Someone is going to have a fun easy jet flight next week.

Teetonetal

Haven't flown with easy jet for years... didn't occur to us to check in more than 24hrs before the flight.

Just randomly checked online for next weeks flight and they auto allocated us seats that are not together... some poor bastard is going to be sitting next to my 4 year old girl (who hates flying) whilst I relax 2 rows back.

Rang them up and they won't swap our seats, even though I offered to pay the charge to get the expensive seats that I can see are still free. 

Happy days. Going to tell my daughter to scream as loud as she can I think.

Fuengi

Really? I'm amazed they would separate a four year old girl from her parent.

Teetonetal

Fuengi said:

Really? I'm amazed they would separate a four year old girl from her parent.

Me too. It's nuts. Especially as the age of the child is entered in at time of booking. But this is the age of make money at all cost vs acting in the best interest of your customers.

vale

easyjet are truly sh*tty company. parents & their young children should always be put together. always. if she is not a happy flyer she should have access to parental support & comfort. four years old!
all shame on sleazyjet. unforgivable callousness.
people can have 'security blanket pets' (forgotten official terminology for them) but small children scared of flying are separated from parents?

seriously, that makes me furious. f*ck easyjet off & don't use them again. ever.
they are not so cheap that they should be able to treat you like this & count on your continued patronage.
british airways are my option, though i don't fly much. if i have to fly i book well in advance & (allowing for all potential clawing back & sneaky surcharging) the prices are not so vastly different that it's worth selling out your self-respect for. i appreciate having a young family may mean your means are limited.

very sorry to hear your story. if that happened to me i would never use again.

ThorpyFX

Ask them to provide evidence that the people she is sat next to have been crb checked. If they can’t (which obviously they won’t be able to) ask them to provide written evidence to explain why they think it is ok to separate an anxious 4 year old from her parents. Or just kick off on Twitter, that usually helps with these bullying companies. 

merlin

This is unspeakable. I am at a loss for words. 

Bygone_Tones

Take your business elsewhere, don't put up with shitty customer service.

Jalapeno

vale said:

.....stelios is such an ignorant & cheap c&nt.

Compared to Michael O'Leary he's a saint !

vale

Jalapeno said:

vale said:

.....stelios is such an ignorant & cheap c&nt.

Compared to Michael O'Leary he's a saint !

actually just returned to edit that line out as it's the whole company, not just him. he just gets fat on the spoils.

all of those pigs i hate. O'Leary, Stelios, Branson, Green has now been rumbled.
They are the scummy single person equivalent of those other faceless evil corporations Capita, G4S, Serco, Atos, etc currently bleeding public services private.

i wish TB on them all.

JezWynd

Greed and Stupidity had a baby and they named it Easy Jet.(Currently sitting unaccompanied; sharing a row with a stag party). Nice.

ICBM

That is completely ridiculous.

I’ve always has good experiences with EasyJet, but this does really make me wonder about looking for alternatives.

Dominic

Stelios hasn't been involved with Easy Jet for 8 years 
They did the same to my daughter 4 weeks ago ......we were 10 rows away and she cried for an hour of a 4 hour flight until she fell asleep
Ryanair is still far worse

skunkwerx

I wonder if humanity will kick in and one of the other seats offer to switch when you’re there.

Axe_meister

I just hope you are seater next to a decent human being who will swap seats. I have done this many a time on easy jet. 

jonnyburgo

Get this all over social media, its the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. She could be sat in the middle of a stag party FFS.

Teetonetal

Axe_meister said:

I just hope you are seater next to a decent human being who will swap seats. I have done this many a time on easy jet. 

Yup, that is the hope. 

This is really because of the way Easyjet run check in. They let you do this upto 30 days in advance but unlike BA they don't show you where you have been auto allocate and offer the chance to pay to move, they only auto allocate after you decline the option to pay for seats (without seeing where you are). This is surprising as if I could have seen the auto allocation first, I would have paid to move.

I viewed the plane's seat availability by looking at booking another seat, where it gives you choice to buy upfront. There are lots of seats in the "upfront" catagory. Customer service wouldn't let me swap (and pay) as we are already checked in... the wife is going to call today, so an easyjet employee is going to have a very unpleasant start to their day. 

jonnyburgo said:

Get this all over social media, its the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. She could be sat in the middle of a stag party FFS.

Having checked the Internet last night, I see this is really common. Read of a Ryan air flight where mother and 3 year old were 18 rows apart.

Looks like they just don't care.

RandallFlagg

Easyjet's seating policy:

You can choose where you’d like to sit for a small fee. Seats can be chosen when you book or later via the easyJet app or through Manage Bookings.

It's your choice, if you wanted to ensure your daughter sat with you then you could have paid a small fee to ensure that. 

TheMarlin

I refuse to fly Ryan Air or Easy Jet.  I’m not putting up with that crap anymore.  Vote with my feet.  

Teyeplayer

ThorpyFX said:

Ask them to provide evidence that the people she is sat next to have been crb checked. If they can’t (which obviously they won’t be able to) ask them to provide written evidence to explain why they think it is ok to separate an anxious 4 year old from her parents. 

This^ 

In this day and age sitting a four year old alongside a total stranger and claiming it is because of some misguided company policy is totally unacceptable. There have been more than enough awful stories in the press to demonstrate why.

Contact them asking for a copy of their safeguarding policy -after all, their staff are in contact with children and potentially vulnerable adults on a regular basis, so they will need to have one. These circumstances will most likely contradict whatever is on that document.

djspecialist

The CAA say that a minor should be seated no more than one row away from the parent or guardian:

http://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/on-board/seating-allocation/

https://www.caa.co.uk/Blog-Posts/Are-you-sitting-comfortably-/

Note that this is worded as "should", so it is only a guideline which the airline is free to ignore.

To do so would IMO be a violation of their duty of care.  I hope your wife gives them hell on the phone this morning - I know I would if this was my family!

RandallFlagg

I have been on several Easyjet flights where the attendants have moved passengers around to allow children and adults to be seated together.

As a parent I see it as my responsibility to ensure the welfare of my children and when presented with a option to choose seats for a small fee during the booking process I take it.