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 ?

Off topic but I got weighed when travelling on an inter island flight in the Phillipines

I think it was just taking the piss out of tourists as I didn't see locals being weighed.

you would have a case for to take this to small claim court. They don’t provide the service you paid for. The only problem is it costs £30 to take something to small claims and you are only claiming for £18
they wouldn’t bother sending my one to defend it because it wouldn’t be with it

it is ridiculous airlines get away with this. I had to cancel a flight so I was entitled to the taxes back (but not the fee). So the airline put a charge of £50 each way to send me my £80. It would have cost me £20 to get my “refund” no way the admin was costing them the £100

its in the small print about moving seats, you wont get refund etc, by booking you agree to this.

Weight configuration is definitely a thing.

I had this with BA yesterday.

I get the safety aspect but they probably think as you were still sat together, this was ok but ultimately you paid for those seats so they should refund you.

Ryanair should have refunded you. Shoddy treatment, Ryanair seems to have contempt for their customers.

I'm pretty sure Ryanair won’t care less about one more negative tweet - they get thousands! If they won’t refund, I’d just do a charge back on the card used to pay for flights. If, that is, I’d flown FR in the first place ;)

The problem is there is a strong element of ‘you get what you pay for’ with airlines. Ryanair are pretty notorious for being inflexible and showing no care for their passengers. BA, Air Lingus, etc, may have to move a passenger, but they listen to the needs of individual passengers and will try to make it work for them.

But lots of routes you can only fly Ryanair

Stop moaning for God's sake. It had to be done for safety's sake. You are OK aren't you

Hi @plinkyplonly Whilst you have my sympathy, unfortunately safety trumps this. You still had your seat for the flight, just not take off and landing. If it is essential that you have a particular seat for this then you need to use special assistance in advance.

Yes I would definitely complain- you had paid, had a medical reason , and there were other people who could be moved to even the weight- as a minimum I would expect a refund of the seat selection price and a grovelling apology.

Did you have to stay in the aisle seats for the whole journey - I noticed you said you moved back to your paid seats after 35 minutes but then they moved you back again.

Were there people sat in row 8 a & b seats?

If you pay for seats & you don't get to sit in them they're ripping you off - no matter what the reason.

This. EasyJet / Tui much better. Agree speak to special assistance and get a note put in your booking.

But. Just.Dont.Fly.Ryanair. Should we hashtag this?

It had to be done for safety's sake.

That and similar comment been made a few times and as far as we know from what was described here that was the case.

The seat changes would have had a minuscule effect on trim but it may have changed things from the computer saying “no” to it saying “yes”..so it’s not something that was negotiable or optional.

OTOH care need to be taken that airlines don’t start using the safety case to routinely hide shortfalls or lack of care in their booking or seat allocation process.

I don’t know how often the sort of incident described happens at Ryanair but IMO passengers really shouldn’t be seeing musical chairs going being played for safety reasons on a frequent basis at any airline.

Is that you Michael? 😂 🤣

The OP paid for seats she didn't get so is looking for a refund for a service not provided. You don't think that's fair?

Find their complaints procedure online and submit a complaint using this mechanism, be clear you want a refund. If that doesn't resolve the issue you can then escalate to their regulator the civil aviation authority.

A solution could have been moving people from different window seats to the middle aisle and then moving you to their original seats but playing musical chairs like that on a plane must be really time consuming and stressful. Particularly if no one else is willing to move/argues. They should have refunded you the extra money you paid to book though.

Not RA but I once flew on a half empty flight from London City.
We were assigned seats together even though the front was empty. Crew announced that we coukd move once seat belt light went off bit had to return for landing.
It was one of their bigger planes but London City is notorious for go around due to the short runways. I was surprised we could make that much difference

Just flown with precooked sears and noticed on boarding pass that it states you may be required to move to a different seat. I'm presuming it's parents not booking seats for them and children which is the problem.

It can make quite a difference.

If you can get the centre of gravity aft (but within the allowable range) then it can improve climb performance which can be important coming out of somewhere like LCY with a shortish runway and nearby obstacles.

How much if any improvement depends on aircraft type and company/manufacturer’s procedures and whether it’s worth putting the effort in to some extent doing depends on the airport.

Don’t know about short haul but on some long haul aircraft implementing the required procedure can make several tonnes of difference to the amount of weight that can be lifted off a short/medium length runway.

I’m afraid this is the answer. Your contract with RA determines what exactly it is that you’ve paid for, and I’m almost certain that it will say that you have not paid for a cast iron guarantee of a seat. Someone on here saying you haven’t got what you paid for’ is meaningless I’m afraid.

You paid for a service you didn’t get - of course you complain, and keep complaining. However, this is Ryanair, so don’t expect a reasonable response. Just don’t fly with them again - once was enough for me, never again!

I've been on a couple of flights where people have been asked to move for take off.

I understand in the moment it might have been difficult to say to the cabin crew you needed a particular seat and why, but if you had done surely they would have accommodated you?

After a bad experience on a flight with them about 8 years ago I vowed never to fly with Ryanair unless absolutely necessary. I did fly with them earlier this year because they were the only airline on a route. I looked at alternatives such as flying to a different airport and getting the train, but it only added hours to the journey time so I bit the bullet. It was fine, but I think it very much depends on the route, day of the week, etc.