Calle Lanzarote

Spanair’s idea of customer service

I recently spent a weekend in Madrid and was unfortunate enough to encounter problems on my return flight to Germany with Spanair.

First there was no-one at the gate a boarding time, and when they did arrive they were unable to operate the boarding-card reader.  Eventually we boarded by showing our cards without the stubs being torn off.  The delay caused the flight to miss its slot and subsequently took off almost an hour late.

This hour turned out to be crucial, as there were heavy thunder storms over Frankfurt airport as we approached, which meant that the flight was diverted to Stuttgart.  Eventually the storm cleared and the plane was re-fuelled.  It flew back to Frankfurt, so that instead of arriving at 21:05 I reached the terminal at 00:15!

JK127 from Madrid - via Stuttgart

JK127 from Madrid - via Stuttgart

Some passengers on the flight had already asked about compensation, but were told that the usual rules were not applicable as the delay was due to the weather conditions.  BUT had the flight taken off on time, it would have reached Frankfurt before the airport was closed.

I filled out the relevant complaint form (EU Regulation 261/2004) and sent it off to Spanair.  Their German office told me that I had to send it to the head office in Spain!

I soon received an e-mail from Spanair:

“With relation to the above mentioned flight we have verified that it could not be operated as scheduled. The delay was caused due to bad weather conditions. Spanair, as contracted carrier, complied with the undertaking of transporting the Passengers to their destination, using its best efforts to minimise the delay until the flight could depart.

According to the Communitarian Regulation 261/2004 our priority was to provide to our passengers the assistance and the information available about the delay, as well as to make the necessary arrangements to transport the passengers to their destinations. Therefore and regarding a possible compensation we shall inform you that it is not applicable on this case, as those were force major causes.”

There were passengers who wanted to leave the plane in Stuttgart to get to their destination, but although they were eventually allowed to leave the plane (without their luggage), any other questions about how we were all going to get home were met with “Keine Ahnung” (“no idea”) until the pilot eventually made the announcement about the re-fuelling.

But what I find really cheeky is putting the delay entirely down to the weather in Frankfurt!

I have replied saying that I do not accept this answer, and have asked them to explain the delay in Madrid, but as yet – 2 weeks later – I have not had a reply.

What I have found is a very interesting site called flightstats.com, where you can view flight information even weeks afterwards.  It is clear that my flight not only departed the gate 50 minutes later than scheduled, but that according to the arrivals board if we had not been delayed in Madrid, then we would not have to have been diverted.

Is this Spanair’s idea of customer service?

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9 Responses to “Spanair’s idea of customer service”

  1. Calle Lanzarote » Blog Archive » Spanair's idea of customer service « Customer Service Says:

    […] H­ere is th­e o­­riginal p­o­­st: Ca­l­l­e L­a­nza­rot­e » Bl­og A­rch­iv­e »… […]

  2. Janet Ford Says:

    Spanair is terrible. . . the worst airline ever. . . .
    They lost my daughter’s luggage and that of her classmate/traveling companion en route to Valencia Spain. The 2 college students are studying abroad this semester and now have no clothes or personal possessions. I have spent 11 hours yesterday and today with phone calls, emails, faxes, etc., to no avail. Spanair doesn’t care about customer service, lost bags, and so forth. They have lied to me, my daughter, and the house mother in Valencia regarding location of the bags. They are scandalous and need to cease doing business. BEWARE. DO NOT TRAVEL SPANAIR. I wish I had researched Spanair prior to this trip . . . the web is full of similar complaints.

  3. Janet Ford Says:

    Spanair is terrible. . . the worst airline ever. . . .
    They lost my daughter’s luggage and that of her classmate/traveling companion en route to Valencia Spain. The 2 college students are studying abroad this semester and now have no clothes or personal possessions. I have spent 11 hours yesterday and today with phone calls, emails, faxes, etc., to no avail. Spanair doesn’t care about customer service, lost bags, and so forth. They have lied to me, my daughter, and the house mother in Valencia regarding location of the bags. They are scandalous and need to cease doing business. BEWARE. DO NOT TRAVEL SPANAIR. I wish I had researched Spanair prior to this trip . . . the web is full of similar complaints.

  4. Graham Says:

    I’m sorry to hear that Janet. Spanair never did reply to my last complaint about the late arrival last year, and I have also found lots of similar complaits on travel forums etc.

    I travelled with them again in October (the flight had already been booked before I had reason to complain about them), and had my family with me as well that time. On one leg we had a really good crew (probably the best crew I’ve ever had on a SpanAir flight – they could even speak German without reading their cards!) but our return flight was delayed by
    *almost* an hour (not the almost, they didn’t let it get to 60 minutes!) and so both of our transit times were cut down to a matter of minutes.

    So now I have decided that I might use them again for a cheap flight to Madrid – possibly travelling only with hand luggage – but I’m not sure about using them again for a family holiday.

    Have you looked at the EU website: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/redress_cons/index_en.htm

    If Spanair don’t come up with any form of compensation, you can contact European Consumer Centres listed there who should be able to tell you how to take the matter further.

    Please let us know how you get this resolved – I’m sure there are many people in a similar situation who would like to know how far you have to go to get compensation from SpanAir.

  5. Graham Says:

    I’m sorry to hear that Janet. Spanair never did reply to my last complaint about the late arrival last year, and I have also found lots of similar complaits on travel forums etc.

    I travelled with them again in October (the flight had already been booked before I had reason to complain about them), and had my family with me as well that time. On one leg we had a really good crew (probably the best crew I’ve ever had on a SpanAir flight – they could even speak German without reading their cards!) but our return flight was delayed by
    *almost* an hour (not the almost, they didn’t let it get to 60 minutes!) and so both of our transit times were cut down to a matter of minutes.

    So now I have decided that I might use them again for a cheap flight to Madrid – possibly travelling only with hand luggage – but I’m not sure about using them again for a family holiday.

    Have you looked at the EU website: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/redress_cons/index_en.htm

    If Spanair don’t come up with any form of compensation, you can contact European Consumer Centres listed there who should be able to tell you how to take the matter further.

    Please let us know how you get this resolved – I’m sure there are many people in a similar situation who would like to know how far you have to go to get compensation from SpanAir.

  6. World Travel Says:

    Madrid – The Capital of Spain, several-millions city located in the heart of the Iberian peninsula, almost in its geographical center. I like this city and can tell this is my favourite place all over the world. Great architecture, great style and great people.

  7. World Travel Says:

    Madrid – The Capital of Spain, several-millions city located in the heart of the Iberian peninsula, almost in its geographical center. I like this city and can tell this is my favourite place all over the world. Great architecture, great style and great people.

  8. Next time, fly Lufthansa! | Calle Lanzarote Says:

    […] PluginI’ve flown with Spanair now enough times to know that I’m not thrilled by their customer service.  But at the end of the day they are still one most convenient ways to fly from Germany to […]

  9. Ehrlang Says:

    DO NOT FLY SPANAIR. They brutally destroyed by suitcase (an ultra hard Samsonite Cubelite) during a short 1 hour flight by putting a humongous dent and a rupture, I suspect purposefully. Then, when I made the claim, they would only offer to reimburse me for 250 out of 440 euros that it cost me and it was brand new, or – get this – fly with it back to Spain for repairs (it was irreparabely damaged anyway) even though I live in Russia. This airlines cares ZERO about its customers, and I suggest you AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS, or it will cost you, as it cost me.

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