Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Thomas Cook ONLY

superowls

Suz1982 wrote: »

I'm in the middle of a claim for delayed flight to Cuba last year on the plane G-0MYT which is the Thomas Cook plane that's had several delays becuae of technical problems with the engine.

Just to keep people on here updated, we were in court against them on Friday but it's been adjourned until after the outcome of the Huzar case as Jet2 are appealing the decsion on this. So once the EU court of appeal makes a final decison on this, this will probably impact all of our cases.

Hi Suz

This is certainly dragging on a bit isn't it! Almost like a night in rainy manchester when we should have been in Cuba! I am awaiting a court date for this after my last directions hearing. Are you at the trial stage like me or a little further off? I asked the judge to use Huzar as guidance and he said it could be used. Yet more delaying tactics by the airlines!

ghol26

Have tried to pursue my claim against T Cook for this 16hr 35min delay with Bott&Co as TC claim technical error was EC.
However, have hit a brick wall as Bott&Co's response below:

'Thank you for your email and for sending your documentation from the airline. Having discussed your claim with my colleagues at EUclaim unfortunately, we are unable to deal with your claim as they do not have any information on the flight, as discussed this is because they only starting collating flight data for the rest of Europe in late 2008/early 2009 time'

Any ideas about what I should do next?

Welshy89_2

Welshy89 wrote: »

Can any one provide me with advice on my previous post

Hello Guys

New to this as so please bear with me as i need help...

On Wednesday 23/10/13 my partner and i was due to depart from Sharm elSheikh at 2120.We arrived at the air port and followed all the relevantprocedures and was waiting to board the flight. An announcement was madeadvising firstly of the delay and we had to wait a hour for furtherinformation. At 2300 they advised due to unforeseen circumstances that they wouldhave to delay the flight until the next day, this was due to oil running in tothe engine. The rep's at Thomas Cook then transferred us to a poor hotel whichwas a 3 star and not like for like, but this is a separate issue. We wasadvised by the reps that we needed to meet at reception 24/10/13 at 1130 for ameeting and they would advise us of the situation. But before leaving theairport on the departure screen is showed our flight number TCX4823 and thestatus showing as cancelled.

When this was mentioned to the reps they said the handling agents had made amistake and was just a delay over night. At 11300 24/10/13 we spoke to the repswho advised that and engineer was being flown out from Manchester airport withparts to rectify the problem and they had re scheduled the flight for departureon 25/10/13 at 0130 hours. Again we went through all the same Airportprocedures, and at 0100 25/10/13 was advising that we had to wait for a furtherannouncement at 0130. As 0130 Approached the crew walked back through thedeparture gate and the pilot spoke to the passengers and advised us that due toengine tests and the leaking of oil still in the engine they would have todelay the flight until 1645 25/10/13. The pilot advised that another aircraftwould have to be flown out from Gatwick and to take us back to our destinationthat being Birmingham Airport. As we looked on the departure board the flightnumber showed as TCX4823C we took a photograph of this and the new flight wasput underneath with the new departure time.

When we finally got on the aircraft and was due to depart at 1645 the pilotannounced that air traffic controlled would not authorise the plane to departdue to a mix up in the flights registration as we was on a different aircraft.

Can you advise where i stand and would i be able to claim for a flight delayor cancellation.

Thanks in advance.

This is the response I have had from Thomas Cook....

I am writing in response to your letter regarding your recent travel arrangements with Thomas Cook.

Initially, I would like to apologise for the disruption to your flight plans. Please be assured that a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to ensure that any delays are kept to an absolute minimum, as we do fully understand the inconvenience and frustration these can cause.

It is not always immediately apparent as to when a revised take off time can be secured and a number of factors have to be considered, which quite often rely on outside influences, such as Airport Authorities or Air Traffic Control. We do appreciate the importance of communication, and I would assure you that information is passed onto our customers as quickly as possible, through our handling agents at the airport.

