Thomsons Lost Bagage & Returned Damaged!

watdehell

Hi guys well heres my horror story.
Girlfriend wanted to go away really bad so we went to Thomsons.
In store my girlfriend got talked into buying a holiday to Tenerife and it sounded good so we booked it.
When we returned home the hotel had bad reviews and people had said it was based on a huge hill that was unbearable to walk, especially if you had kids and we did have a 2 year old son. So I asked the travel agent if the hotel was far from the town centre and she said its not according to Thomsons website.
I have the call recorder app so I guessed that as the call was recorded and I had nothing to worry about, at the worst i could complain in resort if it was very far as per the numerous reviews.
So I took her word on it and we flew. When we arrived in Tenerife our son's pram didn't come through. I contacted a rep there who I recorded the conversation with and he said that Thomson's agent and not Thomsons had lost the baggage and I would have to call the airlines agent Iberia in the morning and in the meanwhile hire a pram and get reimbursed when I got to the Uk from Thomson.
I immediately questioned this and asked what Thomsons would do and the rep just said they couldn't do anything in resort/at the airport and it would have to be dealt with by Thomsons in England, which i have the whole conversation recorded.
Anyway the hotel did not have any prams to hire as the agent suggested and so we were left for the first 72 hours without a pram. The hotel also was on a very very long and steep hill which wasn't described and was so bad that whilst we could walk down it, walking back up it was extremely gruelling and tiring.
The room we got was damp and had condensation and when I did attempt to contact the resort rep they were never in resort and we were told messages would be left with them but none were.
We decided just to clean the room the best we could and I continually rang the agent on a day to day basis - Iberia, who 72 hours later found the baggage and said it was never put on the plane thus the delay. Iberia had the pram sent to our hotel reception. When it did arrive it was damaged and stained with mud and the wheels would not properly allocate and move.
I immediately took photographs and thought that I would complain when back to the UK.
When I returned back to the UK I wrote to the store I bought the holiday from outlining my complaint with photographs and also prove that on travel republic (another site) they mention different km distance from the same town centres that Thomsons did on their site and brochure. I never received any response from the store and so i complained directly to Thomsons through their website.
A few weeks later i got a response from 'Sky Tours' who as far as I knew were not even who I booked with..anyway they said they could only pass on my baggage claim to a department in Crawley who they would get to contact me. As for the loss and misdescription they put it down to 'opinion' and said they couldn't do anything more.
I then got a telephone call a few weeks later from Thomsons again who in the end told me they'd investigate only to tell me in the end that they again could do nothing as the mis description was 'opinion' ( i.e. it could be debated if a hill is 'steep' to one person to another's version of steep..etc') and saying that now as Thomsons could not pin point where the damage occurred they would not repair or issue a new pram or any compensation and as I did not take out travel insurance I breached their terms and conditions and am not protected. I have found this to now be the final draw to me and I am seriously considering taking the matter to ABTA and even the small claims court. In my opinion Thomsons breached their duty of care as they and their agents lost my bag and were negligent, They have failed to address my clear evidence of misleading distance in their brochures and information provided by evidence and photographs of the rooms which is different to that of the brochures which as this was a package holiday is covered by the Package Regulations Act from my understanding..
so what would you do next?

arcon5

Can't you just claim of the airline?

London50

" as I did not take out travel insurance "

That was your main mistake IMO. Travel insurance would have more than likely sorted out {with some excess} at least the cost to replace/repair the damaged item. I agree to some point with distance/hills being a personal thing as many people I know that {like myself} go to Tenerife at least twice a year and half do not think that some of the hotel locations are that bad when others for the same hotel will state that you could have a heart attack walking to it.
I am sorry that you have had the problem pram wise but perhaps it is a lesson for the future that booking a holiday abroad travel insurance is a must to avoid situations like yours.

watdehell

Well arcon they are saying no, we can't claim on the airline and london50 tell me about it.nearly every holiday we take out travel insurance and never use it..the one time i don't take it out this happens. I've been looking into it and I think Thomsons have breached the Montreal Convention 1999

visidigi

watdehell wrote: »

Well arcon they are saying no, we can't claim on the airline and london50 tell me about it.nearly every holiday we take out travel insurance and never use it..the one time i don't take it out this happens. I've been looking into it and I think Thomsons have breached the Montreal Convention 1999

The words you chose to ignore are:

It is a condition of your booking with Thomson that you and all other members of your party, including infants and children, are adequately insured on holiday with a policy suitable to your individual needs.

So the terms of your booking are that you are adequately insured.

In saying that, the 95% opinion of your opening post is your downfall, you need to focus your complaint, specifically on the damage to the pram.

How long it was missing and how steep the roads are are nothing to do with the problem, and if they were they would be a completely separate issue.

Thomson should cover the damage to the pram, although I can understand the viewpoint that proving the damage is difficult. I would say though that its up to them to prove its state given that they would have labelled and directed you where to go with it.

Did you push the child to the plane and hand it over then to the airside crew? If so this is your proof of function and that the damage only occurred once it was in their possession.

Caz3121

watdehell wrote: »

When we arrived in Tenerife our son's pram didn't come through. I contacted a rep there who I recorded the conversation with and he said that Thomson's agent and not Thomsons had lost the baggage and I would have to call the airlines agent Iberia in the morning and in the meanwhile hire a pram and get reimbursed when I got to the Uk from Thomson.
When your baggage is missing then you need to file a report before you leave the baggage reclaim, a report will be taken then you would be given a PIR. Was the rep in the baggage hall, it is possible that the airline would have had something you could borrow that they have in cases of buggy delays?

Iberia had the pram sent to our hotel reception. When it did arrive it was damaged and stained with mud and the wheels would not properly allocate and move.
I immediately took photographs and thought that I would complain when back to the UK.

Why did you not call Iberia straight away and advise that the item delivered for PIRxxxx was damaged and arrange for them to take a damage report either over the phone or, if they needed to see the damage, at the airport when you were leaving

LilElvis

Next time you fly make sure that you place the pushchair in a travel bag before you hand it over at the gate. Landing back at Heathrow they don't bring them back to the gate - they go to the baggage hall with the rest of the luggage and so get caught up (and mangled) in the machinery and conveyor belts. Got off a flight from Johannesburg a couple of years ago where half a dozen pushchairs were damaged. Ours was fine, and the only one in a bag. Less than twenty pounds is worth it if the pushchair cost hundreds.

watdehell

Hi everyone..yes we did hand the pushchair in at the check in desk..and we did contact Iberia about the damage, they said it was down to Thomsons as it was their fault and they failed to put the baggage from the check in desk on the plane..so it was no fault of Iberia..

philatio

Iberia is the handling agent and is contracted by Thomson not you, so any claim you have must be with Thomson.

You'll have to threaten or even go to court to get anywhere though.
They used the travel insurance T&C as a get-out clause these days. Effectively you've breeched your contract as you said you had travel insurance (by booking the holiday) when you actually didn't.

They are at fault here but they've got you by the goolies.

watdehell

Yeah seems Il have to take them to the small claims court, so am going to write them a final letter...

hollydays

If you don't research the hotel , then find out after booking it's not what you wanted( ie in a hill) you have learned a valuable lesson.