Monday 25 July 2016

How EasyJet terrified my child *updated*

Please see bottom of the post for an update.

If you're a regular reader of my blog you will know that as a family we love traveling. We have flown all all over the world with our children and Eva took her first flight at 6 months old. She adores flying and normally relishes in the experience. However, what happened on our flight last week has tarnished her enjoyment. She was left absolutely distraught which was distressing for all of us.

We booked our flights to Turkey with EasyJet a few months ago for myself, hubby, Eva who is 3.5, Ophelia who is 8 months old and my dad. We hadn't given sitting together a second thought as EasyJet say they seat families together. It's the first time we have booked with EasyJet as a family.
The following is copied from EasyJet's website: It’s important that we know if you have children in your booking in order to make sure they get allocated an appropriate seat and are seated with you. When you make your booking for your family, please make sure you clearly identify any children in the booking. Just add the number of children and infants in your party in the relevant section and include their ages when prompted. 
We had provided all the information that was required from us when booking and then received email confirmation to say that everything was booked and that our seats were auto allocated. To me that reads that they have allocated us seats together (I was clearly wrong).




It was only when we decided to check in online that we noticed that our seats were all separate. None of us were sat anywhere near each other. Not even on the same rows. Again we thought this must be some sort of mistake as surely a 3 year old wouldn't be placed in a row on her own, separated from family members. We decided to phone EasyJet to double check. 

The first phone call was with a gentleman who was very blunt, very rude, very obnoxious and very unhelpful. He told us that those were our seats and that if we wanted to sit together we should have paid. He said he couldn't do anything about it and that it would have to be dealt with once we got to the airport. He also decided to point out to us that it is illegal for a 3 year old to sit alone on a flight and therefore if they can't place her next to us, we wouldn't be able to fly. This was obviously not what we wanted to hear and it started to cause us a lot of stress and worry.
I then decided to call twice more to see if someone else would be a bit more helpful and sympathetic but once again I was met with the same nonchalant response from them. I was getting very stressed about this situation. I also tweeted EasyJet a few times and I had no response. 

The day came for us to go on our holiday. Eva was beside herself with excitement. We headed over to Bristol airport and waited in the bag drop queue. At that point my husband approached the EasyJet customer service desk to try and resolve our problem there. Once again he was brushed off and told they would sort it out for us at the bag drop.

I was still hopeful that this would be resolved (how silly was I for being so positive?). The woman at the bag drop told us she also couldn't resolve the problem and that it would have to be dealt with at the gate. She said that she couldn't see anyway that they could sit us together but they would try. Once again it seemed like the problem was being brushed off and left for someone else to deal with it.

We arrived at the gate and were then told that the cabin crew would have to try and seat us together. I said I did not want to get on a plane and have my daughter sat in a row on her own whilst they tried to find seats for us but we were told this was the only option.

We entered the plane and the cabin crew knew nothing about the fact that we weren't sat together. It was the first they had heard of it. We were told to take our seats and then they would sort something out. I sat down in mine. My dad then went to his row. As you can imagine Eva did not want to sit on her own next to two strangers and therefore stood in the aisle with her dad. Even though she is only 3, she is not stupid. She could understand everything that was being said and started to get very distressed. She stood there crying.

After about 15 minutes the cabin crew made an announcement and said that they had a child who was separated from a parent and can anybody swap seats. As you can imagine that was met with total utter silence (other than Eva still crying). They then had to inform the pilot as we were late taking off. A following announcement came over and said that we would be unable to take off until somebody moved. Again nobody moved. My poor daughter heard all of this and was distraught. This then made me very upset. It was truly a horrifying experience. 

Someone eventually swapped seats with me which meant that a seat was free next to my dad. Hubby and Eva sat in those seats and myself and my dad went to the other two seats that were allocated to us (in separate rows). Eva was still hysterically crying as she now realised that she wouldn't be sat with her mum and sister. I went to take my seat in-between two older people. They had booked a window seat and an aisle seat even though they were travelling together, which I think is ridiculous and shouldn't be allowed. I went to get in and was told that they did not want to sit by a baby. They were not happy to have as sat by them (more fool them as little did they know that she was a frequent flyer and therefore was actually the best behaved child on the plane). I was totally humiliated. The cabin crew didn't stick up for me at all and allowed these people to speak to me like that after already experiencing half an hour of hell. 

