had to move to 8b and 8c (Middle and aisle ) for takeoff and landing.
She said it was to even the weight.
(Not sure why she couldn't move people who hadn't paid and it was only 2 rows behind )
I explained that I had paid for seats and explained my vertigo but still had to move.
The seatbelt signs didn't go off for 35 mins so we were stuck there.
It was awful and I felt so dizzy
Especially the turns and I couldn't see

Would you complain ?

This - as you didn't get the service you paid for.
But check the T&C's of the RA choosing your seat & if it doesn't say anything about being moved from your chosen seat due to safety issues then you are entitled to your money back.

In my opinion if you aren’t given the precise seats you paid for then you have every right to a refund. However unfortunately Ryanair have a different view of reality.

I had no idea that having to balance the passengers out was a thing. Something else for me to worry about. Sigh.

Ryanair response

Did you read the post ? She needed (and booked) a window seat.

People fly Ryanair because unless you are happy to travel to London, they are often the only carrier flying particular routes.

Last time I flew Ryanair Harlequins rugby team were taking up the back third of the plane.
I did wonder about the weight distribution!

When you request a particular seat, it's made clear that it's not guaranteed and can be changed for operational reasons. It's not even in small print in my experience.

I always request my seat when I fly (regularly) and it's always stated that it's a request only, and might be changed by the airline.

You don't have a chance of them capitulating. The information is not hidden away, and would be the same whether you're flying with a budget carrier or the best if the long haul airlines.

They didn't swap me a window for a window tho
If it was just the row number that's fine but it wasn't
So I gave them money for nothing
When people didn't pay for seats and got the same service as me
So it's a total rip off

@plinkyplonly did anyone end up sitting in your paid for seats???

@allthemiddlechildrenoftheworld after 35 mins we moved there
She then noticed and moved us back again to the two rows behind
Yet a woman moved to another empty row and went to sleep and they said nothing

And as an anxious flyer, talk of an 'unbalanced plane' (something it's never before occurred to me to worry about) would NOT be helpful!

OP obviously they should refund the seat booking cost, since they didn't provide the booked seats. There must have been many other configurations they could have used to make the plane.... balance😬😖

But it's not just a request- you wouldn't pay extra for that! You're paying to choose a seat.

I’ve been moved on a Virgin Atlantic 747. Only until take-off then we could go where we liked as the plane was virtually empty. There were only six pax in our section. Once airborne we each moved to the centre bank of seats and spent the entire flight horizontal across several seats and sleeping.

Even BA (which charges a small fortune to request seats) had the same Ts&C's. Though they do refund the cost of the seating request if they move you (and I should think so too, since they wanted £40 for a one way, one sector flight).

It is just a request! It's put on your booking as a confirmed request, but it's not guaranteed and the airline can change it. See my post above

Put it on Twitter/X they won't like the negative publicity.

Of course they should refund.
The op paid for specific seats, she didn’t get these seats so should be refunded the cost of reserving seats.

I can’t believe Ryanair would even consider not giving op a refund.

You’re right, but…..

If this is widespread and if the motive is Ryanair wanting to routinely take advantage of a certain weight distribution (and for reasons beyond the scope of this forum they might want to or have to sometimes, some places) then they need to block out some seats on appropriate flights from sale at the booking stage, rather than allowing people to pony up cash for a seat they are almost certainly going to get moved from once they get on board.

I was at an airline where we often had such a requirement on at least one Long Haul aircraft and the desired balance position was achieved almost solely by positioning of cargo and baggage, not by evicting people from seats after they had boarded.

When I say I can’t believe it I mean they absolutely should.
However weren’t they recently fined something like £80 million by Spanish courts?

Ah I take your point, but very much agree that this is fairer- they're not promising to fulfil your request, but you only pay if they do (otherwise what are you paying for?)

Unfortunately @plinkyplonly airlines have the right to move you for weight and balance even if you paid for the seat and as you were able to move back 35 minutes into the flight then technically they still delivered the service (also in the small print it usually says no refund in those circumstances). You could try using the free Resolver tool on Money Saving Expert try for a partial refund but I don’t hold out much hope and would probably let this one go.

@AppleDumplingWithCustard weight and balance on a 737 as Ryanair operate is a bit different to a 747 jumbo though … ! Have had to e same as you on a 747 which was half empty and had a row to myself - fab!

OP I would reply that you understand that seating may have to be adjusted, but in this instance you would like a refund of the money you paid specifically for the seat, because you weren’t able to benefit from the extra money you paid.

Not the point but I take Sturgeron for the dizziness when flying. Works a treat.