Having carried out a full investigation the specific circumstances surrounding the delay to your own flight were of a technical nature. These were extraordinary, in that Thomas Cook took all reasonable precautions necessary to avoid the situation, and despite our proactive measures the problem could not have been prevented. All our aircraft are maintained to a very high standard, in line with CAA regulations, however, despite these steps, mechanical failures can arise without prior warning. These unpredictable events can be likened to those we encounter with our own cars, despite having full service histories, or MOT’s.

In line with Regulation 261/2004 a payment of compensation would not be considered applicable in this case.

Please be assured that on-time performance is a key measure for us as a business, and we constantly review our operations to ensure we deliver the best results, and service. I would like to offer our apologies for any inconvenience you were caused on this occasion and I hope that despite this, your stay was found to be an enjoyable one.

Any Advice one what to do now .....

batman44

Welshy89 wrote: »

This is the response I have had from Thomas Cook....

I am writing in response to your letter regarding your recent travel arrangements with Thomas Cook.

Initially, I would like to apologise for the disruption to your flight plans. Please be assured that a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to ensure that any delays are kept to an absolute minimum, as we do fully understand the inconvenience and frustration these can cause.

It is not always immediately apparent as to when a revised take off time can be secured and a number of factors have to be considered, which quite often rely on outside influences, such as Airport Authorities or Air Traffic Control. We do appreciate the importance of communication, and I would assure you that information is passed onto our customers as quickly as possible, through our handling agents at the airport.

Having carried out a full investigation the specific circumstances surrounding the delay to your own flight were of a technical nature. These were extraordinary, in that Thomas Cook took all reasonable precautions necessary to avoid the situation, and despite our proactive measures the problem could not have been prevented. All our aircraft are maintained to a very high standard, in line with CAA regulations, however, despite these steps, mechanical failures can arise without prior warning. These unpredictable events can be likened to those we encounter with our own cars, despite having full service histories, or MOT’s.

In line with Regulation 261/2004 a payment of compensation would not be considered applicable in this case.

Please be assured that on-time performance is a key measure for us as a business, and we constantly review our operations to ensure we deliver the best results, and service. I would like to offer our apologies for any inconvenience you were caused on this occasion and I hope that despite this, your stay was found to be an enjoyable one.

Any Advice one what to do now .....

Word for word it's the same letter as everybody gets and the same reasons. You will not get any joy with them so you will have to go through the motions with them and go to small claims court, or use a NWNF company. One good thing though is keep the letter as they admit it was a technical issue and we all know technical issues are not EC's. You will find a wealth of information on here so you will need to put some time in and you will learn a lot along the way.

glen5213

sent Thomas Cook to an email asking for compensation on a 12 hour delay in tenerife they sent back an email with a £100 voucher phoned them up to say that was not good enough got a snotty call handler who tried to fob us off when asked to speak with his manager or someone else who could help us told us that was all we were entitled to when we quoted the regs he put us on to someone else who took details have recieved an email from them today sayiny they will pay back £784 RESULT flight no was TCX3353

superowls

Guys,

I have my court date - 9th December!

I'm a little confused though (if someone can cast an eye over this I would be most grateful)....

1. The parties shall send to the other witness Statement of Fact together with any documents upon which they intend to rely at the hearing by 18th November 2013 (the letter was only received on 19th November!)

2. The matter is listed for hearing etc etc.

Note: It is essential that you provide the Court and opponent with written statements of evidence which both you and your witnesses will give no less than 14 days before the hearing. etc etc


So which is it? 14 days before or 18th November? Do i need to notify the court that I have not received any documents from the or does this wait until the hearing?

David_e

superowls wrote: »

So which is it? 14 days before or 18th November? Do i need to notify the court that I have not received any documents from the or does this wait until the hearing?

I'm not at that stage myself so can't offer a conclusive answer, however I would certainly ring the court and at least flag the apparent inconsistency.