I took the other available seat which was in-between two men. This wouldn't be a problem ordinarily but I breastfeed Ophelia so I found that very uncomfortable. Eva was still crying and still very shaken up and terrified. She actually wet herself through fear and distress. She has been potty trained for a long time, so this is totally out of character for her. After we took off a lovely lady saw that I was breastfeeding and asked her daughter to swap seats with me (I was sat by her dad). I was so relieved as at least I could breastfeed next to a woman, rather than being sandwiched between two men.

As a family we have never experienced anything like this whilst flying. It was awful. We were humiliated. Eva was beside herself with fear and was beyond consolable and it has totally ruined her enjoyment of flying. I've never been so angry at the way we have been treated. EasyJet's customer service is without a doubt the worst we have ever experienced from an airline. They passed our problem onto whoever was next in the chain and they have ignored our cries for help.

I am so worried as we have to do this all over again when we fly home on Saturday. We are all separated. I am not happy for my little girl to be put through that again but EasyJet don't care. We are currently still on holiday so we have tried contacting them via twitter. The only response we've had is a link directing us to their flying with children page. This doesn't help us at all!

I appreciate that sometimes you can't seat families together. We understood that but our argument was the fact that they had allocated a 3 year old a seat on her own away from any parent. 

After the way we were treated I will avoid flying with them again. Their lack of empathy and disregard for help was appalling. We still haven't even had an apology. I'm writing this to warn people so that your experience will not be ruined like ours. It seems to me that it is all a money making scheme by EasyJet to get you to pay for your seats which is not necessary if it is illegal for children to be seated alone. Paying for seats shouldn't even come into the equation when you are flying with young children. 

Have you ever had an experience like this?

Update:
We are still away on holiday. I have finally been contacted by Easyjet who have apologised for the customer service we have received. Eva is now sat by us on the way home. Even though there was availability on the plane she was still separated from us. Anyway, that problem has been solved and she is sat next to us.

I also would like to clear a few things with my readers as I have received lots of abuse from people via email and social media. This post is my own personal opinion. I write a blog and share my experiences on my blog. I would have written about flying with EasyJet if it had been a positive experience too. This is by no means a complaint letter (I will be sending one separately). This was written to share my experience with my readers and to warn others of the terrible customer service we received. 
I read and appreciate comments that have been left but I think lots of people have taken this  whole post out of context. I have in no means written it for any financial gain. I will emphasise again, it was written to highlight the appalling customer service that we received from EasyJet before, during and after the flight. 
I would also like to highlight that I had tried to resolve this issue on numerous occasions before boarding the plane.
If our experience home is a good one I will also be writing about that. I will be writing about my holiday, my apartment and everything in between like I always do. I have not written this for 5 minutes of fame, I am sharing my personal experience. 

With regards to EasyJet and complaining as i've already said, my complaint letter will be written when I return home. The customer service needs addressing (before the flight) and after. I have spoken with them about their flawed booking system and they have agreed with the points I have raised. I have written proof of things that have been said to me by EasyJet which will be going in my letter. 

Where I have discussed what happened on board. Again that is my personal experience. For the people attacking me over the breastfeeding comment, I will emphasise again, I was sharing how I personally felt. I am in no means demanding that I have to sit where I want because I breastfeed. I was simply saying that with everything that had happened on the plane before hand, everybody was staring at me and I felt self conscious. I was sat in between 2 men and everybody was staring and talking about me and my family. I wanted to cry. This will not be going in my complaint letter. Once again I will say it was my personal feelings. People that read my blog regularly will be able to relate to what I was saying as they will understand that I was simply sharing how I felt like I always do.

I am not a cheapskate and a chav as I have been called. I had at no point refused to pay for a seat. If you re read the post it was the first time we have ever flown with them as a family and it said upon booking our seats were allocated. 

