Three Edinburgh Airport flyers says they have been left stranded in Budapest for seven days after travelling out for what was meant to be a weekend city break. The men have all had to fork out on extra provisions as well as a new hotel after Ryanair rescheduled the return flight with just hours notice.
Paul, Andy and Leo all flew out to the Hungarian capital with Ryanair on Thursday, July 7, and were due to fly back to Edinburgh on Sunday, July 10. Unfortunately, after seven days, with two more to come until their supposed return flight, the trio said it had turned into a "survival mission," not a holiday.
Contacted by Edinburgh Live, Ryanair confirmed the pals are entitled to compensation for a disrupted flight as well as hotel and expenses incurred. Bosses also said the group could have rebooked on any of the three flights from Budapest to Edinburgh since their original flight was rescheduled.
After a fairly relaxed and enjoyable break, Paul, Andy and Leo were all on their way back to the airport in Budapest when they received a text message from Ryanair saying that their flight had been pulled. Initially, they thought the text was a wind-up as it included a link to a YouTube video that was supposedly a young Irish girl saying their flight had been cancelled.
READ MORE: Fuming Edinburgh man misses out on 'rare' holiday as flight hooked hour before take-off
Perplexed at what was happening, the trio all scrambled to Ryanair's online chat and app to confirm the news and try and book an alternative flight. Although they eventually received a refund for the flight back, the new one they were given was five days later, meaning they will have been in the country for nine days on Friday.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Paul and Andy said: "Originally we came out here for a weekender almost, but that will soon turn into nine days, against our will. We've had no accommodation or reimbursement, we got a refund for one flight a week later, but now we're stranded and running low on money.
"We originally flew out on Thursday afternoon (July 7) and were supposed to come home last Sunday (July 10) and now the flight has been rescheduled until Friday morning, but even then I have my doubts whether or not it's going to take off. We were on the way to the airport on Sunday and got a text message, not even an email, saying our flight had been cancelled and a link to a YouTube video.
"The video was literally a 16-year-old looking Irish girl saying our flight was cancelled, we thought it was a joke. We sat for about seven hours in McDonald's waiting in the queue for a live chat just to be told that it had been cancelled and that there was nothing they could do. Imagine you were in a situation where you never had the financial funds to keep yourself accommodated in a country like this, you would be stranded.
"The refund we were offered wasn't even enough to get us home. The flights were over £200 and the refund only covered about £170 of that. We weren't provided with any alternative methods either regarding what to do, we even had to find a new hotel as the one we checked out of had sold out."
Paul and Andy added that a third friend, Leo, was travelling with them, but was struggling to cope with the situation.
They added: "It's honestly shocking. If you're not in a privileged position to be abroad and have the funds to accommodate then what are you actually supposed to do, they've shown a complete lack of respect for their customers. We did originally try to go a different route to either Manchester or London but they were well over £400 each.
The pair also said that they were supposed to be back at work by now, with their bosses probably thinking they're making the whole thing up to get a longer holiday.
They said that they have no idea how they're going to try and reclaim some of the money they've forked out on provisions and a new hotel. They added that the person on the other end of the live chat refused to help them and said it was out of their pay grade, as well as giving them a number to a call centre that was shut.
"It just feels like a fake company to be honest, the way they've gone about it. It feels fraudulent. The flight on Friday will no doubt be cancelled and we'll have to start hunting for jobs," They added.
Paul and Andy also said they obviously only brought enough clothes for the weekend, so ran out of fresh clothing days ago.
A Ryanair spokeswoman said: “In the rare event of a flight cancellation or a disruption, customers will be notified via email and advised of their options of a re-routing to their destination; a full refund of the cost of the ticket or free change to an alternative flight online at Ryanair.com.
"This passenger received communication from Ryanair via email and via the Ryanair app, and had they have contacted Ryanair, as outlined in this email, an alternative flight would have been arranged for him as there have been three Ryanair flights from Budapest to Edinburgh since Sunday, July 10 with available seats.
"This passenger is entitled to claim back his hotel costs and other receipted expenses via Ryanair.com, in accordance with EU261.”
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