Can Thomson change their balance due by date?

cazpanda

Hi, last Aug I booked a holiday on line through Thomson to travel in May this year. The e mail confirmation at the time stated the balance was due 27th March 2010. I had fully intended to pay on 26th as the day hubby gets paid. However, I received a letter on 17th March from Thomson saying my balance was now over due & should have been paid 12th March. I did e mail them & they agreed the due date was 27th & apologized. I have since had another reminder so I paid it this week which now means I am overdrawn with my bank. Today I have had a letter saying if I dont pay by 4pm tomorrow they will cancel my holiday. Now I know this letter was probably generated before I paid but I am extremely angry about it all, I have never been overdrawn or made a late payment in my life. Do they have a right to just change the date, I will now probably incur bank fees because of this.

bezzza

Ah Thomsons - don't you just love 'em? Booked 2 holidays in 2 years with them - once online and once in high street. the first was done online - I was told to pay by 7 weeks before holiday (but had several snotty calls saying it was 10 weeks as they have to make sure the payment reaches the "other" company (I assume flight company and hotel) by the 7 week deadline. The second booked in the branch - I double checked the date with the staff and was told that whilst there was a 7 week deadline you are advised to get it in 10 weeks before. I will never book another holiday with them again - flight time changes meaning losing almost a day at either end of holiday, overbooked hotels, last minute to changes to what is NOT included in all inclusive (leaving us with no choice but to accept and costing us a small fortune to buy drinks) - the final payment date is just another problem with this company - their customer service is seriously lacking unless they are getting money out of you. Stick to your guns and use your email confirmation but they always have a way of getting out of giving you what you're entitled to (in my case anyway). Hope you have a fab holiday!

salt_and_pepper

This as happened to me as well. I booked First Choice online- paid low deposit, then further deposit a few weeks later, which i had to remember to do myself- no reminders there. Then i got email to say deposit due March 29th, marked it on my calendar- exactly 8 weeks before holiday- saved money up, plaqnned to pay a couple of days early whilst the money was gaining a little bit of interest in my account. Then i got a rather stiff letter saying that the balance should have been paid on the 15th- i checked my email, that says 29th so i thought i'll leave it a couple of days- paid it this week, a bit snotty the lady who took my money- then the next day i got a further reminder. Well it's paid for now but First choice is now Last choice to me. If they wanted the money earlier they should say 12 weeks like Thomas Cook.

photome

Think you will find most agents add a couple of weeks on to the due date to make sure they get it in time. Of course if they are going to do this it should be done when the booking is made

johnnylovesjazz

ABTA regulations won't allow the tour operator to cancel your holiday without proper notice and consideration. If you have been with a travel agent who is acting on behalf of Thomas Cook i.e you book with 'Village Travel' who have booked you on a 'Thomas Cook' holiday, then usually an additional couple of weeks will be added to the balance due date in the brochure to give the travel agent enough time to get the money to them. If you have booked with the tour operator directly check the brochure you are booking out of. For example a Thomas Cook Summersun brochure may say 12 weeks before travel, but a Sunset Brochure who is owned by Thomas Cook may want it 14 weeks before. It depends. If you have something in writing from whoever to say when your balance is due, then you can use this against them. If they are nice enough they will honour it, but its common to hear of snotty agents...
The agents should make it very clear as to what brochure you have booked from so you are fully aware of the contract, if the contact says 12 weeks, then you pay 12 weeks.

Complications can arise because, if you book a Thomas Cook holiday at a Thomas Cook shop, Thomas Cook Retail Ltd (the shop) act as agents for Thomas Cook Tour Operations Ltd (the tour operator) - nothing is simple. Your contract will usually be with the people you book it with. For example, if you booked with a Thomas Cook holiday with Village Travel, your contract is with Village Travel who then has a contract with Thomas Cook...

maybe a waffle to much! :-)