easyJet have admitted they were wrong to charge a woman nearly £100 when her bag didn’t ‘magially’ fit into a baggage sizer at an airport.
Clíona McCarney said she and her partner were charged £48 each to fly with their small backpacks after the airline said they couldn’t ‘push’ the luggage into the sizer at Belfast International Airport.
Clíona and her partner eventually coughed up and made their journey to London nearly £100 lighter because of what the Belfast native called ‘appalling’ customer service from the airline.
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Clíona claimed that easyJet staff in the boarding area pulled she and her partner up because their baggage didn’t ‘drop in [to the sizer]’ by ‘magic’. But now, the airline have backtracked and admitted their staff were wrong to fine the couple.
(Image: X)
The company said it intends to fully refund Cliona McCarney and offer “a gesture of goodwill”.
A spokesperson told the Belfast Telegraph the “misunderstanding” is now under investigation. “We are very sorry that Ms McCarney was incorrectly charged for her cabin bag,” they added.
“This was due to a misunderstanding at the gate by the check-in agent and we are looking into her feedback about her experience as this is not the level of service we expect for our customers.
“We will be reaching out to Ms McCarney and will be processing a refund in full as well as offering a gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience caused.”
Clíona had taken to X (formerly Twitter) to complain: “Charged £48 to fly with this backpack by easyJet, despite flying with it on same airline on Thursday.
“Apparently you can’t push your bag to get it in bag sizer, it has to drop in by magic. Appalling customer service from two very rude and aggressive staff at Belfast Airport.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Clíona added: “They both easily fit in with room but apparently you have to “drop and go” and not allowed to touch your bag to place it in. Absolute nonsense.”
She told the Daily Star: “The bag definitely fit the measurements and within the sizer, the issue as I see it is the ‘drop and go’ policy which seems to be new and I also don’t see it anywhere on easyJet’s website.”
She later said after the ‘travel drama’ she and her partner went on to enjoy the English capital, doing a walking tour before watching the boxing at Wembley on Saturday evening (September 21).
But she added: “Really took the shine off our day and cost us £98! That could be a huge chunk of someone’s budget for their trip. Outrageous.”
Clíona also said: “My partner flew Belfast to London last week with easyJet using the same bag and had absolutely no issue.”
The airline’s website doesn’t make any mention of not pushing or forcing bagge into the sizers, and merely states ‘your cabin bag allowance is one small cabin bag (max. 45 x 36 x 20 cm), which needs to kept under the seat in front of you.’
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