No Thomas Cook rep - website changed since booking

JFRP

Hi there,

Checked the FAQs and stickies and can't see anything that quite gets me where I want to be so looking for some input from please.

Just returned from a 10 day all inclusive holiday in Tenerife booked through Thomas Cook.
The holiday was booked for 2 couples - myself and my wife, sister and brother-in-law. One thing always on my sisters checklist when we arrange a holiday is that there's an on-site company rep.

First we realised there was no on-site was when we arrived at the airport on Tuesday afternoon the airport rep put us in a taxi, handed us an envelope, said "no rep at your hotel but everything you need in envelope". Everything we needed turned out to be a card with some UK phone numbers and web links and a sheet of paper with details of where rep meetings were at other hotels in other resorts.

Unfortunately by the time we had sat down and read the info on Wednesday morning - the same day the meetings were on!- we had not only missed the first lot of meetings, but as our hotel (in El Medano) was a fair bit from the nearest meeting (in Los Cristianos) and a 35 euro taxi ride it would have been a pain to get there. This is meant to be a holiday after all.

Being a family that really does like to get away from it all and leave all the technology at home, a list of web sites to visit to explore and book trips is pretty much useless. Then the thought, on day one of holiday, how do we know when pick is to go home?. OK, always take a mobile in case of emergencies back home so called the UK number we were given - incurring roaming charges. I was told that website made it clear there was no rep, blah, blah, blah. Decided not to get into that there and then but asked how do we know when return pick up is? Told to register on-line.

That was another phone call to my daughter back home to register us for a text "48 hours" prior. That text never arrived yet!. When it hadn't arrived night before departure another call home to daughter who checked on-line and told us pick up place and time (They were 15 mins late of course!). Found out later from another passenger that this information is available at hotel reception previous day but no-one at TC thought to tell us that.

We like a rep on site and always go to the meetings to see what is available and the instruction as per airport leaflet to check out trips and book on line is nonsense without prior notice. This time we just booked some day trips through the hotel. (Which were excellent and actually better than TC organised trips in my opinion. You're not stopping every 2 mins to be hustled through some leather or aloe vera outlet! We were taken on each trip to a recommended cafe but we usually go our own way for lunch.)

When we booked the holiday back on 5/11/15 (Yup, that far in advance) the web site clearly that there was a rep on site although that had now changed. I have no screenshoots and all confirmation details from TC have links to web pages which have also now changed.

So to the questions;-
We enjoyed our holiday despite the lack of service from TC but I feel some small percentage refund is due for the inconvenience but I have no idea what I should be asking for and open to advice.

Is there a pro forma template for a complaint of this nature somewhere on site or best to just make it up as I go along?

It may be relevant but the whole holiday was paid in one lump sum using my credit card.

Payment summary
Total price was £4,155.96
Online discount -£436.00
Promotional discount -£50.00
Promo code: TCOUTFIT
Holiday total £3,669.96
Total paid £3,669.96

Moto2

So you were upgraded to not having to put up with a rep.

win,win if you ask me

Voyager2002

I think you should seek reimbursement for the costs of the telephone calls needed to get details of your transfer back to the airport.

Since the excursions booked through the hotel were both better and cheaper than the excursions a rep could have sold you, in other respects you benefited from the absence of a rep (who is essentially a salesman for over-priced excursions).

lea2012

It usually states on a tour op website 'in resort rep service' rather than 'rep at this hotel' so are you sure you haven't got the two confused? In-resort would also just mean that there would be a rep available to come and see you, had you needed it.

I worked as a rep over 10 years ago and it was quite common even then to not be in every single hotel. In some cases I asked guests to come to a hotel next door for a meeting or if they needed me and in others they may have needed to walk 15 mins or get on a short bus ride to see me. More often they never bothered and were happy to be left alone.

A rep would never personally come round and tell you what time you are being picked up either, it's normally on a notice board in reception and will always be emailed / faxed over to the hotel reception too so they have the info if needed. As for trips, as others have said you did yourself a favour by not booking through a rep as they are always more expensive. Had you thought on, you could have probably just asked reception to call the TC office in resort to get your transfer info or to arrange a meeting with your rep and saved yourself the phone calls and roaming charges. What would you have done if the rep was suddenly ill and couldn't come to the hotel anyway, or maybe stuck with a delayed flight at the airport and not made their duties? Or perhaps even too hungover to bother turning up? (Not something I ever did!!:()

Personally I think you are clutching at straws here and shouldn't even be thinking of compensation. It didn't spoil your holiday, you didn't need the rep and therefore you haven't missed out on the service at all! A rep will probably get paid about £500 a month these days so once you break that down amongst all the hotels and guests that they will look after you probably only 'contributed' about a £1 each for the whole holiday to their salary anyway hardly worth claiming for is it?

