Pursuing complaint with Thomson holidays?

woody01

advent1122 wrote: »

I travel with children - the reason I go on holiday is so they don't vegitate in front of the tv. They do enough of that at home.

I hate people with a vengeance who go on holiday to spend all day in their football shirts (usually fat men with bald heads). Drink pints of British Lager ( Fosters, Budweiser, Kronenberg etc etc), eat fish and chips in the BRITISH CHIPPY.. Go to the BRITISH BAR to watch Man Utd play AC Milan ( even though at home they dont atually watch football)...Expect the locals to speak ENGLISH....I actually heard someone say to a local in Portugal "What do you mean - you dont speak English?"..
They then go to a Karaoke night - followed by BINGO in the Flamingo Bar and spend the rest of the time frying like a lobster by the side of the pool reading 2 day old copies of The Sun.

AAARRGGHHHH....
They then get on the same plane as you home and are left with 50 Euros which they MUST SPEND. The thought of going home with money left send them into a panic.

And i hate people like yourself that are high and mighty and cannot even get their argument straight...hence making themselves look even more stupid.
None of the BRITISH lagers you mentioned are British. :T:rotfl:
If you stepped off your moral high ground and wound that neck in a bit, i am sure you would be happier.


........and no, i am not one of those people you despise on holiday so much. I wouldn't dream of going on hoilday anywhere that someone as common as yourself would go.

Lifeisbutadream

Firefox1975 wrote: »

yes that is kind of my point. I will shout it again THOMPSONS ARE NOT STUPID!

they deal with this all the time. The OP is lucky to get a voucher let alone demand cash back.

think about it, the OP takes this as far as she can and it ends up in court - the judge takes one look as the case details and finds out Thompsons have ALREADY made a Goodwill gesture of a £150 voucher! Just what exactly else could they have done?

Yes, you are going to say "well give her £150 in cash instead!"

but then we are back to my original message "THOMPSONS ARE NOT STUPID"

bad mouth Thompsons all you like - but don't for one minute think they don't know what they are doing in this kind of situation. You will get bitten!:cool:

That was my point too. They are not stupid, they are greedy. Thats why I dont use them any more.

Hopefully they will all eventually go the same way as MFI.

Firefox1975

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

That was my point too. They are not stupid, they are greedy. Thats why I dont use them any more.

Hopefully they will all eventually go the same way as MFI.

Are they greedy?

I think it is far to easy to sit back and look at a company the size of Thompsons and think they must be very very affluent. After all, they have all that money (cash) flowing into them on a day by day basis.

but unfortunately that isn't the whole story - cashflow is one thing but profit is completely different.

I would be interested if anyone has Thompsons accounts figures that they could post up here and also what margin Thompsons achieve on each holiday sold. is it £150 profit for every £2,000 holiday?

Lifeisbutadream

Firefox1975 wrote: »

Are they greedy?

YES

I think it is far to easy to sit back and look at a company the size of Thompsons and think they must be very very affluent. After all, they have all that money (cash) flowing into them on a day by day basis.

They dont need to be 'affluent' to look after their customers. As I said I run a (small) business. I amange to make sure that each and every one of my customers is happy - even if that means that I end up out of pocket sometimes. I look at the whole picture - people are more likely to come back if they think they will be looked after. IMO these large holiday companies do not care - judging by some of the posts on here lots of people are happy with the carp service they get - more fool them IMO.

but unfortunately that isn't the whole story - cashflow is one thing but profit is completely different.

I would be interested if anyone has Thompsons accounts figures that they could post up here and also what margin Thompsons achieve on each holiday sold. is it £150 profit for every £2,000 holiday?

It doesnt matter what the profit is - they should do what they say they will do. Until people stop accepting rubbish they will carry on.

Hopefully this recession will weed out the carp and leave behind the decent businesses.

Firefox1975

Well at the risk of dragging this out anymore I do think you are taking a liberty comparing your small company to Thompsons!

Surely a comparison of a like for like basis would be more suitable for your argument?

I presume your work comes with a "personal" touch aswell. you can;t possibly compare that to buying a holiday from a bloke who happens to work for thompsons.

unfortunately in this golden age of computers and the internet, people have very high expectations of what they should receive (or what they want to receive)- even to the point that they don't read things properly or even see things that aren't there. Ultimatley when some of these desires fail to materialise there first reaction is to jump up and down quoting the SOGA and how nasty the big bad corporations are.

not pigeonholing anyone - but the bandwagon keeps rolling and more and more people want to get on.

Lifeisbutadream

Firefox1975 wrote: »

Well at the risk of dragging this out anymore I do think you are taking a liberty comparing your small company to Thompsons!

Surely a comparison of a like for like basis would be more suitable for your argument?

