Thomas Cook lied during sale, then messed up booking.

phil2580

Thomas Cook lied during sale, then messed up booking.
My then fianc!e and I booked our honeymoonicon through Thomas Cook at Merry Hill, and had problems with our booking from the start. Ignoring the countless minor issues, the main problems were:

1) We specifically asked for a hotel fairly close (i.e. within 15mins) of Cancun or Playa del Carmen. The instore rep showed us a hotel (Grand Bahia Principe) and told us it was 20 minutes from Playa. We thought this was ok, so carried on with the booking. When we arrived in Mexico, we discovered the hotel was over an hour away from Playa del Carmen.

2) We were sold the hotel on the basis that we would get an upgrade to a higher-quality room included in the cost. It was later discovered (after booking), that this offer was not in the current brochure and the rep had sold us the holidayicon from an out-of-date brochure. In the one thing Thomas Cook did right, he managed to get the room upgrade included in the price.

3) Thomas Cook failed to pass on the fact it was our Honeymoon to the in-resort rep, so absolutely nothing was done to recognise that it was our Honeymoon.

4) Thomas Cook advertise 'Honeymoon Extras', when in fact these are present in every room anyway.

5) Thomas Cook advertise the hotel as having 9 a la carte restaurants. This is a lie. Only 4 are a la carte. The other 5 are self-service for starters and dessert (and the same selection in every restaurant).

6) We booked inbound premium seats sitting together (at a cost of £50pp). These were confirmed at the time of booking, again 2 weeks before travel, and again in the resort. On arrival at Cancun airporticon, we discovered we didn't have seats together and, as my wife is a nervous flyer, were forced to downgrade to standard class in order to sit together.

We complained to Thomas Cook on return about these issues, and basically they've told us to get stuffed. But they hope we'll book with them again in the future.

This was supposed to be the holiday of a lifetime, but the constant worry about what Thomas Cook would screw up next kind of spoiled it for us. At the very least, I believe they should be refunding us for the premium seats, but they don't seem to want to know.

ThumbRemote

Point by point
1) Unless you can prove this, you're going to get nowhere with it.
2) I don't understand. Are you saying you got the upgrade, or you didn't?
3) Did they advertise this as a feature, which you didn't get? If so, you might have some sort of claim against them. Otherwise, if you were just expecting them to do something, it's probably tough luck.
4) It might be disingenuous marketing, but you did get what you expected. It's just that other got more than you expected.
5) This may be a valid issue.
6) Definitely a valid issue.

You need to itemise what you paid for, versus what you got. Put a financial value on each item, and then write to them requesting that much back.

Personally, it doesn't sound that bad. True, some things weren't as you expected, and it may be worth pursuing those. But overall presumably you got a decent honeymoon in a nice hotel.

phil2580

ThumbRemote,

Thanks for your response, and I do agree to some degree with your responses to 1-4, although I do feel that 4 is not disingenuous, but downright false advertising. 5 and 6 are definite issues, but Thomas Cook are denying all responsibility, especially with regards to the premium seating.

I've been promised a call within 48 hours from a manager (who will probably just be the tea boy), so will see how that goes.

Overall, we can only think of it as a very expensive holiday, not a honeymoon, because of all the problems.

transient

phil2580 wrote: »

Thomas Cook lied during sale, then messed up booking.
My then fianc!e and I booked our honeymoonicon through Thomas Cook at Merry Hill, and had problems with our booking from the start. Ignoring the countless minor issues, the main problems were:

1) We specifically asked for a hotel fairly close (i.e. within 15mins) of Cancun or Playa del Carmen. The instore rep showed us a hotel (Grand Bahia Principe) and told us it was 20 minutes from Playa. We thought this was ok, so carried on with the booking. When we arrived in Mexico, we discovered the hotel was over an hour away from Playa del Carmen. DONT LIE IT TAKES NO MORE THAN 30 MINUTES

2) We were sold the hotel on the basis that we would get an upgrade to a higher-quality room included in the cost. It was later discovered (after booking), that this offer was not in the current brochure and the rep had sold us the holidayicon from an out-of-date brochure. In the one thing Thomas Cook did right, he managed to get the room upgrade included in the price. NO ISSUE HERE THEN

3) Thomas Cook failed to pass on the fact it was our Honeymoon to the in-resort rep, so absolutely nothing was done to recognise that it was our Honeymoon. WHY SHOULD HE, WHAT DID YOU WANT A FANFARE AND BALLOONS?

4) Thomas Cook advertise 'Honeymoon Extras', when in fact these are present in every room anyway. YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT THOMAS COOK ARE CHARGED FOR AND NOT CHARGED FOR. YOU PAID THE PRICE AND GOT WHAT THE EXTRAS

5) Thomas Cook advertise the hotel as having 9 a la carte restaurants. This is a lie. Only 4 are a la carte. The other 5 are self-service for starters and dessert (and the same selection in every restaurant).

