Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Thomas Cook ONLY

lukewarm45

Hello,

I have recieved an email from TC after putting a claim in to them for a delay of 26 hours due to techinical probs on a flight from Hurghada to Manchester. My claim was for €1800 (for 3 of us). They have responded with a standard letter and an offer of £720 in TC vouchers. I have read on this thread that I can refuse this and ask for a cheque to be sent out but are they selling me short with the value of the offer? Is this something that needs persuing or is this the norm? Any advice would be appreciated.

DJMSJM

lukewarm45 wrote: »

Hello,

I have recieved an email from TC after putting a claim in to them for a delay of 26 hours due to techinical probs on a flight from Hurghada to Manchester. My claim was for €1800 (for 3 of us). They have responded with a standard letter and an offer of £720 in TC vouchers. I have read on this thread that I can refuse this and ask for a cheque to be sent out but are they selling me short with the value of the offer? Is this something that needs persuing or is this the norm? Any advice would be appreciated.

I reckon you should be getting nearly double that.

bennmark0

Just an update i have asked tc to explain how they got to ec there answer was we need more time.so today i have given them 14 days to settle or it's legal action time,has anybody gone to court,any advice would help

Hulmie

Right, i put in a claim against Thomas Cook for an 11 hour delay that we encountered last June, Thomas cook first came back and said that the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances which was down to smoke and burning smell within the cabin (technical problems).

I then wrote back using the template on page 1 advising the below -

I am aware that judgement has been handed down inECJ case (C-629/10) on October 23rd 2012, and I wish to proceed with my claim.

We were informed by you that theflight was delayed overnight due to 'technical difficulties with the aircraft.'Since technical problems have been ruled by the ECJ to be unlikely to be heldas a valid defence of extraordinary circumstances to a compensation claim, thenshould you be claiming any such defence I should be grateful if such details couldbe provided to me within 28 days of the date of this letter.

Should you neither settle my claim infull nor provide a full defence to my claim within the above timescale, Ireserve the right to issue legal proceedings without giving you further noticein writing.

I have now received a letter back from Thomas Cook basically saying they had done everything possible before the flight took off from manchester and that there was no smoke or burning smell reported on the logs a month prior to our flight and that all checks on the day of our flight had not highlighted any faults. And therefore with the smoke & burning smell being noticed an hour into the flight they diverted into Gatwick so the fire services and engineers could check the plane and fix the fault. And they copied in an extract from the CAA that says they would consider technical logs in helping to determine whether a particular technical delay would be regarded as extraordinary for the purposes of EC Regulation 261/2004.

I had previously mentioned in a phone call to them that the flight should have never left manchester as they put passengers safety at risk. So they then say that under the ECJ 261/2004 it mentions extraordinary circumstances may include unexpected flight safety shortcomings and therefore this is a Safety shortcoming as the fault occurred in flight and thus constitute extraordinary circumstances. And therefore the delay has been identified as "extraordinary circumstances"

I am now at a point where im not sure what to do, i was going to write to the CAA and ask them to investigate. I also seem to remember that we were informed that fault was fixed by 2.00am but then we didnt resume flight until around 9.30am as they didnt have crew ready.

I hope Centitpede and some of the other knowledgable members would be able to help.

Gorbar

Hulmie wrote: »

Right, i put in a claim against Thomas Cook for an 11 hour delay that we encountered last June, Thomas cook first came back and said that the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances which was down to smoke and burning smell within the cabin (technical problems).

I then wrote back using the template on page 1 advising the below -

I am aware that judgement has been handed down inECJ case (C-629/10) on October 23rd 2012, and I wish to proceed with my claim.

We were informed by you that theflight was delayed overnight due to 'technical difficulties with the aircraft.'Since technical problems have been ruled by the ECJ to be unlikely to be heldas a valid defence of extraordinary circumstances to a compensation claim, thenshould you be claiming any such defence I should be grateful if such details couldbe provided to me within 28 days of the date of this letter.

Should you neither settle my claim infull nor provide a full defence to my claim within the above timescale, Ireserve the right to issue legal proceedings without giving you further noticein writing.

I have now received a letter back from Thomas Cook basically saying they had done everything possible before the flight took off from manchester and that there was no smoke or burning smell reported on the logs a month prior to our flight and that all checks on the day of our flight had not highlighted any faults. And therefore with the smoke & burning smell being noticed an hour into the flight they diverted into Gatwick so the fire services and engineers could check the plane and fix the fault. And they copied in an extract from the CAA that says they would consider technical logs in helping to determine whether a particular technical delay would be regarded as extraordinary for the purposes of EC Regulation 261/2004.