I also want to thank people for the lovely comments that have been left here and across my social media and by emails. There are plenty of people that were in the same situation I was who will now be checking their seat allocations also. 
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76 comments

  1. This is utterly beyond. I think you should go to the press.

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  2. This is horrendous, especially when their own small print stipulates children will be seated next to a parent/carer. I've only ever heard bad things about them & after this would never book with them, especially as Archie has Autism. It would be complete chaos. I really hope they sort it for your return flight, your holiday is for relaxing not worrying about how you'll get home xx

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  3. This is horrifying. They say they seat children with parents too. Don't think eyfly Newcastle to London anymore

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  4. This is utterly disgusting!!!! Your poor daughter having to go through all that! I'd write to the CEO of the company and ask them how they would like it if it was their daughter sobbing her heart out in the isle???

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  5. Awful! We had the same situation happen to us; however, thankfully, I was able to resolve it after 4 calls to customer services and having a very helpful person the other end on my 4th attempt! My 2 year old was on his own and in an exit seat!!??!! I now pre-book seats (and pay more!!) or check in exactly 30 days before!! It's crazy!

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  6. This is awful! I am so sorry you've had to go through this and really hope it's not the same on the way home. Easyjet should be ashamed of themselves! X

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  7. Absoluely disgusting behaviour by this company. Their own words state that families will be seated together and sears have been auto allocated. I will never fly with them again. This needs to go viral to ensure that others dont sufer the same nightmare

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  8. This is ridiculous. Who in there right mind would think it's OK for a 3yr old to sit alone. Also why did no-one offer to swap. I would have.

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  9. This is ridiculous. Who in there right mind would think it's OK for a 3yr old to sit alone. Also why did no-one offer to swap. I would have.

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  10. Oh my goodness, I am raging for you!! Poor poor Eva, and absolute shame on the other passengers for not even volunteering to move for a clearly upset little girl! I really hope you don't have such a problem on the way home and easy jet actually respond xxx

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  11. It's insane, and tbh I can't believe they charge families to sit together. Surely travellers should just be able to book together (although you would think it was easier for the auto allocation to automatically book 4 seats together rather than random ones!). I'd have personally paid to make sure up front, but they've certainly gone against what was said on the website and then not been responsive when you tried originally to sort it out. Hopefully you get some joy on the return journey.

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  12. That's ridiculous! Easy Jet should be ashamed of themselves, it's not like you were a couple trying to sit together even, it's a small child NEEDING to sit next her parents! Absolutely ridiculous and shame on the passengers who refused to move or didn't want to sit next to a baby. :( xx

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  13. This is an absolute disgrace - I agree with the others who have commented, take this straight to the press.

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  14. This is disgusting!!! I cannot believe that no one would help you despite you contacting them well in advance. I've always been really scared of this happening & so book seats which cost me about £30 extra which I've always thought is such a rip off as they are buying into your fear but as I fly on my on with the kids a lot, the thought of being split up is horrifying. So sorry you started your hols like this.xxx

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  15. Wow no words. Utterly appalling. Also one of the many reasons I refuse to fly Easyget. Basically if you fly with children you have to pay to allocate seats and they were happy for a 3 year old to sit on her own. Honestly I am gobsmacked and hope your journey home is less stressful xx

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  16. I'm so sorry to read this. I have always liked the idea of competitive flight prices but now I will never, ever consider flying with Easyjet. I think it should be a given that families are allocated together no matter what. I am so, so sorry that your daughter experienced this and I truly hope it hasn't ruined her holiday or experience of flying for her forever.

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  17. I flew with Ryanair last week an had absolutely no problems. They seated me & my baby, 4 year old and my partner together both ways. Our seats were allocated at check in a week before departure and I didn't have to pay any extra. In fact the staff were lovely and even helped us bypass the passport queue on arrival and security queue on departure.
    It's hard to believe Easyjet are doing this for any reason other than trying to financially benefit from those travelling with young children.