I presume your work comes with a "personal" touch aswell. you can;t possibly compare that to buying a holiday from a bloke who happens to work for thompsons.

unfortunately in this golden age of computers and the internet, people have very high expectations of what they should receive (or what they want to receive)- even to the point that they don't read things properly or even see things that aren't there. Ultimatley when some of these desires fail to materialise there first reaction is to jump up and down quoting the SOGA and how nasty the big bad corporations are.

not pigeonholing anyone - but the bandwagon keeps rolling and more and more people want to get on.

My point was that if a small company with a 'small' profit can do it then a large one most certainly should be able to. They are able to have a whole department devoted to looking after disgruntled customers if they wish!

And I am sorry, but I dont see how someone expecting there to be a working TV and dishwasher where they have been advertised is 'having high expectations' but maybe I am just fussy :rolleyes:

Firefox1975

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

My point was that if a small company with a 'small' profit can do it then a large one most certainly should be able to. They are able to have a whole department devoted to looking after disgruntled customers if they wish!

And I am sorry, but I dont see how someone expecting there to be a working TV and dishwasher where they have been advertised is 'having high expectations' but maybe I am just fussy :rolleyes:

I was generalising - you are being specific.

mine was a general rant about people who complain just because they can about every little detail.

and your point about larger organisations being geared up to solving disputes is noted, although larger comapnies tend to suffer from diseconomies of scales in the long run.

i.e they will field your query but will simply be unable to resolve it as fast as an individual because it will have to be signed off and authorised through different departments in the building before a resolution. Processing a query through years and years of office built protocol physically takes time.

i am guessing that the initial complaint to the rep got stuck in the system somewhere aswell.

My final point is that now the pressure is off the rep to solve it do you really think they care anymore? the OP should have pushed harder for a resolution whilst they were still on holiday - personally I would have tried to get "something" out of the rep whilst I was still there. face to face so to speak - its harder for them to weasel out of it then.

I agree - the tv and dishwasher should have worked but the fact remains they didn't. it's how the problem is approached for a satisfactory conclusion that is important. I don't beleive waiting for the holiday to end and then demanding money back from Thompsons is correct.

System

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

OP - please ignore the pathetic replies on here - obviously from people jelous of you having a villa holiday - either that or simply just bored and felt like 'having a go' at someone :rolleyes:



Vote with your feet. Leave the holiday companies to all the people on here, who obviously arent fussy and dont mind being ripped off

JEALOUS [sp !!!] i think not , most grown ups would have realised that on a public forum not everyone is going to agree with your point of view, and making childish statements really doesnt add anything to the discussion
speaking as one of the" not fussy and dont mind being ripped off" brigade i have never and will never holiday via one of these "cattle" companys , i prefer to travel independantly but some people need to be herded .

Pollycat

OP
AS in the case of quite a lot of threads nowadays, this one seems to have degenerated into another swap of abuse that has nothing whatsoever to do with your issue or as some may see it - perceived issue with Thomson.

I don't know whether you have a case against Thomson for more recompense than a £150 voucher off your next holiday - but I know (of) a lady who WILL know.

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/

Look at this link, under 'Discussion forums' 'holiday complaints' you'll find information about a travel law solicitor (Ros Fernihough) who offers free, impartial advice to HT members. You'll need to contact her office as she doesn't read the forum.
She will be able to tell you whether you have a case.

tbw

Don't accept a voucher - politely insist on the same value in hard cash. You paid for a specific item/level of service and you didn't get it therefore you are entitled to a refund of a reasonable sum in respect of what you didn't get. You will probably have to write at least 3 letters to get what you want - these companies seem to rely on customers giving up in the face of opposition!

You did the correct thing and spoke to the rep therefor Thompsons had ample opportunity to put the matter right straight away. It doesn't really matter why they didn't sort it - maybe the rep didn't bother, maybe it got lost in the system, that isn't your concern (just adds to the annoyance!). I have had various legitimate complaints with holiday companies over the years and have always been able to negotiate a fair cash settlement. I don't think my complaints have been petty - having my 4* hotel changed 2 days before departure but being PROMISED that it was the same star rating with even better facilities and then finding it was 2* and literally falling apart at the seams was a fairly major problem. And I wasn't too happy when, having booked a 3 week Christmas/New Year holiday in South Africa flying from Heathrow in January, I received an urgent phone call in early December saying my departure airport had been changed to Bristol. I duly cancelled and rebooked both parking and overnight hotel accomodation (which cost me a fair bit!) only to get another call 3 days later to say I had been changed back to Heathrow!!! And then to crown it all, I got yet another call the next day to say it was all an unfortunate mistake and that they hadn't got a flight for me at all. (apparently it was some Muslim festival and all their usual flights had been taken over and when they rebooked everyone else they completely forgot me and my DH) I did get to South Afica - but only after I told the company concerned that they had to sort it out of face a court appearance.

Go for it, insist on cash but be prepared to argue a bit. £150 sounds fair though so I don't think you will get any more.