RYANAIR SCAM!

It is a well-known FACT that Ryanair is one of the worst airlines in Europe, however for the sake of cheap(ish) tickets and hundreds of routes, you put up with all the crap they throw at you. Normally, the only thing that saves them is the friendliness of the plane crew.

But now the story has changed, and they entered the realms of scamming people. Now I don’t have proof it is them, so you take your own conclusions. Here’s what happened to my mother yesterday (and is still on-going).

She had to book a return ticket to the UK from Italy (where she lives), and she could only choose Ryanair because it’s the only company that flies to East Midlands. So, as usual, she went to Ryanair.com and followed all the normal procedures to book a ticket. She got to the confirmation page, saw the price and cost breakdown (€140, already fairly high considering it’s just Ryanair, but hey-ho) and clicked ‘confirm’. A few minutes later, the confirmation mail came through from Ryanair to her inbox: up to here, everything normal.

Two minutes go by when another e-mail appears: this time is it from a company called Fly-Go (fly-go.it), it contains all the booking details and cost breakdown, but then adds and extra €28 for “handling charges”. Now, we never heard of this company before, it is nowhere on the Ryanair website, and it wasn’t on the confirmation page, but they had all the details. Who are they? A quick search reveals they’re a Romanian-based company which sells tickets for Ryanair, WizzAir and AirOne. The problem? My mother never used them, but she got charged for something. What to do then? 3 steps: call Ryanair, ask advice at a Travel Agent’s, go to the police.

CALL RYANAIR.

Finding a number isn’t easy, it is like they don’t want to be called. After extensive searches, she found a UK-based number. She explained the situation to the lady and said that maybe someone hacked onto their website, but she replied: “I doubt it very much! Our system is INFALLIBLE! You must have clicked on something wrong! I’m not staying here to argue, so Goodbye!” and hung up the phone. Now, first of all very rude. Secondly, infallible? Not even the FBI is infallible… Also between my mother and I we must have used Ryanair’s website over 100 times and know it like the back of our hands, so a mistake is very unlikely. Also, since she confirmed to paying just the €140 and not the extra €28, then you should acknowledge something fishy is going on, right?

GO TO A TRAVEL AGENT’S.

So after cancelling her credit card she went to the local travel agent’s and explained the situation. They immediately gave this answer: “considering you didn’t agree to pay that charge, it is definitely a scam. However, the fact that they don’t only have your card details but also your booking details can lead to only two scenarios: either Ryanair doesn’t realise they have been hacked, or THEY ARE IN ON THIS TOO.” Interesting right? They are experts, they should know.

GO TO THE POLICE.

The final piece of the puzzle was to go to the Carabinieri (Italian military police) to report the incident. Even THEY DIDN’T HAVE A SINGLE DOUBT: A SCAM WAS IN THE PROCESS. After a few questions, they saw fit to LAUNCH A CLAIM AGAINST RYANAIR AND FLY-GO.

You may say, all of this for €28? Think about it: how many times does Ryanair fly each day? Here’s a few calculations:
-they have about 1,600 daily flights
-each flight holds about 144 passengers, almost always on full planes
-144x1,600=230,400 passengers could be carried each day
-let’s say the scam only applied to 15% of the bookings, as to not attract attention: that’s 34,560 a day
-that’s still 34,560x28=€967,680 MADE EVERY DAY FROM A SCAM!!!

You realise now why this is a problem?

Also I just came from BBC News: the same airline which on the phone claimed to have an infallible website, just admitted £3m have been stolen by hackers on a fuel-buying scam. Who do you trust now? http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32510986

So, to conclude, don’t buy Ryanair. The alternative is there: EasyJet, Norwegian, even British Airways has some very competitive prices, so there is no need to give your money to a company who only thinks about themselves and never about the customer.

Make a change! Boycott Ryanair!

Seeya!

xx

Living In The Capital | Is city life for me?

I’m not going to lie, I’m a country boy.

I was brought up in a village with no more than 3,000 souls. The biggest place I’ve ever lived in is Norwich, which despite its cuteness can’t really be described as a vibrant cosmopolitan hub!

So moving to Madrid was a massive step for me. Not only it was in a different country, it also had more than 5 million people living in it and it was the capital city of said country! With it, it brings a whole range or characteristics, some good, some I’d rather live without.

