‘It feels like a scandal’: Wizz Air passengers claim website bug cost them extra
I t was recently named “the UK’s worst airline” by the consumer body Which?, and has been hauled over the coals by the industry regulator. Now Wizz Air is facing criticism over yet another issue. Passengers have contacted Guardian Money after being forced to cough up substantial sums at the airport or face being turned away from their flight after apparently encountering technical problems with the airline’s website that prevented them checking in online as planned.
In December, Grace Connolly says she had to hand over £170 at Prague airport for her party of four after they were unable to check in online for their return flight to Luton.
“I had no issue checking in online on the way out but when returning, there was a technical glitch that wouldn’t allow me to,” she says. “I think the majority of people on our flight had the same problem. I had to pay £170 for myself and the three others I was travelling with otherwise we wouldn’t be permitted to fly home.
“There were no Wizz Air representatives at the airport and the customer service hotline didn’t even ring when I tried it. I just got immediately cut off, which I’m actually relieved about because, at £1.45 a minute, the charge is astronomical.”
Guardian Money first reported on this problem last summer and since then we have received a steady stream of similar complaints, with more than 20 since November.
Andrey Lenkov says that he, along with at least 20 others, could not check in online for a flight from Warsaw to Paris in October.
“On our way back from Poland, where we visited our family that escaped from Ukraine, we tried to check in online,” he says. “Unfortunately, I kept getting a message that the type of aircraft had changed and our seats were no longer available.”
In
Read more on theguardian.com
