Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Thomas Cook ONLY

supermum4 · 15 January 2013 at 10:25AM

Hi guys right I got a reply from Thomas cook on the 26th Nov acknowledging my correspondence with them about my 4+ hours delay with a promise that a full investigation would take place and dedicated customer relations executive would contact me within 28 days (yeah right) well anyway as yet I have heard nothing more so is my next step small claims court or do I have to get in touch with them again? cheers guys

Gorbar · 15 January 2013 at 10:42AM

Don't believe anything they tell you. Our delay was in Corfu & after reading most of the MSE forum on delayed flights I decided to contact the Greek equivilant of the CAA. Not hearing anything from them after 6 weeks I sent them a reminder, the reply back was they had heard nothing from TC, of course they deny having received it. During a telephone conversation with TC I mentioned this only for them to inform me that I should have contacted the UK CAA, contacted them & they replied no contact the Greek CAA, which I have done. & they have still not heard anything back. Think TC don't know the meaning of the truth. Not taking it to court would be to expensive & they would be able to employ the very best defence. Best of luck to anybody who takes them to court just make sure they are telling the truth

jacksback · 15 January 2013 at 11:19AM

Centipede100 wrote: »

The latter.

Thanks Centipede,, I thought that but asked them to confirm this was the address for court papers and they said no and gave me the first one! Is this just more delay tactics so they can say they didn't receive it?

Thanks

badbobby · 15 January 2013 at 3:09PM

badbobby wrote: »

I'm not going to put too much info on here for confidentiality reasons, but for the aid of everyone else, the process was:

1) I sent letters earlier in the year re delays to both in and outbound flights
2) Protracted incoherent replies from TC until they eventually worked out that proceedings had been stayed by ECJ so refused to discuss further
3) ECJ update in October 2012, so I restarted correspondence - they sent the usual template letter not referring to my specific situation
4) I pointed out the error of their ways and they admitted the outbound fault was not ECs, but insisted the inbound was - they only offered vouchers though for the outbound flight
5) I rejected and sent LBA
6) LBA expired, so I sent claim form
7) They have acknowledged and filed defence...

I guess I'll get the details in the post in the next few days and learn how to file my "bundle".

The main issue is they said they were defending it in full, but they've admitted half of the claim to me and offered me vouchers, so I'm not sure what they're doing. At worst, I cannot see how the DJ can refuse half of my claim and therefore not issue expense/costs against me.

Thoughts?

So I've got the defence from TC.

They admit the outbound but deny the inbound. So they admit they owe the €250.

They have given no detail of either delay, merely stating that the first was not due to ECs and the second was, so they aren't paying it.

Pretty vanilla really.

So should they be offering to send me the £210 plus interest and my court filing fee?

badbobby · 15 January 2013 at 5:46PM

Thanks Centipede.

I should clear up my knowledge:

The delay they agree was for crew issues - they had a pilot with an unsuitable license for landing at Innsbruck, so we diverted 3hrs away to Salzburg. At the airport, they originally claimed it was because of fog at Innsbruck but we only found out because a mate on holiday with us spotted an old friend who was a rep for a ski company and he filled us in!! Pretty amazing really.

The inbound was due to a fuel problem with the plane before it left Gatwick to come to Innsbruck. I have no details of this fault.

So do I have to do anything now to make TC give me the cash for the amount they admit (note they always admitted this, but only ever offered vouchers and refused to offer cash)?

Edit: So they've always said it was a fuel issue, but never said any more. They've simply said that it's ECs and I've said it's not... Theyv'e never expanded on it to show specifically why it would be.

My stance is that it's up to them to prove why it is ECs, so I don't see why I should have to pay their expenses, even if I lose, given they've made no effort to go into any detail.

Mark2spark · 15 January 2013 at 5:49PM

Well you have a ready made excuse for the court action when you get there, ie TC LIED to you (I hope you have that in writing still) regarding the fog issue, - so why should you believe their secondary excuse?

glentoran99 · 15 January 2013 at 5:55PM

Gorbar wrote: »

Don't believe anything they tell you. Our delay was in Corfu & after reading most of the MSE forum on delayed flights I decided to contact the Greek equivilant of the CAA. Not hearing anything from them after 6 weeks I sent them a reminder, the reply back was they had heard nothing from TC, of course they deny having received it. During a telephone conversation with TC I mentioned this only for them to inform me that I should have contacted the UK CAA, contacted them & they replied no contact the Greek CAA, which I have done. & they have still not heard anything back. Think TC don't know the meaning of the truth. Not taking it to court would be to expensive & they would be able to employ the very best defence. Best of luck to anybody who takes them to court just make sure they are telling the truth

no idea how much a court case would cost but there are claims companies that would do it for you if the cost is prohibitive, they take a percentage (around 30%) of any payout

badbobby · 15 January 2013 at 6:03PM

Mark2spark wrote: »

Well you have a ready made excuse for the court action when you get there, ie TC LIED to you (I hope you have that in writing still) regarding the fog issue, - so why should you believe their secondary excuse?

Mark2spark - I will be going back through my correspondence... to see if they have put that in writing.

Edit: Nothing in their correspondence saying it was fog - that was on the plane/in the airport information.

Essentially they sought to claim that 261/2004 didn't apply to delays, then they claimed they were ECs then they finally realised that the ECJ were reviewing it.

Once the announcement was made in Oct 12, they rejected using a template letter, then when I pushed back they admitted the outbound was their fault but not the inbound.

They only offered vouchers. I said that I might accept them if they offered them for both legs, but they did not do that.

So I sent a LBA in respect of both legs, then issued a claim form (inc interest), which they said they would defend in full.

Having seen their defence, they are not defending in full.

badbobby · 15 January 2013 at 7:01PM

Do I have to do anything to take the matter to a hearing?

Either way, now they've filed their defence, should I write to them to ask them to pay up the amount they admit and/or the amount they deny?

badbobby · 16 January 2013 at 1:14PM

Thanks again.

I agree re not bothering with inviting them to offer. I think they're on pretty poor ground re the journey they contest given they've given me no detail of why it was extraordinary beyond saying it was a refueling problem.

If they don't send me the amount they accept is due, does that help my position at the hearing?

Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Thomas Cook ONLY

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free