Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Thomas Cook ONLY

amat_endura

I'm in the middle of a claim with them at the moment, a 3 hour delay flying back from Naples in 2008. They tried the usual Exceptional Circumstances excuse which I rebutted by asking exactly what the problem was and pointing out that a technical fault had already been proven as not EC. They are currently stalling for time, I've been waiting over a month for their reply and my request for a status update got me this reply today
..................................................
Dear

Thank you for your recent communication.

We would like to apologise for the delay in responding to you, and assure you that your concerns have been taken seriously. Due to the nature of your comments, we are investigating the matter with the relevant departments, both in the UK and overseas.

We are currently experiencing delays in our turnaround times, and I can only apologise for this delay.


Rest assured that a member of our department will be in contact with you shortly.

Thank you for contacting Customer Relations.

Yours sincerely

Judy
Customer Relations Executive
.........................................

I'll keep this thread updated as and when I get a proper response from them.

P.

Gorbar

As you have been advised previously, our decision on this matter will
not change, however will will provide the Greek CAA with our reasons
behind our decision so that they can take it forward for you if you so
wish. We will respond to them shortly.

Kind Regards,


Paul Kemp
Directors' Office
Thomas Cook Holidays Division
This is the reply I received from them in which they inform me they will not change their decision. The law means nothing to them. Waiting to see what they tell the Greek authorities and if they rule on my side the CAA have advised me to contact our member of the MEP

Ind1_2

We were on the above flights and have just had the following reply (after 2 letters)

Dear Mr Lxxxxxxxxx

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

It is with regret that I note your flight with us was delayed. Whilst delays are an accepted part of air travel, I would like to assure you that a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to ensure that any disruption to our passengers is kept to an absolute minimum.

When a delay is initially identified, it is not always immediately apparent as to when a revised take off time can be secured. A number of factors have to be considered, which can vary dependent on the reason for the delay, and quite often we are reliant on outside influences, such as Airport Authorities or Air Traffic Control. Throughout, however, as soon as confirmed information is available, this is passed onto our customers as quickly as possible through our handling agent at the airport.

Although delays are rare, they can arise for a number of different reasons, and having carried out a full investigation the specific circumstances surrounding the delay of your outbound flight were of a technical nation, which were extraordinary, despite Thomas Cook taking all reasonable precautions necessary to prevent the situation. All aircraft can experience technical problems that are totally unforeseen, despite all reasonable attempts to ensure they are maintained to a good standard, in line with CAA regulations.

These situations can be compared to the maintenance of your own car, which can break down at any time without prior warning, regardless of it’s service history, and would be considered completely beyond the owners control.

I can see that customers were provided with welfare during the delay, in line with our obligations under EU Regulations 561/2004. As the events were defined as “extraordinary” no payment of compensation is considered appropriate in this case.

However, having carried out a full investigation into your inbound flight, I would assure you that we took all reasonable steps possible to minimise waiting time for our customers. In line with our obligations under Regulation 261, I would ask you to accept the enclosed voucher to the value of £960. I trust this will allow us the opportunity to prove to your that your experience is not typical of our usual performance.

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.

Yours sincerely

Axxxx Exxxxxx
Customer Relations Team
Customer Relations Executive

My queries are for the Inbound Flight:
Do we have to accept the value?

• I had to take 2 days unpaid Leave,
• We had an extra day of Parking Fees
• We were were not given any refreshments whilst waiting to be put into a vile hotel, which took 6 hours
• We were put on a short haul aircraft with no water for drinks
• When asked if we could email someone at home to let them know of the delay was told no, four hours later a different Rep told us yes, and would contact our room to advise us. This did not happen.
• We were told transport would be at the hotel to take us to the airport at 09:30 the next day, but the flight wasn't due to take off until 14:00. And it actually didn't take off until 16:30. Whilst at the airport we were given no vouchers or refreshments

Also, as you can see they are using the old chestnut "Technical" and "Extraordinary", for the Outbound Flight. I am going to ask what this was. They do say that we our welfare was looked after!

My queies for the Outbound Flight are:

• We were told at check in that our hotel and transfers would be informed of the delay. They were not. In fact our hotel actually gave our room away and we were put in a lower classroom for 4 days. We also had to wait at the airport for our transfer to the hotel to be re-arranged which took 2 hours.
• We were not kept informed of all the delays at Gatwick. Some passenger had notes put under their doors. We did not
• We did not get proper meals, as we were not informed to go to a hall to get dinner and weren't allowed to use the resturant!
• We were not given a voucher for food and drink(£6) until we checked in and went through to departures and then a lot of the establishments didn't accept them.

Sorry for the rant - But this is really frustating and they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. If anyone can help - Please let me know.

