Thomas Cook Holiday Complaint - "This is a big one"

coolertech

Hi Everyone, just registered on here after finding it on google so sorry if any of what i'm about to write has been posted before :

OK here goes

In September 2009, me and my partner travelled to Mexico with Thomas Cook, we took a package deal and stayed at the Grand Sirenis on the riviera Maya which is a nice 5 star hotel, we paid just over £2500 (as we upgraded the seats to premium cabin)

Once we got to Manchester airport we where told at the checkin desk that our flight had been changed due to a bird striking the wing the night before and our aircraft wasnt going to be an airbus, it was going to be a small boeing so there was no premuim cabin, we was told by Thomas Cook and servisair not to worry as our premuim cabin cost would be refunded and said that it would be refunded for the return flight home too as they could not say if that would be the airbus or not so they just give a full premuim cabin refund.

After waiting in the departure area we was told that the flight would be delayed for 4 hours as the replacement aircraft had also broke and they where waiting for another one to come into land.

We noticed while we was waiting "lads" drinking and causing trouble with other passengers (they was clearly tanked up) but when we started to board the aircraft they let them on regardless.

About 3 hours into the flight the same lads who was drinking started a big fight with someone on the plane, the cabin crew rushed and ended up splitting them up, the captain came on the PA twice and said he was going to divert if things didnt improve.

Once we got to Mexico the lads where removed and arrested by police.

Finally got the Grand Sirenis about 6 hours later that we should.

Having stayed there the year before we knew what to expect as we had a fab time so thought we'd go a second time.

Our room was ok but didnt get the sea view we'd asked for but i'm not too worried about that, we spoke to the Thomas Cook rep the next day with regards to the problems on the flight and also just to check the premuim cabin details as we wasnt sure we could take extra Kg's back with them changing the aircraft etc, "He said clearly, that the word he's getting from head office in the UK is that they will be full refunding passengers for both directions even if the premium cabin is offered on the way back as a good will gesture for all the problems on the inbound flight.

As the holiday went on we couldnt but help noticed that only half the hotel was open, there was no main buffett at lunchtime we had to use the pool snackbar, the ice cream shop was closed and also the coffee shop in the afternoons (as the weather was a bit rainy on a few days so this would of been welcomed)

On the second week of our stay there was building works ongoing in our hotel block, it wasnt just a bit of knocking and banging, they where doing full refits of rooms above us and the noise started at 8am and went on well until 6pm (not that we stayed in our rooms all day), the water kept going off and we couldnt have a full shower on some of the days or flush the loo, on one of the says we had completely no water, we'd been on the beach on that day and there was no clean water in all the complex, everyone was complaining (there was a hugh queue at the reception desk of people shouting and complaining)

They did NOTHING apart from laugh and offer us "extra" al la carte nights, we only had bottled water to drink and clean our teeth in, and this is a 5 Star Hotel!

We complained to our rep and he just shrugged his shoulders and said "what can i say they will loose guests"

On our return flight we did get the right aircraft this time and premuim cabin was given to us but as we'd been told we was getting it for free i was willing to let the hotel problems go given that the premium cabin cost £500 for the both of us Inbound and Outbound.

When we returned to the UK there was a cheque waiting for us for "guess what" only half the premium cabin £252.

We went into the Thomas Cook shop where we booked the holiday and told them of the problem, we went on to mention about the hotel problems and they told us not to pay the cheque in and to write a complaint in full about all the problems and to drop it off.

We did that the very same week (2nd of Oct 2009) and they sent it off on our behalf, they said that it would take 28 days to get a reply.

This came and went and we went back in to check if anything had been sent to the shop, nothing, we kept checking until Xmas and still hadn't received any kind of letter or even reply and it seemed like the shop was just fobbing us off.

We decided to get a little more firm and went back to the shop and asked for them to contact head office, they did that and head office said they hadn't received any letter and it might of been lost.

Feeling a little bit sick at this point we asked if the Thomas Cook shop could fax our complaint, the manager faxed it and gave us a letter saying that she'd re-faxed it etc and dated and signed it.

again we waited another month (28th of Feb 2010) to be exact and we finally got a reply from Thomas Cook head office saying that they where looking into our complaint, it wasnt' until the middle of March 2010 that we finally received a reponse.

The letter basically said that they wasn't going to give us any of the outbound premium cabin cost back as the rep who originally told us this no longer works at the resort, they also had been in contact with the hotel and that they would offer us "free upgrades" should we choose to stay there again (hang on wouldn't this mean spending another £2000 with Thomas Cook)

Thomas Cook refused to do anything about the Premium Cabin cost, they also said they was sorry about the flight problems with the delay and also the flighting but there was nothing they could do about that, they wasn't going to do anything about the hotel problems either.

Having received this reply i decided enough was enough and I got in contact with ABTA, I sent them copies of everything that I'd received and a covering letter etc, they sent me a reply back saying to write back to Thomas Cook once again stating that we wasn't happy and get "into Deadlock" with them.

I took this advice and wrote to Thomas Cook again and outlined that it wasn't my fault that the rep didnt work there anymore nor was it my fault about the complaint going so called missing, I also made it clear that Iwas outraged that they was not willing to do or offer anything to compensate my problems, I also stated that the cheque for the first half of the premium cabin had now expired as it is more that 6 months old now (dated Sept 2009)

I sent that just over a month ago and I've just received a reply back today.

