AIBU to take this to court

[RiceRiceBaby16]

Let me preface with it's been 3yrs since the event
At the time, we were so exhausted with everything we decided not to take things further. Then I got pregnancy, had a baby, didn't have time to even think about going through something as long as a legal process involving courts. Now our baby is a toddler and I still can't get this situation out of my mind, and how unfair it was. It's not even about the money anymore.

We had booked a Wizzair flight to a European country on Boxing Day. Booked 5 night hotel in said country, a romantic Xmas getaway just me and my DH.
DH, at the time, held a travel document not a UK passport. We double, triple checked that he can travel to aforementioned country without a visa. Even the country's official embassy website (sorry I forget the correct name) clearly stated that no visa is required.

Trip planned, we are excited. Fast forward to Boxing Day, Stansted airport. We arrive packed up and ready to go, early so that we can enjoy the experience without rushing. We enjoy some free festive shots at duty free 😂 grab some snacks, chill by the gate until it's time to board. Boarding is ready. 21-23yr old guy checking passports. Checks my passport- perfect. I walk through. Checks DH passport- please wait, I need to call and double check that you can board. Makes a call. Neither the person on the other side of the line, nor the young male employee has seen such a travel document before and they struggle to understand if he needs a visa or not. I step in and show all my screenshots and the official website stating he DOES not need a visa. They refuse him boarding anyway- stating - if he lands there and he is refused entry to the country, Wizzair must pay 10k euro fine. The employee was of course scared to put himself into trouble due to their lack of knowledge. He offered I can fly on my own ( 😂 wtaf) but my husband cannot board. We are devastated and try every phone line we can. No luck. We head home in the worst mood- 2hr journey home . Xmas ruined.

At home, after hours of trying, we get in touch with that European countries border control. They confirm he CAN fly with that travel document and enter Without visa. We are even more furious. Decide to try with another airline 6am next day. Book flights spending another £200 or so. Lost one day of holiday already, but we try again. This time we leave at 2am to head to Heathrow, LOT airlines. HE BOARDS WITHOUT HESITATION FROM THE STAFF. No questions asked. We land and of course everything is fine. However with the travelling between airports and new flights we lose about £350 and a day of our holiday. We had an awesome
Time there in the end but it affected us financially as we weren't doing so well.

After we got back I made a claim through an aviation company as it's recommended to do that before court. They responded asking for more evidence, email went to my junk and I didn't see it for 9 days. Time limit to reply was 7 days - so they dismissed my claim and ruled in favour of Wizzair. I then gave up as it was tiring. But I still think of it now and I'm furious. Is there a point going to court? As it's just on my mind.

Or am I being ridiculous. I just want Justice even though it was a long time ago.

Then I got pregnant *

Sorry there's so much to the story.
Tried to make it shorter but it's still a long post 😅

Does NOT need a visa. I meant to emphasise the NOT

I still have all evidence and everything recorded/ even a recorded phone call with border control. And of course we flew there anyway and the other airline were knowledgable enough to let him board. He was denied boarding due to stuff being untrained in knowledge of travel documents... 10000% their fault

Due to staff * being untrained at wizzair. We also asked for a manager at the time because the guy seemed new at his job. Of course nobody senior was there. Okay I'm done- sorry for multiple messages.

What is your total financial loss?

But my instinct says - absolutely don’t bother

I suspect, though IANAL, the time has long passed that you could do anything about this.

I had my wages stolen over four grand took it to the small claims court and 2 1/2 years later, we are still not in front of a judge. For what seems to be 350 quid honestly, it is not worth your time. Plus it’s £80 to go down the court route

You missed the deadline to reply and have waited 3 years since. Move on

It’s your fault that you didn’t see the spam email. The whole experience must be very frustrating but I don’t see what you can do about it now.

In the words of Elsa, let it go

Sorry but I think you’re out of time now. The court won’t be happy to spend time and money on such a small claim where you have delayed so long and any award they give will reflect that.

3 years

3 years!!!

bloody hell op. Therapy is in order I suspect

You won't win. The haphazard style of your posting, lack of attention to the junk email and ruling already against you tells me that you won't have the necessary facts and evidence required to put forward a claim. It'd be a waste of money. Suck it up and move on.

They responded asking for more evidence, email went to my junk and I didn't see it for 9 days. Time limit to reply was 7 days - so they dismissed my claim and ruled in favour of Wizzair

I don't think youll have any legal standing given the above. And yes you definitely need to "Elsa" this one.

I thought it was going to be something awfully traumatic, maybe involving injury or death, if this is the worst thing that keeps you up at night are you sure it isn't triggering something else. Yes, it was a bad experience, first airline clearly did their best with the knowledge and experience that they had, it's bonkers to me you're so upset about it still especially given that you did go..

Things you might do,:
find out the time limit for taking claims to the small claims court; appeal to Wizz itself against the original decision; write to one of the newspaper or BBC consumer champions.

Wouldn't it be Statute Barred after three years. I think the Statute is 2 years

You need to move on.

You've either been stewing on this for three years or have just been reminded and got wound up about it. The time to deal with it was when you realised you had missed the deadline in their email to respond.

You have six years to bring a claim for breach of contract. However, I suggest you review the small print of your contract with the carrier regarding its terms to see if this eventuality is excluded (if you can be bothered, feel that it's worth several hours of your time some years after the event, and are prepared to pay a court fee to issue a small claim.)

How much would you be claiming? If it's just the £350 I wouldn't bother.

In future, it's worth checking with the airline in advance that they will accept the travel document.

I suspect they have it in their small print that they retain the right to refuse any passenger or that alternative travel documents must be approved first.

I managed to get a refund on extra luggage fees which we no longer needed but only because I insisted on him quoting from the contract and he couldn't.

You started court proceedings once and it was dismissed. You're not allowed to just so it again, it's abuse of process and will be struck out by the court.

If it's a money claim it's 6 years.

Why didn't you check email thoroughly if waiting on this info meant SO much?

Your mistake

See? People make mistakes...even 'young' men new to the job...except he didn't did he? He double checked with a colleague.

Why hadn't your DH even got a passport?