Diverted flight taxi fare refund

Gert_Lush

Hello

Our Thomson flight was diverted to Doncaster on the way back to London Gatwick. We were informed of this at 2100hrs. We landed at 2210hrs.

There were no coaches on arrival at Doncaster and no authoritative information telling us if we would be accommodated or transferred to Gatwick.

We had a hotel booked near Gatwick for the night of our return.

By 0130hrs, having heard very little and with no prospect of a hotel or transfer, we decided to take a £300 taxi from Doncaster to Gatwick arriving at 0530hrs.

We had to leave the hotel by 1100hrs that day or we would be charged for an extra nights stay (which would have been £324 for our 2 rooms)

I have since written to Thomson stating that the decison we made actually cost them the least amount of money in terms of reimbursement. They however state that coaches were laid on later that day (they failed to say how much later but I doubt they would have returned us by 1100hrs). As they provided coaches, they would not pay for my taxi fare.

I understand that EC261/04 article 8.3 states that the operating air carrier shall bear the cost of transferring the passenger from that alternative airport either to that for which the booking was made. However, they will state that they met this obligation with the provision of the coaches, despite the fact that they would have had to reimburse us for more than the taxi fare if we had arrived later than 1100hrs at our hotel.

As a matter of interest, at no point were we made aware of our rights under EC261/04.

What can I do to get my £300 taxi fare back from Thomson?

Thanks.

Alan_Bowen

As you had never checked into the hotel at all for the night, there would have been no second night to pay, they would have treated the booking as a 'no show' Only if you had checked in and not checked out by 1100 would there have been a second nights charge. As this was not part of your holiday booked with Thomsons' I don't think it would concern them anyway.

I presume Gatwick was closed due to snow, at the start of December, by my recollection it closed on Tuesday evening and reopened on Friday morning. If you give your flight delails we might find someone else who was on the same flight and can confirm what happened. Doncaster may be a big airport but it has very few flights and at 2200 there would be no transport readily available and certainly not for 180 passengers, and indeed more if other flights were diverted. Unless everyone got left at the airport all night, I don't think you have any realistic chance of recovery.

spiro

As you were at Doncaster for nearly 3 hours what information did they provide you with if any about geting you back to Gatwick and was one of their reps present to keep you updated.

If the answer was nothing and no, then I would write back pointing out that after near 3.5hrs with no communication from the company about onward travel or accomodation you took it upon yourself to get yourself back to the correct destination. Also point out that if they had advised you what was going to happen you would have remained and allowed them to arrange things.

Gert_Lush

Cityboy wrote: »

What proof have Thomson given that they laid on coaches to you and your fellow passengers? Are you in touch with other passengers to corroborate your side of the story? Did you know that there were going to be coaches laid on later that day but because of your hotel committment decided to take a taxi instead?

I spoke to Thomsons this morning. They stated that a coache arrived at Doncaster at 0500hrs. I am not currently in touch with any other passengers unfortunately. I did not know coaches were going to be laid on. We took a taxi purely because we truly didn't know how long we were going to be there.

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

As you had never checked into the hotel at all for the night, there would have been no second night to pay, they would have treated the booking as a 'no show' Only if you had checked in and not checked out by 1100 would there have been a second nights charge. As this was not part of your holiday booked with Thomsons' I don't think it would concern them anyway.

I presume Gatwick was closed due to snow, at the start of December, by my recollection it closed on Tuesday evening and reopened on Friday morning. If you give your flight delails we might find someone else who was on the same flight and can confirm what happened. Doncaster may be a big airport but it has very few flights and at 2200 there would be no transport readily available and certainly not for 180 passengers, and indeed more if other flights were diverted. Unless everyone got left at the airport all night, I don't think you have any realistic chance of recovery.

We had checked into the hotel the night before. The trip was a one day trip to Lapland from Gatwick on 18 Dec 2010, the return flight was TOM4697. We had two nights booked, the night before we flew out and the night we got back. When I mentioned the reimbursement of the hotel to Thomson this morning, they said they would not reimburse us those expenses, as that would be covered by travel insurance.

spiro wrote: »

As you were at Doncaster for nearly 3 hours what information did they provide you with if any about geting you back to Gatwick and was one of their reps present to keep you updated.

If the answer was nothing and no, then I would write back pointing out that after near 3.5hrs with no communication from the company about onward travel or accomodation you took it upon yourself to get yourself back to the correct destination. Also point out that if they had advised you what was going to happen you would have remained and allowed them to arrange things.

We were told twice that they were trying to get coaches or accommodate us. At 0110hrs when I spoke to the duty manager at the airport in Doncaster (who wasn't a Thomson rep), he said that no coaches or hotels were available and we would be spending at least 1 night in the terminal building. He didn’t know what would happen to us.


The crucial factor as far as I can see is that we did not leave the airport in the knowledge that coaches would be provided. Nor did we leave in an unreasonable amount of time for such a decision to be made. We did in fact leave 3.5 hrs after arrival having no authoritative information regarding our fate in any way.

Interestingly, Thomson also said that Thomson/First Choice do not recognise EC261/2004. I thought they didn't have a choice to opt out...

Littlemadam83

I really dont think you will get anywhere with this. Getting word from someone other than a Thomson rep that there will be no coaches is not informative as he is not the one working to get the stranded passengers back to Gatwick.

Things like this happen, it is not Thomsons fault the flight had to be diverted, and they did what they could to get the passengers back, all be it not paying everyone to get in a private cab individually.

