Ryan Air Flight - Was the Cabin Crew Member in the wrong?

[Witchofzog]

I was sat next to a man who ordered a meal and paid with his card. They initially tried to give his meal to the wrong seat but eventually got it right.

About 10 mins later when he was half way through eating another member of cabin crew asked him for payment. He stated he had already paid and the other member of cabin crew confirmed this (after both quibbling next to my head for 5 mins). However the Cabin Crew Member who asked for payment came back to the man and said it wasn't on the system and he needed to pay it again as it hadn't gone through. He refused saying he would call his bank on landing and if he hadn't paid he would then pay but would not be paying twice.

This woman would not leave it alone. She stood over him (and me) for over 10 mins arguing the case, insisting he pay, saying he should not expect to eat for free and saying if he didn't pay they would take it out of her wages.

To be honest she was rude and unprofessional but at the same time the whole cabin crew looked stressed and unhappy and I wasn't aware the crew would be treated so badly that their wage would be deducted for a non payment.

So I think she was unreasonable but at the same time must be treated appallingly by Ryan Air to behave this way in the first place.

I used to work for Ryanair, I managed two years there before I quit for a better airline. Yes they would take discrepancies out of their wages. Not only this but if the bar didn't match up with the money taken the crew would likely be in trouble with management.
However I don't blame the guy for not paying it again I wouldn't have either.

Horrendous airline, and awful to work for. I used to get paid £14 an hour which sounds ok but that's only for hours in the sky, on the ground I got nothing. So any delays it's unpaid, no pay for turnarounds, after flight de briefs, 45 minutes pre flight briefing. - all worked for FREE. Standbys at home- unpaid. Sometimes I did 8 hours shifts in the terminal on airport standby SELLING priority boarding/bus tickets (Against flying regulations btw it's actually illegal to be 'working' on airport standby you need to be rested and away from passengers) I got paid £30 for the 8 hours.

I could go on and on about the conditions there. Major bullying culture too, just awful.

I would just have paid it. Your credit card company can get it refunded if you did pay twice. Happened to me in a shop when the transaction appeared to fail twice and then went through. I bank online and saw I was charged three times. One phone call and refund done. It wasn't a large amount either.

I feel sorry for everyone involved in this situation. I also think the guy was BU for buying an over priced, crappy Ryan Air lunch.

I used to get paid £14 an hour which sounds ok

No flyer793 it doesn't. I don't know where I'd pitch the wage but you are not a waitress, though that's your job most of the time. Being responsible for people on public transport is a big ask - underground and definitely in the air. We've seen what happens when things go wrong.

Flight crew are in a unique position. One minute you're flogging perfume and the next you're evacuating people down the emergency slide. It's quite a responsible job and one that has to be done in heels and tights

Horrendous airline, and awful to work for. I used to get paid £14 an hour which sounds ok but that's only for hours in the sky, on the ground I got nothing. So any delays it's unpaid, no pay for turnarounds, after flight de briefs, 45 minutes pre flight briefing. - all worked for FREE. Standbys at home- unpaid

So basically once it was all added up, somewhere less than the minimum wage?

It's basically the same rules as care agencies then - you only get paid when you are with your customer. What a shitty way to treat staff. You would not be doing the extra things were you not at work therefore you should be paid for this too. Dsd worked 14 hours at a care agency on boxing day and got paid for 8 because the rest of the time she was walking between client houses. Shocking

Wow I’m never flying Ryan air again

I would have just paid again. Like a pp said, it's easy enough to claim back, and from the way she was stressing, I'm guessing it really hadn't gone through.

@Birdsgottafly It's not a way of ensuring (not insuring) staff do their jobs correctly. It is a way of having low paid staff bear the full burden for the inevitable accounting irregularities that occur in every single business, and which responsible businesses will absorb as it is a cost of doing business. It is also in many cases unlawful (if the employee gets paid less than minimum wage because of it).

'Pay peanuts get monkeys' - I can't believe I've just read that. Disgusting.

I'd have paid again. Easy enough to get back and I've never been told a transaction hadn't gone through only to find I'd been charged twice.

If she was breathing over you and disturbing your meal, why didn't you ask her to back off?

How is this still legal ?Dh Works for a warehouse which is a subsidary of a large Supermarket they often get searched on their way out (randomely) they can be kept behond for 15_30 minutes which can add up over the month the cpmpany have recently been forced to pay overtime to employers stopped and searched .

I wasn't eating @miscible . I was sat reading my kindle in the aisle seat

I was quite shocked on a BA flight recently, some cabin crew were on board, flying to their next job, not having a freebie, and they had to pay for their food and drink on the plane. I believe they can claim it back, but for goodness sake BA, can't you just give them a coke and a sandwich without making them give you an interest free loan?

I feel for both sides in the Ryanair scenario. I would never fly with them: I think they treat customers and staff badly and aren't even that cheap unless you really do fly completely no frills with no luggage etc.

@Satsumaeater BA are not much better, treat their staff appallingly. No wonder they're on strike all the time.

I still think if the attendant was haranguing the person in the next seat at length and disturbing my reading I'd have asked her to take it elsewhere, OP.

Ryanair don't give receipts ?? WHy not ?

They should have machines like every shop or trader I have ever paid, which give a paper receipt
Then it is clear whether a payment has been made or didn't go through

That's for credit cards, I meaan, not for cash

The crew member was BU. She had no self awareness, professionalism or manners whatsoever. She created a needlessly stressful situation for all involved. What she should have done is waited until the flight landed, provided proof that the payment had not been registered and asked him to try his card again.

When I was a student I had all manner of shitty jobs where I was treated poorly by management, I was NEVER rude to members of the public and always had pride in my work, no matter how crap it was. I have a good work ethic and self pride.

On a separate note, I had the, ahem...pleasure of speaking to someone at Virgin travel insurance today, the person I spoke to was utterly apathetic, bordering on yawning as she dealt with my query. I can well understand that working in a call centre is no one's dream job but she was just rude and ignorant. Self awareness seems to be lacking in a lot of people.

Mushroomsarehorrible ODFOD

She was breathing over you? Poor petal. What a trauma it must have been, having to deal with all that breathing.

Self awareness seems to be lacking in a lot of people.

It does, doesn't it?

@ravenwings. The thread was never about me. But no, I don't like people leaning over me invading my personal space and breathing right in my face. Particularly when said cabin crew seemed to have a nasty cough. She was also leaning over the seat in front so the guy there couldn't lean back