Ryanair's Broken Check-In System Forced Me to Pay €50 or Miss My Flight

For my Milan – Eindhoven Ryanair flight on 04/12/2026, I was never able to complete online check-in. I received no email notification, and my flight never appeared in the mobile app. Despite trying repeatedly on our own, we couldn't get through the system, and during this process, we also had no way of reaching customer service.
When we arrived at the airport, they kept us waiting for about 1 hour; even though they said they would handle the issue, no one actually helped us in any real way. In the end, they demanded €50 from us for check-in, stating that otherwise we wouldn't be able to board the plane. To avoid missing the flight, we were forced to pay this €50. We saw that another passenger on the same flight experienced a similar issue, apparently because the seats appeared full, and €50 was demanded from them as well. This gives the impression that passengers are being charged an additional fee due to a systemic issue. We also have screenshots of these conversations and the screen.
We've been put in a difficult position due to the online check-in system not working, being unable to reach customer service, and being kept waiting for a long time at the airport before being forced to pay an additional fee at the last minute. I expect a refund of the €50 we were forced to pay, along with an explanation and apology from Ryanair regarding the hardship we experienced. And since this disrupted the peace of our vacation, we will be filing a complaint through a lawyer in the Netherlands.