AIBU to warn you not to pay for seats that you chose on WizzAir

[Panicmode1]

I flew to a European capital with WizzAir this week - on top of my fare I paid £20 each way to choose my seat (40% of the total fare cost!), because I like to be near the front, and get air sick if I am towards the back and can't see out of a window.

When I boarded, a mother and two small children were in my row and said they wanted to sit together. The queue was huge and pushy behind me, so she asked me to go to her seat (an aisle seat towards the back of the plane). I said I wasn't happy and went to talk to a stewardess, but the flight was really full and there were no seats further forward, so she asked me to sit in the seat belonging to the mother. The stewardess wouldn't move the family, but said that I would get a refund if I went through their process and could move forward if there was a seat - which there wasn't.

I admit I'm quite petty sometimes and felt annoyed about having paid £20 for something I didn't get. So today, I've been backwards and forwards with Wizz Air who first of all said that the fare I paid was the same, I explained again what had happened - then she said that I had volunteered giving up my seat - I explained I felt I'd been coerced into moving etc. I then got a REALLY long word salady email about how service is really important to them - to which I replied that if it were, they would give me my money back for a service I hadn't received rather than upset a customer! Anyway, she's now she's said they categorically won't give me my money back and to go to some ombudsman - which for the sake of £20 I'm not going to do obviously.

My only consolation is that it's probably cost them £20 in time from their customer service operative having to type out banal replies to me....but be warned and don't pay a hefty percentage of your fare to them to choose your seats - they won't honour the service....!

(And to pre-empt the replies about choosing a budget airline and expecting premium service - I didn't choose to fly with them - I was on a girls' trip and one of the other travellers researched and chose the flights..)

I bet they would change their tune pretty quickly if you plastered it all over Twitter…. They seem to escalate things posted on there.

When I boarded, a mother and two small children were in my row and said they wanted to sit together. The queue was huge and pushy behind me, so she asked me to go to her seat

she asked me to sit in the seat belonging to the mother. This is just a cop out, stewardess should have done her job and moved the woman.

Doesn't help you now but in future its this point i wouldn't budge despite how much push there was from the other passengers. Let them pass - move to the side, move back but don't move. My seat - move. Nope my seat - move, nope my seat; move. If they wanted to sit together then mum should have booked their seats together. You pay for a seat - you expect that seat

Share it far and wide on every social media platform and let wizzair answer it there....

Heard such bad things about wizzair. So glad they don't do flights i want

To be fair, it's your word that you were forced to move. I'd never pay for a seat, such a waste of money.

Their customer service sounds poor, but I've flown with them a few times and never had any issues. It's a budget airline, it got you there and back and it is basically the Hungarian Ryanair so I'd take that as a result. You shouldn't have moved for that entitled woman, but you live and learn. I understand why you felt pressured.

We flew with whizz air recently and found them to be fine other than taking off half an hour late, just to add some balance - one experience shouldn’t defame the whole organisation!
You should have got your money back, that was poor.
I have given up prebooked seats before when there was a commotion, (cabin crew kindly offered me a couple of drinks to make up for it and I scarpered up front leaving dh with the 3dc on one occasion 😂) I don’t really care so much now since my kids are older and don’t technically need anyone sitting with them, we still prebook though as we can pass and share things to each other from our bags!

I raised a complaint with the stewardess immediately. She saw my boarding pass and said I should get a refund.

WizzAir have said they are going to organise 'staff retraining' which sounds somewhat sinister..

The point is that the usurper got their way by sitting tight. That is so shitty to allow by the flight attendant.

what were you supposed to do? Drag them off your seat? ridiculous

Quite...🤷

Quite seriously write to the ombudsman. This seat-reserving is quite obviously a racket. It wasn’t voluntary as has been identified above. I refuse to pay extra for seats fwiw on any air line. The planes are highly unpleasant regardless imo.