Ryanair baggage weight discrepancies

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DeclanP

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Was last week in Barcelona (Girona) and flew with Ryanair. We had one case to check in which was 15.7 kilos in weight. As the limit is 15 we were willing to remove some contents to hand luggage but the girl at the desk in Shannon said not to bother but to be careful on the way home. On the way home, we proceeded to pack the hand luggage (2 carry bags) with everything we could possibly get into it on the return to such an extent that the case was much lighter but when it was weighed at the airport it revealed 16.2 kilos. We queried this with the check in attendant but he didn't want to know and demanded €15. We refused and packed even more into the hand luggage and by the time we had finished, the case was nearly feather light and still weighed in at 14.5. We believe that there was no more than two thirds of the contents of the case coming home compared to going out and it still weighed heavier. There is something amiss.
 
Did you weigh your bags when you got home to see if there was a difference? Perhaps both scales where out of calibration?
 
I can empathise with you regarding weight of baggage and Ryanair. I have been through the same scenario in Almeria Airport. The Ryanair lady informed me that she would trust her scales only and that is all she was obliged to do.

Before approaching her desk I had weighed our stuff in a scales at an unused adjoining check-in desk and yes there were discrepancies when I went to the Ryanair desk.

However, I am a supporter of Ryanair and their low fares. Just play by their rules and frustration will be avoided.
 
I have heard of this practice reported by a couple of friends departing from Spainish airports, they also checked their weight on other check in points not in use and there was a 2 kg difference from t he Ryanair operated scales. Sounds of some scam operating !!
 
As a previous poster said, I think Ryanair provide a brilliant service and provides destinations to places we would not otherwise get to. But the whole baggage weight issue smacks of another means of extracting another few euro from the customer.
 
Ha!

I bought a special weighing thinggy for suitcases in the €2 shop in Abbey St. Dublin a while ago. Best money I ever spent. I bring it to the airport, and argue the toss when there is a dispute!

Having said that I only travel with hand baggage so on the rare occasions (rare really- eh once) I have been challenged on the hand baggage, out comes my weighing scales, and the jobs Oxo as they say. The staff did not dispute this on the one occasion it happened. Maybe I was just lucky I didn't get a difficult person at the gate.

Worth a try I suppose, but I'll never travel without it again.
 
Don't weighing scales used by shops have to be checked by Government inspectors? Should this not also apply to airlines who are charging by weight for items they carry?
 
It is quiet possible that components vary in measuring devices, that is why all scales, meters etc should be accompanied by a valid certificate of calibration.
 
I find it even depends on what part of the scales the bag is on makes a difference. I put a bag on at the front & it showed 15.5kg....she move the bag back abit & it went to 14.5kg.
 
theengineer said:
It is quiet possible that components vary in measuring devices, that is why all scales, meters etc should be accompanied by a valid certificate of calibration.
Click to expand...

True, and a good point.

In industry, any measuring or monitoring device whose results are taken as authoritative must be be issued with a calibration certificate (generally annually) or else the readings are almost meaningless.

I presume even Ryanair operate under some sort of quality/standards system - no?
 
Are all airport scales not under the control of the airport authorities rather than the individual airlines?
 
I doubt if it is a scam. Clothes take up a lot of weight in perspiration etc. over a holiday. You would be surprised how much. When you go out the clothes are dry and clean; when you come back they are dirty and wet, so they weigh more. This is particularly true if you participate in sports while you are away. I always weigh my check-in bag at an unattended desk at the airport on return, before I check in, and, if necessary, move items to my hand luggage to ensure the check-in bag is not overweight.
 
This happened me before Christmas also. I was travelling with Ryanair from Shannon to Glasgow Prestwick.

I was giving a customer training session while over there and had at least 10kg worth of training manuals. I arrived at the check-in and my suitcase weighed 15.5kg (phew).

On the way back (without the 10kg of training manuals) I arrived up to the check-in scale and put my suitcase up. On the way back my bag weighted 17.2kg. So with considerable reshuffling I managed to get my suitcase down to 16.7kg.

Now I didn't buy anything while over in Glasgow and if anything I was expecting my suitcase to weight around 5-6kg. I now weigh my luggage at home before I travel with Ryanair.

One thing that does bug me about Ryanair is though, we pay €20 return for 1 suitcase. You would hope that after spending €20 that your suitcase would be returned in good shape but on a number of occasions my suitcase has been smashed which is really annoying after spending that type of money to get it on the plane in the 1st place. Sorry to go off topic.
 
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