* email to Aéroport Perpignan Rivesaltes regarding reimbursement for missed flight in Perpignan on July 8, 2009
Posted by Lew Weinstein on July 28, 2009
July 24, 2009
Perpignan Gare
to MARC FIANCETTE
I would like you to know that the information you provided in your email below was incorrect. I would also like to make you aware of the consequences of your error. And finally, I would like to request compensation to reimburse me for the consequences of your error.
I inquired of you by email regarding Navette service from the Perpignan train station to the Perpignan airport on July 8, 2009. Here is what you wrote back to me by email on July 6, 2009 …
“There are shuttles buses at every arrival in front of the terminal.
You buy tickets at the driver.
For the 08th july the departure from the railway station is at 15h45 French local time.
Bests regard. Marc FIANCETTE”
Relying on your information, we arrived by train in Perpignan at 1:20 pm on July 8. The bus was to leave at 3:45 pm so we had plenty of time. We took a walk; we had something to eat. At 3:35, we stood at the Navette bus stop.
But the bus never came.
We learned that, due to the Tour de France, the Navette was not coming to the train station. It did go to another place in Perpignan, but by the time we learned that, it was too late to get there in time.
We tried to take a taxi, but there were no taxis. Perhaps all the taxi drivers were watching the bicycle race. We finally got a private motorist to drive us to the airport, but of course the traffic was awful. We missed our flight.
There were no other flights from Perpignan to Stansted airport in London until 5:25 pm the next day. We had a connection leaving Stansted at 7:00 am the next morning, prepaid and non-refundable. We had a hotel reservation at the Radisson Hotel at the Stansted airport, non-cancellable and non-refundable.
We considered our alternatives and chose the least expensive of the choices available to us. We took a taxi to the Girona airport and booked a 10:00 pm flight from Girona to Stansted. Ryanair charged various re-booking and other penalties, and those costs, together with the taxi, amounted to 580 euros. Any other alternative would have cost more.
Had you not told us incorrectly that the Navette bus would leave the train station at 3:45 pm, we could easily have made it to the airport in time for our flight. At 1:20 when we arrived at the Perpignan train station, many taxis were available and the roads were not yet so congested.
Your failure to properly advise us cost us 580 euros.
It is my opinion that we should be reimbursed for the costs we incurred due to your error, and for which we can provide proper receipts.
Please advise how you wish to handle this matter.
LEWIS M. WEINSTEIN
Girona Airport Guide said
Its really sad what happened with you.But dear lew,as an independent person to this situation i will say that its some fault on your part too .You must have checked the situation before.If they provide you ticket and tell u be at a specific place then its their fault,they must have arranged something to pick u up but theyjust advice you some thing and a thing happened which was beyond their or for that matter your control.So there is no one to blame but if they pay you something i will appreciate it as it will speak of their customer care.
If you wnat then you can check girona airport transfersand girona airport car hire .
regards
Lew Weinstein said
Thank you for your comment and welcome to our blog. I was told that a specific bus would be at a specific place on a specific day, and that the ticket was to be purchased from the driver. There was no sign at the bus stop to indicate that the bus was not coming. I think better notification would have been appropriate. If we had known in time that there was to be no bus, we could have easily made other arrangements. However, having said all that, I have learned that the cancellation of the bus was only done on the day of the Tour de France. Perhaps they could have thought further ahead, and perhaps they could have posted a prominent notice. But, they will not pay anything, and I will not press it further. I am pleased that Marc took the time to write to me and explain his position.