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  18. This is completely and utterly appalling! Not one single helpful member of staff, and I honestly can't fathom why other passengers were so unwilling to help you. Do try and enjoy your holiday though; I hope that your journey home is a lot easier... x

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  19. I'm currently on holiday reading this and we flew with Easyjet too. We witnessed the exact same thing happen to a mother and her daughter on her flight although the little girl in question was probably about 6. That's still far too young to sit alone in my opinion. they made the mother and her child stand at the front in exactly the same way and humiliated them. The mother actually cried and I'm not surprised. It delayed our flight by an hour as we missed our take off spot. Surely all that would be easily avoided if Easyjet has the common sense to seat infants and children with a parent. Im so sorry this happened to you

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  20. I was with you up until the point you were complaining about a couple travelling together who weren't sitting next to each other. I'm claustrophobic and would prefer an aisle seat. My partner prefers sitting near a window, so rather than forcing him to sit near me, I'd be fine sitting by myself. Also saying that same couple didn't want to sit next to a baby, I don't blame them. I've travelled on a bus where there's a baby and it's cried the entire way. EasyJet (and in my opinion no airline carrier) should have to defend you and your baby and "protect your from their treatment". You're going to encounter people who don't like children. It's not an insult that your children are awful, it's exactly the same as people disliking dogs or cats.

    However, it is awful for them to claim that you would not be able to fly if your 3 year old is unable to sit with you or hubby or father. They should absolutely place the 3 year old next to one of the 3 adults that you listed online. And it was awful that they kept pushing you to the next point of contact for "someone else" to deal with it. I would avoid using them where possible in the future. If you can get a sympathetic ear in the press, then tell your story to them and it'll be one more bad mark against the company.

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  21. Oh how absolutely awful, not the way you want to start a holiday off. I have never flown with them, but after reading this I never will be. My eldest son has Type 1 Diabetes and it would be a nightmare and potentially dangerous for us to be separated and him sat next to anyone he felt uncomfortable blood testing etc in front of.

    What an absolute disgrace, I hope the journey home is a whole lot less stressful

    Stevie xx

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  22. I think some of the comments mis understand the very crux of this. When booked 3 months in advance on informed via eayjet website that "we sit families together",you are immediately reassured. All that happened at the airport should not have happened if easyjet honoured their own policy

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  23. This sounds just awful. I don't know what's worse the airlines attitude or the obnoxious people on the plane. Hope she is OK xxxxx

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  24. It's crazy, its like common sense doesn't exist anymore. We had something similar with BA customer service, thankfully it was resolved by someone sensible on the check in desk

    Cat x

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  25. I was told on a flight it is illegal for a child to sit alone, so dont pre book, as I assumed they would place the children in seats next to me, I wont assume this again after reading your ordeal, try not to let the return flight dominate your whole holiday x

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  26. They have a system which allows a 3 year old to be allocated a seat by herself?! What is wrong with that company?!

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  27. What a terrible experience for you all. I can't believe no one would switch seats? What is wrong with people!!! I suspect they were all sat their thinking they paid extra for thier seat and so didn't want to give it up, sad when a few pounds is worth more than doing the right thing :-(

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  28. Oh my, that's shocking! Flying can be a scary enough experience for children with the added stress of being separated from mummy and daddy. I hope the thought of the return journey doesn't ruin your holiday xx

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  29. Get a grip of yourself and pre book your seats next time. Then no one needs to be allegedly 'terrified'. Anything for five minutes of the spotlight. ��

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    1. Yes next time I fly with a budget airline which will probably be never I will pre book my seats. Perhaps when you have children and are faced with this situation then you will feel the same. I'd hate for any 3 year old you have to be crying for half an hour because they were separated from you! Disgusting comment from yourself. You clearly don't have the love and empathy a mother feels

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    2. Why pre vook when company policy states families are seated together. Read the whole blog before making your idiotic statement

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    3. I read it all. It's all total bleating that could've easily been avoided by pre booking. You get what you pay for with budget airlines, customer service included. I've got a ten year old and I wouldn't even contemplate not pre booking a seat. It's your own refusal to pay extra and not pre book your seats that put yourselves in this position. Live and learn.

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    4. You're right you live and learn which is exactly the reason I wrote the post. To make sure nobody has this again! I think you've totally missed the point. I did not refuse to pay for a seat. Had I'd known that they don't sit families together (even though it says they do and upon booking it months in advance and being told on that day our seats were allocated) I did not feel the need to. It was my first experience flying with the airline with children so yes I now realise you get what you paid for! I'm not sure why you feel the need to be spiteful over this. If you think me writing this is for 5 minutes in the spotlight you are greatly mistaken. I've written it to warn others. I would also have written if we had had a good experience too so I am not a bleater as you put it

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    5. Jenna you're a disgrace. Nothing more to say.

