A family is locked in a dispute with Ryanair after being charged £165 just to check in at the airport. 

Damian Lloyd, from Neath in South Wales, had checked his family in a month before their flight and had printed off the boarding passes.

But upon arrival at the airport, the barcodes would not scan so the family had to pay £165, according to the BBC.

Mr Lloyd tried to reclaim the money but Ryanair said they had unchecked before flying, so the fee was justified.

After several weeks of email exchanges, the airline has now referred Mr Lloyd to a dispute resolution service, the BBC reported.

Free Press Series: A family set to embark on a 10-day holiday to Gran Canaria were charged £165 to check in by Ryanair. A family set to embark on a 10-day holiday to Gran Canaria were charged £165 to check in by Ryanair. (Image: PA)

Family charged £165 to check in at airport

Mr Lloyd, 50, had booked a 10-day holiday for himself and his family to Gran Canaria in July. 

He said, speaking to the BBC, he had never had a problem with Ryanair's extra fees before so it came as a "total shock" when his, his wife's and his daughter's boarding passes did not scan.

Recounting his experience at the airport to the BBC, Mr Lloyd said: "He (Ryanair employee at the airport) looked on the computer, and our names and seat numbers came up.

"But for some reason [the boarding passes] weren't scanning. He didn't know why."

As the next flights were three days away, Mr Lloyd decided to pay the £165.

Mr Lloyd said that the check-in employee told him it was a computer glitch and he'd be able to claim the money back at a later date.

But when he requested a refund, Ryanair rejected the claim, saying it wasn't a fault with its system.

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Customer service first told Mr Lloyd he had not verified his identity, but later agreed this was "inaccurate".

They then told him he had unchecked the day before his flight.

"Ryanair came up with every excuse under the sun," Mr Lloyd said.

A spokesperson for Ryanair told the BBC: "[The family] unchecked themselves on the website on 22 July and ignored the pop-up that warned them they would have to check in again and generate new boarding passes.

"As they didn't have valid boarding passes, they were correctly charged the airport check-in fee."

Ryanair has now referred Mr Lloyd to AviationADR, an independent airline dispute resolution scheme.

This latest row comes after an elderly couple were charged £110 by Ryanair  to print their tickets at the airport recently.