I would never ever pay for a cab in the hope they would reimbuirse, and instead try and get the hotel money through travel insurance, as the flight was diverted.

Littlemadam83

Cityboy wrote: »

In any case, what you would do in that situation is neither here nor there since it doesn't assist the OP in their rightful quest for reimbursement of their travel from Doncaster to Gatwick.

This is the thing, is it their right to reimbursement? I am sure there would have been some kind of mass hysteria if no Thomson rep was around, how did all these other passengers get back? They were told on the plane that coaches would be organised as per their obligation, it was up to OP to speedy their return to Gatwick instead of claiming through their travel insurance for the hotel. If they had have arrived after said time that is allegedly so important (but I agree with person who said about "no show") then maybe they had a right to reclaim the money lost. Even though this is another insurance claim IMO.

Expecting special treatment by getting a private cab reimbursed is not the way. I am sure there were many other people that needed to get back that night but aren't claiming the taxi fare back.

I have found Thomson/First Choice more than helpful in the past, once when we didn't even have a plane. So be grateful they got you into the UK.

Littlemadam83

Cityboy wrote: »

But not to the OP's final destination as contracted!

OP was told there would be a coach to contracted destination, Thomson are saying there was a coach to destination, and will be able to provide proof.

Shall we agree to disagree Cityboy

Gert_Lush

Cityboy wrote: »

Your last point first. Neither Thomson nor any other airline can "opt out" of any law or Regulation which applies to their industry, any more than you or I can opt out of not paying speeding fines or having points put on our licence when we are caught transgressing the speed limit! If this statement is in writing from the airline you may well have an ace to play should this go to court since a DJ worth his salt should be able to grant you costs in that regard if the airline have effectively said we'll not abide by this Regulation!

As to the rest of what you have stated above, you appear to have given the airline ample time to resolve your expeditious return to Gatwick by asking questions of whatever personnel were available and you didn't jump in a taxi as soon as you landed but waited over 3 hours before deciding to take the action you did.

Have you checked the legal expenses route I mentioned above? If not, do so. Otherwise you will be taking this as a litigant in person to the small clams track of your local county court.

The airline is not however responsible for your hotel costs at Gatwick in any shape or form and they are correct in pointing you to your travel insurer for possible recovery of any losses there.

I notice you have posted this same case on flightmole but I shall only respond on this origianl thread unless any new or differing advice is given there.

The statement about them not recognising EC261/2004 isn't in writing but in a recorded phone call. I will write to them again and confirm what they said in the phone call though.

I haven't checked my legal expenses yet but will as I think they are going to dig their heels in.

The post on Flightmole is the same issue, just posted there to catch a wider audience.

Littlemadam83 wrote: »

This is the thing, is it their right to reimbursement? I am sure there would have been some kind of mass hysteria if no Thomson rep was around, how did all these other passengers get back? They were told on the plane that coaches would be organised as per their obligation, it was up to OP to speedy their return to Gatwick instead of claiming through their travel insurance for the hotel. If they had have arrived after said time that is allegedly so important (but I agree with person who said about "no show") then maybe they had a right to reclaim the money lost. Even though this is another insurance claim IMO.

Expecting special treatment by getting a private cab reimbursed is not the way. I am sure there were many other people that needed to get back that night but aren't claiming the taxi fare back.

I have found Thomson/First Choice more than helpful in the past, once when we didn't even have a plane. So be grateful they got you into the UK.

There was no mass hysteria at Doncaster. Most people had been awake for 20 odd hours and just went to sleep on the floor.

Telling people that coaches would be organised is a very simple way buying yourself time from the airlines point of view. My issue is that I just wanted to know when they would be organised. If they has said that this was going to be 0400hrs I wuld have waited. My point is, what is a reasonable amount of time to wait for the said coach to arrive, 1 hour, 3 hours 10 hours, 24 hours??? I, along with a few other passengers felt that 3.5 hrs was reasonable, hence the personal choice to make our own way to our contracted destination.

I'm not one to take the p**s. But I do feel that in light of the lack of information, we should be entitled to a refund.

I too have found Thomson/First Choice helpful in the past. I hope they come good this time.

jimd-f

all thomson have to do is to get you back to your original airport.
TIME is not an issue in this matter.
thomson laid on coaches, as they had told you they would do. they have met their requirements under the law ie they have transported you from a to b.
you chose not to wait for the coach, that is your choice.
sorry, but that is also your expense. i cannot see any way that thomson are liable for your costs.
you might be able to claim from your insurance for the flight arriving late-the arrival time at gatwick being the time the first coach got there and you would have to get proof of that-but that is not something that is normal in travel insurance policies;they normally pay for late departure.
sorry, that this may not be what you want to hear but that is the way i see it.

apt

Of course time is an issue. Would you expect to be kept sitting around at an airport uniformed for hours on end? The OP may well win a small claims case if a judge decides that taking 7 hours to provide a coach or failing to inform passengers of when a coach would be provided was unreasonable.

spiro

apt wrote: »

Of course time is an issue. Would you expect to be kept sitting around at an airport uniformed for hours on end? The OP may well win a small claims case if a judge decides that taking 7 hours to provide a coach or failing to inform passengers of when a coach would be provided was unreasonable.

If there were lots of diverted flights due to snow then the judge may well accept that it would be difficult for an airline to arrange several coaches at short notice at 10pm on a Saturday night.