Gloomendoom

Moto2 wrote: »

So you were upgraded to not having to put up with a rep.

win,win if you ask me

Exactly my thoughts. When I used to do package holidays, the reps would sometimes come round and demand to know why we hadn't gone to any of the meetings or booked any trips. They didn't like to be told that we were perfectly capable of arranging our own activities.

London50

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Exactly my thoughts. When I used to do package holidays, the reps would sometimes come round and demand to know why we hadn't gone to any of the meetings or booked any trips. They didn't like to be told that we were perfectly capable of arranging our own activities.

These days there is more than enough information online with sites like Trip Advisor that can give you all you need to know before you leave home. IMO the only time a rep MIGHT be needed is for a medical situation and FC does have {on Tenerife} 3/4 people that do that job.
In all the years we have been going to the island we have never used the rep service, we check the hotel we are in to find {either at reception or a dedicated area for info regarding phone numbers and where/when our pick up is for the return airport is.
As the reps need to be paid for what they do I could imagine the rows that would start if each holiday maker is then charged xyz per person to pay for that service as many holiday makers a revisiting and like us do not need/use.
A little work prior to going away can save not only money with trips but also your time by steering clear of the "welcome meetings"

JFRP

Website stated "in resort rep".
Quite understand that that there's not a rep at every hotel. My issue was that the nearest hotel I could go to reps meeting was 50km or so away. On many other holidays I've happily gone next door to meet a rep. And I didn't even ask them to wipe my nose for me.

I don't see how expecting a service I've paid for to be readily available is clutching at straws.

As for the other "better of without a rep" comments, again thanks for the advice but that's a matter of choice. I personally see the rep as someone with a knowledge of wherever I'm visiting who can recommend trips and places to visit. Welcome meeting take an hour or so and a lot of info can be gleaned. Any rep trying a hard sell would be promptly told to take a hike. I'm not so stupid that just because a rep recommends it that I'll pay whatever they ask. Like most people visiting this site I'll be looking for the best deal.

So to summarise the advice here today it's even though you've paid for and been promised a service that hasn't been delivered, tough luck just suck it up?

Pollycat

JFRP wrote: »

Website stated "in resort rep".
Quite understand that that there's not a rep at every hotel. My issue was that the nearest hotel I could go to reps meeting was 50km or so away. On many other holidays I've happily gone next door to meet a rep. And I didn't even ask them to wipe my nose for me.

I don't see how expecting a service I've paid for to be readily available is clutching at straws.

As for the other "better of without a rep" comments, again thanks for the advice but that's a matter of choice. I personally see the rep as someone with a knowledge of wherever I'm visiting who can recommend trips and places to visit. Welcome meeting take an hour or so and a lot of info can be gleaned. Any rep trying a hard sell would be promptly told to take a hike. I'm not so stupid that just because a rep recommends it that I'll pay whatever they ask. Like most people visiting this site I'll be looking for the best deal.

So to summarise the advice here today it's even though you've paid for and been promised a service that hasn't been delivered, tough luck just suck it up?

So what value do you put on this part of your holiday?

London50

My issue was that the nearest hotel I could go to reps meeting was 50km or so away.

El Medano to LC is 22km not 50km or so.

"no rep at your hotel but everything you need in envelope". Everything we needed turned out to be a card with some UK phone numbers and web links and a sheet of paper with details of where rep meetings were at other hotels in other resorts.

So the rep at the airport told you what you needed was in that envelope

by the time we had sat down and read the info on Wednesday morning - the same day the meetings were on!- we had not only missed the first lot of meetings

So there we re other meeting you could have used then, also perhaps {for future reference} is may be a good idea to open any info supplied ASAP after you are given it as it could save you and yours these types of problems.

To me it seems the compensation grab that {like many bad things} started in the USA is now common place in the UK and for every tiny thing that is not 100% as stated gets the "how much can I get for this". Just shows what a soory and greedy world it is.

Tigsteroonie

I wouldn't personally ask for anything. I suggest you write a letter of complaint to TC expressing your disappointment at the change in arrangements (no in-resort rep), and see how they respond. Emphasise that you booked that company & that resort on the basis of service, which you then did not receive. And see what TC have to say - they might make an offer.

London50

a 35 euro taxi ride it would have been a pain to get there

That journey is all motorway so not had also bus number 470 {runs each hour} could have done a return journey for 29 Euros to LC {or 19 Euro return if you got a Bonocard} against 70 Euros for all of you in the taxi.