– It is not to help people, but to earn as much money as possible yourself. Simple and easy. This autumn, Eldfrid Midtlyng was on a holiday trip in Italy. When the flight home was canceled and she did not get anywhere with the airline, she contacted the company flyforsinkelser.no for help. It is a reimbursement company that helps customers get compensation or money back after cancellations, delays or overbooked flights. Getting help should prove to be difficult and expensive, according to Midtlyng. – I am dissatisfied, she says. Eldfrid Midtlyng on holiday in Italy in the autumn of 2021. Photo: Private Takes a third of the refund The cancellation meant that she had to pay extra for hotels and flights. She wanted money back for this. She did not get it. – I only got back 400 euros, which everyone is entitled to, and then they took 34 percent of it themselves. Eldfrid Midtlyng will not use flyforsinkelser.no again. Photo: Knut Bløtekjær / news There are several websites that offer legal assistance to air passengers in meetings with airlines. Some of the services are free, but if they, for example, help to collect money for a flight that was canceled, they take part of the refund to the passenger. It also took several months before Midtlyng got both the money and answers back from flyforsinkelser.no. – Did they give the impression that this should be easy? – Yes, in the beginning it looked like this. She is clear that she will not use the company again. May be in violation of the law Actually, it should be easy to solve this yourself, and the Consumer Council can, for example, help if you have a reimbursement problem with an airline. Free. – There is no ban on this type of scheme, but it is important that consumers are not led to believe that this is the only way you have a legal claim, says Bente Øverli, department director at the Norwegian Consumer Agency. The Norwegian Consumer Agency is stunned by this practice, and says that there are good consumer rights in Norway when it comes to canceling flights. As many have experienced this summer holiday with strikes and chaos. Bente Øverli, director of the Norwegian Consumer Agency, says that there are good consumer rights to cancel flights in Norway. Photo: Karl Biehl / news – This type of rhetoric can be misleading Øverli also reacts to the fact that statements such as “stressful” and “difficult” and “time-consuming” are used to send a refund claim. She points to a website of another reimbursement company called Airhelp.com. – It is not as stressful and difficult as many of these companies that offer advisory services should be, she says and adds: The director of the Norwegian Consumer Agency says that the rhetoric on the websites of companies such as AirHelp can easily become misleading. Photo: Screenshot – Playing on that type of rhetoric can easily be misleading and against the law. The Norwegian Consumer Agency will now look at the practice and marketing of companies that charge for legal advice to air passengers online. In response to criticism from the Norwegian Consumer Agency about marketing on the home pages, AirHelp responds in an e-mail to news: – We have witnessed situations where airlines have made the process difficult by demanding extra paperwork, confirmations or by incorrectly rejecting claims, writes communications consultant AirHelp, Mira Poręba. – Offers a service that is in demand – We at flyforsinkelser.no are sad to hear that there is a customer who is dissatisfied and who thinks we are too expensive, writes CEO of flyforsinkelser.no, Johan Fugmann in an e-mail to news. He writes that it is not correct that they charge 34 percent, but that they charge a maximum of 30 percent. – We are constantly trying to improve our service so that as many customers as possible are satisfied, writes Fugmann and points out that the company has a high score on the Trustpilot service. – In general, we believe that we offer a service that is particularly relevant and in demand at the moment, he writes further and refers to the airport chaos and strikes in recent times. – Why should customers use flyforsinkelser.no when the Consumer Council is free? – We do not give up, and are not satisfied with a rejection on the wrong basis, Fugmann answers. The company also has access to databases that show the status of delays and cancellations of the current aircraft. This means that they can send rejections in court, he explains. – So far, we have sent thousands of rejected claims to court via our lawyers in Europe. We have won 98 percent of the lawsuits, Fugmann elaborates. He also emphasizes that it is voluntary to use the service. – If you as a passenger feel you can win the case yourself, then you can of course do it.
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– I am dissatisfied – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
