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OUTSPOKEN RYANAIR CEO Michael O’Leary admitted last month that he had “made mistakes” in terms of the company’s approach to customer service, confirming the airline was to launch a process whereby its “rough edges” in the area would be straightened out.
A revamp of their notoriously clunky website and the hiring of a new marketing director will form part of that process, while O’Leary’s also now launched an online initiative through which past and potential customers can submit ideas.
The PR blurb for the initiative bills it at a way for passsengers to “directly contact CEO Michael O’Leary with suggestions on how Ryanair can further improve its industry leading customer service”.
The press release continues: “This new webform is the latest in a series of initiatives by Ryanair to further improve its industry leading customer service including making its app free to download, the removal of the Recaptcha feature (from 30 Oct) and a new website”.
Example of a ‘recaptcha’ dialogue box [mathowie, via Flickr]
In a message on the webpage hosting the feedback form, O’Leary states that “all suggestions will be gratefully acknowledged by me,” and leaves the following sign-off:
[Image: Ryanair.com]
Speaking to RTÉ’s David McCullough last month, O’Leary said the company generally received a “small ratio” of complaints, but admitted he would have to learn from mistakes he had made in the past in how the airline dealt with customers.
“But I think the core here – we employ 9,000 aviation professionals, on a daily basis they do a fantastic job, they deliver the best airline service of any airline service in Europe, never mind Ireland but where there is rough edges I take responsibility for those and I have to change those rough edges.”
The airline came in for criticism earlier in September after Dr Muhammad Taufiq Al Sattar, the Dublin-based neurosurgeon who lost his family in a house fire in Leicester, was told he would have to pay extra to change flights the morning after the tragedy happened.
Ryanair later apologised and refunded the fees.
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Get rid of that STUPID ‘aren’t we fantastic’ trumpet everytime the plane lands. No-one’s impressed that you got us to our destination. It’s pretty much a given.
It is not for getting there, it is that they arrived within their extended flight time.
Especially when they allow way more time for the journey than what it actually takes to cover the distance
First things first. Get a customer service team trained in customer service.
And make Michael O’ Leary redundant ! He is an absolute liability to the PR side of the Company ?
Unfortunately , a large number of his Staff endeavour to “clone” his rudeness !
Note to Michael – I have never complained and yet I hate your airline. I hate the way the website makes it so difficult to book, I hate the way your staff almost seem to take pleasure in finding bags above your weight limit and in embarrassing the transgressors, I hate the way they encourage everyone start to queue when the plane hasn’t even landed and I hate the way the old and infirm are treated as an inconvenience. So do me a favour and start with those.
Get rid of OLeary
First point…the fact is Ryanair will “Air-Lift” around the equivalent entire population of Germany this year (81 million people)…massive. numbers which makes its kinda hard to admin all those that dont meet the template…there be chaos…its like watching high speed Coca Cola production line on the Discovery Channel go down if an out of spec can gets jammed…everything stops!!
Second point…Boeing also needs to make the seats rows in a curved arch configuration from the left to right of the aircraft so creating more aisle width as a result so people can pass each other while loading up the bags..its a bit like how Pringles which are curved are stacked in the tube…same thing…as an aircraft so creating more aisle width as a result people can pass each other while loading up the bags…this could knock off 10mins off the turnaround time…and still have the same amount of seats…less hassle for everyone….and Boeing can pay me for that idea…email me on Facebook lads!!
Easy what you say there Eddie lot of people love the man. That’s the same reason we have a crap government because people admire slave drivers like him you would cut you in half in two seconds to save a penny
Treating your customers like human beings would be a good start.
Stop charging me €5 credit card fee per person per direction. I only make one credit card payment so you only need to charge me once.
I’ve seen cattle being loaded onto lorries with more dignity than trying to get on a Ryanair flight!!
Maybe have a customer service team working in the Airport. Immediately after I got off a flight in Dublin I realized I’d left my phone on the plane, instead of somebody getting on a radio to ask cabin crew to get it for me I was only giving a phone number to ring which just rang out. I never got my phone back even though I was still in the Airport with my phone on the plane.
Scrap the policy of not being able to print/reprint your boarding card within 3 hours of your flight. This is designed to catch people out and make them pay €90!! Each!
Stop paying the baggage nazi’s commission
Teach staff to smile
Allow customer services to have some authority otherwise they are just people answering phones
I have to say I was in a very fortunate position of arriving late for a Ryanair flight and still managed to get on board without fuss or added charges but I have also being the victim of the very cold, non customer focused side of Ryanair. Ryanair need to listen to customer feed back and learn from this, continue to train their customer service team and when wrong just accept this without a song and dance.
It’s because you’re gorgeous!
If you can make me feel I’ve paid for everything when I actually book flights for my family holiday, that would be a start! As things stand, I can’t relax until I’m safely back in my house after the return leg!
They need to sort out the obstacle course that is their website. You need to be an internet gymnast to book online without getting nailed for extras. The cheesetastic trumpet needs to go. Airline staff could be friendlier or could at least smile now and again.
