Our Compensation Clinic case this week stems from a TAP Air Portugal Claim for EC261 compensation I helped two friends push through after they misconnected in Lisbon en route to France.
Remember that you can always email us, send a message via Facebook or use Twitter and include photos too. We’ll try to cover a Compensation Clinic case here once a week, every Sunday.
It’s no secret that dealing with TAP Air Portugal is a bit of a nightmare as far as complaints are concerned. If you simply send the complaint to TAP they just sit it out and simply don’t answer which means you have to get a regulator involved if you want to get anywhere with them.
Situation
The two passengers were en route from RAK to Nice via Lisbon and the flight was over an hour late, causing a missed connection in Lisbon. After arguing for another 45 minutes with TAP staff they were rebooked onto Lufthansa via Frankfurt (obviously a huge detour) and arrived in Nice more than 10 hours past their original arrival time.
TAP did not provide the air passenger rights leaflet as mandated by law, neither food or beverage during the entire delay for either LIS or FRA.
Claim
I wrote in the passengers name to TAP through the online form where they have a specific section for EU Compensation Claims including bank account info.
For this case I claimed 250 EUR per passenger as well as 41.00 Euro for food & beverage, total 582.00 EUR. As expected TAP didn’t reply for over a month. I also contacted them via Twitter to chase it.
I also involved the German Ombudsman “söp_Schlichtungsstelle für den öffentlichen Personenverkehr” and opened a case with them.
Two weeks later they informed me that TAP acknowledges liability and will transfer the 582.00 EUR to the account submitted to them.
It’s my impression that TAP really doesn’t move at all unless you complain to a government regulator or ombudsman and have the matter mediated.
Conclusion
After all TAP paid the sum due after six weeks following the flight and initial complaint. I don’t think without getting the SOP involved they would have responded at all so I suggest whenever you have a claim or complaint with TAP escalate it to such agencies that are applicable to you, either based on the country of origin, destination or your residence.
OT.
It seems newly opened Holiday Inn Express Amsterdam City Hall just zeroed their award availability completely. I’ve been checking on that for 3 weeks and it’s zeroed. There are no award nights available on a single date till the end of September (didn’t check further). Still plenty of standard rooms are up for sale for as low as 112 eur. Doesn’t look like a fair play.
John, can you reach IHG and ask for resolution or at least comment from them?
That is indeed quite OT. Maybe write John an email with this question to reply to that in detail.
I have to tell that I got a great customer assistance from them. I (plus family) had a flight from Venice to Recife, in Brazil, which had its layover in Lisbon reduced from 2,5 hours to one hour. I already smelled trouble, but when I contacted them there were no better options.
As somewhat expected, the flight from Venice landed in a remote gate in Lisbon 50 minutes late and I missed the REC flight. After waiting 30 minutes in assistance line, we were already booked on the next day flight.
As my final destination (on a separated ticket) was Brasilia, I asked if it was possible to put us on the next day flight straight to Brasilia. Luckily there were still four business seats (as the original tickets) available and the change was made. We were also provided with taxi and hotel vouchers, dinner and breakfast included.
One day after arrival I contacted their customer support in Brazil by phone and filled a complaint for EC 261/04 compensation. They asked me to contact again in a 5 business day for an update, but there wasn´t any reply.
One day later I received an email saying that my complaint was accepted and I could choose to receive 600 Euros, 780 Euros to spend with TAP or 20k miles per passenger. It was a no-brainer to receive a total of 2.400 Euros. I´m just waiting the money transfer.
This was the best delay ever, as I got home at the same time (I was originally overnighting in Recife) and the amount I received was greater than what I expend in miles and taxes to book the round-trip tickets. But what impressed me was how swiftly TAP dealt with their responsibilities. Kudos!
I also have to thank LoyaltyLobby for learning about EC 261 and how to deal with it.
Why did you contact a German regulator/ombudsman? (vs. Portuguese or French)?
Probably because the flight was with LH and went through FRA