Thomson's Brochure Error No Kids Club available on Honeymoon

hollydays

There used to be something called. " loss of enjoyment "that you could claim for

03029174

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

well I took our son on our 'honeymoon' but that was because we couldn't afford a honeymoon when we got married so ours was delayed a good few years lol!

Seriously though I think you have to look at this pragmatically - there was no guarantee that she would have settled even if they had been set up to look after her - what you have done then? When you say the reps were useless was that because they couldn't magic a kid's club that would accept your daughter?

Is there a chance that once upon a time they did accept children as young as your daughter but for some reason now no longer don't but forgot to update the paperwork?

Personally if you're never going to book with Thomson again I would opt for the cash.

@gettingtheresometime

The problem i had with the reps was they did nothing, i had to contact the UK to get anything sorted. They kept me waiting AGES (25mins+) while they tried to sell excursions and thats when i could find them. They told me to deal with the hotel direct as they couldnt make the Kids Club accept our daughter. I had to do everything via the Uk which was slow due to the time difference. I know there is no guarantee she would settle but she has never had any problem with Nursery, but they had nothing there. I think they were worried about insurance, they said she couldnt go outside because they had a climbing frame , slide etc that she couldnt use. Obviously if they took her from the start and she didnt settle that was a risk but the hassle it took to get her in, the time limitations and the fact they were obviously not setup to cater for a service they advertised i think 50% is a fair amount to request.

I honestly couldnt say if they've ever accepted children of 2 years but we did book the honeymoon quite far in advance

LilElvis

hollydays wrote: »

I once booked a holiday when myself and my children had been through trauma, and were really in need of a break. It was about £750 for a city break. On the way to the airport the holiday company rang to say we needed to go to gatwick not heathrow. As a result of this stress I claimed three quarters of the cost back at county court and got it. I don't see your situation as terribly different.

Ditto for my neighbour who was switched to a lower class hotel on arrival after over-booking - he actually got 100% back after flying back on the second day of a 4 night holiday. Also Thompsons.

The loss of child care over the course of a holiday is a significant change. The fact that the OP also rechecked it's availability and was assured that the service would be available adds to the strength of his case.

Most company's seem to have a higher tier of complaints resolution these days. If Thompsons have a similar hierarchy then the mention of potential legal action might be sufficient to prompt a higher level of compensation.

ThumbRemote

hollydays wrote: »

There used to be something called. " loss of enjoyment "that you could claim for

There still is. It's a completely subjective figure, and can be up to the entire cost of the holiday (I think there was a cruise where they actually awarded more than the full cost, but was overturned on appeal).

Personally I'd start asking for about 66% back and be willing to negotiate down a little.

However I suspect you'll need to go to court to get any more than they've offered. You'll have to get evidence of how it affected your holiday and what you did to try and sort it out. Keep everything you have in terms of paperwork, itemise when you spoke to reps, any phone calls back to the UK you made.

03029174

ThumbRemote wrote: »

There still is. It's a completely subjective figure, and can be up to the entire cost of the holiday (I think there was a cruise where they actually awarded more than the full cost, but was overturned on appeal).

Personally I'd start asking for about 66% back and be willing to negotiate down a little.

However I suspect you'll need to go to court to get any more than they've offered. You'll have to get evidence of how it affected your holiday and what you did to try and sort it out. Keep everything you have in terms of paperwork, itemise when you spoke to reps, any phone calls back to the UK you made.

Thanks for the reply ThumbRemote

Luckly because i was going through the UK via emails i've got a pretty good record. I've never gone to court before, could anyone give advice on the costs im likley to incure going down this route? just a rough ballpark would be really useful

halibut2209

I've never been on a holiday where any kids club for young children would not require the parents to be present. Especially at that age. All this nonsense about "66%" or "75%" back is frankly ridiculous.

A kids club is for a few hours during the day where you would have to be there anyway. "Kids Club" is NOT "Child care". And even if you have a babysitter, you will have to go back if the child is upset.

You won't get any compensation, but by all means listen to the silly posts above

03029174

halibut2209 wrote: »

I've never been on a holiday where any kids club for young children would not require the parents to be present. Especially at that age. All this nonsense about "66%" or "75%" back is frankly ridiculous.

A kids club is for a few hours during the day where you would have to be there anyway. "Kids Club" is NOT "Child care". And even if you have a babysitter, you will have to go back if the child is upset.

You won't get any compensation, but by all means listen to the silly posts above

This is a quote from the rep

“I have talk one more time today to the hotel and I have been told - they can give you 2 hours everyday baby sitter - as it's not possible or your child to go on the kids club” We landed Tues and the babysitter was available from the Friday

ThumbRemote

halibut2209 wrote: »

I've never been on a holiday where any kids club for young children would not require the parents to be present. Especially at that age. All this nonsense about "66%" or "75%" back is frankly ridiculous.

A kids club is for a few hours during the day where you would have to be there anyway. "Kids Club" is NOT "Child care". And even if you have a babysitter, you will have to go back if the child is upset.

You won't get any compensation, but by all means listen to the silly posts above

That is not the case. Thomson holidays kids clubs do not require adults to be present - in fact adults are not permitted to be present. It is child care. Some of the hotels have creches for babies aged 3 months plus, which are also a child care facility.

Times vary by hotel, but they often run for 2-3 hours daytime, and 2-3 hours again in the evening, 5 days a week.

It is quite common for the provision of a kids club to be the deciding factor in which hotel to visit. Thomson know this, which is why they make such a big thing of it in their brochures.

03029174

ThumbRemote wrote: »

That is not the case. Thomson holidays kids clubs do not require adults to be present - in fact adults are not permitted to be present. It is child care. Some of the hotels have creches for babies aged 3 months plus, which are also a child care facility.

Times vary by hotel, but they often run for 2-3 hours daytime, and 2-3 hours again in the evening, 5 days a week.

It is quite common for the provision of a kids club to be the deciding factor in which hotel to visit. Thomson know this, which is why they make such a big thing of it in their brochures.

This was my understanding too, it didn't look like there were any facilities for adults i.e sitting areas etc. There was a main kiosk and everyone dropped their children off and left. The activities were running all morning and afternoon for the kids

wealdroam

Is this specifically a Thomson Holidays kids club, or a kids club run by the hotel?

I ask because there is almost certainly a disclaimer somewhere that says something like "Thomson Holidays cannot guarantee that all hotel facilities will always be available".