Basically it says that they are not willing to accept none of our claims about the premium cabin and that none of the Thomas Cook staff would of told us about getting a refund for the outbound flight, they said that they are not willing to do anything about the hotel problems and we wa to "expect" some kind of maintenence as all hotels have some kind of work on going all year round but they keep it to a minimum during guests staying.

I would really like some good advice here guys, my next step i think is writing to ABTA again, but I would like to see if I can take things legally now.

I've already been tothe CAB and they have told me to contact ABTA.

I'm really not that bothered about the hotel problems, it was just the £500 premium cabin cost that I would like back really but I seem to be hitting a brick wall.

If anyone could help i would be very grateful.

Thanks

Peter

cabbage

Hi try emailing the director or his secretary. I got a pretty quick response


if you are not happy with the response you may need to go back to ABTA. Have you tried claiming off your insurance or if you paid by credit card from your credit card company using the Section 75 section legislation of the Consumer Credit Act to get a refund that way. Failing that, email/phone/text Watchdog?

coolertech

Hi Cabbage, thanks for your reply, I shall try emailing those two people you said, we took the Insurance out with Thomas Cook (think it was black horse or something) would this still be a valid claim with it being this long? paid with debit card, i was thinking about watchdog, I'm really at my limit with Thomas Cook

Dave_Z

Setting the hotel issue aside, you have received the premium cabin you paid for on the return journey and TC had sent you a refund for the outbound portion so don't think you should really expect a full refund despite what the rep said. It is not their fault some passengers were unruly, although my airline has a very strict policy on intoxicated passengers and regularly offloads them, so am surprised they didn't do the same. Personally, i would've paid that cheque in straight away as you're now in a situation where you might end up with nothing. Why the agent told you not to i don't know. Perhaps to encourage this outcome. If TC later decided to increase your compensation, surely they would send an additional cheque rather than cancelling the first and reissuing for a higher amount.

If you took any photos or video of the disruption and problems at the hotel i'm sure this would move things on a little quicker. Might be a hard slog getting anything out of them, but at the very least you need to get on them about the expired cheque and ask them for a new one.

jillie1974

have i understood this correctly? you got the premium cabin on the return flight but still want a refund for it? even though you had paid for it and received it on the return flight?

pattycake

I cannot comment on the disruption you received whilst on holiday but I can tell you what happened to us last year with Thomson.

We had booked premium cabin flights to Dominican Republic. When we arrived at Manchester airport, we were handed a letter at check-in saying there was no premium cabin on the aircraft and we would get a refund. As "compensation" we were given a voucher each for £10 to spend on the aircraft. We were just so disappointed as we had been really looking forward to the flight for a change.

On the homeward journey, we did get the premium upgrade.

We received a refund of half the cost of the upgrade. It would have been nice to get more but we knew it would be a hopeless case. They do not consider disappointment to be a good reason to give you anything.

Sorry to sound so negative but I am afraid you might just have to let this one go. Good luck though.

coolertech

thanks everyone for their replies, just a little advice on the cheque, it's a printed out one dated 22nd Sept 2009, how long would a cheque normally last before it's too late to pay in? and if it has expired surely they couldnt keep the money for that too?

awhunt

This sounds pretty similar to a problem I had with Thomas Cook.

We went on honeymoon to Hawaii through them. When we booked it, we specifically asked and were told that we had through tickets so that we did not have to check in for the flight to Honolulu when we got to LA. Anyway, when tickets arrived, this was not the case. Flight from LHR to LA was delayed by 3 hours and we missed our connection. Virgin said it was nothing to do with them, and Hawaiian said as far as they were concerned we missed our flight and they would not transfer us to another. As result we were stranded in LA. Called Thomas Cook and they booked a hotel for the night. The next morning, we called them to check what flight we would be on. "Get there as early as you can today" was response. Got there at 8am, to be told by Hawaiian we were on 6pm flight. Long day. Got to check in at 3pm to be told we were actually on stand by as Thomas Cook had refused to pay for a confirmed seat. Went to gate, and were told at 6pm that we would not be on that flight as all seats were now sold. Our bags however, had gone to Honolulu. I was close to tears, this was meant to be our honeymoon. Hawaiian Airlines could see that we were distressed and were nice enough to confirm our seats for the first flight the next day (in 1st class). Had to get Thomas Cook to arrange hotel for us that night at LA airport - they said they did, but got to the hotel and Hilton had no record. Another 45 minutes to sort out. Got to Hawaii eventually nearly 40 hours late.

Anyway, wrote letter to Thomas Cook as soon as we got back (8th July 2009). No response. Went in shop to be told "Head Office fax machine broken" - sent again. Basically, we were going to the shop until October 2009 when we finally received a letter saying it was being looked into. Next letter in February 2010 - "not our fault" so no compensation. Phoned up to speak to someone and demanded atleast a refund of the missed nights at Hawaii hotel (totaling nearly £300). In the end we only got £130 due to hotel fees at not turning up.

Will never book with Thomas Cook again. I'm sure all tour operators are the same, but booked with Kuoni directly this yyear and have never had better service. Changed destination from Thailand to Malaysia due to Bangkok riots and they were excellent about the whole thing.

r18rws

I should see if a new cheque can be issued and bank it and forget about the rest.

System

Hi, does anyone have the Thomas Cook director's office email please. I need to contact them but had no luck finding their details by googling. Thanks in advance..

System

Hi just bumping, please would you pm me if you have the details for the director's office. Thanks in advance..