ABTA costs to travel company

162120

Having problems with Thomas Cook over duplicate demand for payment for a holiday taken more than 2 years ago. Bank records don't go back that far as we changed accounts.
Does it cost Thomas Cook if I post a complaint with ABTA?
We have had the same issue twice before about the same holiday and received two e-mails from the company in 2009 which confirmed nothing further was due.
I suspect that the costs will out-way the small amount outstanding, but I would like to dissuade them from doing this again and am comparing the costs to me against the cost to them before writing to Chief Exec.
It is starting to look to me like harassment!

Any help appreciated.

Thanks

jillie1974

no cost to thomas cook, unless Abta rule in your favour.

lewroll

Hi there,
If you get in touch with ABTA then they will write to Thomas Cook and try to resolve the problem without cost. Should that not work then you can either use ABTA's arbitration scheme or go to the small claims court. If you use ABTA's arbitration scheme then both you AND Thomas Cook have to pay. (I believe that TC will pay more than you though but maybe someone more clued up can help with that!)
My advice is make sure everything is in writing!
Good Luck:)

Moonchild

It's about 6 years since I was involved in a ABTA arbitration - but there were costs involved for the Tour Op that were higher than those for the consumer. For some reason around £300-£400 for arbitration (as opposed to about £80 for the consumer). However, this is just off the top of my head, and could be wrong, so please don't take as fact. If you're determined to find out, call ABTA.

There is no charge for a complaint.

It's strange as they will have details of their payment history over the past decade so should be able to double check in seconds. Are you 100% sure this payment was made? I've only know companies to pursue genuine outstanding debts as they always triple check first.

Alan_Bowen

It does cost the company around £240 to go to Arbitration but I am not sure a dispute over finance is something that the arbitrators will want to become involved in, they are really involved in 'holiday complaints' such as bad food and rotten rooms. You really do need to go back to your original bank because in law a claim for an alleged breach of contract, not paying for a holiday, can be made up to 6 years after the contract and whether you try and go to arbitration or they take you to court, you will need some evidence of payment

162120

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

It does cost the company around £240 to go to Arbitration but I am not sure a dispute over finance is something that the arbitrators will want to become involved in, they are really involved in 'holiday complaints' such as bad food and rotten rooms. You really do need to go back to your original bank because in law a claim for an alleged breach of contract, not paying for a holiday, can be made up to 6 years after the contract and whether you try and go to arbitration or they take you to court, you will need some evidence of payment

Thank Alan - we have already provided the evidence (twice) and received e-mails from two different members of the organisation confirming that nothing further was due. Stupidly after 2 years we assumed that this was the end of it and deleted most of the e-mails (although I did keep the confirmations that nothing further was due). If I now have to trawl through the accounts we might have used (6+) we have ended our relationship with the credit card companies concerned (I closed most when we retired) and face charges on each account (even if they can reconstruct after 2+ years) of £26 - £50. This seems completely unreasonable when the amount outstanding is only around £200. I gather it will cost me about £80 personally to take the complaint via ABTA. From what your saying it would be cheaper just to pay up! I don't think its reasonable after all this time to have to pay twice.

Any further thoughts?

Cheers

HXDave

when you say you are being chased by THomas Cook for money owed, is it Thomas Cook the tour operator (ie did you book direct with them) or is it Thomas Cook the travel agency (did you book via a travel agent)?

in either case, i cannot understand why they would even contemplate sending you out the tickets if there was any outstanding payment due. after all, here in my agency, no one gets their tickets unless they have paid in full.

as far as the bank accounts / credit card statements go, if i recall correctly, they would have to have records going back at least 7 years.

Have you tried asking Thomas Cooks for a breakdown of what was paid and when?

162120

HXDave wrote: »

when you say you are being chased by THomas Cook for money owed, is it Thomas Cook the tour operator (ie did you book direct with them) or is it Thomas Cook the travel agency (did you book via a travel agent)?

in either case, i cannot understand why they would even contemplate sending you out the tickets if there was any outstanding payment due. after all, here in my agency, no one gets their tickets unless they have paid in full.

as far as the bank accounts / credit card statements go, if i recall correctly, they would have to have records going back at least 7 years.

Have you tried asking Thomas Cooks for a breakdown of what was paid and when?

Thanks Dave - see my response to Alan. I can't understand why I'm having to go through this again! Don't the different departments communicate? I'm considering a request for full record details under the Data Protection Act but if the records are so bad what guarantee do I have that they will produce a complete record of all my transactions. Will it cost me anything? We have spent thousands with Thomas Cook over the last few years and no problems but they never produce tickets and accommodation vouchers until we have paid in full. It does seem to me that they have had major problems with the accounting systems but why am I being picked on? I will never recommend Thomas Cook again unless I get a satisfactory outcome and I do feel that I should get some redress for what seems to me to be harassment. I can't believe that 2 different members of the same organisation told us 2 years ago that we didn't owe anything (after being harassed with numerous invoices) and then they start the whole thing up again 2 years later. It is going to cost me more to produce the duplicate statements on about 6 accounts which we have closed than the amount outstanding (about £200). ABTA complaint again costs me (about £80). At the moment it appears to be cheaper to just pay. I am so brassed off though that I am prepared to go through the whole court procedure rather than pay twice. I used to think they were a really good holiday company and had no hesitation in booking with them but I will do my utmost to point out how badly we have been treated in all the holiday forums we are members of unless this is resolved. I am proposing to write to the chief exec but I get the feeling they don't give a stuff!

Cheers

162120

HXDave wrote: »

when you say you are being chased by THomas Cook for money owed, is it Thomas Cook the tour operator (ie did you book direct with them) or is it Thomas Cook the travel agency (did you book via a travel agent)?

in either case, i cannot understand why they would even contemplate sending you out the tickets if there was any outstanding payment due. after all, here in my agency, no one gets their tickets unless they have paid in full.

as far as the bank accounts / credit card statements go, if i recall correctly, they would have to have records going back at least 7 years.

Have you tried asking Thomas Cooks for a breakdown of what was paid and when?

PS - re my last post we booked directly with Thomas Cook by internet. Good PR for using a reputable travel agent in future!

Cheers

sammilou1968

Only just joined so not that 'up' on stuff generally but you said previously that you still have confirmation that you don't owe anything. Could you send copy/ies of those?

162120

sammilou1968 wrote: »

Only just joined so not that 'up' on stuff generally but you said previously that you still have confirmation that you don't owe anything. Could you send copy/ies of those?

Already done thanks. The accounts department don't seem to talk to any others though!