advice? thomson scary emergency landing = cancelled flight then long delay

23rdspiral

thank you to some people for the genuine good advice, and no thanks to others who just seem to want to take the !!!!. why waist your time doing that?

I'm normally on the Old Style board and no matter how many times newbies ask 'how to cook a ham hock' or 'how long in the slow cooker for...' we always answer nicely and never take the !!!!.

- i chose a flight that would get me home in bed early and ready for work the next day, i paid more for that than an antisocial flight time. i could not get a flight to a more local airport at that time.

- they did not offer us food or water or a phone call, and i was not able to purchase anything because i had used my leftover money (which wasnt much to start with as i went A/I), in the duty free the first time round. many people asked, and they just said there'd be water on the plane...

if your train in the uk suffers delay there is a process. i was simply wondering what the process is for this situation and what position i am in given these circumstances.

of course i am glad to be alive - but they could have at least done the decent english thing and given us a good old cup of tea!

Incapuppy

23rdspiral wrote: »

if your train in the uk suffers delay there is a process. i was simply wondering what the process is for this situation and what position i am in given these circumstances.

Voyager has already suggested what you may be entitled to in post #8; sorry if you class this answer as taking the !!!!

dzug1

Voyager2002 wrote: »

It sounds as if you were delayed for six hours. Under EU regulations you were entitled to "care" (food; drink; telephone calls) during that period. If you spent any money and kept the receipts you should be able to collect reimbursement.

Yes but.

There is a get out clause that if such provision would further delay the departure, then the care needn't be provided.

That may or may not have been the case here.

JPS29

23rdspiral wrote: »

no thanks to others who just seem to want to take the !!!!. why waist your time doing that? At the risk of "waisting" my time or taking the !!!!.......

and they just said there'd be water on the plane... Did you actually ask one of the flight attendants for a complimentary drink of water due to the delay?

us a good old cup of tea! So it wasn't just a drink of water you wanted?

This thread could go on and on but at the end of the day it seems your gripe is about them not offering you a drink, be it water or earl grey. Is it really worth the hassle of writing to them over a cuppa? Life's too short.

will-in-estoril

It's about compo, money, dosh, £50 notes; it's also about opportunism, which is not the type of money saving I subscribe to.

spheric

Although I agree that this isn't a case worthy of a life-changing compensation payout, it does sound as if Thomson were a little naughty in ignoring the EU regulations on passenger 'care' whilst they were stuck on the ground. Surely its in everyone's interest for the airlines to be held to these rules rigidly, given they also govern how we're treated in even more extreme circumstances.

In that vein, I'd encourage 23rdspiral to make a complaint, - even if its only for £20 or so's worth of sandwiches and drinks (I don't know how many of you there were). FH Brit's advice about wording it nicely and not adding too much drama seems sound, but there is a principle at stake: If something goes wrong when travelling, we should be able to expect to be taken care of to at least a basic degree. - and like 23rdspiral I'm unimpressed with the tone of several of the responses we've seen.

As an aside, from your description of what went wrong, it sounds like the hydraulics controlling the plane's rudder failed. That's the bit in the tail that moves left and right to help the plane turn in the air, and is relied upon heavily for steering on the runway. Although pilots do train for this (and for the more alarming problem of a rudder getting stuck fully left/right), its a relatively big problem, and your pilot/co-pilot earnt their keep getting you all down safely. - If you do write to them, perhaps a note thanking them for doing a good job in an emergency would be a nice touch.

23rdspiral

JPS29 wrote: »

Is it really worth the hassle of writing to them over a cuppa? Life's too short.

just to answer your question, yes i did aske them for water and so did 3 others i heard, maybe more. it was very hot in the airport and they wouldnt even give water to young families or someone i was talking to with a medical complaint.

23rdspiral

spheric wrote: »

Although I agree that this isn't a case worthy of a life-changing compensation payout, it does sound as if Thomson were a little naughty in ignoring the EU regulations on passenger 'care' whilst they were stuck on the ground. Surely its in everyone's interest for the airlines to be held to these rules rigidly, given they also govern how we're treated in even more extreme circumstances.

In that vein, I'd encourage 23rdspiral to make a complaint, - even if its only for £20 or so's worth of sandwiches and drinks (I don't know how many of you there were). FH Brit's advice about wording it nicely and not adding too much drama seems sound, but there is a principle at stake: If something goes wrong when travelling, we should be able to expect to be taken care of to at least a basic degree. - and like 23rdspiral I'm unimpressed with the tone of several of the responses we've seen.

As an aside, from your description of what went wrong, it sounds like the hydraulics controlling the plane's rudder failed. That's the bit in the tail that moves left and right to help the plane turn in the air, and is relied upon heavily for steering on the runway. Although pilots do train for this (and for the more alarming problem of a rudder getting stuck fully left/right), its a relatively big problem, and your pilot/co-pilot earnt their keep getting you all down safely. - If you do write to them, perhaps a note thanking them for doing a good job in an emergency would be a nice touch.

Thank you Spheric, Voyager and FH Brit for your advice. I wouldnt want to cause a fuss out of turn, and it was over more than a cup of tea of course. Thanks Incapuppy for your reply too - i just tried to answer some of the questions more clearly.

And many thanks for Spheric for helping explain what might have been the problem, and for offering support concerning the tone of several of the resposes - i've never given a sarcastic response to anyone, no matter how silly or offensive the question - if you cant say anything nice, dont say it at all.

i'll end here, as i dont want this thread to go on forever, there are more important things in life of course, and i've got a letter to write...

Reggie_Rebel

23rdspiral wrote: »

but they could have at least done the decent english thing and given us a good old cup of tea!

Thomson/First Choice, for they are one and the same, are German

MissWalshy

Hi there,

Um, I was on that plane so I know exactly what you went through. I found this thread when I was trying to google what went wrong with the plane, because I'm still confused/upset as to what happened and I'm finding it difficult to move on because I'm needing to know all the details. Erm, I'm not interested in complaining as I am bloody happy to be alive but if you haven't already wrote your letter you can say some people were given £10 vouchers for refreshments... We missed quite a lot of what went on with all the other passengers because we were upstairs on the roof drinking a bottle of champagne and smoking.. We were looking at the screens and it just kept on saying delayed.. so eventually we went back to the gate we arrived at and was greeted by someone from Thomson saying that we were the missing passengers. We got on an Easy Jet flight back to Gatwick, I believe some people went to Manchester and Luton? Our cases were lost and we just got them back there on Friday. Um, I doubt this post helps much... but I thought I'd say something.

Best-

Walshy