6) We booked inbound premium seats sitting together (at a cost of £50pp). These were confirmed at the time of booking, again 2 weeks before travel, and again in the resort. On arrival at Cancun airporticon, we discovered we didn't have seats together and, as my wife is a nervous flyer, were forced to downgrade to standard class in order to sit together. YOU WERE NOT FORCED

We complained to Thomas Cook on return about these issues, and basically they've told us to get stuffed. But they hope we'll book with them again in the future.

This was supposed to be the holiday of a lifetime, but the constant worry about what Thomas Cook would screw up next kind of spoiled it for us. At the very least, I believe they should be refunding us for the premium seats, but they don't seem to want to know.

Do your research next time and if any issues arise, deal with them there and then.

tomtontom

The premium cabin costs more than £50, it sounds like you booked exit row/ extra legroom seats. If so, they will no doubt refund the cost, but the positive of the situation is that a nervous flyer should not be sat there anyway. You should only choose these seats if you will be able to help in an emergency, so clearly not suitable for someone who is lovely to panic.

Edit: looks like an old plane, the first few rows are called premium but offer nothing more than a quick exit from the plane. You didn't miss much by sitting a bit further back, nonetheless I'm sure they'll refund the £50 each.

phil2580

transient,

Funny, we took a journey to Playa del Carmen by coach and it took over an hour. Now I know coaches don't go as fast as cars, but other guests had said it took them an hour by taxi.


We spoke to a number of other non-honeymooning guests who were not on our flight (and therefore booked through Thomas Cook). They had all received the 'Honeymoon Extras', so really, there aren't any, and shouldn't be advertised as such.

With regards to the premium seats. We paid for premiums seats together. Thomas Cook didn't provide them. As my wife is not a good flyer, not sitting together was not an option, so our only remaining option was to be downgraded.

When you book in-store, you don't have time to research in great detail, and once it's booked, it's booked. We trusted the rep to provide what we asked for, and he plainly didn't.

phil2580

tomtontom,

I've got the in-store invoice showing 2 x Inbound Premium Seats £50 each.

I normally do book extra leg room seats when I'm flying due to my height, so know the difference (and requirements).

tomtontom

When you book in-store, you don't have time to research in great detail, and once it's booked, it's booked. We trusted the rep to provide what we asked for, and he plainly didn't.

This is your mistake, you should have done your own research. You don't have to book on your first visit.

phil2580

tomtontom,

I think our biggest mistake was trusting the Thomas Cook rep. I normally book online, but we wanted to discuss potential destinations based on our criteria. I guess the rep just saw the commission possibility and would have sold us a shack in the middle of the jungle if he could have got away with it.

LilElvis

phil2580 wrote: »

tomtontom,

I think our biggest mistake was trusting the Thomas Cook rep. I normally book online, but we wanted to discuss potential destinations based on our criteria. I guess the rep just saw the commission possibility and would have sold us a shack in the middle of the jungle if he could have got away with it.

But you still could have gone away and done some more research before returning to complete the booking. This wasn't a last minute holiday, this must have been months in advance.

I don't know why you would expect the travel agent to notify the hotel that you were on honeymoon. Presumably you would have liked some freebies? If you wanted your wife to have a `surprise` then you should have phoned the hotel in advance and paid for champagne/flowers/chocolates to be delivered to your room. Yes, some travel companies (and hotels) do provide free extras for celebrations, but generally only when you are paying a very significant amount of money in the first place.

Yes, if you paid extra to be seated next to each other and were not provided with it then you should be refunded the additional cost. The rest of your complaints sound pretty insignificant and certainly could not have ruined your holiday.

transient

phil2580 wrote: »

transient,

Funny, we took a journey to Playa del Carmen by coach and it took over an hour. Now I know coaches don't go as fast as cars, but other guests had said it took them an hour by taxi.


We spoke to a number of other non-honeymooning guests who were not on our flight (and therefore booked through Thomas Cook). They had all received the 'Honeymoon Extras', so really, there aren't any, and shouldn't be advertised as such.

With regards to the premium seats. We paid for premiums seats together. Thomas Cook didn't provide them. As my wife is not a good flyer, not sitting together was not an option, so our only remaining option was to be downgraded.

When you book in-store, you don't have time to research in great detail, and once it's booked, it's booked. We trusted the rep to provide what we asked for, and he plainly didn't.

From the hotel to playa del carmen is 41.3km or 26 miles, all on a main trunk road.........and it took over an hour by coach and over an hour by taxi........I will let you work that one out.

With regards to the seat issue, again you were not forced, if anything you shouldonly get the money back for one seat but I think you will probably get it for both.

You have all the time in the world to research, you knew where you wanted to go and roughly where you wanted to be so must have known your hotel preferences, all this before you went into the shop.

The honeymoon extras isnt relative, you paid and got them.