Help / Advice Needed!

dan05delaney

Hi guys, this is a bit long but just need the advice, I have put this in the Thomas Cook thread too but wanted as much advice as possible

On Saturday 11th November, my girlfriend and I were booked on flight MT1867 from Tenerife to Manchester, scheduled to depart at 15:05 (to arrive in Manchester 19:35) after checking in at airport we called to go to gates and we were waiting for gates to open and after an hour of waiting (time now 15:00) we were told there was a mechanical fault with the batteries, they were trying to repair it but they might be getting a plane from Gran Canaria to replace it so we can get back to Manchester.

2 1/2 hours later we were called to the gate again when the Rep appeared again and told us a plane was on its way but there was 50 seats less on it so they would be prioritising families, elderly, diabetic etc. but this 50 would be given a letter for €400 compensation and put in a hotel then put on a flight to Birmingham and then a coach back to Manchester after landing.

the time is now 17:30 as we were told we wouldn't be getting on this new flight and to hand over boarding passes and luggage labels so they could put our bags on this new flight, we were then escorted to a coach handed to a new rep and split across 4 hotels, the time was now 19:00 and we were told we had to be ready to be collected at 00:15 to get back to the airport so we could check in as our flight to Birmingham was at 02:45.

We get in the hotel and I have to then borrow a pair of Jeans from the lost and found so I could have some food as no shorts were allowed, so 00:15 comes along and we get the coach back to the airport and are greeted by a different rep who told us we would be given a couple of letters, one with our offer of compensation on, we asked this Rep what had happened to our luggage and we were just told "it had been sorted", we boarded the plane and then Arrived in Birmingham at 07:00, we were then greeted by someone off the plane who told us our Luggage had not arrived in Birmingham and we needed to fill out lost Luggage forms, and that our coach would be collecting us at 8:30

We filled in the forms as asked and questioned the Lost Luggage desk and was told by the friendliest woman we had spoke to and we were told that she had been told at 2300 the night before that our bags were never going to be put on a plane to Birmingham, but she couldn't confirm if they were still in Tenerife or in Manchester we could check when we got back to Manchester if they were there.

The coach arrived and took us back to Manchester at around 10:00 where we get to the Information desk in T1 and ask if our luggage was there and if It could be collected, they confirmed it was there but the baggage handlers couldn't get it to us as it had already been processed for courier,

We finally got our cases back yesterday, 13th Nov.

So nightmare trip back from Tenerife, just wondering if anyone else has been in a situation like this? are Thomas Cook trying to buy us off with the €400 so we don't take it further or are we entitled to more compensation for the trouble we went through

spadoosh

Flight delay compensation is an industry practice anything else is company practice. You can try complaining to thomas cook and hope to get more, im fairly sure theres nothing to say they should though.

Im fairly confident you will be adequately compensated with 400 euros per ticket. They didnt cost anywhere near that did they? And you didnt have to fork out for anything while you where being putup did you?

dan05delaney

Thanks for the reply, first time in this situation so just wanted advice, we luckily didn't pay anything at the hotel the only additional cost was just a sandwich and drink for the coach back to Manchester

spadoosh

You can try adding them on to a complaint if you kept receipts.

Sounds like youll have a pretty easy time reclaiming the flight delay, thomas cook handled it quickly for me. Dont use a third party to claim, if they havent given you info on making a direct claim just use resolver, a simple online tool that doesnt take a cut. I had a bit of delay between being offered vouchers and getting the cash but all went through eventually.