Thomas Cook / Airtours Woes...!

elgirufo

Hello,

I hope that someone out there might be able to offer some friendly advise regarding a spat I have with Thomas Cook / Airtours.

the background is that back in Nov 08 I booked a well earned 2 week break in Tenerife commencing 17/07/09 departing at 2100 hrs, the time is the key thing here as I have 2 children in school and the wife is employed in a school. Another important thing to remember is that Thomas Cook were made fully aware of this and we explained the importance of the 2100 departure whilst making the booking.
Anyway we paid our £204 deposit in good faith and that was that. About a month ago we received a letter from TC saying that due to unforseen circumstances blah blah blah the flight time we haf booked was no longer available and that we would be put on a flight departing on the 17/07/09 departing at 1500hrs. Clearly this is a massive problem for us, never the less I didn't think this would be a major issue being as I would be dealing dealing with a reputable company like TC, now naive!
I asked that they find me alternative dates for my holiday,after the 17th at no extra cost, a credit note to the value of £204 or my deposit back, they advised that to travel on the following tuesday would cost me an extra £400, I could not have a credit note, I could book another holiday but I had to book it before the due date of the balance for the original holiday which is the 24/04/09. They also advised that they would not return the deposit as the change is considered "insignificant" (12 hr clause).
I have explored all the usual avenues via customer relations etc to try and get someone to do the right thing but alas to no avail, I am preetty much resigned to loosing the deposit but as a last throw of the dice I am going to send them a "letter before action" and threaten to take them to the small claims court, I am aware of the cost implications of going doen this road.
I am going to use the "unfair terms in consumer contract regulation" based on the fact that at no point at the time of making the booking did Thomas Cook make me aware of the "minor changed by us clause"
so my question to the floor is:
Has anyone got any tips that they can suggest that make my arguement a bit stronger, any suggestions would be welcolme.
cheers in advance.
Elgirufo

yorkie69

elgirufo wrote: »

Hello,

I hope that someone out there might be able to offer some friendly advise regarding a spat I have with Thomas Cook / Airtours.

the background is that back in Nov 08 I booked a well earned 2 week break in Tenerife commencing 17/07/09 departing at 2100 hrs, the time is the key thing here as I have 2 children in school and the wife is employed in a school. Another important thing to remember is that Thomas Cook were made fully aware of this and we explained the importance of the 2100 departure whilst making the booking.
Anyway we paid our £204 deposit in good faith and that was that. About a month ago we received a letter from TC saying that due to unforseen circumstances blah blah blah the flight time we haf booked was no longer available and that we would be put on a flight departing on the 17/07/09 departing at 1500hrs. Clearly this is a massive problem for us, never the less I didn't think this would be a major issue being as I would be dealing dealing with a reputable company like TC, now naive!
I asked that they find me alternative dates for my holiday,after the 17th at no extra cost, a credit note to the value of £204 or my deposit back, they advised that to travel on the following tuesday would cost me an extra £400, I could not have a credit note, I could book another holiday but I had to book it before the due date of the balance for the original holiday which is the 24/04/09. They also advised that they would not return the deposit as the change is considered "insignificant" (12 hr clause).
I have explored all the usual avenues via customer relations etc to try and get someone to do the right thing but alas to no avail, I am preetty much resigned to loosing the deposit but as a last throw of the dice I am going to send them a "letter before action" and threaten to take them to the small claims court, I am aware of the cost implications of going doen this road.
I am going to use the "unfair terms in consumer contract regulation" based on the fact that at no point at the time of making the booking did Thomas Cook make me aware of the "minor changed by us clause"
so my question to the floor is:
Has anyone got any tips that they can suggest that make my arguement a bit stronger, any suggestions would be welcolme.
cheers in advance.
Elgirufo

i'm afraid that threatening them with the small claims court will just cost you more money. at some point you will have either ticked or signed something (depending wether booked online or other means) that says you have read and agreed to the terms and conditions. within these conditions is the twelve hour rule. this i'm afraid to say , leaves you without any recourse and only option is to lose deposit or change holiday at cost to yourself.

