TONY HETHERINGTON: Wizz, bang… and 500 more unhappy flyers

Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday’s chief investigator. He battles the reader’s corner, reveals the truth that lies behind closed doors, and wins victories for those left out of pocket. Below you can read how to contact him.

Ms. JO writes: I would fly from Doncaster to Cyprus with Wizz Air. We were waiting to board when I heard a woman yelling that the flight was cancelled. I checked my phone and found a text saying we were flying the next day.

Emails said we would get food and drink vouchers but we never did. We were told accommodation would be arranged, nothing was.

The Wizz Air staff had no idea what was going on. I ended up receiving £700 from Wizz Air but they still owe me £1,500.

Tony Hetherington replies: After I reported in November that Wizz Air, based at Luton Airport, was ignoring district court rulings, letters and emails pouring in. There were so many complaints about the airline that I had to say I could only investigate complaints where passengers had already won court, putting their case beyond question.

You told me that when you were trying to find the correct airline address for the service of court documents, you called Wizz Air and the speaker told you that he was forbidden to disclose this. However, you persisted and Wizz Air failed to defend itself when your legal claim was filed against it. And yet it still couldn’t pay.

You are not alone. Mr JL had booked a flight that was unable to take off because the Wizz Air plane was out of order. He had to go out for taxis and meals. After failing to get anything done with the company itself, he sued in court and was awarded £168. Still, Wizz Air still did not pay. And Mr CB thought his troubles with Wizz Air were over when he got a court order last November ordering the airline to pay him £806. No luck. When he contacted me just before Christmas he hadn’t received anything and was considering using bailiffs to seize company property to cover the debt.

I contacted Wizz Air and a few days ago it told me that all three claims described here would be fully settled this weekend. The company said: ‘Wizz Air is working to resolve all claims and all district court rulings as quickly as possible. Due to the major disruption that the airline had to deal with last summer, it was confronted with an unprecedented number of claims.

Less than two months ago I reported that I had found court records with a whopping 456 verdicts against Wizz Air, 401 of which were classified as dissatisfied. The airline protested that the figures were incorrect. It blamed poor administration by the courts. So earlier this week I checked again. This time I found 533 District Court judgments against Wizz Air UK, of which 478 were listed as non-compliant.

Three weeks ago, the Civil Aviation Authority announced it had “significant concerns” about Wizz Air, by far the country’s most sued airline. The CAA stressed its failure to comply with court orders, saying: “We have made it clear to Wizz Air that its behavior is unacceptable.”

The regulator demanded Wizz Air make CCJ payments a priority, hoping to clear all court debts before the end of this month. I hope those debts are paid. I hope that every passenger let down by Wizz Air is now dealt with swiftly and fairly. But am I optimistic? No.

Mercer won’t help with my retirement application

JW writes: I worked for GKN, but had to take early retirement for health reasons and received my GKN pension for a number of years. Then I got good enough to start working in another role again. After I turned 60, I contacted GKN’s pension administrators, Mercer, and asked for an update on my retirement. For the past year, all Mercer has said is that it’s waiting for the pension administrators to look at my claim.

Tony Hetherington replies: As many retirees have told me in the past, Mercer is very unhelpful. It refused to discuss your complaint and told me to contact the administrators of the GKN pension scheme. However, there are at least five GKN schemes, with different administrators. Mercer declined to say which plan and which trustees were responsible for your pension. You did get a call after I urged Mercer. The caller explained that your GKN pension does not start until you are 65, unless you are unemployed. You could have heard this when you first inquired 18 months ago, but, as I said, Mercer is unhelpful and unwilling to answer questions.

I need my £56 train refund

Mrs SM writes: I paid £56 for a return train ticket from Birmingham to Penrith. I later learned that there was going to be a railway strike, and as it was imperative that I return, I had to cancel. I had used the Raileasy Group for my booking but the site only offered two reasons for cancellation – illness or bereavement – and it only refunded £2.30. As a pensioner, I cannot afford this loss.

Tony Hetherington replies: I contacted Raileasy and the staff there immediately told me, ‘If a customer’s trip falls on a strike date, they are entitled to a full refund. We always offer this.’

It looks like you went online and used the ‘manage my booking’ section of the Raileasy website where you canceled your booking. This made it seem like you just changed your mind, rather than having no choice because of the strike. The website has a section that allows refunds when services are interrupted. After I explained what had happened, Raileasy refunded you in full.

If you believe you have been the victim of financial misconduct, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Due to the large number of questions, no personal answers can be given. Only send copies of original documents, which unfortunately cannot be returned.