Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Thomas Cook ONLY

JPears

DIYBaldyman wrote: »

You & I both JP. All they had done was issue a LBA (on top of all the standard forms issued to myself for signing). I asked them pretty much the same question myself & also pointed out that they now had the opportunity to follow up at least one other case relating to my flight, possibly more. Their reply;

"Afternoon Mr Ward,
Unfortunately it’s not that straightforward for us. The margins are incredibly tight on these cases which makes it very difficult for us to do so.

To put it in context, the three lawyers in the team who review these cases have an hourly rate of £217, £184 and £144 – so that’s how much an hour of our time would typically cost. Now obviously we don’t charge at that rate because it would exceed the client’s compensation amount, hence us capping it at 27% plus £25, but even then our typical charges per client are in the tens of pounds. On that basis we have to ensure we make the right decisions on cases very quickly, and there are also additional charges on the back of that too – particularly around banking transactions.

I appreciate again this is none of your concern, I merely flag this up to you to explain the position we are in at the moment. I do hope that assists.

I will provide you with copies of the correspondence we send to the airline confirming we are no longer instructed as soon as ever possible."

However TC had already contacted them to advise they had agreed to settle, so no further legal work was needed, just administrative tasks. I would have thought £143 would have more than covered what they had left to do, but apparently not.

Then they need to make it a bit more straightforward for themselves. 3 solicitors on one case that you had more or less determined yourself was a valid claim (evidence of which they chose to ignore)? And no, they don't charge it at that rate becasue yours is probably not the only case on that flight. They have admitted their error and accepted responsibilty. In my book that means they take the hit financially too, as any other business would.
And don't get me started on the "financial transaction charges" solicitors make. I get online and can set up and make a payment in 30 seconds from any of my business bank accounts.

kirstie1989

Hi on the18th march i recieved a reply back from thomas cook saying they were happy to give me £320 pp in vouchers.i have emailed them back saying i would like it in a cash cheque but has not heard anything since.i dnt kniw what to do next.martin lewis says they have to pay you in cash if u request it?
Would really appreciate it if anyone could help.
Kirstie

JPears

Email them again and if a number was supplied, call. You will probably have to badger them. And they will give you some pathetic excuse that it takes 50days to issue a cheque or BACS payment...

batman44

JPears wrote: »

Then they need to make it a bit more straightforward for themselves. 3 solicitors on one case that you had more or less determined yourself was a valid claim (evidence of which they chose to ignore)? And no, they don't charge it at that rate becasue yours is probably not the only case on that flight. They have admitted their error and accepted responsibilty. In my book that means they take the hit financially too, as any other business would.
And don't get me started on the "financial transaction charges" solicitors make. I get online and can set up and make a payment in 30 seconds from any of my business bank accounts.

I think this is the issue if you decide to take this on yourself or contracted out to Bott & Co.

I gained a vast amount of knowledge and experience in dealing with my cases and now have the confidence to take anyone on if the need be. In my first case my bundle consisted of 286 pages of legal argument and factual evidence and 3 years of wait and work as with most chaps on here, the minute it was submitted to TC solicitors they paid out. Now how many would have gained on my work or would they keep it stum?

batman44

DIYBaldyman wrote: »

Legal Magpie, was that question for real or are you just pulling my chain?

It is the address of the legal department I thought would be useful, it took me around half an hour to track it down after being point-blank refused said information by TC's Customer Relations team.

I'm not even going to entertain answering whether or not I would expect an international airline's in-house legal team to employ solicitors.

As for why have I published their names, really?

I'm here to help, not hinder or cause problems. I've merely posted a link to a publicly accessible page on The Law Society's web site.

Would you like me to bring you a step-ladder so you can climb down safely off your high-horse?

:(:(

DIYbaldyman- I am sure Mr Magpie did not mean to sound off with your post as he is in the legal trade, we know that TC employ legal teams, 2 third party solicitors as I know of and their in house dept. It is not required to post their names as they are only employed by TC and can be allocated any client case. I am sure you are thinking it may help others by doing this but it really does not, as I said they can be given any case to deal with.

Its a little like posting all the solicitors names that work for Bott & Co or 2 Birds or Travlaw. It does not matter really as in the end TC are the clients and they make the decisions on the advice of the solicitors.

