Thomson compensation for misleading holiday?

xoxoemzxox

Hello,

Basically womdering if anyone has had any luck claiming compensation from Thomson over being misled as to the type of holiday they were booking?

Me and my partner booked a Thomson Platinum lifestyle holiday to the Dominican. A nice relaxing holiday in a premium hotel (or so we thought). A few months before departure Thomson emailed to say that our hotel had changed collections to the Thomson Scene collection (previously 2wentys clubbing holidays).

We checked twice with Thomson about this to be assured that the hotel was not a party hotel and that we would be able to have a relaxing holiday. They did offer to change our hotel but would only permit us to change to another Thomson Platinum lifestyle one and there were no others in the Dominican so this would have meant changing our whole holiday and a different desitnation. As we had our hearts set on the Dominican we decided to trust the Thomson representatives reassurances about the hotel.

However the hotel was not a quiet and relaxing hotel, there was loud techno music being played every day and the majority of the other guests were loud party animals getting drunk all day, falling over my sunbed etc. So we were unable to relax and just enjoy the surroundings.

I know this may sound like a silly complaint but we paid a lot of money for the holiday and really needed a quiet relaxing break.

I have put below my complaint to Thomson and their response stating they will not be compensating us.

Can anyone advise whether they have had any luck on this sort of complaint? or any advice how to take the complaint further as i am unhappy with their response?

Hello,

I am writing to you today to complain about the flight seats and holiday I have recently returned from booked through yourselves.

We flew on the new Thomson dreamliner and paid extra to pre book our seats on the plane. We were in seats 37H and 37J. Upon reading the reviews of the new "amazing dreamliner" we were looking forward to the experience of every seat having extra room than a normal plane and being able to see out of a window.
However this was not the case with our seats, we were the only seats in our section of the cabin that did not have a window next to the "window seat" and we are unable to see out of any other windows on the plane. Our seats also felt more cramped and claustrophobic due to the lack of window which seemed to cause a curve inwards towards the seat on the side of the plane. At the time of booking our seats it was not stated that we would not have a window view.

We stayed at the Chic by Royalton in Punta Cana.

When the accommodation was booked by myself back in July 2015 the hotel was a Thomson Platinum lifestyle hotel. This collection of hotels are described on your website as "If luxury hotels are your thing, you’re going to want to hear about our newest range…

It’s nice to spoil yourself sometimes. An indulgent spa treatment here, a room upgrade there… And that’s where our brand new Platinum Lifestyle range comes in. This collection showcases hotels with that little something extra, from sleek spas to design-led interiors. Not only that, but the properties are a big hit with customers, too. In order to get a place in the Platinum Lifestyle collection, they have to score at least 4.5 out of 5 on TripAdvisor, so you don’t just have to take our word for it.

Sound like your cup of tea? Here are just some of the things that give these retreats their get-me-there-now appeal…"

However several months before we were due to depart on our holiday I received an email from your customer services informing me that the hotel was changing to a Thomson Scene Style hotel. These are described on your website as clubbing holidays reinvented. Also as I know from my younger days this brand used to be 2wentys, which is definitely not the type of holiday I was looking for and certainly not what I thought I had booked at the time.

Upon receiving this information I called your holiday changes number that was provided on the email. I was assured by the customer services representative that the holiday would not be a full on party holiday with noisy drunken people around the pool every day.

I was not convinced by this and decided to discuss with my partner who was also not convinced.

I then called again to be reassured and told the same thing. The 2nd representative did offer to allow us to change hotels, however it would have to be with another Thomson Platinum Lifestyle hotel. I thanked her and advised that I would need to discuss with my partner.

We decided that as we had our hearts set on visiting the Dominican Republic and had already paid for and applied for our Tourist Visas for the country that we would stick with the Chic hotel as there were no other Platinum lifestyle hotels at this destination and had been reassured it would not be a party hotel.

However during our stay at the hotel it became apparent that this was in fact very much a party hotel. There was loud techno music all day every day around the pool, this could still be heard when we moved from the beach to the pool. The majority of the other holiday guests at the hotel were very drunk and rowdy during the day also, meaning that we were unable to just relax on our sunbed around the pool as we had been assured by your representative on the phone that we would be able. The evening entertainment was also just a clubbing disco almost every evening apart from a few.

We are very disappointed that we were mislead at the time of booking as to the type of hotel we would be staying at.

I would appreciate if you could please acknowledge and respond to my complaint within 30 working days as stated on your website.

Thomson response:

Dear Miss. Elston,




Thank you for contacting Thomson regarding your recent holiday to the Dominican Republic.







