Jodie Weston jetted off to Cyprus to perform at a music festival – she says she was left ‘traumatised’ by what happened when her easyJet flight home was cancelled
A mum says she was left in tears and “traumatised” after being left “stranded” in Cyprus for four days.
Jodie Weston jetted off to Kyrenia, Cyprus, to perform as a DJ at a music festival after the event’s managers booked her tickets last month.
When the mum went to Larnaka Airport to board her flight home on July 6, she discovered her flight had been cancelled two hours before it was meant to take off. The 31-year-old said easyJet staff informed the passengers they would get them home as soon as possible and put them up in a hotel in the meantime.
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But as they were escorted out of the departure lounge, Jodie claims airline staff refused to help and instead told her to use the easyJet app. While Jodie’s name was on the ticket, she claims she was unable to speak to customer assistance as she was not the originator of the booking.
Jodie, from London, said: “They told us to go to the gate and they said the flight has been cancelled and they have no other information but said ‘don’t worry, we’re going to sort out a hotel, it’s easyJet’s responsibility to deal with this’.
“They said easyJet might send a flight just for us in these circumstances. They made it sound like we were really going to be looked after. They escorted us out of the airport where you drop off your baggage and we said ‘what now?’ They said ‘actually, we can’t help you, you’ll have to go on the app’.”
Being left in tears, she eventually heard via other passengers that they were being booked on the next flight to London – which was four days away. Jodie accused the airline of “not giving a s**t” as she claims it didn’t offer passengers compensation or food vouchers, nor help them find accommodation.
Instead, the mum-of-one says she had to fork out £180 for a hotel room and was able to fly home the next day on a £270 Wizz Air flight, costing her a total of £450. She accused easyJet of “hiding behind robots on an app”.
EasyJet apologised for Jodie’s “inconvenience” and admitted it refused to help her over the phone because she couldn’t give the flight booker’s details – despite being the named passenger. The firm blamed the delay on Air Traffic Control restrictions which led to the crew reaching their maximum safety regulated operating hours.
Jodie said: “They didn’t mention anything like covering accommodation or anything like that. I have a two-year-old and work and I can’t stay in Cyprus for four days.
“You have to sort everything yourself, they don’t help at all. I got home finally, even though I was there for work I ended up not making any money. I was alone, I was crying at one point and no one at the airport really cared, it was just a horrible situation.
“I paid 20 euros each way to the hotel, it was almost £180 because it was the night before and July. I just felt massive panic and I was shaking and really anxious.”
Upon arriving home, Jodie submitted a claim for compensation to easyJet but said her claim was rejected with no explanation. The performer said she had to miss a day of work and had to sort care for her two-year-old son, costing her more money.
Jodie now vows to never fly with easyJet again as she has been left “traumatised” by the experience.
Jodie said: “They just leave you and you have to find everything, pay for everything and attempt to get it back after. I’m in the process of trying to get the money but they’ve rejected my initial claim. Who can actually stay somewhere for another four days?
“It was just a horrible ordeal. If my phone was broken or if I had nothing in my bank account what would I do? I just couldn’t believe it. It’s the fact they didn’t give a s**t, they just left us there.”
“No way I’m flying with easyJet again, I’m traumatised. I thought easyJet was meant to be easy but there was nothing easy about it. There were a lot of people in different situations, all of us didn’t know what to do in a foreign country. No one spoke to us, nothing. Just go and speak to the robot on the app.”
Jodie applied via a third third party passenger support service for compensation and a refund on her £500 hotel and new flight expenses but received an email saying easyJet had rejected it.
EasyJet now says it will refund Jodie for her expenses and ask her to get in touch with them directly but said she was not eligible for compensation as the cancellation was outside their control.
An easyJet spokesperson said: “Ms Weston’s flight was unable to operate due to earlier delays caused by Air Traffic Control restrictions, which led to the crew reaching their maximum safety regulated operating hours.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and while this was outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused and did all we could to minimise the impact for our customers.
“We provided options to rebook or receive a refund and refunded Ms Weston as requested for her booking. As there was unfortunately limited hotel availability in the area, we advised customers who booked their own that they would be reimbursed.
“Ms Weston booked her flights through a third party who we ask to pass on important information to their customers, including flight options, accommodation and claiming expenses, so we are sorry to hear that this did not reach her and so we are in touch with Ms Weston to reimburse her expenses.”