TALL ORDER: Ryanair refuse to waive passenger’s drinks bill after paid for extra legroom seat ‘refusal’

POLICE were called to resolve a dispute between a passenger and Ryanair when his flight from the UK to Spain landed on the Costa del Sol.
Bob Hamilton, who stands 6ft 2in tall, asked the cabin crew to waive his £17 bar bill after being refused an extra legroom seat that he had already paid for.
Instead, Mr Hamilton, 64, said the airline called the police when his flight from London Stansted landed at Malaga-Costa del Sol Aiport to make him cough up.
Mr Hamilton claims that when he boarded the flight he found someone was sitting in his seat. He said a crew member told him the man was a Ryanair employee and Mr Hamilton would have to find somewhere else to sit due to ‘safety reasons’.
He reluctantly agreed to move and found a seat towards the rear of the plane.
Inflight he ordered two beers and two small bottles of wine at a cost of £17.
But his suggestion that the bill be waived in return for what he paid for an extra-legroom seat – that he didn’t get – was rejected.
He said he was told he would have to claim his £20 back online.
Mr Hamilton refused to pay, and on landing in Spain, he was met by two police officers.
He said: “They were very pleasant and were laughing about it.
“In the end, one of the crew came out with a card machine and I was forced to pay up.”
Mr Hamilton said that on his return to the UK he twice tried to get his £20 refund but the airline refused on both occasions before eventually paying up.
A Ryanair spokesperson claimed that Mr Hamilton was ‘disruptive’ and said he was asked to move one row forward to seat 16A – another exit seat near the wing which would have cost the same to reserve.
But Mr Hamilton said: ‘This response is absolutely false. I was never offered 16A.’