Thomas Cook are sneeky £*^%@"$

holidaylover

Hi guys.

2 weeks ago I booked a package holiday to the Rotana resort hotel in Hurghada in Egypt with Thomas Cook on their website. The departure date is set for the 10th july for 7 days.

I had initially planned on booking for the Marriott but the Rotana sounded great on Thomas Cooks site so i booked that hotel instead. also it was a little bit cheeper.

We received our paperwork from thomas cook (on behalf of Direct holidays) this afternoon. The paperwork informed us that there is massive renovation work going on with the hotel and for the forseable future. The whole front of the hotel will be closed/worked on (- no lobby!!) as well as a large number of the rooms (it seems the rooms are whole units like 1 bedroom bungalows basicaly). They also stated that the resort is over 20 KM away from the town (isolated basically).

I am very dissapointed as my fiance and i were rreally looking forward to a long awaited and well needed relaxing beach and sun holiday at a nice hotel and now we are going to be waking to the noise of drilling, workmen etc. We booked the holiday and that resort because we wanted to be in a nice and pretty environment - its going to be a messy building site!

It wasnt mentioned at all on thomas cooks site that there was any work going on at all! Neither did it say that it was a totally isolaed resort (if you'll be able to call it that) in what is essentially a desert!

To me this is totally unacceptable!

I tried calling thomas cooks customer service numbers (0870 numbers) and was on hold for over 45 minutes this afternoon. I am going to go into their local branch and talk to them.

The problem is now the marriot that we would have booked is much more expensive that it was before. What can i do? Please help!

holidaylover

ok so iv spoken to the customer services guys eventually!
Turns out on thew website there was a small link saying "important info about your holiday" (that honestly wasnt noticable). you click the link and it opens a box that has this written in it exactly as below (in blue for my purposes):

"
Essential Information

please note, a fuel supplement of between £5pp-£15pp - depending on destination is applicable to all new bookings. further details can be found on viewdata and on thomascook.com. financial protection: £1pp of the cost of this holiday package is paid to the caa to provide atol protection to you. your money is fully protected under atol number 1179. this is shown on your invoice as the atol protection contribution (apc). this is a late holiday booking, subject to supplementary late terms & conditions shown on our website/ viewdata system. t/cook booking conditions apply - see our website or latest brochure featuring your chosen destination which contains essential holiday information (including passport, visa, health, travel advice). if applicable: supplements as per quick costing screen/invoice. 15kgs luggage allowance per adult/ child is included. optional 5kg extra allowance is available from only 15gbp shorthaul/ 35 gbp longhaul. charge for 5kgs extra is only available at time of booking Essential Information

and will show on the holiday costing. 5kg extra can be deselected at time of booking but not after booking confirmed. charges may apply if you exceed allowance shown on flight tickets. if applicable: rooms will not take maximum occupancy plus a cot. the coral beach rotana resort is located 22km from the resort centre of hurghada. the squash and health and beauty centre are unavailable. work is underway at the coral beach rotana to construct additional seaview rooms, and to renovate the existing rooms to improve & maintain standards. work is also taking place close to the entrance of the property to build new offices. the work areas are screened however, work is still visible when in and around the property. the work that is being performed will involve using a variety of tools and machinery,which will include diggers.due to the nature of the work noise and visual disturbance will be experienced, however the hotelier is committed to ensuring guests have an enjoyable stay. this property is the same as coral bea Essential Information

ch rotana on page 301 of the airtours summersun brochure 3rd edition"

EXACTLY AS ABOVE, no alterations made to it.

leaves the most important points about the hotel renovations till right at the bottom and doesn't highlight them at all!!! as if this stuff is no more important that the rest of that info!

What do you guys think?

the only thing that is at the same standard is about £160 total more expensive now!
Had we not booked the rotana and gone with the other choice in the first place it would have only been £40 more.

So now because they were in my opinion sneeky with that info its going to cost us £120 more than it should have.

oh and also a £40 amendment charge which according to the advisor they "might possibly" not charge us

so thats totally a potential £160 and at the least £120.

nicksters

Am on your side and completely see why you are miffed!!!

However, they have covered themselves as the errata (details about the work etc) were there for you to see at the time of booking!

If I was you I would make the point to them that you are not happy about the situation as you felt that the info about the work etc wasn't clearly visible. Might not get you anywhere but worth a try.

If I was you I would swallow the £120 cost to change (If they won't cover it). I know you probably feel like you shouldn't have to but for the sake of a nice stress free holiday I think it will be worth it. I would certainly push the point that you are only changing because of the work etc being carried out and that you are not happy to pay the £40 ammendment fee.

holidaylover

Hey Nick,
Thanks for your input.
I'm beginning to think that im not going to have much choice but to do that!
I guess its experience hey!

Incapuppy

Its not going to help you much now, but if you had checked on Trip Advisor you would have seen that both the building work and isolated location are mentioned in the first few hotel reviews.

The information about the building work was online - but you did not see it - I wonder if there is a box that you had to tick to agree that you had seen the extra info before booking. Here is where you lose out booking over the net instead of in person - I would hope that face to face, an agent would have had to made sure you were aware of the building work. That said, I hope you find a solution that is agreeable to you, and perhaps you should take a look at reviews of the Marriott to ensure you are happy with that before you change your booking.

Jokaty82

I agree with all of the above.

With regards to worrying about being 20km from the town, Please don't worry!! If its anything like Sharm, then its a bit different to a normal package resort.

In Sharm all the hotels are designed to be self contained with lots to do etc. Of course there are some built with walking distance to Naama Bay (the resort), but the majority are a taxi ride away.

If I were you I would do what you think will make you happy, its not fair. Maybe write a strong letter of complaint, after you have changed. They may give you some money back.

Please please use trip advisor in future. The site is a godsend and you would have known this info before you book. Its a lifesaver for the holiday maker! Also go on the forums there and ask questions. The Egypt people in particular are very friendly (I should know I am a regular poster :-)

holidaylover

Yeah, i agree about the inperson booking and infact i had been into a store just a couple of days before. Its difficult because i work erratic hours and was in a hurry to get it sorted. Thanks for the feedback Incapuppy

holidaylover

Thanks JoKaty. I kno i am kicking myself now! Live and learn. I have made an official complaint however, lets see what comes out of this?

ferf1223

Incapuppy wrote: »

Its not going to help you much now, but if you had checked on Trip Advisor you would have seen that both the building work and isolated location are mentioned in the first few hotel reviews.

Totally agree - we never, EVER book a hotel without checking TA first...sure, some of the TA reviews are rubbish and you have to read through several to get a real feel for things in a lot of cases...but we've saved ourselves a lot of hassle by checking reviews first before booking.

KonkyWonky

I don't see how Thomas Cook can be blamed TBH. From what you say they did provide all this information, its just you did not choose to read it.......

wannaberichbtch

I can certainly see why you are unhappy with this. Nobody wants to go on holiday to a building site and I'm surprised they can keep it open with no lobby and the scale of the works taking place. With regard to being 20km from Hurghada you really aren't missing much. It's not pretty, the shops are full of overpriced tourist tat and you are constantly hassled by shopkeepers as you walk down the street. This is definately a beach/hotel based holiday so pick the best you can, and if you like diving you will love it here. Another good source for info is LonelyPlanet which will tell you more about the resort and surrounding areas. When you finally get through to Thomas Cook ask for a manager and politely but firmly state your case.