easyJet review by Jim 2014-10-08

I really feel this airline should be called SleazyJet. It was a good price initially for a short hop from Paris to Biarritz. I was travelling with a bicycle and on the website clicked the appropriate icon for sport equipment to pay. The site prompted me on and I chose the weight for my bike in protective bag and my only piece of 'hold baggage' as they call it. I only booked the bicycle this way because the website indicated I had to which turned out not to be the case. At the airport after some wandering as SleazyJet apparently doesn't warrant signage at CDG paris I found the check in/baggage drop. I was told I had only booked a regular bag and not the required sport equipment. I assured her I clicked the icon and was prompted on. She said it was wrong and I would have to pay the sport equipment amount. I said well fine just charge me the difference and she replied she couldn't but had to charge the full amount. So of course I said then just refund me the other amount on the initial bag I booked. Again the reply was she can't and I would have to cross the hall to the customer service desk and get my refund there. I told her to just do the charge so the bike could get loaded and I would deal with the refund once the bike was on it's way which is what I did. Unfortunately at the customer service desk I was told they couldn't process a refund there and I would have to contact sleazyjet directly. At the end of my trip with reliable internet again I looked for contact on the Sleazyjet website. Contact info kept directing me to a FAQ page none of which fit and a phone number that didn't work. After much hunting I found an email and requested my refund which seemed quite straight forward. After over a week I got a reply and again it was simply NO fees were non refundable. At no time did any of the 3 or 4 check in people or the 'customer service' person tell me a fee was non refundable. I paid for 2 hold bags and only flew with 1 strictly due to how their own website directed me. In fact I never had to pre book that bag as the website implied so the whole thing seems a scam. Beyond that the wait in the departure was without air conditioning or ventilation on a very hot day. The line up for boarding was long and slow and then into the gangway again with no AC or venting and more long wait. We sat on the ground quite a while and took off about 30 minutes late. The staff were not interested in the guests, and the seats were quite threadbare and cramped. Makes you wonder about the rest of the aircraft. I really felt if there had been a problem the staff would have come to life to collect extra fees for oxygen masks or life preservers or any other emergency item. If I absolutely had to I might consider flying them again but I would certainly exhaust all other options first including a much longer train ride.