Tyzap

The dates that the court service stipulate seem to be fairly arbitrary in some cases. The date for the return of documents or filing may seem like a deadline not to be missed by an ordinary lay man but that is not always the case as I found out to my cost.

After I had submitted my case against Jet2 via mcol the defendant was given, if memory serves me right, 14 days to file a defence. On day 15 I rang the court to be told no defence had been received therefore I could request judgement. I was advised by the court service that the quickest way to do this was to complete the form and attach it to an email which I did immediately.

About three weeks later I received defence documents from the court.

Expecting judgement to have been found in my favour I rang the court service again to ask why judgement had not been issued and why the defence document had been accepted two weeks late. I was told that the scanned document I had attached to the email was too small and they refused to accept it. When I asked why I had not been informed of this upon its receipt I was told they are not obliged to inform me. Even though I was paying the fees for the court to process my claim they felt they had no obligation to inform me of a minor problem which I could have rectified very quickly and still requested judgement.

On the other hand they said the defence document was accepted 2 weeks late because I had not requested judgement! The set date is a guideline not a deadline. A very hand bit of slack in the system for the 2 birds.

I made a formal complaint to the court service but they would not accept any responsibility for the way my case had been dealt with, even when I pushed it as far as I could.

The irony of this is that had I won my case by way of default it would not have ended up as an appeal before HHJ Platts who has given us all some hope that faults are not ec's.

As if fighting Jet2 and the 2 birds wasn't enough I had to fight the court service to. Beware!

JPears

Tyzap, I understand your frustration with the court system, and it shared by many. Why have "deadlines" if they can be ignored without apparent penalty of any kind?
Playing devil's advocate, the court system, understandably, would prefer that each case is decided on its merits rather than by a default judgement.
Unfortunately the legal firms really take the p**s in this matter and when shown to be repeatedly taking the p**s should be hauled up for it.
It is increasing apparent to the man on the Clapham omnibus, that the legal system has many, many faults which can be exasperated by either some individual unknowledgable judges or some unhelpful courts.

grazzzz

Tyzap wrote: »

The dates that the court service stipulate seem to be fairly arbitrary in some cases. The date for the return of documents or filing may seem like a deadline not to be missed by an ordinary lay man but that is not always the case as I found out to my cost.

After I had submitted my case against Jet2 via mcol the defendant was given, if memory serves me right, 14 days to file a defence. On day 15 I rang the court to be told no defence had been received therefore I could request judgement. I was advised by the court service that the quickest way to do this was to complete the form and attach it to an email which I did immediately.

About three weeks later I received defence documents from the court.

Expecting judgement to have been found in my favour I rang the court service again to ask why judgement had not been issued and why the defence document had been accepted two weeks late. I was told that the scanned document I had attached to the email was too small and they refused to accept it. When I asked why I had not been informed of this upon its receipt I was told they are not obliged to inform me. Even though I was paying the fees for the court to process my claim they felt they had no obligation to inform me of a minor problem which I could have rectified very quickly and still requested judgement.

On the other hand they said the defence document was accepted 2 weeks late because I had not requested judgement! The set date is a guideline not a deadline. A very hand bit of slack in the system for the 2 birds.

I made a formal complaint to the court service but they would not accept any responsibility for the way my case had been dealt with, even when I pushed it as far as I could.

The irony of this is that had I won my case by way of default it would not have ended up as an appeal before HHJ Platts who has given us all some hope that faults are not ec's.

As if fighting Jet2 and the 2 birds wasn't enough I had to fight the court service to. Beware!

In my case the judge took great exception to the late defence from TC
And there disregard for the dates and there obmission of witness statements and that they had asked for an adjournment a week before because there witness couldn't attend ( he took a very dim view on there disregard for the courts rules
He tore the barrister of a strip and I won as no witness or statements so couldn't contest the claim.
Guess it depends on the judge on the day