You all give out yet you’d still use them, if you want a better service go with a more expensive airline, you get what you pay for and you know that before you even book. Never had an issue with them before.
Hey everyone, Alan never had a problem with Ryanair, therefore there is no problem.
Alan, he is looking for feedback to approve customer service, what’s the problem? I have made your point in other articles on Ryanair (i.e. No frills /does what it says on the tin etc) but with this article these critical comments are fairly appropriate in fairness.
*improve
It’s just people giving out, most of them won’t even go to the website and give their feedback, people just like to complain.
@Fin yeah no problem because I know their policies, yet other people will still try bring on two bags and end up paying €100 for the second one to be put under the plane, they still pack over the allowance and stay at the desk for 10 mins giving out and shouting at the staff. They arrive late for the plane and end up not sitting next to each other. The only issue I had was a typo on my boarding card after I booked online, rang them and they changed it there and then free of charge. If Ryanair weren’t here you’d be forced to fly with someone else for maybe twice as much, yes things can be improved, things always can be.
Fair point Alan.
1. Ease up on the fear you’ve put into people about the on-board baggage restrictions or else lower your prices for checked in luggage, you’re killing people on both fronts at the moment.
2. Takes way too long to book a flight on your website, it probably takes 10 minutes to get through the whole process and now you get hit with everything again when doing on-line check in.
I think if both steps above were implemented you would make your airline a far more enjoyable flying experience. I have no issues with anything else with the airline and I fly quite regularly with them.
Some kind of frequent flyers scheme would be handy. Could maybe call it “The Smile High Club”?
Ryanair have done very little wrong to me over the years. I found most of the staff to be as helpful as they are allowed to be by their bosses.
How can customer service be improved? A telephone service that isn’t premium. A customer care desk. Drop the exorbitant fees to correct the spelling on a booking. Show us the real price, not what it could have been had the government / airport blah blah added their charges. Oh, and drop the price of beer on the flight!
Read Southwest Airlines’ customer charter. You stole their low fares model. Might as well steal their service charter, which treats customers with respect while at the same time the company remains very profitable. It can be done so do it.
Ryanair, Putting the N back in (price) CUTS
How vulgar. I’d expect better from a lady with a double-barrelled surname.
First of all stop Michael from posing for them annoying publicity shots with that facial expression like he’s doing a poop…
I’ll give good ideas Michael.. However , It will cost €10 per minute
Let people on flight with duty free bag. This should not be classed as allowance towards your one piece of hand luggage allowance
Maybe if the company started treating its own staff like human beings and not units of production then the love would flow downhill to the hapless/stressed travelling public.
I’m booking a flight not shopping for a bag , mobile phone , credit card or any if the other shite I have to say no to before I can finish booking.
I am used to this as I use it every month
But it would make it very confusing for someone with a learning difficulty or visually impaired . Great news that tha captca thing is gone
In Michael O’Learys defence though… he is only saying what every company director says in private meetings before they put the fluff on it for public consumption. Business is about making money, not about charity but other companies wouldn’t have the guts to come out and just say it.
Tell the FR staff at Gatwick to stop being verbally abusive to passengers. I’ve seen this multiple times, berating people is not a way to ensure repeat custom.
Unallocated seating is a pox, even Easyjet allocates seats at check-in now. Makes people behave like absolute animals at times.
Cut down/out on the in-your-face sales pitch, particularly on short flights – case in point being DUB-LPL, 20 minute-ish flight yet the full sales frenzy has to happen.
Needless to say, when I fly home from London for Christmas I’m flying out with Aer Lingus and back with BA, because the bag charges that Ryanair gouge from people at high season periods make them one of the more expensive carriers on the route!
Michael could I suggest you train your staff to say things like, “Hello”, “How can I help you”, &”Sorry”.
Yes we can arrive at the airport late, yes we can arrive at the airport forgetting to bring our boarding cards, and we may know we are trying to pull your leg at times, however Ryanair are a service company so your business is serving customers.
Did you happen to notice I used the word customer not passenger Michael? I may be a passenger on the aircraft but as soon as we booked our flights we became your customers.
So if I’m having trouble, did not tick every one of your boxes correctly, it is still your job to help your customer and even if your self-imposed rules do not allow you to help me, then please apologise to me for not being able to help me.
Michael by saying “Sorry” I may not blame you and your (to us) nonsensical rules for my problems, I may actually blame myself for being ignorant of your nonsensical rules in the first place.
Finally Michael customers travelling with children do at times require additional help with the children, so having staff standing around and not helping is not customer service.
@Carcu If you arrive late or fail to print off your boarding pass it first of all makes you an idiot especilly on the boarding pass side. You receive at least 2 emails to print them off so forgetting is not an excuse. I would charge you more! and arrived late is just being ignorant and putting other people out! Close the door and go without you. If you need additional help with your children maybe you should either get a Nanny or else don’t go on holidays!
