Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair declared that customers who fail to print their boarding passes are “idiots” after a mom paid $380 for 5 passes. Some consumers have defended O’Leary’s concept of companies doing “whatever they wish, as long as it’s disclosed” . For companies such as Ryanair that provide bargain prices, they rely on ‘sneaky fees’. The punishments for the forgetful compensate for the discounted fares .
The ethical dilemma associated with “stupidity fees” relates to whether or not a company is justified in doing whatever they want, given it is located in the fine print. At times this would be appropriate as companies should not have to provide their forgetful customers with extra resources, as they have already stated that it is required. In this case, the consumer is in an extremely unfavorable position as the fee charged is considerably greater than the cost incurred by the company due to customer error. If companies make these sorts of regulations on consumers while consumers can not impose the same regulations on the companies, the deal becomes one-sided, and therefore unjust. For instance, if a flight passenger is charged $150 for accidentally deploying an emergency water slide, but a pilot that makes the same mistake and delays the flight is not charged, is that fair?
Works Cited
Ryanair flight departs without passengers from Rijeka. Digital image. Ryanair Abandons Passengers in Rijeka. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2012. <http://exyuaviation.blogspot.ca/2012/09/ryanair-abandons-passengers-in-rijeka.html>.
Sullivan, Bob. “The Truth Comes Out: CEO Says ‘stupid’ Consumers Deserve Hefty Fees.”Red Tape. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2012. <http://redtape.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/07/13710824-the-truth-comes-out-ceo-says-stupid-consumers-deserve-hefty-fees?lite>.
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