I am Livid - Thompson Holiday Booking

vicki_1981

Last weekend, I booked a holiday for my partner and I through Thompson online. Being clever, I used Quidco, and got a money off coupon code from one of those coupon sites. Saving £100 by booking online, and £50 using the code. Oh yes, and getting some through Quidco.

When I did the booking, I ticked an auto complete names button on the site to make things easier. I didn't realise that in doing this, it completed my name as my partners surname by mistake - we're not married.

So, the confirmation page shows up and I see the mistake. I phone them right back to let them know - as the instructions tell me to. No answer - office closed.

Ok, so I email them - it also said that was a valid form of communication.

After waiting almost a week, I got a reply on Thursday afternoon telling me it can't be delt with via email and I need to call a special number.

I called it as soon as I got the email, I waited over 20 minutes to be told they can't deal with me, only my partner. We booked with a joint back account, and we live at the same address so that was ludicrous - it was actually me who booked it and my partner didn't even know all of the details.

Anyway I passed on the details and he phoned them today from work, he had to wait over 45 minutes for a pick up.

You wanna hear the best bit? It's our fault because we didn't contact them quickly enough, and now the tickets have been dispatched which means we have to pay £50 extra. :mad: My partner, wanting nothing more than to get the call over and done with, paid.

I phoned them tonight to explain that it wasn't our fault, that I had been waiting for them to reply for over a week and had they replied sooner, the details could have been changed prior to tickets being dispatched. I phoned at about quarter to six and waited for almost 20 minutes before giving up and trying a different number. The second number was after sales service, so that should have worked fine. I did get to speak to someone, but he tells me he can't help as I booked online.

When I ask who I should talk to, he tells me it's the original phone number but they close at 6. Then, I proceed to ask whether they would now be able to talk to me rather than my partner (considering my name is now correct) and full of customer support happiness...he hangs up on me.

I was FURIOUS. Livid. Shocked and VERY upset. Now I have worked in a customer service department before and hanging up on someone was only permitted if they were rude i.e. swearing or violent etc.

Does anyone know what I can do? I'm so upset over this I know it's silly but it's the principle rather than the money now.

How can they say we left it too late, when I tried so hard to get in touch straight after the error was spotted...about 30 seconds after I booked?

Sorry to rant on about it, but I can't believe the way this company treats it's customers. It's like they've got our money, now they don't care.

avfc4life

Are the phone numbers you are calling premium rate numbers? If so i would just pay the £50 and learn from the mistake. You have saved £150 so have still done quite well.

You could keep contacting them but if it is costing you alot of money everytime even if you do get your £50 back you will have probably spent near enough that on the phone calls.

You have to ask yourself is it worth the stress over £50 which you have saved by booking online?

vicki_1981

I just hate losing when it's not my fault! The numbers are 0870 are they bad?

avfc4life wrote: »

Are the phone numbers you are calling premium rate numbers? If so i would just pay the £50 and learn from the mistake. You have saved £150 so have still done quite well.

You could keep contacting them but if it is costing you alot of money everytime even if you do get your £50 back you will have probably spent near enough that on the phone calls.

You have to ask yourself is it worth the stress over £50 which you have saved by booking online?

photome

Yes they are bad...and the cost is already high.

I had a similar experiance with Vodafone..they hung up om me and i was livid and angry and hurt all at the same time.

I managed to get her full name etc but after I had calmed down I let it drop, but I hadnt lost £50, I would still prob drop it in your case

budgetflyer

Emailing them and leaving it a week is no good.Email is not a reliable form of communication-millions get lost or ignored every day. I cant understand with a mistake like that you didnt phone them when the office opened, or at least the following day when you didnt get a reply to the email.
Possibly sooner, you may not have been stung for the £50.
Its the same story time and time again. Yes I am sympathetic, we are human after all, but blame must be shared and the moral as always is CHECK CHECK AND CHECK AGAIN before hitting that pay button.

MarkyMarkD

You want to run this bit through your mind again, vicki?

vicki_1981 wrote: »

I phoned them tonight to explain that it wasn't our fault, that I had been waiting for them to reply for over a week and had they replied sooner, the details could have been changed prior to tickets being dispatched.

The initial mistake was YOURS and yours alone. You relied on some duff auto form filling feature in your web browser to complete an important form, and pressed submit without bothering to check the details.

As others say, it might seem daft but telephone is very often a more effective way of getting things done instantly than e-mail where things can just sit in a queue.

Pinklepurr

Very sorry to hear of your predicament.

Unfortunatly, everyone is right. It was your mistake and whilst you made some effort to rectify it, you shouldn't have relied on an email to be dealt with quickly. You really should have called as soon as the office was open again.