Mark
Congratulations on becoming Ryanair’s Head of Customer Service, and for your failure to read the headline of this piece. Was it not those types of attitudes that got Michael to ask customers for ideas on how to soften those “rough edges”?
Now for my point by point reply.
1. Arriving late may be beyond individual’s control, for example car accidents blocking motorways.
2. Boarding pass, yes people can forget or may not be in a position to print them but E-boarding cards like other airlines allow would be helpful.
3. People who fly Ryanair “the low fair’s airline” with children would by default not have the financial where with all to hire a nanny.
4. Not all passengers flying with children are going on or returning from holiday, some are actually travelling to and from funerals for example.
Anyway Mark I think Michael may need a word with you about changing attitudes, or was Michael just spouting $hite again. Like we all suspect?
Oh I take it in years to come if you do have children you will not take holidays, attend funerals or just not take Ryanair, I can’t wait for that headline, “Ryanair’s Head of Customer Service uses any other airline when travelling with his children”.
Retire you miserable sack of feces.
I suggest you go back to Southwest and see how they do it. They have an Excellent C.S team.
@matt yes, yes they do! And every time I fly them I shake my head in shame at what he has turned it into. I flew the old RyanAir. The one founded by Tony Ryan. It was my first time ever flying anywhere and it was lovely. Not to go to Europe I fly our national carrier and ill take the ferry to the uk if they are too expensive for my purse. I fuse to give that company a penny of my hard won money, end of…
God, touchscreen is making a gob****e out of me tonight! Um…..
To improve customer service, you’d first have to have some customer service on which to improve. Ryanair do not! If O’Leary wans’t such an arsehole he’d know this!
Topless staff! Woohoo!
They’re a shower of pr1cks, no doubt. But I must say I really enjoy watching people trying to verbalise their hatred for them, on the web.
A passport shouldn’t be necessary for travel to the UK. A driving licence should suffice.
Stop being such hungry bastards first
What people seem to have forgotten is that but for the Ryanair model we would still be paying exorbitant fares with our national airline. It was only the competition that forced them to offer cheaper fares and deals. Yes, there is much work to be done to improve things in Ryanair but hey, if the choice is getting an affordable Ryanair flight to somewhere or sitting in my garden I’ll take my chance on the flight.
Free calenders
Bikini-free, free calendars.
free bikini calendars..?
It’s really very simple Michael. First treat ALL your Staff with REAL respect then it comes naturally to treat your customers accordingly !
1. Allow multiple destinations to same city. I.e. Flying to London allowed to change times or airport in London at no cost if there is an empty seat. Change from Cork to Shannon. This greatly reduces stress of flying and creating extra time. Easyjet offer this and it is incredible especially during winter when flights get moved and cancelled. They will even do it on the gate.
2. Mobile check in… No brainier
3. Less aggressive staff, honestly there were coffin ships staff which were friendlier.. People are not cattle.
4. Simple raffle for people who arrive early. Nothing wrong with and it can be a simple lonely plant guide book.
5. Argue with airports for us to transfer flights quicker… It is a joke, landing and seeing your next plane pulling in and you know full well you have no chance of catching it… I would rather give my money to Ryanair than a airport hotel.
They’d need a total revamp, they’re like an institutionalised airline and the harp has to go too.
Scrap the baggage charge. It isn’t a low cost airline if by the time I add up all the damn charges it costs the same as everyone else.
Sort out the web site. Hire somebody who knows how to properly design a web site and pay them actual money to do the job.
Scrap that “extra” charge you have to pay for paying with a Visa card. Unless they want to open actual offices where I can go and pay for my ticket, there is no other way to ay for my ticket so why am I paying a tax when I have no options?
I have more but they can begin there.
Ryan Air make Lidl look like a premium brand.
How about actually putting Up a customer service helpline, paying your fines in the country’s where you have not respected consumer or employee rights (e.g. France and Spain) pay the compensation awarded to the people who have won their case against you like the woman who was awarded two thousand euros in northern Spain and when you didn’t pay up and the judge ordered a freeze on your corporate account in a Barclay’s bank branch in Madrid you only had sixty six euros in the account.
Stop the trolley Dolly’s on short haul flights , drives me nuts up & ruddy down constant , booklets , scratch cards , smokeless fags , newspapers , drinks & grub , parfumerie kart etc
I’ve had one of his “aviation professionals” shout rudely at me in front of the whole plane, because I was discussing something with the chap next to me during the safety awareness part
I almost got up and walked off
HOSTILE!!
Sacking Mick O’Leary would be a start
Alarm clocks for pilots. In the cockpit like ;)
Hire John Gilligan, that will sort them out
Just stop the f##king bullshit, ye know what were talking about !!
They could hire a customer service duck!
When you first started it was a great airline,I flew with you quite a few times in the past,but as the old saying goes power corrupts,why do they act as they are the only airline in the country,I have checked prices with Ryanair and major airlines,and on many cases the difference is so small that I think most people would choose them,also the airports they fly to are major one in the country they fly too not many miles from the final destination they want to visit….
have your say