Court success thread

gasman77

I had a phone call from Thomson legal department today. Having used MCOL my claim had just been allocated to my local county court.

My claim:

Euro 500 for 2 passengers.

Their defence:
1) The usual 2 year limitation on claims
2) Exceptional circumstances - they admitted in their defence document that the delay was due to a technical failure of a completely different aircraft.

They offered £300 plus court fees. I said no thanks. The guy then tried to persuade me that this was a good offer and that I would lose in court.

I still said no thanks.

He then asked me what I would settle for and I told him that I would be happy to settle for the full amount of the claim plus court fees.

He spoke to his manager, rand me back and agreed to pay me GBP 425 compensation plus GBP 35 court fees i.e. the full amount of the claim. This will be paid by BACS within 14 days.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this experience of using the county court system and I would not hesitate to use it in future. It is simple and cheap and makes it impossible for large companies to ignore an individual claimant.

Anyone considering it - go for it.

Vauban

Well done you - what a bunch!

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

gasman77 wrote: »

I had a phone call from Thomson legal department today. Having used MCOL my claim had just been allocated to my local county court.

My claim:

Euro 500 for 2 passengers.

Their defence:
1) The usual 2 year limitation on claims
2) Exceptional circumstances - they admitted in their defence document that the delay was due to a technical failure of a completely different aircraft.

They offered £300 plus court fees. I said no thanks. The guy then tried to persuade me that this was a good offer and that I would lose in court.

I still said no thanks.

He then asked me what I would settle for and I told him that I would be happy to settle for the full amount of the claim plus court fees.

He spoke to his manager, rand me back and agreed to pay me GBP 425 compensation plus GBP 35 court fees i.e. the full amount of the claim. This will be paid by BACS within 14 days.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this experience of using the county court system and I would not hesitate to use it in future. It is simple and cheap and makes it impossible for large companies to ignore an individual claimant.

Anyone considering it - go for it.

So if your claim is older than two years how come they have paid you yet have appealed someone else on the grounds of two years and have stayed other people's claims?

jenn1ewest1

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

So if your claim is older than two years how come they have paid you yet have appealed someone else on the grounds of two years and have stayed other people's claims?

Thomson are not treating any two cases the same as they are hoping that enough people will be put off as it is a long long road and many people will just give up and they will limit their damages that they have to pay out
JH

oscar_the_dog

Thanks for the inspiration all. It's heartening. Is there anywhere to actually upload airline defences and witness statements? Easyjet has finally delivered their 100 page document bundle today (after sending to the wrong address two weeks ago) to defend a claim dating back to July 2009 (yes, I'm claiming interest at 8%!) It's fun reading. More holes than a block of swiss cheese, although I may be biased. Court hearing in West London scheduled for 10 December 2013. I also read a suggestion for a thread containing scheduled court date hearings but haven't found such a thread anywhere. A link to the thread would be fantastic if it does exist.
Cheers,
OTD

nigelpm

Their defence:
1) The usual 2 year limitation on claims

Well done. They really are making a mockery of the small claims court process by paying some and staying other claims.

Bizarre behaviour.

Green_Homer

Chalk another win following mediation

Can't post links - page 49 of the Virgin thread!

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

nigelpm wrote: »

Their defence:
1) The usual 2 year limitation on claims

Well done. They really are making a mockery of the small claims court process by paying some and staying other claims.

Bizarre behaviour.

Their behaviour does seem very odd. They cite a two year limitation and then stay some claims and then pay others.

It appears that claims that are very close to the six year limit are being stayed and fought and those just over the two year limit are being settled.

It could also be that those claims being stayed are those which Thomson cannot potentially fight on the Extraordinary Circumstances angle. Such as knock on effect delays or faults which they know would not stand up to this test. The next "possible" defence to pin their hopes on is limiting claims to two years.

nigelpm

It appears that claims that are very close to the six year limit are being stayed and fought and those just over the two year limit are being settled.

It could also be that those claims being stayed are those which Thomson cannot potentially fight on the Extraordinary Circumstances angle. Such as knock on effect delays or faults which they know would not stand up to this test. The next "possible" defence to pin their hopes on is limiting claims to two years.

That's too logical. They aren't using any logic here whatsoever.

Just pay the claims and move on - would be better for their reputation and business longer term.

Trouble is they would rather mess around which costs them time and money.

I'd be angry if I were a shareholder in TUI that's for sure.

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

I must admit I have had a gut full of Thomson and their pathetic delaying tactics and the man at their customer legal team really rubs me up the wrong way. I find him supercilious and pompous.

It must be costing the company more to fight claims than to pay out. The appeal alone must be costing thousands. I hope when they have paid everyone they go bust.

Now I am on the receiving end of their dirty behaviour it sickens me when you go into their high street shops and are wooed with smarm and a veneer that that give a toss about their customer. My experience with this confirms to me the total opposite. I would never touch them again and will treat them like excrement on a stick. I am certainly going to be pressing for every penny I can get now as they are so unreasonable.