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  30. Oh my gosh Kerry I was nearly in tears just reading this, how absolutely awful for you all. And those people saying they didn't want a baby next to them need a slap too, what dreadful creatures. I hope that you are met with more helpful staff on your flight home honey, and that EasyJet pay attention and offer you an apology at the very least xx

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  31. Disgraceful behaviour by the airline, it is their error and not yours so they should be doing everything they can to rectify this.

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  32. How totally irresponsible of them to seat you seperately from a 3yr old child. Especially when their terms state that families will be seated together. What would have happened if their was an incident and you needed to vacate the plane in an emergency? I actually cannot believe it. Lesson learned for me! Don't travel with children via Easyjet, they clearly have no regard for a child's safety and wellbeing. Hope your problem is resolved before flying home. x

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  33. This is absolutely appalling. Easyjet are are disgusting company, I don't think I've ever heard anything good about them and this just confirms it - they should be ashamed, as should the staff members taking calls without any inclination to help or advise as appropriate.

    I hope you get something sorted soon for your flight home - I'd tweet this to some newspapers, the more pressure on easyjet the better.

    As for some of the ridiculous comments on this post - words fail me. Dogs and children are the same thing now are they, with the same rights?!

    I don't like people who dislike children - doesn't give me the right to refuse them a seat next to me though, does it?!

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  34. That's disgraceful behaviour from Easyjet, no way should they put a toddler through that. I hope it doesn't ruin her memories of flying now and cause her to be scared of flying altogether now x

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  35. Disgraceful behaviour by the airline but to be honest I'm more appalled by the people on the flight! I hope you are managing to enjoy some of your holiday and you get something sorted for the flight back x

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  36. Disgraceful behaviour by the airline but to be honest I'm more appalled by the people on the flight! I hope you are managing to enjoy some of your holiday and you get something sorted for the flight back x

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  37. I'm flying from Bristol with weather in a few weeks and haven't paid extra to sit together. I'm now bricking it as I have a 4 year old and a 7 year old who will be upset if they have to sit alone! Appalling and does put you off flying with them

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  38. I've noticed airlines are now getting people to pay for seats more and more and I think it's disgusting. I usually fly alone so it rarely affects me, but I think it's so bad to make families with children pay to sit together, and even worse that they were happy to accept your booking with auto seat selection even though they knew it was illegal for a three year old to be sat alone.

    Also, the way the people on the plane acted makes me feel ashamed to be human in a way. I can't get over how selfish people can be. Nobody ever thinks about other people these days :( I would totally have given my seat up if I was there.

    Easy Jet should really sort this out for you - it could really put off families with children from travelling with them! I hope they do it before your return flight. X

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  39. Reading this I will definitely pay that extra bit of money when flying out to Spain next week. I have been going on and off whether I should book it or not but my son is nearly 4 and he would never sit on his own on airplane. The last time he's been on one he was 18 months old so this will be all new to him I'm sure.
    It's disgusting from easy jet but that's what you get with cheap air lines I guess. I can imagine Ryanair doing the same thing. This is the reason why I always try to fly with Aer Lingus who are definitely a very helpful air line.

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  40. I had a similar experience with Jet2, although I didn't have children - a practically empty flight and they sat myself and partner away from each other, trying to make us pay. It's disgusting, and I've never flown with them again. I hope you and your daughter are ok xx

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  41. I could not believe that things were just gettign worse and worse as I read it! I am very disappointed in the many people on that plane who did not empathise and make life easier for a distressed family and very upset little girl. My family and I would have switched in a heartbeat.

    So sorry that you had this experience, make sure to keep telling little lady how brave she is and how grown up she was. It might be useful if you can talk through an experience where something went wrong but went well the second time, to ease any anxiety about flying again.

