Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Thomas Cook ONLY

mephy

due to a bird strike what are my chances of compensation for my family and myself :mad:

Totanus

Totanus wrote: »

Hi everybody, newbie here. I've searched the forum the best I can but haven't found anything related to our problem. We were booked onto the 10.30am flight TCX2029 from Enfidha to Manchester on 7th August. The flight arrived on time, unfortunately the plane they had sent was too small to get everybody on! Guess what, we were among the 60 or so left behind! Cutting a long story short, the Thomas Cook rep at the airport eventually told everybody that another plane had been arranged to get us all back to the UK, unfortunately, this was to be to Stansted rather than Manchester, where our car was! They had arranged for a bus to pick us up at Stansted and drive us all to Manchester.
My gripe...the re-arranged flight was booked for 3.30pm i.e. 5 hours late (it eventually left at 4.15pm)
The 5 hour non stop bus journey from Stansted to Manchester was horrendous and we got back to Manchester at 12.30am on the 8th August....11 hours late!!!
I had to pay £10 extra to get out of Jet Parks!
We were all so knackered we had to book into the Premier Inn at the airport and continue our onward journey home to South Yorkshire next day i.e. another expense of £78.90.
My question is, can I claim for all the inconvenience as well as the additional expenses? Should I claim using the template for a delayed flight? (even though the flight wasn't actually delayed, the plane just wasn't big enough!). Or should I use the cancellation template?...or neither?
Thanks in advance for your help.

Amazingly, we've had a fairly positive reply from Thomas Cook (albeit an obviously standard reply template, doctored to suit!). Anyhow, they've agreed that:

"having carried out a full investigation into the delay of (our) flight, a payment of compensation is applicable in line with Regulation 261/2004."

The letter goes on...

"I have taken the liberty of enclosing a discount voucher to the value of £1035.00 which equates to a payment of £345.00 per person"

Result!...well, half of one!

I suspect that this is an attempt at a "voucher fob-off" and they're angling to avoid a cash payment. I'm tempted to reply with a "thanks, but no thanks, I'd like the cash please" (or words to that effect!).

What do you think? They've admitted in writing that compensation is applicable in line with regulation 261/2004, but are they within their rights to offer a holiday voucher in lieu of a cash pay-out? Should I reject the voucher?...and if so, should I send the voucher back with my letter?

Many thanks.

JPears

Totanus wrote: »

Amazingly, we've had a fairly positive reply from Thomas Cook (albeit an obviously standard reply template, doctored to suit!). Anyhow, they've agreed that:

"having carried out a full investigation into the delay of (our) flight, a payment of compensation is applicable in line with Regulation 261/2004."

The letter goes on...

"I have taken the liberty of enclosing a discount voucher to the value of £1035.00 which equates to a payment of £345.00 per person"

Result!...well, half of one!

I suspect that this is an attempt at a "voucher fob-off" and they're angling to avoid a cash payment. I'm tempted to reply with a "thanks, but no thanks, I'd like the cash please" (or words to that effect!).

What do you think? They've admitted in writing that compensation is applicable in line with regulation 261/2004, but are they within their rights to offer a holiday voucher in lieu of a cash pay-out? Should I reject the voucher?...and if so, should I send the voucher back with my letter?

Many thanks.

In short, no. Ask for cheque or BACS payment, and put a time frame on say 14 days. Take a copy of voucher then return.
They are probably within their rights to offer a voucher but cannot refuse your request for cash.

Totanus

Many thanks JP. Sound advice, we'll give it a go

rusty_frog

JPears wrote: »

In short, no. Ask for cheque or BACS payment, and put a time frame on say 14 days. Take a copy of voucher then return.
They are probably within their rights to offer a voucher but cannot refuse your request for cash.

Agree 100% with the above.
However from my recent experience with TC, when I was offered vouchers.
I refused, gave them 7 days, and it took about a month before cash was put into my bank a/c.
Be patient.
They will mess you around till the end!

gorses

iandv wrote: »

Is there an actual way of knowing if you have a case, our plane was delayed over 3.5 hours to Spain because of a technical issue and they had to bring another plane and crew in from another UK airport to take us to Spain

Here lies the problem with all of this. TC will not tell you exactly what the reason for a delay was. Taking court action is a complete gamble of your time and money. Add to this incompetent judges and it makes one wonder if it's worth it all.

111KAB

gorses wrote: »

Here lies the problem with all of this. TC will not tell you exactly what the reason for a delay was. Taking court action is a complete gamble of your time and money. Add to this incompetent judges and it makes one wonder if it's worth it all.

If you don't feel it is worth it at least use a no win no fee and give the proceeds to charity. This way the charity will benefit and the airlines may improve their delay record but do not walk away.

gorses

I agree. I certainly won't be walking away. Just not going to put my money on the line when the odds are completely unknown. Waiting for the CAA, then as you say NoWinNoFee if needs be.

chili2001

gorses wrote: »

I agree. I certainly won't be walking away. Just not going to put my money on the line when the odds are completely unknown. Waiting for the CAA, then as you say NoWinNoFee if needs be.

You will be waiting months for the CAA and they are a waste of space. Go straight to a NWNF solicitors or use your home/car insurance legal cover if you have it?

gorses

chili2001 wrote: »

You will be waiting months for the CAA and they are a waste of space. Go straight to a NWNF solicitors or use your home/car insurance legal cover if you have it?

Why do people keep saying they are a waste of space? Yes I have already been waiting months but for one of my claims they have already found TC are liable. According to CAA they have agreed to pay out.
I'm guessing TC have to give the CAA the real reason for any delay whereas they don't have to tell me anything.