jhe

might be worth checking with trading standards what rights you have. we had a different problem a few years ago we booked an adult only hotel, at time of booking the age was for over 12 year olds. our son was 16 at the time. after booking the age for the hotel changed to over 18. thomson tried to tell us we had no rights and to read the small print of the booking. trading standards told us different. they said when we booked we entered a contract with thomson and they couldnt just deny responsibility. they advised that thomson should find us equal accomodation and if not we could find alternative equal accomodation and contact thomson if the alternative cost us more.good luck hope you can sort you flight times out.

withabix

elgirufo wrote: »

I have 2 children in school and the wife is employed in a school.


.....any suggestions would be welcolme.

There is no point using the "unfair terms in consumer contract regulation" angle, because Thomas Cook's right to do what they have done is not unique to their terms and conditions - it is provided for in European Law.

What has probably happened in this case is that the night flight has been cancelled as part of the consolidation of the industry and reduction in capacity due to reduction in demand.

You WILL have accepted their terms and conditions of booking, whichever way you booked - if you book online you have to tick a box. If you book in-store, you will have signed something, which states that you accept the terms and conditions. If you book over the phone, the booking confirmation they send you will say something on it about accepting the terms and conditions. They are printed in their brochures and are on their website.

This is a minor change to the flight time in accordance with European Law. Just because your wife works in a school doesn't give you any special rights, irrespective of what you told Thomas Cook.

Check that the school term doesn't finish on Thursday 16th July. It does in the county where I live.

Otherwise, can't your wife thake an extra day off? They can't STOP school staff from taking term time leave without good reason.

Also, many kids will be missing from school on the last day of the summer term for this very reason.

omelette451

withabix wrote: »

This is a minor change to the flight time in accordance with European Law. Just because your wife works in a school doesn't give you any special rights, irrespective of what you told Thomas Cook.

Does the fact that the OP told the company about his timing arrangements in the first place not have any relevance then? I mean, the agent assured him when he booked that the flight would be outside of school hours, and he could argue that he'd never have booked it if he'd known otherwise, so could this conceivably supercede the company's usual get-out clause?

(I don't claim to know about the law by the way, I'm just asking on behalf of those of us who don't!)

elgirufo

thanks for your comments so far. Being as I have nothing to loose I am going to send the letter, to behonest because the sum is quite low (for them) I'm sort of hoping that they might look at it and think it more cost effective to give me my money back than go to court........I'll let you know what happens!!

bagand96

omelette451 wrote: »

Does the fact that the OP told the company about his timing arrangements in the first place not have any relevance then? I mean, the agent assured him when he booked that the flight would be outside of school hours, and he could argue that he'd never have booked it if he'd known otherwise, so could this conceivably supercede the company's usual get-out clause?

(I don't claim to know about the law by the way, I'm just asking on behalf of those of us who don't!)

Personally, I would doubt it. It would depend where it was booked etc. If it was booked at a travel agent, then it is a different entity to the tour operator. Even if it was a Thomas Cook travel agent; it is different to Thomas Cook tour operations (crazy I know!). A travel agent branch will find you a holiday that suits the needs specified, but the holiday is then booked with the tour operator, and by booking you agree to the terms and conditions of the booking; which include the 12 hour flight hours change clause.

I.e. That holiday was booked with those flight times because they fitted around the OPs school requirements (at the time of booking) However; the terms and conditions of that holiday allow the tour operator to change the flights. Unless of course the travel agent guaranteed the flights at those times, but again by virtue of the T&Cs.....

(I don't know about the law either, that would be my unerstanding but might not be completely right).


As an aside; OP, you can try and take it up with Thomas Cook, you never know. However it might be a case of accepting it and seeing if your wife can arrange for the day off work; being upfront about the situation? (Ok its not the schools fault, but they may be flexible as its not you're fault either). Likewise with the children and school (will they miss anything of educational value on the last day of the year?)