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  42. This is just horrific, I can't believe that no one even offered to swap, what the hell is wrong with people, go to the press, email every newspaper and I hope this gets out so that they have to change their policy, much love and a big hug xx

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  43. Oh I am devastated for you and your little girl. When I was working I flew with Aaron a lot albeit just to Ireland. I found travelling hard so this experience would kill me. I'm gutted at their dire customer service.I hope it makes the press. With school holidays it's a very topical story xx

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  44. Oh I am devastated for you and your little girl. When I was working I flew with Aaron a lot albeit just to Ireland. I found travelling hard so this experience would kill me. I'm gutted at their dire customer service.I hope it makes the press. With school holidays it's a very topical story xx

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  45. What is wrong with you people. Do you thinkk that we are moaning about oaying £50 to sit together?. We are mianing coz tbey told us that as a familily with young children, we would be sat tofether si that negated the need to pre book
    Jesus read .we were told we wouls be sat together. End of

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  46. Never had a problem with Easyjet. Online check in opens quite early, you just need to be on the ball to do that and check where they are trying to sit you. We flew with them to Barcelona and back in April and checked in quite early, no problem. I agree that they should force it so a child is sat with its mother but if the seats have already been allocated, it seems hard to know how they ensure this.

    Kate (Sorry, not really anonymous, having login issues with Google account).

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  47. Again the website said that as a fanily travelling with young children, we wiuld be sat together. What part of that statement tells us we need to pre book. Your wisdom and insight woukd help all families. Please enlighten us

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  48. Hello. I work for Wales Online. Is there any chance I can have a quick chat with you about this please? My email is tyler.mears@walesonline.co.uk. Thanks, Tyler.

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  49. Oh Kerry this is absolutely disgusting, I am livid on hearing your story. I hope that you get a response that is over and above satisfactory and that they look at their policies surrounding this so further children and families don't have to experience what you have had to endure. Sending lots of love your way for the journey home x x x

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  50. If a plane has 120 seats, and 116 people pre-book their seats leaving only 4 seats remaining all on separate rows, and you then decide to make a booking for those 4 seats then the only place the system will be able to allocate you seats is those 4 unoccupied seats.

    I presume something like that has happened in this instance by where you have checked in after all the blocks of 3 have gone. There is not really much more the airline can do if you did not pay to select your seats.

    More attention seeking from parents who think they deserve the world.
    " Hubby and Eva sat in those seats and myself and my dad went to the other two seats that were allocated to us (in separate rows). Eva was still hysterically crying as she now realised that she wouldn't be sat with her mum and sister"
    Someone switched seats and that still wasn't good enough!?

    "I took the other available seat which was in-between two men. This wouldn't be a problem ordinarily but I breastfeed Ophelia so I found that very uncomfortable"
    Maybe they should have a "do you breastfeed" checkbox on the online check in page as well so that they can sit you in between two women in future (if there were seats available!)

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    1. No I did not make a booking based on the fact that there were 4 available seats left?! Silly thing to say. Think you've misunderstood the point I'm making which is that I was under the understanding they seat a parent with their child. As for the rest of the post if you read the rest of my blog I share my personal life. I simply shared that part of the post about me being embarrassed sat between two men breastfeeding as everyone was staring at me. I know that is not easyjet problem at all so no I do not need a checkbox to enable I sit by women, I was simply saying how upset I was and then with everyone already staring at me I found it incredibly embaressing. I take it you don't have children of your own with a comment like parents are expecting the world. You sound like the type of person that would also be moaning if you were left to sit next to my 3 year old. Thanks for your comments.

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    2. This is such a rude comment to leave and also I would describe you as a coward to leave it anonymously!!!!!!!! This situation should never have happened to anyone, and to not have an understanding of how stressful this must have been makes you a heartless coward.

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    3. What a shock that you commented anonymously.

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    4. My goodness what a situation. I am a cheapskate and wouldn't even think to pay for seats. Luckily I've never been separated from the kids. I think even Ryanair put minors with parents. After all who is going to take responsibility for someone else's child in case anything happens, or the airline if your child is molestered during flight because of the seat they allocated? Insane!
      Recently we fly Norwegian a lot, who are brilliant at putting families together.

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  51. My question to you is when did you check in online.... A month before or a few days before if you check in a month before and don't pay for seats it will put you together... Check in a few days before the system can't put you together if people have already paid for seats... But you don't mention the date you checked in just mention the rest of the info....

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  52. I am so upset for you and your family. What a horrific experience! I am absolutely stunned at some of the other passengers too. I hope that you get an apology from them, at least.