Having worked in Customer Service for a major tour operator (not Thomsons) this kind of thing cropped up often, and once tickets are printed there is a charge to re print them, that is not unreasonable. You'll probably find if you refer to their terms and conditions that they are able to charge you this. Some Operators charge full cancellation fees so you really are quite lucky.

As for putting the phone down on you, that is suprising. Usually this would happen only if the caller was being personally abusive or swearing. It happened to me on a couple of occasions and it is deeply upsetting. Usually it is best just to be assertive but remain polite however difficult that may be.

Under the Data Protection act, the Tour Operator can only deal with the "lead passenger" on the booking. i.e the person listed first on the booking. That is quite normal, however daft it may seem.

I do hope you can get it sorted. Your best bet is to take ownership for your mistake and pay the £50 charge.

Pinklepurr

I would add that perhaps you could try writing to them explaining your attempts to contact them, they may be willing to reduce the fee as a gesture of goodwill. If you are travelling within a week or two, don't expect a reply before you go, allow up to 28 days. Good luck.

vicki_1981

It wasn't a web browser auto fill - I know which you refer to, but I don't even use IE and FF doesn't have such a feature - this was something specific to the web site in question - a part of the booking form for the holiday.

I am out of the house between 8am and 6pm - my partner travels with his job all day and today was exceptional that he could phone, in fact, he had to leave his phone on hold, go and do a job, then come back to the phone which was still holding. I don't get a mobile signal from my office, and my job doesn't require a landline so I don't have a phone.

I'm really upset that everyone has ganged up on me this way. I thought I'd be able to come here and get some decent advice but it seems you all think I've been stupid here (and I was 100% sure I checked everything, seriously it takes me ages to book ANYTHING online as I'm so paranoid about checking everything over and over again) which I haven't.

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

You want to run this bit through your mind again, vicki?The initial mistake was YOURS and yours alone. You relied on some duff auto form filling feature in your web browser to complete an important form, and pressed submit without bothering to check the details.

As others say, it might seem daft but telephone is very often a more effective way of getting things done instantly than e-mail where things can just sit in a queue.

vicki_1981

I hope you don't think I was being offensive. He said he couldn't help and gave me a different number. I literally said 'can I just ask another quick question...' and was going to ask about whether as my name was now on the booking someone would be able to talk to me direct (as my partner is out working all day sat) and it's after I began to ask, that he hung up.

Very rude.

Pinklepurr wrote: »

Very sorry to hear of your predicament.

Unfortunatly, everyone is right. It was your mistake and whilst you made some effort to rectify it, you shouldn't have relied on an email to be dealt with quickly. You really should have called as soon as the office was open again.

Having worked in Customer Service for a major tour operator (not Thomsons) this kind of thing cropped up often, and once tickets are printed there is a charge to re print them, that is not unreasonable. You'll probably find if you refer to their terms and conditions that they are able to charge you this. Some Operators charge full cancellation fees so you really are quite lucky.

As for putting the phone down on you, that is suprising. Usually this would happen only if the caller was being personally abusive or swearing. It happened to me on a couple of occasions and it is deeply upsetting. Usually it is best just to be assertive but remain polite however difficult that may be.

Under the Data Protection act, the Tour Operator can only deal with the "lead passenger" on the booking. i.e the person listed first on the booking. That is quite normal, however daft it may seem.

I do hope you can get it sorted. Your best bet is to take ownership for your mistake and pay the £50 charge.

MarkyMarkD

vicki_1981 wrote: »

It wasn't a web browser auto fill - I know which you refer to, but I don't even use IE and FF doesn't have such a feature - this was something specific to the web site in question - a part of the booking form for the holiday.

I've used Thomson's website before, and I've checked it twice tonight - before I posted last time, and just now. There is no "auto fill" feature on Thomson's website and no way that it would automatically get one party's surname wrong. It doesn't fill in the second surname by default to equal the first one. I think someone's confused here!

I am out of the house between 8am and 6pm - my partner travels with his job all day and today was exceptional that he could phone, in fact, he had to leave his phone on hold, go and do a job, then come back to the phone which was still holding. I don't get a mobile signal from my office, and my job doesn't require a landline so I don't have a phone.

It's illegal for an employer not to give you breaks during a 9-5 working day. You could have phoned at lunchtime from a callbox or mobile. You are just making excuses now.

I'm really upset that everyone has ganged up on me this way. I thought I'd be able to come here and get some decent advice but it seems you all think I've been stupid here (and I was 100% sure I checked everything, seriously it takes me ages to book ANYTHING online as I'm so paranoid about checking everything over and over again) which I haven't.

We're not ganging up on you. You came here to ask us what to do, and to moan about being charged. We've said what we think - that's how the forums work.

People on here don't have any axe to grind. If 9/10 people reckon you should pay the charge and get over it, that's probably what you should do.

Thomson haven't done anything wrong here. It was your mistake - sorry.