Thomas Cook - what you need to know - MSE News

N4t4lie

Mc1979 wrote: »

Hi, we had a package holiday booked with Thomas cook leaving on Wednesday. It was paid a third on my credit card, a third on my wife's credit card and a third cash. Which would be the best way to pursue a refund, via section 75 on one of the credit cards or wait for ATOL to release the forms?

Sorry to hear you have lost your holiday, but be assured that you will get a refund. But be patient, it can take a while through any method.

Most likely the credit card company would send you to ATOL in the first instance as it would be a claim against their insurance they would rather not have to make. Also it depends if you booked a TC holiday or a holiday with another provider through the TC website. A TC holiday would be covered, any other would not be covered under Section 75 as they will have just acted as an intermediary.

Hope that helps, I learned a lot a few years ago when LowCost went under and it's never as clear cut as you think. ATOL cover does make the loss of a package easier.

N4t4lie

ChrisMC wrote: »

I'm a bit confused. I'm going to have to do Chargeback for some of my costs (a number on VISA). I noted I have to submit a chargeback claim within 120 days but I also have to have exhausted all avenues with Thomas Cook first. So I had a few initial questions :


1. Realistically, am I going to get anywhere with chargeback?
2. Who do I contact in TC to start the conversation
3. Could I exhaust all avenues with TC in 120 days
4. Could I argue with my Cardholder that I'm not going to get very far with the retailer and go straight to charge back?




Maybe I should just contact Barclaycard?


Thanks, Chris

Hi, what costs are you trying to get back through chargeback? If you have a package all elements should be covered by ATOL. If you had flight only then ATOL does not apply and you'll need to do a chargeback or section 75 if it was on a credit card (see the main site for details on chargeback and Section 75 as it may not be straight forward). If it is trips booked independently they technically are still running so you may not be able claim a refund from your card and it might be up to their goodwill to refund you.

In the case of chargeback on holidays & flights you get 120 days from the date the flight was due to take off or the holiday was due to start so I wouldn't worry about the time running out (at worst they can start the 120 days from the day TC went into administration).

As for contacting Thomas Cook they no longer exist so unfortunately there is no one to talk to about your individual circumstance.

Hope that helps a bit, apologies to ask you a lot of questions, but it's never straight forward.

N4t4lie

cwaite wrote: »

I booked a flight only on Lastminute.com, Thomas Cook was due to be the carrier, can't get past Lastminute.com's automated phone system, have tweeted them, tried emailing them at customerservice@bravofly.com but that just bounced back, on their website they have simply copied and pasted the information on Thomas Cook's website.


Just trying to find out as I have paid Lastminute.com for the flights, so I guess my contract is with Lastminute.com rather than Thomas Cook, is it Lastminute.com's responsibility to find another flight for us or refund us?

Not sure if you have seen the update on their web page yet. Says they will refund flight only bookings in 60 days. They will only 'try' to find alternative flights for those on packages with ATOL cover.

Let's hope Lastminute.com have finally learned from the collapse of other holiday companies to give a good service when this happens, when others went under they were pretty terrible.

candygirl

What happens if someone has booked a flight for you as a gift? Can they still get money back under section 75?
I'm going bog eyed here looking for info

N4t4lie

candygirl wrote: »

What happens if someone has booked a flight for you as a gift? Can they still get money back under section 75?
I'm going bog eyed here looking for info

I assume it is a Thomas Cook flight and not a flight with another airline booked through Thomas Cook? If it was booked on a card (credit or debit) then I am sure that at minimum they can initiate a chargeback. See the main site for info and template letters for chargeback and Section 75 claims. The cardholder will have to make the claim.

I feel your pain, having gone through this a few years ago you find out it's never easy, quick or straight forward. You will need to be patient though, it can take a long time to process.

candygirl

N4t4lie wrote: »

I assume it is a Thomas Cook flight and not a flight with another airline booked through Thomas Cook? If it was booked on a card (credit or debit) then I am sure that at minimum they can initiate a chargeback. See the main site for info and template letters for chargeback and Section 75 claims. The cardholder will have to make the claim.

I feel your pain, having gone through this a few years ago you find out it's never easy, quick or straight forward. You will need to be patient though, it can take a long time to process.

Thanks so much.I got gifted a flight , but luckily bit the bullet and booked another flight on Fri, when I guessed TC were folding.
Some people on my Facebook travel page have been refunded unready with chargeback a from Barclays :eek:
PS yea it's a TC flight booked through their airline:(

N4t4lie

candygirl wrote: »

Thanks so much.I got gifted a flight , but luckily bit the bullet and booked another flight on Fri, when I guessed TC were folding.
Some people on my Facebook travel page have been refunded unready with chargeback a from Barclays :eek:
PS yea it's a TC flight booked through their airline:(

Glad you sorted yourself out at least, should be a pretty straight forward claim with the card company, get the person who gave you the gift to call them tomorrow. Bless, they get you a nice present and then have to sort out the refund too!

Nice to hear people are being refunded already too, that is good service.

Enjoy your holiday.

up-north-eng

thecoffeehouse204 wrote: »

When are you due to go to Disney? We had booked through TC for next April and just assumed the whole booking would be cancelled.
Could see what was on the cards and gambled rebooking yesterday with a small deposit in case of price hikes, was a good gamble as our dates are now £1k more with no direct flights.
Can 'see' our tickets & hotel reservation on the my Disney app but assumed at some point they would disappear and we'd be able to add our new booking. We'd only paid a deposit to TC so far so can't see that they will have paid the full balance to Disney yet and as our contract was with TC not Disney they won't come chasing us for the money will they? Worried we might end up paying twice for trying to save our selves some money!

We go next week. You ‘have’ your tickets once you receive your ‘will call’ number and are able to make fast pass reservations. This is for staying off site mind. I’m not sure how it works for staying in Disney Hotels. We got lucky too, rebooked the new hol at 5am after TC went bust for pretty much the same price. By lunchtime it had risen 3k!!

Wildsurf

silvercar wrote: »

If they rebook you, then presumably you then have an atol protected holiday. If you book flights, will those flights be protected?

The issue for me is that I can get flights now and be only marginally worse off (~£50), but if I leave it to On the Beach might they find an excuse to just cancel and refund. By the time this happens any comparably priced flights are likely to be long gone. That said, if they make even half an effort they will see there are multiple daily flights from across UK to Tenerife so it shouldn't be hard to source a replacement for us.

Silverbear_2

I'm in Corfu with TUI but flights are with TC. Haven't had reply back for information from TUI about how we are getting home on Thursday, will it be a repatriation flight or do TUI have to arrange another flight? ATOL is with TUI not TC, bit confused at moment.