Urgent - advise re hotel pool closure

stormCat99

Have tracked down their Ts anc Cs, and they have clearly breached them:

In here, it says will let you know of any ‘significant change’, including, specifically, if hotel pool unavailable for duration of holiday.

.......

If you do not want to accept a significant change, which we tell you about before you depart, we will, if we are able, offer you an alternative holiday of equivalent or similar standard and price AT NO EXTRA COST, or a less expensive holiday (in which case we’ll refund the price difference).

If you do not wish to take the alternative we offer you, you can choose a different holiday offered for sale by us and pay, or a receive a refund of any price difference.

Or if you prefer, you can cancel your holiday and receive a FULL REFUND of any money you have paid to us, except for any amendment charges.

---

So they have NOT offered us an alternative, of any sort. And they have told us we will be charged to cancel. Been trying to call them back ALL DAY, and just cannot get through.

I did get reply via Facebook page, but they guy just said same as the person on the phone had, that he couldn't do anything.

Now that I see they are clearly breaching their own terms, how on earth can I force them to stick by them?

Olive_Oyl

boots_babe wrote: »

Have tracked down their Ts anc Cs, and they have clearly breached them:

In here, it says will let you know of any ‘significant change’, including, specifically, if hotel pool unavailable for duration of holiday.

.......

If you do not want to accept a significant change, which we tell you about before you depart, we will, if we are able, offer you an alternative holiday of equivalent or similar standard and price AT NO EXTRA COST, or a less expensive holiday (in which case we’ll refund the price difference).

If you do not wish to take the alternative we offer you, you can choose a different holiday offered for sale by us and pay, or a receive a refund of any price difference.

Or if you prefer, you can cancel your holiday and receive a FULL REFUND of any money you have paid to us, except for any amendment charges.

---

So they have NOT offered us an alternative, of any sort. And they have told us we will be charged to cancel. Been trying to call them back ALL DAY, and just cannot get through.

I did get reply via Facebook page, but they guy just said same as the person on the phone had, that he couldn't do anything.

Now that I see they are clearly breaching their own terms, how on earth can I force them to stick by them?

Significant change .

Sorry for the copy & paste .

The Package Travel Regulations - 'Significant Change' and Regulation 12

Have you been told that 'normal booking conditions apply'? Has your holiday been changed before departure from what you thought you would receive? In the first of a series, we discuss a travel Consumers rights where a 'Significant Change' has been made to their holiday. We highlight the rights contained under Regulation 12 of The Package Travel Regulations and discuss what could consitute a 'Significant Change'. In the last few years many holidaymakers have experienced 'significant changes to their holiday contracts; this is something that is causing serious concern at the EU Commission! We would also recommend that you read our article on your Regulation 13 pre-departure rights as this provides further obligations on travel providers!
The ‘Significant Change’ and Regulation 12 article can be downloaded in full as a pdf.
Have you had problems with Significant Changes to your holiday before departure? If so, we would like to hear from you!
For further details on our services, read our legal notice.



Note closure of facilities under regulation 13 .


"when they become aware of a pre-departure 'Significant Change' to your contract, must advise you of those changes, to give you the opportunity to cancel without penalty or to accept the changes with a rider to the contract"

littlereddevil

Quite honestly I would take my money back and look for something else

stormCat99

littlereddevil wrote: »

Quite honestly I would take my money back and look for something else

I would love to, but they won't let us. I'd be more than happy to do that, they won't allow it :mad:

cockaleekee

I am seeing availability from Friday with Thomas Cook for the following:

Three Corners Ocean View
Sunrise Royal Resort
Tropitel Sahl Hasheesh
Jungle Aqua Park

All are highly rated, and offer equivalent to your chosen resort. Have you asked about any of these?

Don't get hung up on star rating, it means very little.

stormCat99

We also see availability on their web site. However when we asked they said the web site is incorrect, and they actually have no availability to transfer us.

