Can you help me get the £969 I am owed by Spanish airline Vueling. You really are my last hope.
In September 2022, we were due to fly from Gatwick to Barcelona, but the airline cancelled the flight while we were waiting to board. The whole thing was a nightmare and we ended up driving to Heathrow and paying more than £1,000 to get on a BA flight.
We also had to pay hundreds of pounds for a second lot of airport parking.
After a very long battle during which Vueling ignored our claim for denied boarding, the Civil Aviation Authority finally awarded us the money.
Despite this, the airline just refuses to pay up and continues to ignore us.
This situation has caused us huge distress and taken hours and hours of time. I just want it to pay what it owes us.
JC, by email
This is not the first letter we have had about Vueling not paying up in these circumstances, and I suspect it will not be the last.
Happily for you, I asked the company about your case and it has finally agreed to hand over the money.
It tells me: “We understand that this issue has caused real frustration for your reader, and we would like to apologise for the inconvenience and distress.
“We have investigated your reader’s case and found that, due to a processing issue, unfortunately the compensation payment was delayed. We have now resolved the issue and processed the payment, so the compensation has been issued to your reader.”
You told me that you found out the good news after returning from a difficult stay in hospital, and you let out a whoop of joy. I’m glad this saga had a happy ending.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at [email protected] or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions.