Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Tui/Thomson ONLY

111KAB

Leone100 wrote: »

Hi I sent an email to thomsons after families flight was delayed 4 half hours in 2010. I have received a reply today stating by national law I only had two years to make a claim therefore they were not responsible for any compensation payment. Is this correct? If yes how could anyone possibly claim right back to 2005?

Read through threads please prior to asking questions which have already been asked numerous times.

richardw

Leone100 wrote: »

... how could anyone possibly claim right back to 2005?

Perhaps PM the MSE writer and ask them why they continue to mention this http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/reclaim/2013/09/refused-flight-delay-compensation-dont-be-put-off-fighting-for-your-rights

Vauban

unhappyscot wrote: »

Flightstats.com

I don't think so. Flightstats says arrival time is unknown. The reference to 12.53 is when the status was changed on their log to "landed" - which is different, I think.

111KAB

unhappyscot wrote: »

Flightstats.com

Flightstats cannot be used in Court as evidence so you will have to pursue a claim against Thomson to flush out the honest correct ATC timings. You might be interested to know that you can purchase bespoke punctuality data which is not published on the CAA website. Email [EMAIL="aviation.intelligence@caa.co.uk"]aviation.intelligence@caa.co.uk[/EMAIL] for more information.
I would imagine Flightstats records gate to gate not take off to touchdown.

111KAB

unhappyscot wrote: »

Thanks for the information, I have emailed the CAA. When it means arrival, does it not mean at the gate, since you cant actually get out of the airport until you get to the gate?

No for aviation purposes the arrival period means when the aircraft wheels hit the deck as thereafter the performance of the plane is down to ground controllers. This is the rule and applies to court cases as well.

Bonters

markavo1 wrote: »

They point blankly refused mediation with me. Unfortunate for them as would have saved a bit of money as I was willing to settle for a percentage less in order to avoid devoting time preparing for the hearing. Their loss, as they have now been ordered to pay the full amount, plus interest, plus court costs and the cost of their barrister. Don't know how long they are going to take to grasp that their understanding of ec is not the same as everybody else's, including the majority of district judges. Perhaps if they devoted as much time, money and energy into trying to avoid delays and having contingency plans, they would not find themselves in this position

Let's not forget how many prospective claimants will have been put off by their (Thomson) refusal to pay and smokescreen tactics. The cost of a few random poorly represented court cases pails into insignificance compared to the amount they have saved with their tactics. Unfortunately, Thomson are so big these days, it is difficult to say we'll never use them again for holidays too.

111KAB

Vauban wrote: »

I don't think so. Flightstats says arrival time is unknown. The reference to 12.53 is when the status was changed on their log to "landed" - which is different, I think.

Checked with Flightstats (thanks Jeff) and their arrival and departure times are generally gate times as the information is from the airport not the airline. Therefore off the Flightstats times you should knock of the agreed taxiing times which vary dependant upon the airports.

matt2baker

Bonters wrote: »

Unfortunately, Thomson are so big these days, it is difficult to say we'll never use them again for holidays too.

It really isn't that difficult..................if you can negotiate the barriers around the delay compensation malarky, then booking a holiday independently of TUI is a breeze, honest!!!

Orange_Smartie

kevinyork wrote: »

An update on my claim which was for a 5 1/2 hour delay arriving back into Manchester from New Orleans in Jan 2011.

I had the initial out of time response letters, filed a claim and they then added to their defence an 'EC' relating to a tech fault on the previous flight.

It was at the stage of waiting to be transferred to my local court.

Got a call from Thomsons Friday morning. An overly friendly chappie who started by advising that if it went to court they would be asking for a stay pending the appeal outcome however he was about to instruct counsel on my case and instead of going to court would I accept £600 (my claim was for 2 x £510) which is what it would cost them in counsel's fees. I said no since I believed my case was a strong one but I would accept 75%. He said the very most he could offer was £700 plus my £70 court costs and no more (so just shy of 70%). Now this came at a great time for me as I have a load of work on and didnt fancy hours of preparing my bundle and statement, having a day in court then having to wait for the appeal result. Therefore I accepted given it would save considerable time on my part (my folder of case printouts, helpful posts from this forum and newspaper articles is fit to bursting).

In hindsight, I probably would have used a no win no fee Solicitor if I had researched that option more as my time was being eaten into trying to keep up to date with how cases were progressing etc (in fact this weekend I used Botts online claim process on behalf of an elderly friend and found it very intuitive and wished I had taken that approach myself from day 1).

I realise some may have refused the offer and gone the whole hog but this came at a perfect time for me and I am happy.

Thanks to all on this board that helped me and others.

I really wish you'd have pushed this. They tried the same with me and within 15 minutes they were agreeing to settle in full with court fees. Will post separately to update.

Orange_Smartie

Wanted to give an update in my case which settled today for almost £3,000.

Our flight delay went back to December 2010 and occurred travelling from the UK to Dominican Republic.

Thomson initially said no compensation was due as the claim was outside two years. After a couple of further letters in which I pointed out their errors, I was forced to issue a claim in June.

When I received their Defence it made no mention of the two year rubbish nor did it claim EC's. Their Defence was based on blaming another airline, saying they had sub-chartered the flight and that the other airline was therefore the Operating Air Carrier.

As a safeguard, I sent a letter before action to the other airline who responded by saying Thomson were responsible.

A few days ago I received notice of directions with a hearing date for December. I was just about to make a application to add the other airline to the proceedings when this morning a letter arrived from Thomson offering to settle for half the compensation due and court fees.

I sent them an email rejecting the offer and advised that I would only settle for the full amount due plus court fees. I advised that I would be prepared to drop any claim for interest if the matter was settled this morning.

Low and behold, minutes after sending the email, I got a phone call agreeing to settle on my terms and an email followed shortly after confirming this.

From what I have read of late, there have been a few attempts by them to try and pay less than what's being claimed. My advice is hold out.

I'm going to book myself and family a nice little holiday with the money and it will come as no surprise that I won't be using Thomson!!!!!!!!! :beer: