Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Tui/Thomson ONLY

vixst

I find it very strange that people have said that my post is a joke and that I could be a Thomson employee. I am not an employee of Thomson, and even if I was, I am not sure how posting a success story would aid Thomson? You are correct that I have not posted before, but I am simply following what the moneysavingexpert website says when it tells you to post your success story for others to see. Perhaps others are upset that they have not had any success, whereas I have?

Information on my flight: travelled 17.09.13 on TOM4201 from Heraklion (Crete) to Gatwick. The departure time of our flight was pushed back by about 4 hours. Luckily this happened before we arrived at the airport (at checkout at the hotel we saw a notice on the Thomson board saying that the flight had been pushed back) so we were able to stay at the hotel for 2 hours longer, and the coach came to pick us up to take us to the airport. Once we had checked in the flight became further delayed. We were told that all the delays (including the initial push back of departure time) were due to a member of staff being taken ill (not sure if it was a crew member or pilot). Our scheduled arrival time at Gatwick was 4.45pm but we actually arrived at 9.35pm, so 4 hours 50 minutes late.

I used the template letter posted on the flight delay compensation page and sent that off to Thomson including a screen shot confirming the arrival time of the flight (from the flightstats website) along with a copy of the holiday booking confirmation email and e-ticket. I sent it recorded delivery so I knew that they had received the letter. I sent it two weeks ago and was thinking that they wouldn't bother replying or would just say I was not entitled to compensation.

Their reply letter said they had looked into my case and from their internal records they could see that my delay was the result of an operational issue.

If it would help anyone I would be happy to scan in/upload a copy of the letter I sent to Thomson and the reply I received. Hopefully this gives you all enough information to believe that my success is genuine and not a joke.

Good luck with your attempts with Thomson.

David_e

vixst wrote: »

Perhaps others are upset that they have not had any success, whereas I have?

I'm sure no offence was meant. Anyone who has spent any time on this forum knows that airlines will, in the majority of cases, fight tooth and nail to avoid paying compensation even when the passenger has an excellent case. So when an airline (apparently randomly) responds to a first request for compensation by forwarding a cheque, it does leave some of us rather astounded!

vixst

David_e wrote: »

I'm sure no offence was meant. Anyone who has spent any time on this forum knows that airlines will, in the majority of cases, fight tooth and nail to avoid paying compensation even when the passenger has an excellent case. So when an airline (apparently randomly) responds to a first request for compensation by forwarding a cheque, it does leave some of us rather astounded!

Thanks David_e. I just thought it was a bit harsh for someone to insinuate that I was making things up. I was just as shocked as other posters above that I had such an easy result. I really do feel for those that have had a much tougher fight but admire their tenacity.

JPears

vixst - veterans of this forum and flight compensation know that airlines have little or no scruples and there is no limit to how low they will stoop to use underhand tactics, misinformation etc to deter the consumer from the compensation due them.
I'm sure no offence was intended, it is such an unusual but happy result post. Maybe the person dealing with your case was new

tracylou

vixst wrote: »

Thanks David_e. I just thought it was a bit harsh for someone to insinuate that I was making things up. I was just as shocked as other posters above that I had such an easy result. I really do feel for those that have had a much tougher fight but admire their tenacity.

vixst:
My sincere apologies if you were offended when I questioned the authenticity of your successful claim, but when it just popped up out of nowhere with no details and no follow-up, it was bound to raise some suspicion.

If you've read through all the posts here, you'll find there are hundreds of people who have been fighting for a long time with little or no success, because Thomson appear to be ruthless in their determination not to pay, even when taken to court. So you'll understand that naturally people are doubtful when they suddenly start paying out after one letter.

Hope that clears up the misunderstanding, and congratulations on your win, that was a great result.

Essexpaul

Just to let everyone know, yesterday I had my day in Court. To recap, 19 hr flight delay due to hydraulic leak back in 2010. Thomson case - 2 yrs and extraordinary circumstances. Unbelievably, they did not apply for a stay and turned up in Court requesting a stay. Our Judge was brilliant she basically said that the case was going ahead as Thomson's had had every opportunity to request a stay before the hearing date. She was quite clear that even though an appeal had been sought from the Supreme Court, it had not been granted and therefore we had provided enough case law for her to hear the case. In summary, we won - plus 8% interest compounded for the 4 years that Thomson had made us go through hoops. Thank you so much for to all the contributors on this site especially to Vauban for posting his full witness statement which we were able to adapt and use. I am more than happy to offer assistance to others if you wish to contact me. Thanks again and hang on in there.

richardw

Great news! Well done Essexpaul, what a bunch of time wasters Thomson.

Vauban

Fantastic news, Essexpaul! Well done. And welcome to the Pantheon of Champions! (Feels good, doesn't it?)

JPears

Fantastic news and well done. Lets hope Thomson don't do something stupid like appeal

Ducardo

Not heard anything back from them they will be getting a reminder later on this week