EasyJet has apologised after three Edinburgh passengers endured a "nightmare" journey back to the capital when their flight was cancelled last minute due to damage caused to a plane during a lightning strike.
Lennon Docherty, 20, his gran Elaine, 61, and partner James Russell, 21, went on a mini-break to Poland and were due to fly back to the capital on Friday, April 14.
After repeated delays, the family were told their return flight had been cancelled. Lennon told how he and James were booked on a flight back the next day to Manchester by easyJet - leaving his gran stranded alone in Krakow.
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When they called to enquire, easyJet confirmed that Elaine was booked on a flight - but not until Tuesday, April 18 - leaving her alone in Poland for four days.
The couple were unhappy with the arrangement - as well as the hotel easyJet had booked. So they arranged their own accommodation and transport back to the UK together and expected to be compensated.
This was first refused by the company but after Edinburgh Live contacted the airline on behalf of the customers, they apologised for the experience and are in the process of arranging a refund.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Lennon said: "Myself and my partner booked an easyJet package and my gran added on last minute to our trip. The whole trip before this happened was a trip to remember, a lovely city to enjoy having a laugh as a family.
"We enjoyed the historical side of the city, visiting the salt mines and the churches on the other hand the laughs and jokes like drinking at night, having dinner and visiting the illusion museum. We were considering going back in January but this experience in the end put us off."
After a pleasant trip, the family arrived at the airport to discover their flight home was delayed but that was just the start of a nightmare journey home.
He said: "We were due to travel home on Friday but there was a delay with the flight. We accepted the delay as there was nothing we could do at this point but I kept checking the flight tracker as there was no time or update given on the screens or any staff around to ask.
"As you can imagine this was a very stressful situation then at 9.15pm an announcement was broadcasted over the airport that the flight was cancelled and all passengers should make their way to Gate 17, which we did.
"There was one member of staff from Swissport handing out a form saying our flight was cancelled from easyJet but she could not answer any questions or give us any information."
The family stayed in the airport awaiting more details and found out that he and his partner were booked on a return flight to Manchester the next day.
With their return flights sorted, Lennon's gran was concerned as she had received no communication from the budget airline so phoned up for more information.
He said: "My gran never received anything so we called easyJet quickly to make sure she was on the same flight as us, which turns out she wasn’t.
"They had booked her on a flight to Edinburgh for Tuesday, April 18 but we only knew this after calling as there was no text or email to her at all.
"The gentleman she spoke to on the phone told her that there were no other options, either she accepts the flights or takes a refund for the flight and makes her own way home. The refund takes seven days so if people don’t have the money how are they meant to get home?
"After my gran's phone call, I attempted to call easyJet to see if myself and my partner could move onto her flight on Tuesday so we could all stay together. Once again we were told no because there was no space.
"They didn’t realise that they were splitting a family up. My gran is a 61-year-old lady but they still didn’t care and put her on a flight herself.
"She couldn’t wait till Tuesday herself, alone in Poland, so we searched for another flight. We found a Ryanair flight to Birmingham for Saturday, same day departure as us.
"We contacted easyJet to alert them to this but they said that we couldn’t switch her to another airline's flight even though this is stated in their conditions."
There was then more stress as the grandson tried to book another flight. He explained: "The only way possible was to request a refund for her easyJet flight and book the Ryanair flight which we did.
"After successfully booking her flight with Ryanair to Birmingham there was a £405 cost for one person and no baggage.
"We waited and waited in the airport to find out where we were going to sleep, then they sent us an email, and two hours after waiting they told us they found a hotel for only myself and my partner. The hotel was absolutely disgusting.
"My gran once again had no information from easyJet on accommodation. There was a Hilton Garden Inn across from the main terminal. So we walked over to see if they had any rooms and we booked two rooms on Booking.com at a cost of £229 as we saw they were available online.
"When we went over to check in the main reception lady alerted us that rooms were put aside from easyJet. We then waited 30 mins so the lady could call easyJet and get us booked in.
"They confirmed myself and my partner could get a room but my gran, if she wanted to stay, would need to pay for the room - she had no other options."
He said: "They made one room complimentary from easyJet and the other £105 for my gran. It was now 1am, and we had no other email or messages from easyJet to confirm we were safe, or if we had other options.
"My gran still didn’t have an email to confirm a hotel for her either. We hardly slept and we were most likely over-tired due to the situation and stress we got put through the full day.
"The next morning, we got kicked out of the room at 11am with no breakfast and still no contact from easyJet.
"We had to purchase our own breakfast lunch and dinner, and any refreshments for the unexpected extra day in Krakow, lucky we had some money left as a few families and couples had no money left to be able to purchase anything.
"Everyone was told by easyJet to pretty much suck it up and purchase everything they need and claim it back, which seems to be harder than we thought."
Lennon and his partner flew to Manchester on the replacement flights provided and booked his gran on a £400 flight to Birmingham. They then rented a car for £250 and drove to Birmingham to pick up his gran before making the 300-mile drive home.
Finally, he said: "My gran never travels alone, she always has me as being the person in charge of the airport and stuff. After my Granda passed away she didn’t like to leave her family and do anything by herself. So as you can imagine the plane journey home was very uncomfortable."
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The family have now safely returned to the UK.
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “We are sorry that the family’s flight from Krakow to Edinburgh was unable to operate as, following a lightning strike, the aircraft was delayed undergoing a technical inspection which led to the crew reaching their safety regulated operating hours. The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is our highest priority."
They continued: "While this was outside of our control, we always look to take care of our customers and get them home as soon as possible. We notified customers directly of their options which include free transfer to an alternative flight or a refund, as well as links to book hotel accommodation online of via the app. We understand that flights on some routes were limited at this busy time of year and are sorry for the difficulty this will have caused.
Finally, they added: “Our easyJet holidays' team rebooked Mr Watson and Mr Russell on an alternative flight the following day and arranged overnight hotel accommodation.
"We advised Ms O’Neill, who was on a separate booking, that she would be reimbursed for any alternative transport and accommodation arrangements, and we have since been back in touch with the family to apologise for their experience and reimburse them.”
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