Edited to add: I appreciate start ratings can vary in meaning. However we always go in conjunction with Trip Advisor reviews. Our chosen hotel had the BEST by far spread of trip advisor reviews, that I have ever seen anywhere. I mean, out of thousands of reviews, less than about 20 gave it 1/2/3 stars. Almost everyone rated it a 5/5 and raved about it.

On the other hand, plenty of other 5* hotels get mixed reviews on Trip Advisor, and these are ones we would not even entertain (I admit we have high standards!). But the point being, they said there was NOTHING they could transfer us to, nothing at all.

littlereddevil

boots_babe wrote: »

Have tracked down their Ts anc Cs, and they have clearly breached them:

In here, it says will let you know of any ‘significant change’, including, specifically, if hotel pool unavailable for duration of holiday.

.......

If you do not want to accept a significant change, which we tell you about before you depart, we will, if we are able, offer you an alternative holiday of equivalent or similar standard and price AT NO EXTRA COST, or a less expensive holiday (in which case we’ll refund the price difference).

If you do not wish to take the alternative we offer you, you can choose a different holiday offered for sale by us and pay, or a receive a refund of any price difference.

Or if you prefer, you can cancel your holiday and receive a FULL REFUND of any money you have paid to us, except for any amendment charges.

---

So they have NOT offered us an alternative, of any sort. And they have told us we will be charged to cancel. Been trying to call them back ALL DAY, and just cannot get through.

I did get reply via Facebook page, but they guy just said same as the person on the phone had, that he couldn't do anything.

Now that I see they are clearly breaching their own terms, how on earth can I force them to stick by them?

But this must mean you get your money back?

photome

littlereddevil wrote: »

But this must mean you get your money back?

Difficult if they say No you cant, of course not impossible, but if they are clearly in breach then it should be easy

photome

boots_babe wrote: »

Have tracked down their Ts anc Cs, and they have clearly breached them:

In here, it says will let you know of any ‘significant change’, including, specifically, if hotel pool unavailable for duration of holiday.

.......

If you do not want to accept a significant change, which we tell you about before you depart, we will, if we are able, offer you an alternative holiday of equivalent or similar standard and price AT NO EXTRA COST, or a less expensive holiday (in which case we’ll refund the price difference).

If you do not wish to take the alternative we offer you, you can choose a different holiday offered for sale by us and pay, or a receive a refund of any price difference.

Or if you prefer, you can cancel your holiday and receive a FULL REFUND of any money you have paid to us, except for any amendment charges.

---

So they have NOT offered us an alternative, of any sort. And they have told us we will be charged to cancel. Been trying to call them back ALL DAY, and just cannot get through.

I did get reply via Facebook page, but they guy just said same as the person on the phone had, that he couldn't do anything.

Now that I see they are clearly breaching their own terms, how on earth can I force them to stick by them?

I searched their t and c and dint find any mention of a pool (lack of) being a significant change, it does mention airports and destinations.

Did you add the pool bit in your quote or did you find it mentioned.

If you added it then maybe TC dont see it as a significant cahnge, if it is there in full then quoting their terms should mean a refund

stormCat99

No the pool bit is specifically there - the Ts and Cs about significant changes goes over 2 pages, the pool bit is on the next page.

They are saying that because there is 'another pool' that it's hard luck. This other pool is tiny, looks like it fits about 30 sunbeds around it. Clearly every man and his dog will be tryign to sit there so

a) we won't be able to get a spot, unless we get up stupidly early - not something I like to do on a holiday
b) even if we got a spot, it would be far from the quiet, relaxing environment we had expected, as it'll be teeming with all the hotel guests that are trying to squeeze in!

Anyway, I've had a breakthrough I think. Someone has finally called me back after one of my forum posts, and taken this change seriously.

I won't say anything more until things are finalised tomorrow, but it does finally look as though we may get this resolved. I'll keep you posted...