Thomson holiday complaint

micand

I wonder if anyone could give their views on a complaint re a Thomson holiday we have just returned from.

We booked a holiday to Florida which included flights, car hire and 14 nights accommodation staying in 9 different locations. Most of them were 1 night stays but 3 nights was in one particular resort. The hotel advertised was a 3 star hotel in the town centre within walking distance of all resort amenities, restaurants, beach etc. When arriving in Florida we were given the accommodation vouchers and noted that we had been changed to a different hotel in that resort. It was only when we arrived at this hotel on day 11 of our holiday that we found it was 25 miles from the resort down an unlit one lane road in the middle of nowhere and a minimum of 15 miles to the nearest restaurant. The front desk was only staffed until 5pm and if you arrived after this time your keys were left in a lock box at the entrance. There was no restaurant and no bar. There was only one other couple in the hotel that we saw and they said they had booked for 3 nights but were leaving the next day as it was too remote. On the first evening we e-mailed Thomsons 24 hour contact address and explained the situation and asked if we could be moved to another hotel in the centre or nearer the centre of the resort. They emailed the next day to say they were unable to move us as this hotel was already an upgrade from the original. The original was a 3 star hotel in the centre of town with an average price per night of $120. The one they had put us in was a 2 and a half star with an average price of $76. I'm not sure how that works. We emailed again and explained all this but they were adamant we could not be moved. Obviously this did rather tarnish our overall enjoyment of the holiday.

Do you think we have cause for complaint and if so what sort of compensation should we be asking for? Any opinions gratefully received.

richardw

Was it a package holiday or a flight+hotel trip?

micand

It was a package.

HXDave

was the original hotel that you were booked into one that you had chosen, or was it one that was automatically included as part of a tour?

Dave

micand

The tour had 3 different hotels in each resort - 1 budget, 1 standard and 1 superior. We paid a supplement and went for the middle option. (You couldn't choose a budget hotel in one resort and then a standard in another, you had to choose one level for the whole trip). I was given a hotel list detailing the 3 hotels available in each resort by the travel agent at the time of booking and wasn't told that there were any changes to this list until we got to Orlando airport.

HXDave

The trouble is, after what you have said above, is thta somewhere within the holiday description, it will probably state that hotels can be changed 'to an alternative of similar standard', so the hotel chosen wont neccesserily be the one you get.

However, if the one substituted was of a much lower standard, i would persue this with them.

HXDave

paulyates1973

my ruined holiday... firstly I was sold the holiday byThomson using the dream liner as the selling point of the holiday and wasadvertised as part of the holiday and when I signed the agreement and paid mymoney only for this to be changed after I had booked it, when I complainedabout this I was told that you could change the aircraft at any time (in thesmall print) yes I understand that but you can’t change something that was usedto sell the holiday this is false advertising The aeroplane is not usually aselling point of the holiday and is not advertised as part of the holiday, whenyou advertise it and use it to sell the holiday and put it in the contract thatI signed and paid for that service then you must deliver that as you as a touroperator have advertised the dream liner and used this to persuade me to buythe holiday. Then on the plane going outwe were left on the aircraft for 2 hours firstly with a baggage problem andthen engine failure then the crew on the ground abandoned the plane and wouldnot pull it to where the pilot wanted it so we had to wait again for a shiftchange of ground crew to move us to where they were going to attempt to startthe engine. Then we had the flight on aplane that was not as good as what we had paid for and not in the right seats IHAD PAID TO PRE BOOK so it was not going well. Coming back the plane was delayed 1 hour as the flight crew arrived atthe airport 10 minutes before the scheduled take off making the flight now 1hour late and delayed everyone and we had then to wait for the next slot. Onceon the plane again it was not the dream liner but a 767 with even more seatscrammed in and as the pilot apologised for it being his fault and the crewsfault the plane would now arrive late I realised that the coach transfer fromLondon Gatwick to Victoria station I would actually now miss and then miss theconnecting one back home. Because of the actions of your company instead ofarriving home at 11pm last night I arrived home at 5am this morning and I wascharged by the bus company to change the tickets due to your cabin crewarriving late and delaying the flight and I have had to go straight to workwith no sleep. I feel the holiday was a total disaster due to the provablefault of your company and I have spoken to Travelwatchdog who have shown aninterest in my case, I have sent a copy of this email to ABTA as I believe youractions have caused my holiday a lot of stress and I am disgusted and I havebeen advised that before I can take this further I need to file the complaintwith yourselves and give you the chance to respond

Caz3121

paulyates1973 wrote: »

instead ofarriving home at 11pm last night I arrived home at 5am this morning

How late were your flights v's the scheduled time of arrival?
If your delay was over 3 hours then you should look at the Thomson thread on the Delayed Flights board re EU compensation.
The airline is contracted to get you from airport A to airport B, any journey home from there is not their concern as the contract with them ends when you return to the airport.
For the way out, again if you arrived over 3 hours late, you may qualify for EU compensation and I would certainly push for a refund on the fee you paid for seat assignment.
How far in advance were you advised of the aircraft change? Not sure when your flight was but there were well publicised delays earlier in the year
there was an article here about people being entitled to the £10 premium if they don't fly on the dreamliner
http://www.which.co.uk/news/2013/02/thomson-customers-to-get-refunds-if-delays-hit-dreamliner-holidays-310344/

mat5664

I don't think a change of plane type - whilst frustrating - is a cause for complaint. Changes like this happen all the time.

Buzby

So you actually wanted to travel on a plane who's batteries spontaneously combusted? Thomson could not have foreseen the issue that grounded the Dreamliner and prevented their delivery especially some 2 years in advance.

Yes they advertised it, but in good faith. As long as they got you there and back, their job is complete. As for the delay, as this was outwith the EU, I don't believe any additional compo is payable.

I always found them reasonable and take care of their customers when delays occur (and without having to get stroppy first). There will always be the chance of delays, and overnight some airports even close!

photome

What Caz says


Op if you are going to complain I suggest you re write your complaint letter as that is difficult to read.


I think they should pay for your bus company charge