Let’s get the cons quickly out of the way, so we can concentrate on the positives later. First of all, it’s noisy. It doesn’t matter what time of the day or night, there will be people out and about and they won’t care if you’re trying to sleep! Last night someone started to scream down my road: I thought she was being attacked or something, but she was simply angry at someone (and possibly slightly high…). Then there’s the pollution: it’s there and, unless you live next to a park, you feel it. If you have free time then you go to a park or catch a train out to the countryside for a breath of fresh air, but when you have to commute every day for work then you spend most of your time in the middle of it all. Which brings me to my final point: the speed of everything. While at the beginning I enjoyed the buzzing activity of life around me, after a few months I found myself tired, drained of all energy. I feel like I spend my time running everywhere, and I never stop from when I wake up to when I go back to bed. Often I think “I need to get out of here, I need some time off!”

So that was that. Now for the good stuff!

 

Madrid is an amazing city. Everyone who has been here will tell you how beautiful everything is: from its stately buildings, to its wide avenues, to its pleasant gardens and parks. Everything carefully mixed with the wonderful attitude typical of the Spaniards, which gives you a pleasant, fun and sociable environment. But let’s turn our attention to the fact it’s the capital. What does it mean?

First of all, you will find everything you need. From shops, to services, to entertainment everything will never be more than half an hour away from you at any time. Even the most peculiar needs (I’m an organic-obsessed vegetarian, not the easiest combination in Spain…) will be met, provided you know where to look. So that’s definitely ticked under the column of positive aspects!

Another element is the efficiency of (almost) everything. Transport works, it’s on time and reliable; the various services, being those bureaucracy, banks of whatever, are friendly and fairly well-organised. In other words, it is never difficult to obtain what you need.

Carrying on with transport, the capital city is connected to every other place in the country. Add the fact that Madrid is bang in the middle of it, and within 2.5 hours by train or 1 hour flying you can be anywhere you want in the country! The amount of travelling I did this year, exploring Spain, cannot be compared in any way to any other country I’ve ever lived in!

Finally, if you’re interested in music like I am, the capital is the perfect choice for you. Not only the offer available caters to every taste, but when major artists plan their tours, this will always be the first place they come to (see further down who I managed to see)! That also applies to sport: whatever the interest, you will find it and on a major international level!

So this is all I wanted to say. Here you can find some videos of what I managed to get up to in the past few weeks while living in Madrid.

Trip to Ibiza

 

 

Robbie Williams in Concert

 

Pentatonix In Concert

 

So what can I say to conclude? I’m not sure I am made for the city. I miss the country, I miss going UPSTAIRS to bed (instead of down the corridor), I miss having a garden. I think I see myself living in a tiny village somewhere in the UK. However, that village could be within easy reach of a city, so if needed I can take advantage of the offer that comes from it!

 

Other than that, speak soon!

 

Keep smiling! :)

Ibiza: when tourism makes matters worse

Hello everyone!

Last weekend I've been to Ibiza. Sounds weird being winter, I know, but I didn't go there for the clubbing and the party scene, but instead for its natural beauty. I am fortunate enough to have a flatmate who is from there, so us two and another flatmate headed off to this sunny island.

However with this post I don't want to say what I've done in an infinite list of things, you can see that from the video and the photos. I want to talk about the damages tourism can create.

Ibiza is the perfect example: here you have a beautiful mediterranean island, untouched by civilisation, until in the 60s someone notices it. Soon come flocking hoards of tourists, who build and build and build until everything that used to be there for centuries (both historical and natural) is wiped off in the matter of years. Nowadays, visitors get there, rent an anonymous flat, get burnt under the sun, drunk in the clubs, and leave without even knowing where they've been. Is it so difficult to have a responsible type of tourism?

Ibiza is such a cute little island, typical of the Mediterranean Sea. The old town centre is brilliant, with its small whitewashed houses and narrow lanes. Then if you explore the countryside, you discover an array of small villages stuck in time, rolling hills and winding roads, and unspoilt beaches that are a wonder to the eye. There is so much more to Ibiza than partying!

The same can be said about other places on this planet. Isn't it time to stop destroying it, and try and protect what is left and wonder in front of the amazing (free) beauty that Earth offers us?

Here are the photos I took. Not one of them contains a single drunk person! Enjoy!!

Hasta pronto

xx