DIYBaldyman

batman44 wrote: »

It is not required to post their names as they are only employed by TC and can be allocated any client case. I am sure you are thinking it may help others by doing this but it really does not, as I said they can be given any case to deal with.

batman, as I pointed out in my [frustrated defensive] response to Legal Magpie, my sole intention was to provide the contact address for Thomas Cook's Legal Department which was accessible on several links from the actual page I posted. I agree wholeheartedly that publishing names is of no help, as I'm sure any correspondence sent to the address would be replied to by an allocated solicitor anyway. I simply didn't appreciate being accused of publishing names when they are freely available anyway.

McDougal44

Hi there, hoping someone can help me.

My partner and I went on a holiday to Turkey in August 2010. The flight was delayed by more than 4 hours due to a fault on the plane we were due to board, we were told that the delay was because a new plane had to be flown to us at Gatwick from Manchester.

We never received an apology and marketing calls from Thomas Cook asking how we enjoyed our stay (knowing we were delayed) wound us up a bit!
I heard on the radio a month or so ago Martin Lewis talking about EC Regulation 261/2004 and how regardless of circumstance that we may be entitled to compensation.

I raised this with Thomas Cook and after it being ignored for 2 months I now have an update from Thomas Cook:

In order for me to proceed with your claim I would ask that you send one of the following documents:-
• Your tour operator invoice
• Your airline ticket
• Your boarding cards

Is this them purely stalling or do they really need this information? Airline ticket/boarding card - am I really expected to keep these 6 years on?
I would have an electronic copy of the invoice, however for family reasons changed my surname and e-mail address etc a few years back - so no access to old e-mails.
Since then my partner and I got engaged and moved to a new bank with a joint account, I still have an old account open which might have the payment to Thomas Cook but am unsure if the transaction history would qualify under what they have asked (plus it only accounts for 1 of the 2 tickets).

Is there anyone who can help me with this, or suggest where I should go from here?

Thanks in advance!

Justice13075

Read Vaubans guide and if you believe you have a case issue a Letter before action. All explained in the guide. It's good if you have got the documentation they requested but it is not necessary. You are nearing the 6 year limit so don't let them drag this out. If you don't get a satisfactory reply within 14 days you must either issue court proceedings or pass it on to a No Win No Fee Solicitor. Get moving now. If you don't issue court proceedings before the 6 year limit you will lose your right to any compensation.

JPears

And please post on the Thomas Cook thread to avoid cluttering up the forum with numerous personal threads...

DIYBaldyman

McDougal44 wrote: »

Is this them purely stalling or do they really need this information? Airline ticket/boarding card - am I really expected to keep these 6 years on?
I would have an electronic copy of the invoice, however for family reasons changed my surname and e-mail address etc a few years back - so no access to old e-mails.
!

McDougal,

1. Please repost your original message on the dedicated Thomas Cook thread as 'JPears' suggested below - you may get some duplicate answers, but will also be more likely to get relevant replies;

2. Yes, the airline are stalling and they will do everything they can to continue stalling you. As 'Justice13075' mentioned below, you are nearing the 6 year cut-off. Read Vauban's guide, issue a 'Letter Before Action' & if you receive no reply within 14 days commence legal action (do this online for a small fee - should be £60 for your circumstances -https://www.gov.uk/make-money-claim-online) If you don't commence legal action within 6 years of the date of your flight there will be nothing you can do. I would suggest in this instance even if you have a valid claim, they will try & stall you to beyond the 6 years & walk away.

3. You will need to submit a brief outline of your claim with the online service, so you will need flight number, date, passenger names. It is almost certain that you will ultimately need to prove that you were on the flight (passport stamps can prove your presence at the airport & have been accepted as proof of flying). You could try going around the back with Thomas Cook, call their Customer Relations team & make up a reason as to why you need to track down your original booking reference, copy invoice, hotel & flight details etc... (tell them you have an old insurance claim that had been forgotten & are being asked for the details etc.). They have been known to be able to provide such information fairly easily as they won't know you need the information to make a claim against them. An old bank statement, if you can track one down, will serve as proof of purchase.

Above all, don't lose track of the 6 year mark. No legal action = no liability.