Thomson compensation for Kenya holidays

Cbhatt

We went on a 8 day/ 7 night all inclusive holiday to Kenya last week. After 3 days/2 nights and a lot of stress, we were returned to the UK due to terrorist threats (according to FCO). Thomson is now offering us 70% of cash value of the holiday or full value in vouchers.

We are interested in getting our money back as cash but can't decide if its a fair value. One way of looking at it is that I have lost money in terms of taxis, pet care, entry/exit fees for Kenya, time off work for the holidays, stress during the time we were being repatriated. Their handling of the situation in Kenya was poor in terms of communication and organisation.The other way is to look at the fact that it was beyond Thomson's call to do what they did and quite a short notice.

I would really appreciate if you could share your views/ opinions on this. Should I accept the amount they offer or ask for a full refund in cash.

Thanks

Voyager2002

Have you contacted your insurer? And if your travel insurance included legal stuff then perhaps you could use that for a telephone chat with a solicitor about the situation.

Personally, I would choose another holiday of equivalent value: in effect I would accept the vouchers so long as they could be used for something that I wanted. In addition, I would ask Thomson to reimburse any expenses that arose as a consequence of their poor handling of the situation.

Cbhatt

I had a very brief chat with my insurer on the day I returned and they said I had to claim back from my holiday provider. I bought the essential cover from Virgin via moneysupermarket. The policy wording says the following is excluded if the trip is cut short :
"Civil unrest, strikes, blockades, actions taken by the government of any country or the threat of an event like this."

I would have taken the vouchers, but we don't fancy most destinations offered by Thomson so were thinking of planning future holidays independently.

richardw

Thomson offer a vast range of holidays, I'd be surprised if there wasn't anything you fancy.

Cbhatt

I know, it sounds weird. We want to cover places like Asia ( not Thailand), Africa and South America while we do not have kids to worry about, and to be honest these countries are not Thomson's forte. We took Kenya specifically because it offered good value to go to the country for a safari.They have tailor made packages to some of these places which are generally quite dear and I have no idea if they would accept the vouchers.

jhe

Thomson offer tailormade holidays http://www.thomsonworldwide.com/hotel/1059-1858018 if u do consider taking vouchers

bagand96

taxis, pet care, entry/exit fees for Kenya, time off work for the holidays, stress during the time we were being repatriated.

Thomson are not liable for any of these consequential costs. If your travel insurance provider doesn't cover the due to the civil unrest that's unfortunate.

I for one think Thomson's offer is fair. Thomson act on FCO advice so when your holiday started I'm assuming the advice was you could still travel? In Thomson's defence you did have return flights and a couple of nights in the hotel. I imagine the flights to Kenya represent a large chunk of the holiday cost, so 70% refund is probably reasonable.

The full cost in vouchers is a nice offer over and above, but like you say only any good if you do actually use them. Make sure the offer is suitable (time limits, what it can be spent on exactly etc) if you do decide to take them.

Westin

Ditto bagand96 - I'd take the same view.

Voyager2002

Cbhatt wrote: »

I know, it sounds weird. We want to cover places like Asia ( not Thailand), Africa and South America while we do not have kids to worry about, and to be honest these countries are not Thomson's forte. We took Kenya specifically because it offered good value to go to the country for a safari.They have tailor made packages to some of these places which are generally quite dear and I have no idea if they would accept the vouchers.

I'm sure that Thomson can do something good in the other great safari countries of Africa: Tanzania and South Africa. And you might look at what they offer in Cuba: for me Cuba captures the best of South America without the danger, although you miss out on most of the magic by staying in a resort hotel.

budgetflyer

You say you would now like to travel independantly. If your Kenya holiday had been booked independantly, then you would have got next to nada back.

For me, I think both offers are decent.

We were independant during the "Ash Cloud" and had to fund an extra 2 weeks ourselves. Thomsons and Thomas Cook moved all their cudtomers to All Inclusive hotels until they could get them home.
Fortunately I did get reimbursed eventually thru my insurers, so it is worth looking to get decent cover if you do go down the independant route next time.

Cbhatt

Thank you for your responses. It really does help to think more broadly than we would have done. I will take one last look at Thomson holidays to ensure we do not regret it!

Budgetflyer, you are spot on about insurance. I knew my insurer would pay if trip were cut short but hadn't read the exclusions ( and i work in insurance!).