I had previously mentioned in a phone call to them that the flight should have never left manchester as they put passengers safety at risk. So they then say that under the ECJ 261/2004 it mentions extraordinary circumstances may include unexpected flight safety shortcomings and therefore this is a Safety shortcoming as the fault occurred in flight and thus constitute extraordinary circumstances. And therefore the delay has been identified as "extraordinary circumstances"

I am now at a point where im not sure what to do, i was going to write to the CAA and ask them to investigate. I also seem to remember that we were informed that fault was fixed by 2.00am but then we didnt resume flight until around 9.30am as they didnt have crew ready.

I hope Centitpede and some of the other knowledgable members would be able to help.

From my experience they won't even reply to the CAA, had ours since 6th December, still not replied
We are now using a third party to take them to court

maghater

jamit wrote: »

I have been chasing Thomas Cook Airlines since October 2010 for a delay of over 5h on a flight from Paphos to Glasgow. Initially they denied all responsibility, then claimed EU investigation was holding up my claim. I asked them to keep it open. After the October 2012 EU judgement I contacted them again and got the standard 'extraordinary circumstances' letter. I reminded them of the CAA ruling but still nothing. I informed them I was now referring to CAA (which I have done) and later to Scottish Small Claims Court.

I got a letter last week admitting their fault and apologising and giving me a voucher for over £600 for TC Group holidays. I have returend this pointing out that I am due 1200 euro compensation.

The CAA have now started their investigation but warn it may take some time.

I now wait for my money.

The sad thing is that I have always had good service from TC in the past and in fact complimented them on their handling of our holiday in the volcanic ash crisis in a letter published in The Herald.

Similar tale to me, used them several times before, even going back to the old Flying Colours days! Were delayed 8 hours coming back from Palma last summer. Only given 5 Euros refreshment voucher. On return contacted customer services, and asked for £50 to cover reasonable meal and refreshments, plus extra day car parking, and dog boarding, not unreasonable for two people? Was just fobbed off and told a pack of porkies, so have now wacked 400 Euro each on top of this claim, and its off to court. I will never use them again, likewise family, friends, and several people at work. I hope they think it is worth it

lombardo_2

lukewarm45 wrote: »

Hello,

I have recieved an email from TC after putting a claim in to them for a delay of 26 hours due to techinical probs on a flight from Hurghada to Manchester. My claim was for €1800 (for 3 of us). They have responded with a standard letter and an offer of £720 in TC vouchers. I have read on this thread that I can refuse this and ask for a cheque to be sent out but are they selling me short with the value of the offer? Is this something that needs persuing or is this the norm? Any advice would be appreciated.

I am in a similar position in having been offered a voucher, I have replied requesting a cheque, in my case for the sterling equivalent of 2000 euros. The current offer is a voucher for £1795, for a 21 hour delay in 2010 fro 5 passengers to Cyprus. It seems the voucher is a damage limitation, some will accept and be happy. However I am not likely to be able to use the voucher, hence the request for a cheque. No where in Regulation does it mention compensation to be paid via voucher!

Tiggifarfar.

Good news! Letter from TC today and a voucher for £910 which I am more than happy with, considering the hol cost less than £800.

I sent letter back off in Jan, recieved 3 acknowledgments and now this. Have had our eye on Menorca so this will be fab. My sis in law was on same flight, sent same letter but got a rejection early on so she will appeal and hopefully come with us on hol.

Thanks to Centipede and Mark2Spark and all the contributors, you,ve made my day!

DJMSJM

lombardo wrote: »

I am in a similar position in having been offered a voucher, I have replied requesting a cheque, in my case for the sterling equivalent of 2000 euros. The current offer is a voucher for £1795, for a 21 hour delay in 2010 fro 5 passengers to Cyprus. It seems the voucher is a damage limitation, some will accept and be happy. However I am not likely to be able to use the voucher, hence the request for a cheque. No where in Regulation does it mention compensation to be paid via voucher!

WOW I think you have got some of lukewarm45's and my share of compensation lumped into yours!!! :cool:

Well done you!

Hulmie

can anyone please advise me on what to do next based on the reply i have received posted above, i am at a lose end and not sure if i can take things further.