Holiday Cancellation

josie01

Does anyone have any advice. in september my partner and i booked with Thomas cook on the internet for a special holiday to Cuba to celebrate my 50th birthday we were due to go 02/01/11 sadly my aunt who i was very close to passed away on the 27th December my partner contacted Thomas cook to see if we could delay the holiday so i could help arrange and go to the funeral, we were willing to pay something to alter the holiday he was told their terms and conditions say you can't change dated within 56 days of departure this seems really unfair in the case of someone dying. I was left with no other choice but to cancel the holiday. The insurance company don't want to know as they don't class an aunt as a close relative. We did pay for the holiday using a credit card as we felt this was the safest way to book online and they have sent us a from out to fill in. I just just think Thomas Cook have no post sale service or compassion and eighteen hundred pound is such a lot of money to lose for the nnormal working person. Its bad enough to have lost a loved one without feeling total ripped off by a company i have travelled with for my last four holdays

stephb34

At the risk of you not liking my advice, i'll reply anyway. Firstly Thomas Cook and other companies including insurance companies are in business to make a profit, if TC had let you change your holiday within 5 days of travel to something to suit you what do you think they would have done with your holiday that you were no longer travelling on, they could have tried to resell it but who would want to pay £1800 on whats technically a last minute deal so they would have made a loss. So this is where your insurance comes in, but they're saying an aunt isnt a close enough relative, well i suppose the problem for insurance companies is where do you draw the line as to whats a close relative, i suppose this is where you should check out the small print and find an insurance company that covers extended family if any do it. Also was this aunt previously ill cause even if she had been a close relative if you hadn't informed them she was ill they wouldn't have paid out anyway, if she died suddenly then thats different they would have paid if she'd been close enough. So you haven't been ripped off its just unfortunate you felt you couldn't go on holiday. Oh and i dont know about the credit card company, i wouldnt have thought they'll pay out but fingers crossed.

HXDave

Josie, unfortunately I must agree with Stephb on this one, in the fact that it is not TC at all that is being unreasonable. After all, you will have checked the box that states you read and accepted the terms & conditions of the booking which will have stated that once you are within the period of cancellation charges, whilst changes may be made, the date of the holiday cannot be moved to a later date.

I personally would have a look at the travel insurance you purchased. having quickly looked myself, it appears some will cover aunt / uncle as close relatives, however others wont.

Finally, whilst i wish you luck claiming on your credit card, exactly why would you think they would refund you your money. After all, you had been offered everything that Thomas Cook promised you (ie The Holiday), however it was you that chose not to go on it. The only think i can suggest is maybe see, if anywhere tucked away, there might be an alternative travel insurance maybe through a bank account, home insurance policy etc which may just have that little elemet of cover.

HXDave

david39

A very similar question was posed a few months ago on this board which, if I remember correctly, involved the death of a cousin. The general answers were all in the vein of stephb34.

The decision not recompense you is down to the insurance company and not Thomas Cook - you contracted to buy a holiday from them and, at short notice, felt unable to travel. That's not TC's fault. I agree that it is not your fault, either, but I can't see that TC can be blamed for their decision. All travel companies advise you to take out suitable travel insurance so, if an insurance company won't pick up the tab, I would not expect TC to.

As stephb says, there is a fine line to be drawn for the insurance company as to who is a close relative. I think it would be reasonable to expect them to cover parents, sons and daughters and direct siblings but in these days of extended families, the potential network of relatives beyond these is enormous and it would not be reasonable to expect them to cover your entire family.

You might approach TC again on the lines of the fact that there would be some cost-savings to them by you not travelling (food, accommodation at resort re-let? - an element of their profit margin allowance maybe?) It could be worth a polite application in the light that you are a regular customer of them.

HXDave

david39

It could be worth a polite application in the light that you are a regular customer of them.

Nice suggestion there, however after working for multiples in the past, the view of these companies are solely that you are a booking reference number & a bum on a seat. Gone are the days where these companies thought about regular customers and customer services. Now some of the smaller companies may be different, and will go that extra mile to help, but i will be very suprised if TC's do anything further to assist, but would gladly be willing to be proved wrong in this case.

HXDave

josie01

Thanks everyone for your input, maybe i'm just reacting on emotion and should just put it down to one of those things, especially when you have worked hard to save for a holiday it gets you a bit when you think no one could care less.

On the insurance front i did not realise you needed to put family members ailments down god you could be there forever, at least i suppose i have gained a lot more knowledge for when i manage to book another trip.:(

stephb34

HXDave wrote: »

david39



Nice suggestion there, however after working for multiples in the past, the view of these companies are solely that you are a booking reference number & a bum on a seat. Gone are the days where these companies thought about regular customers and customer services. Now some of the smaller companies may be different, and will go that extra mile to help, but i will be very suprised if TC's do anything further to assist, but would gladly be willing to be proved wrong in this case.

HXDave

I think the problem here is the holiday was booked on the internet of Tcook, and yes the customer is just a number and bum on seat to them, had the op booked in a shop on the high street the outcome could have been different. As you may guess from my replies i do work for Tcook but i work in a small shop in a country town and a lot of our customers are "friends" not just customers, who book with us time and time again and whilst we couldnt have refunded the ops money we would have done our best to have resold this holiday for them by asking throughout our region if any other shop could sell this hol if we couldnt sell it ourselves by doing a name change and yes we might not have got the full £1800 but we'd have got more back for the op than what they've got now. Not all travel agents are the devil incarnate, i do feel alot can be said for shopping on the high street for all sorts of things not just holidays, sometimes money saving isn't just about saving money at the time of purchase (if you understand what i mean).

josie01

I think you are probably right there. Next holiday i will be booking in the travel agents as many will match the price on the net. They did ask my partner if one of us could go so the tickets could be changed,but as this was my present from him for my big 50th birthday and there was no way either one of us would not be at the funeral it would have been laughable if i had not been so upset. I did have a chat with one of the girls in a Thomas Cook shop and she did say next time come into the shop. I have always in the past thought they were a good company to travel with. and i suppose i would have had this problem with any one of the other big names.:(

luci

Some travel insurance companies do cover extended family. My policy with Direct Travel covers aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews as well as others.

josie01

thanks Luci for that info usually i do use direct travel for my holiday insurance, but they don't insure for Cuba not sure if they are an a American owned company which for history reasons the Cubans are not very keen on the USA

HXDave

Post office insurance covers for aunts etc, however the policy we use do not.

Guess it's always best to check exactly what you get for your money.

HXDave