Delayed flight compensation

[Star8181]

We travelled with Ryan Air to Tenerife last month and were delayed by 4 hours. Reason given when we got on the plane was that there wasn’t any luggage handlers to remove the last lot of luggage and put ours on.
While on the flight the captain and cabin crew said we should claim for compensation as we were due £350 back pp.
Made the claim last week and Ryan Air are saying they won’t pay because it was unexpected and beyond their control so they wouldn’t be paying.
just wondering if anyone has experienced similar - strange that the captain and bar staff said to claim?

Just bumping in hope of reply 😁

EasyJet did the same to me a few weeks ago. They blamed air traffic control when actually we were just the last flight of the day and we’re sitting on the tarmac at nearly 1am for a 9pm flight . It’s these cheap airlines’ way of getting out of having to refund whole planes of people and if the staff say “ apply for a refund!” As though you’ll actually get one you won’t shout at them. You don’t find out they decline to refund until you’re safely home. I will never fly EJ again personally. And I stopped flying Ryanair years ago.

You can only claim if it was the airlines fault. They don't organise the baggage handlers so it doesn't apply.

I should mention that I previously claimed for a 16 hour delay from Egypt with EasyJet in 2015-ish. They put us up in a swanky hotel for the night and didn't contest the refund. It was £420 at the time for four of us and covered a huge chunk of the holiday cost.