PS - I note the above letter is the same as some others for different flights! Interesting! I also, note that different values have been given, I'd love to know why?

grazzzz

I was delayed 14 hours because of broken windscreen in cockpit and had to go back to stansted as the repacement plane they sent came from there even though my car and original flight was from Gatwick.They have replied saying "extroidinary circumstances do i now go to court or caa ?
Flight was from antalya turkey
Advice please ?

ANNA

I was on a Neilson package holiday flying with Thomas Cook and suffered a flight delay.
I wrote the recommended letter to Thomas Cook and got a reply from Neilson, saying “an assessment will be made with TC under EN reg 261”
Got a 2nd letter 2 weeks later from Neilson with the stock apologies, etc. and they say “having carried out a full investigation the circumstances surrounding the delay were extraordinary despite TC taking all reasonable precautions necessary to prevent the situation”.
I wrote again to TC saying I do not accept the situation and asking for a copy of the assessment and also the reasons for the flight delay.
[FONT=&quot]Got a reply this time from TC saying they had reviewed my claim again but “[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Whilst I understand that you believe that the delay was not caused by extraordinary circumstances, I can confirm that the root cause of the delay could not have been foreseen.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]They have not told me the cause of the delay at all. However, I informed them in my first letter that I knew the cause was a technical fault with the pilot’s seat buckle. When we were coming in to land it would not close, so the flight was diverted to another airport that had technical ground staff. The reason was found to be a build up of longstanding dirt and clothing fluff. Basically, it had not been maintained, cleaned or serviced in a very long time.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]My questions are how to proceed?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I have already warned them I would involve the CCA and if necessary bring Court proceedings.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I have asked CAA to give an opinion on the technical issue being an extraordinary circumstance or not. No reply from them yet and no info in the Neilson/TC letters about the reason for the delay, just waffle.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Do I proceed to Court?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Do I sue Neilson as well?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]My claim is for 500Euros. Do I convert it to £s?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I feel that TC has been dodging the issue/covering up and not proceeding in a fair manner.[/FONT]

ANNA

Thanks you C.

Is there a recommended template notice before action?
I found this one by Consumer Which but I'm not allowed to post the link:

Dear
B]Reference[/B
As it has not been possible to resolve this matter amicably and it is apparent that court action may be necessary, I write in compliance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct.
[Provide a summary of the facts of the dispute]
[State what you want from the party you are claiming from]
[State how you have calculated any sum you are claiming]
Listed below are the documents on which I intend to rely in my claim against you:

In accordance with Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct I would request that you provide me with copies of the following documents:

I can confirm that I would be agreeable to mediation and would consider any other system of Alternative Dispute Resolution in order to avoid the need for this matter to be resolved by the courts and would invite you to put forward any proposals in this regard.

[Alternatively set out details of any scheme of Alternative Dispute Resolution that you are already aware of that would be prepared to use rather than going to court]
In closing I would draw your attention to section II (4) of the Practice Direction which gives the courts the power to impose sanctions on the parties if they fail to comply with the direction including failing to respond to this letter before claim. I look forward to hearing from you within the next 28 days, should I not receive a response to my letter within this time frame then I anticipate that court action will be commenced with no further reference to you.

Mark2spark

I despair of TC Anna, you are running out of options except proceeding to court.
You might want to include words in your LBA along the lines of 'having giving you several opportunities to prove the existence of EC's, which you have failed to do, I now put you on notice that unless my claim is resolved with 14 days I will be at liberty to initiate a court claim against you without giving you further notice'.
You can copy the relevant part of the regs which states that airlines have to prove, not just claim, EC's, and send it to Neilson if you want.

ANNA

Thanks for the advice.
I have found the template letters before action. Should I exclude any paragraph being agreeable to mediation or alternative dispute resolution?
Is MCOL worthwhile or should I proceed in my local County Court?

Mark2spark

ANNA wrote: »

Thanks for the advice.
I have found the template letters before action. Should I exclude any paragraph being agreeable to mediation or alternative dispute resolution?
Is MCOL worthwhile or should I proceed in my local County Court?

Obviously adapt the template letters to suit your own circumstances Anna, but IMO you have given them the opportunity to resolve amicably, so forget mediation, they are *required* to *prove* that EC's exist, so they have one more chance or court it is.
MCOL is fine.

blackreeler

Hi I am going to buck the trend here, my partner and i had a four hour delay from Cancun last September. We wrote TC to claim back for the extra train tickets we had to purchase, which they rejected. After a little bit of searching I came across this site and sent the claim template letter, bang on the 28th day a voucher for £970 was delivered. As we are going to Vegas this year we used it otherwise it would of been returned and money requested. Good Luck All