Ryanair has been engaged in several legal cases against screenscraper websites across Europe to prevent its customers from being subjected to additional, hidden charges and to ensure Ryanair has appropriate contact details to communicate with its customers.
Ryanair called on Google to enforce greater transparency on its online advertising following extensive complaints from Ryanair customers who have been misled into booking Ryanair flights on non-Ryanair websites, which are purposely designed to mislead customers.
Screenscraper websites such as eDreams have been paying for Google advertising to have their websites rank above the official Ryanair website on Google searches, which in turn is misleading Ryanair customers into visiting the eDreams website, masquerading as Ryanair.com, and in turn booking with eDreams.
Ryanair has been engaged in several legal cases against screenscraper websites across Europe to prevent its customers from being subjected to additional, hidden charges and to ensure Ryanair has appropriate contact details to communicate with its customers.
Many of these websites continue to cause problems for Ryanair customers and/or fail/refuse to pass on vital information to both customers and Ryanair regarding issues such as flight changes, web check-in, special needs assistance and contact details, which has resulted in missed flights and repeated problems for Ryanair customers. Indeed, the Court of Hamburg recently ruled that eDreams has been using an unlawful subdomain and was misleading customers into thinking that it had an official partnership with Ryanair.
Ryanair urged customers to book directly on Ryanair.com and called on Google to enforce greater transparency on its advertising rules, to prevent European customers being misled and overcharged.
Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said: “As Europe’s largest airline, Ryanair has received numerous complaints from our customers who have inadvertently purchased Ryanair flights on the eDreams website, as a direct result of the misleading advertising provided by Google. eDreams has been unlawfully selling Ryanair flights, by masquerading as Ryanair.com, and then offering customers a substandard service, with additional fees, or by often selling fares that don’t even exist. While we have no issue with Google advertising in general, it is unfair that it is used as a mechanism to mislead customers.
Customers end up paying more for their flights, thinking they’ve bought Ryanair flights with Ryanair, and often their contact details aren’t passed on, meaning they can’t be contacted if their flight changes, and they also have trouble checking-in online. This is a particular problem for customers in the UK and Ireland.
Ryanair will continue to pursue screenscraper websites such as eDreams to prevent Europe’s consumers from being misled over price and booking conditions. We would again urge customers to book directly on the Ryanair.com website to guarantee the lowest fares and best customer service. In the meantime, we call on Google to enforce greater transparency of its advertising to prevent any more customers from being misled and overcharged.”
Ryanair calls on eDreams to stop misleading consumers with deceptive branding, false fares and hiden fees
Ryanair also stood over its call for eDreams to stop misleading customers into thinking they are booking Ryanair flights with deceptive branding, false fares and hidden fees. The call came following Ryanair’s request for Google to enforce greater transparency to prevent screenscraper websites such as eDreams from misleading customers into thinking they are booking flights with Ryanair.
Ryanair re-iterated its stance that eDreams is continuing to cause problems for consumers by showing fares that do not exist and adding on hidden fees which result in consumers paying far more than they would on the Ryanair website.
Ryanair licenses over a dozen Online Travel Agents who show Ryanair fares in an honest and transparent manner. In addition to this, Ryanair noted that it has repeatedly offered eDreams this same licence to show Ryanair fares as long as they show accurate fares and do not add hidden fees, but that these offers have met with a negative response.
Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said: “We feel it is important to call again on eDreams to stop misleading customers into thinking they are booking Ryanair flights. The end result of this eDreams deception results in customers missing flights, paying over the odds with false fares and hidden fees and being faced with unnecessary travel problems. Ryanair will continue to work with Online Travel Agents that operate in an open and transparent manner, to the benefit of consumers, and calls again on eDreams to end its unlawful selling of Ryanair flights.
Once again we advise consumers to ensure they only book their flights on the official Ryanair.com website and anyone misled by eDreams should contact the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CommissionComplaints@ccpc.ie or complain to Google via the following link https://support.google.com/adwords/troubleshooter/4578507?hl=en#ts=4578511”.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
