Help with Thomas cook complaint

1stTimer · 10 September 2011 at 11:28AM

Hi All

Please excuse the long post but really need some advice if possible?

Myself and my sister have just returned from a wonderful 10 nights in an all inclusive resort in Cyprus, we have no complaints with the holiday however its the flight back that we do have issues
please bare with me as it is quite a long post.

our original flight was due to depart on Wednesday 7th Sept at 19:00 local time with a pick up time of 15:30, at approx 11am we were contacted by the rep who explained there was currently a 4 hour delay
she arranged with the hotel to keep us there for the 4 extra hours and we were allowed to keep our bands so wasn't worried at all.
a few hours later a check the gatwick departures website to see the status of the flight and see it was 6 hours
we were picked up at around 19:00 and on the way to the airport Thomas cook explained that there was a further delay and we would scheduled to depart at 3:05 am
wasn't too please but sometime these things can't be helped
it was at the airport we realised that there was actually a bigger problem as the reps had no information to give us other than we may not be flying at all, they promised we would eventually get food and drink vouchers and they were trying fo find a status for us
we waited for 2 hours and was then told we were not able to fly and they will put us in a hotel, we never got those vouchers

we got to the hotel at around midnight and were told to check in and pop down in the morning for an update - i asked if they were going to give us anything to eat or drink as our last meal was at lunch he said they wasn't able to supply us with anything until breakfast which was at 8:30 the following day.
I need to add here that they put us in the Hilton which on any other occasion you might think was great but as we went all inclusive we had very little money on us and a bottle of water alone was €5
we had no toiletries etc on us as we always give them to other guest when leaving as we have never needed them after.
we were tired and slightly upset (both were due to be back at work the following day) so went to bed
the following morning during breakfast we were told our plane was not fit to fly and they had to hire one from a company called Atreus, the flight would leave Gatwick at 9:15am GMT (11:15 cypriot time) so we were looking at a new 16:40 departure
i started checking Gatwick departures and couldn't see our flight number. when i asked the rep he said the flight number might have changed and would get back to me.
We checked out of the hotel at noon and was taken straight back the airport
checked our luggage in and were supplied with €15 vouchers each
after another 45min delay we eventually boarded the plane at 17:45 and waited to take off….and waited….and waited

after the first 45mins of sitting there the pilot explained they was trying to calculate the flight path, he apologised and said we'd be in the air shortly
45mins later he got back on the tannoy…Thomas cook and given Astreus the wrong number of passengers (we were 40 over) now the plane could carry us but wouldn't have enough fuel to take us direct to Gatwick, we would have to refuel in Venice and then on to Gatwick
we waited on the plane for another hour before he told us that he was trying to get a guarantee for Venice that we would be able to refuel and take off within a certain time, if they could not guarantee then he couldn't fly us as it would take him over his legal flying hours - they couldn't..

we now had 2 choices
1-get off the plane and see stay another night without a guarantee of flight the next day
2-off load our luggage which would give the pilot enough fuel to fly us direct to Gatwick

at this point people were getting angry and upset on the plane, there were a few arguments and a lot of people were shouting and swearing, i just wanted something to happen so we all decided to get the suitcases off and fly
we took off eventually at 21:00 and arrived in Gatwick at 23:30 GMT
once i'd filled in the baggage claim forms we finally got home at 2am

now i was having a friend pick us up from Gatwick so every time we had a delay etc i had to call from my mobile to update him, i'm dreading my phone bill!
My sister has just had to go and buy another suitcase as she is away for a wedding this weekend and ours is still in Cyprus

so after all that my question is where do i even start complaint / compensation wise? the whole thing was a joke from start to finish,
We've had to both lose a days wages, have had to buy a new case, currently have no idea where our baggage is and although grateful to be home extremely annoyed that we had to go through this.

any advice would be appreciated
thank you
1stTimer

richardw · 10 September 2011 at 12:02PM

In the longer term you may need legal assistance with this, so perhaps check if you have legal expenses cover with an insurance policy and check the small print.

Your case is complex you might get a better response if you repost over on http://www.flightmole.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=27

1stTimer · 10 September 2011 at 1:49PM

Thanks for the reply Richard

Funnily enough I posted on flight mole too and they think I may be better here

Will contact my insurance company now and see what they say

richardw · 10 September 2011 at 2:15PM

What was the flight number of the Astraeus operated flight that you returned home on? This may help them over there.

richardw · 10 September 2011 at 2:44PM

crazyguy, I'm certain they will give them the brush off, it saves TC money, in the short term. They need to check if they have legal expenses cover with am insurance company.

crazyguy · 10 September 2011 at 2:48PM

richardw wrote: »

crazyguy, I'm certain they will give them the brush off, it saves TC money, in the short term. They need to check if they have legal expenses cover with am insurance company.

I understand that but sometimes you can find the right person and they will deal with an issue raised thus saving more time, hassle and maybe expense dragging this on.

I would allways look at this as a first option, then if it fails look at other avenues !

richardw · 10 September 2011 at 2:53PM

Perhaps write back to TC before dealing with the insurance co, then you have a starting point.

First thing that you are entitled to under Regulation EC 261/2004 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32004R0261:EN:HTML

is Article 9 Right to Care, this says

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered free of charge:
(a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time;
(b) hotel accommodation in cases
- where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary, or
- where a stay additional to that intended by the passenger becomes necessary;
(c) transport between the airport and place of accommodation (hotel or other).
2. In addition, passengers shall be offered free of charge two telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails.
3. In applying this Article, the operating air carrier shall pay particular attention to the needs of persons with reduced mobility and any persons accompanying them, as well as to the needs of unaccompanied children.

You have Right to Care entitlement because you were delayed and/or cancelled re Articles 5 and 6.

So perhaps do a list of what you didn't get under this, and what you needed, and the approximate value, this can be the first bit of your claim.

I'm not sure about the baggage, it appears you did them a great favour to assist with getting the aircraft back to gatwick.

Before mentioning your possible Article 7 rights to compensation, what was the original TCX return flight number? and what was the one operated by Astraeus?

1stTimer · 10 September 2011 at 2:57PM

The insurance company is closed until Monday so will have to wait unfortunately, but at least I have a starting point now, thanks guys
Such a shame as it was a great holiday..

richardw · 10 September 2011 at 3:07PM

See post 9 above.

ian41 · 10 September 2011 at 4:13PM

Re post #2.

You now have a response on the Flightmole forum.

1stTimer · 10 September 2011 at 4:35PM

Richard

It was according to the reps a different number up until we got to the airport it then became our original number TCX1017

Ian has posted a reply on flight mole and I thank him greatly for the effort, I will write a letter of complaint and think that will be it
I should just be grateful to be home and will pray my baggage comes back.

Help with Thomas cook complaint

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