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  53. How utterly ridiculous Kerry, poor little Eva and you too. Easyjet should be disgusted by their actions. I think I would be giving Watchdog a call!! Make them famous for this one ☹

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  54. Kerry this is horrendous and I'm so glad that you have let others know about this. It's so important that people are aware of these shocking policies especially if they're contrary to what the company publicise on their own website. I'm traumatised for you. Absolutely disgusting behaviour from all involved, and the people on the plane, gosh, I don't know if it's them or EasyJet that make me more ashamed to be human. Terrible. I'm so sorry. Please raise as much awareness about this as possible, and I personally hope you do get money from it and 15 minutes of fame, although I know that it would NEVER be about that for you, because some good should come out of something so traumatic. Hope you're enjoying your holiday at the moment lovely and this isn't monopolising it for you xxx

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  55. Omg am so relieved that they have fixed your trip home for you xx may this never happen again. And to all the haters saying you should pay you are part of the problem paying for things that should be free

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  56. Horrendous, disgusting behaviour from Easyjet but whats more shocking is some people's comments on here and the people on the plane that could have helped but different. What a sad world we live in. Hope you and your family have a better trip home and it doesn't affect your daughters experience of flying. These things tend to stay with us as a child xx

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  57. Oh love this sounds awful! I too have been in a family responsible for holding up a plane when my husband was kicked off for being ill (gastroenteritis caused by the hotel and all Thomson owned!) and some of the other passengers were beyond rude. I can't believe what Easyjet did! It's not hard to run their passenger data through a computer when allocating seats! That's two travel companies I will never use again! I hope this gets resolved x

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  58. I've just checked in with Easyjet travelling with my daughter and a friend. Oddly, it separated myself and my daughter as we checked in but when my friend checked in she was given a seat next to me. That suggests to me that they're deliberately separating families to force them to pay to change seats. Thankfully we can just swap but it's not the point. It's shameful of Easyjet to do this when they blatantly had seats together. I phoned them up and they said they could seat my child and I together for an extra cost. Great, but what was wrong with the empty seat next to me that my friend got? This should be illegal. Wish our politicians would do something useful with their time and stop this absurd kind of practice. Unfortunately for Easyjet I travel with them regularly for work but I can choose to use other airlines. One guess what I'll be doing.

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  59. Ridiculous. I was on this flight and know that nearly everything you've said happened, didn't happen. And all because you didn't want to pay £3 each to choose sets next to each other. More fool you

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  60. I don't know what you were looking at then and thank you for offering to move if you were the only lady that did in the end? It was never about me not paying for seats, I even tried to pay for them before hand when I called up. Yes I was a fool. As for telling me these things didn't happen, utter rubbish. Easyjet have investigated it with the cabin crew. I shouldn't have to justify my families personal feelings to an anonymous person

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  61. Oh my word, call me stupid but never would I think this would be an issue. I'm so sorry this happened. Our family fly next week and whilst my kids are older they have never flown before and thus would be terrified to be sat next to strangers. I've just paid £54 to Thomson to book my seats to get the best of a bad bunch left. I genuinely had no idea most airlines now expect you to pay for seats, this wasn't the case last time I flew on a package tour 13 years ago. I thought it might just be the rich few who paid like those who buy fast bands at a theme park! Mich X

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  62. Next time, why not pay for seats when you book online? Otherwise the seat allocation process is too random to leave it to chance - and it really is only £4 per seat per sector, or thereabouts.

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  63. I'm so stressed as I didn't realise this was the case with EasyJet and have just checked in for our flight. Outward it's ok as I've paid for hubby to sit next tin12 year old and I'm elsewhere with 3 year old. But our return fkighysbthere are no seats left to buy together and they've auto allocated us seats all separately, my 3 year old is alone. I'm so stressed out about this, I really don't want to travel now, it's going to weigh on me for the whole trip.

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    1. How soon are you travelling? Give them a ring and demand they change it. I can't guarantee they will (as they clearly didn't even attempt it when I rang) but just be as forceful as you can. X

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  64. I don't know how long ago this was but you are 100% right to have your opinion of your flight out and the customer service sounds non existent and unacceptable. You should not be penalised for having a young family by being made to pay for pre-selecting your seats. Families are already penalised enough by having to take their holidays dueing peak times. My heart goes out to you. xx

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