I see this thread has been going for 1 year now. Has anyone managed to escalate their complaint further? I can’t quite think of another industry this type of practice is acceptable other than maybe the gambling industry…! It’s unbelievable there are not more consumer protection laws around flight cancellations.
I’ve found myself in the same situation as many on this thread. Bought an expensive 09:20 AM flight for €240 it’s now been changed to 19:20 pm however, it’s not been “confirmed" even though they are selling the flight online at the new 19:20 time and have updated the flight time in the “my booking” section. They have now replaced the 09:20AM flight with a 10:20 AM flight with a completely different flight number. But pushed the 09:20 AM flight number 10 hours ahead to 19:20, that in my eyes is not a minor reschedule but rather a cancellation and a completely different flight.
The original evening flight was advertised for €119 but as I needed to attend an evening event on the day I fly I opted to pay for the most expensive flight being advertised on that day. I’m now essentially being punished for this; Ryanair rescheduled my flight by 10 hours and keep the price of the premium flight I paid for without returning the difference to me.
It sounds at the very least Ryanair are openly deceiving customers and then refusing to pay refunds until the flight rescheduling is confirmed. I don't know what their definition of 'confirmed' is but all evidence points to the fact Ryanair have reason to believe the original 09:20 am flight will not be going ahead as advertised but their exploiting their powerful position to delay paying a refund. By that time when the customer receives the official confirmation the alternative flight options for the customer have materially increased so Ryanair benefit from maximising revenues.