Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Thomas Cook ONLY

sky_rat

Davidvgoliath wrote: »

Sky rat, I have looked back through your initial posts and cant see that you mentioned a reason for your delay. Could you post the exact reason purely for information only - assuming that you were ever given one by TC that is - I am at the stage where I have initiated an MCOL claim a couple of months back and I am awaiting allocation to track, I am interested to know why they offerred settlement before the case made to court. Thanks

It was actually MyTravel that we flew with, but TC has taken them over. I cannot remember the exact reason for the flight delay, it was back in October 2007. I remember queuing at the check in desk and rumours started spreading that the flight was delayed. A MyTravel rep walked up the que telling everyone that the flight was delayed until the next day and that we would all be placed in a hotel overnight. It was mayhem and the organisation was terrible. We were stuck at the airport for hours waiting to be transfered to the hotel and then waited hours at the hotel before being allocated a room. There were hundreds of people on the flight all staying at the same hotel and lots of people were loosing their temper and getting irate (including myself!). My daughter was just under two at the time so you can imagine the stress, screaming and crying. An evening meal was provided at the hotel but it was awful. The next day when we were told the aircraft was ready, we still had to wait hours to be transferred back to the airport. Annoyingly MyTravel was aware of the delay before we arrived at the airport, so we may have been able to stay overnight in our original holiday accommodation. But MyTravel wanted to get everyone to the airport and send us all to the same hotel. We also had to check in our suitcases at the airport before staying overnight in the hotel. The reason for all this was to speed up the process when the aircraft was eventually ready the following day.

I seem to recall being given various excuses for the delay, but I got the impression it was due to technical reasons. I say this because I recall an alternative aircraft being flown in and from memory it was an old, dodgy, foreign aircraft. I remember seeing lots of funny looking characters on the signs in the aircraft !!!

To make matters worse, we then had to wait hours at the luggage collection when we did finally arrive at Gatwick. At that point I completely lost it :mad:

I claimed on my travel insurance for the delay, but this was only about £25 per person. I also had to book an additional day off work because of the delay.

Davidvgoliath

grazzzz wrote: »

Has anyone else mediated before arriving to court ?

I may be completely wrong - I am not a lawyer - but this suggest to me a warning shot across the bows to TC. I have commented before that TC must be knee deep in litigation by now and my guess is that the county courts may be a bit miffed at the number of cases where airlines are refusing to settle and the matter is being referred to court.

Also, this case appears to refer to costs being awarded, which I understand would be abnormal anyway in the small claims track.

Davidvgoliath

sky_rat wrote: »

It was actually MyTravel that we flew with.....

What a nightmare. Hopefully your compensation will alleviate the painful memories to a degree.....

Just dont spend it on a TC holiday is my advice

Davidvgoliath

CraigMa wrote: »

Hi

Just looking for advice before contacting the CAA after Thomas Cook have refused compensation. We were on flight TCX3648 from Glasgow to Sharm el Shiek on Mon 24 Sep 2012. Our flight was delayed due to being used as a delivery vehicle to drop off spare parts for another aircraft that was in Cyprus. We were 2 hrs and 14 mins late in initially taking off and after the diversion to Cyprus were over 5 hours late in arriving at Sharm. Are we due compensation??

In short, yes. I believe you have a very strong case as this was entirely within TC's control. Any claim from them on 'extraordinary circumstances' would be laughable.

But dont bother with the CAA. They are swamped and you will wait months for a reply. Some have questioned their impartiality.

Your choices;

Issue a 'notice before action' that you intend to take court action unless they pay up. Specify cash only if you dont want to be offered vouchers.

If they dont respond in your given time period, issue a claim

forget it and walk away

CraigMa

Thanks. My feelings exactly.

I have no intention of walking away.

Does the 'notice of action' have to be a letter or will an email to their customer relations dept suffice?

pansypotter_7

I have been trying to get compensation for a 30 hour delay but feel I am banging my head against a brick wall. As I do not have the time I have decided to put my claim with a no win no fee company. Has anyone dealt with Euclaims? Thankyou for your help

111KAB

pansypotter_7 wrote: »

Has anyone dealt with Euclaims? Thankyou for your help

Experience of claims firms is I believe fairly limited but EU claims use Bott & Co in the UK and they seem (more than 'others') to be dedicated in their efforts to secure compensation. I would PM Coby Benson with your details and see if this preliminary approach is of interest to him/Bott.

chili2001

pansypotter_7 wrote: »

I have been trying to get compensation for a 30 hour delay but feel I am banging my head against a brick wall. As I do not have the time I have decided to put my claim with a no win no fee company. Has anyone dealt with Euclaims? Thankyou for your help

If you have legal cover on your home or car insurance you can use that and it won't cost you a penny of your compensation.

111KAB

chili2001 wrote: »

If you have legal cover on your home or car insurance you can use that and it won't cost you a penny of your compensation.

Agreed, totally agreed > until you come up to renewal and the question comes up ..... have you made a claim (against your household insurance) in the last year/one/three years ?

Well.... I have ... BUT .... no but .... you suddenly find your quote has gone ^^^^^

chili2001

111KAB wrote: »

Agreed, totally agreed > until you come up to renewal and the question comes up ..... have you made a claim (against your household insurance) in the last year/one/three years ?

Well.... I have ... BUT .... no but .... you suddenly find your quote has gone ^^^^^

That really isn't true. Legal cover is an optional extra on most insurance companies and does not affect your premium as you have already paid extra for it. I am using the cover from my OLD insurance company I am no longer with as I was covered with them at the time of the holiday. I checked with my new insurance company and it makes no difference to my premium. My solicitor is drawing up the court paperwork now but if you want to pay a NWNF company to do it then that's up to you!