We do offer passengers the option of paying a small supplement in order to guarantee seats together on the flight. They can then also select seat numbers if they wish. Due to the configuration of the aircraft not all seats have windows, and I do apologise for any inconvenience this caused you.







I am very sorry to hear of your disappointment regarding your stay at the Chic Punta Cana. I have checked your booking, and whilst I appreciate your comments about the other guests at the hotel, you were advised of the branding change prior to departure, and were given the option to transfer to an alternative hotel, which you declined.







I am sorry that I cannot agree to offer any compensation to you; nevertheless I thank you for drawing your views to our attention. Please be assured that the points you have raised regarding the hotel have been passed to the hotel management for their information, as they are in the best possible position to act on the concerns you have raised. I do hope that, despite the above, you were able to take home some excellent memories of your holiday in the Dominican Republic.





Yours sincerely,





Tracey Teesdale


Contact Agent - Swansea


TUI Customer Contact Team email: aftertravelcustomersupport@tuiuk.com

richardw

Perhaps anonymise your post.

photome

Re the seat reservation, you got what you paid for so no issue IMO.

The hotel issue may be worth taking further but you were advised before travel and again IMO never believe what a travel agent/etate agent/ car salesman tells you, if it had been me I would have most likely changed destinations

lea2012

I'm afraid I would agree with Thomsons on this one. You were given the option to change, and whilst I get that there were no other Platinum Lifestyle hotels available, I'm sure there would have been plenty of other good quality 4* and 5* hotels available that you could have selected.

The Chic by Royalton is an adults only hotel, and one look at it's own website shows that it is a lively hotel geared towards clubbers. The main image on the home page is an advert for a DJ.

Thomson are not the only operator in the hotel either, you can book it with numerous hotel websites in the UK and probably world wide. Spring time in the Carribbean can be very lively anyway as its the american 'spring break' which turns even the quietest of resorts into Magaluf style party places!

Terms like 'Scene' and 'Platinum' are only really marketing tactics, used to pigeon hole guests and appeal to people who fit into a certain stereotype. The hotels are given those titles based on the facilities it's offers and how well it caters to a stereotype. It's likely that the Chic has always been very lively and it fitted the 'Scene' branding better than Platinum. I think it's a shame you had such a poor experience but just chalk it up to experience and research it better before you make a decision next time.

xoxoemzxox

Yeah i agree with the seat response just my luck to have the only seat on the whole plane with no window!

They have changed the description and photos on the website since we booked in june 2015! Its such a shame as we hoped to get the full caribbean experience yet as you say felt like i was in magaluf!

They were adament we could not change to a hotel outside of the lifestyle collection no matter how much i asked.

Ill have one more shot at them and put it down to experience..never trust what customer services tell you!

shaun_from_Africa

I realise that it's of no use to your current complaint but it's worth bookmarking this website for future reference:
http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Thomson_Airways/Thomson_Airways_Boeing_787-8.php


You can get seat layouts for just about all airlines and it shows the good and bad points of all seats.

Scruffywuffy

You could try to complain through ABTA - I'm doing that at the moment - the problem is that although ABTA give the tour operator 2 weeks to reply, they don't actually have to reply - so why would they?! So when the two weeks is up, ABTA give you the opportunity to go to Arbitration. Given my experience with Thomsons, both with my current complaint (for among other things mis-description - Thomsons even changed the description on their website following my complaint!) and a flight delay last year (which they eventually settled after I'd issued a claim) I am of the view that they just will not pay out and know that most people won't go to small claims or even arbitration.

I also had a bit of a seat on the plane issue - I didn't prebook to pay, never have had to to be seated with my husband, checked in online on the first day we could and despite there being a seat free next to him, they'd put me somewhere else and I had to pay to move to sit next to him.

Sadly it would appear they have the market in UK package tours - I had no idea how many companies TUI actually own.

leylandsunaddict

xoxoemzxox wrote: »

Yeah i agree with the seat response just my luck to have the only seat on the whole plane with no window!

Just for future reference, on the Thomson 787-8 Row 37 isn't the only row without a window. Row 30 doesn't have one, and neither does Row 7 in Premium.

christaitfife

Did you let Thomson's know of your issues when on resort? If you didn't do it on the first day or two and give them the chance of fixing the issue I doubt you will have any chance of recompense.

Last year I booked a holiday to a holiday to Greece to a 5 star all inclusive. The resort was lovely with the exception of the building I was put in (they left a soiled mattress outside for 3 days!). I booked with Cosmos and they were great - they moved me after a few days and gave me a full refund on the accommodation. The guy in the room next to me was with Thomson and paid about £500 more than us. He was not moved and Thomson has refused compensation. I get the feeling Thomson and their cash are hard to separate!