Going to be a 15 hour delay on Thomson flight - what to do?

Angel80_2

Well we are back, and yes the return flight was delayed 3 hours - which isn't even worth complaining about.

In response to Dzug, Thomson knew clearly, but yes the airport staff at Gatwick are not employed by Thomson and they only say what they are told to say (even if they know more as they hear what's really going on). What we were most annoyed with, is not being able to speak to Thomson at all, the airport staff can relay messages but can't answer questions ("as they don't work for Thomson").

The Thomson rep out there also knew about the delay. And they were very efficient to hand us letters saying it was because of a technical fault with the aircraft out of their control and we should claim through our travel insurance.

From cabincrew.com I found out it was the A/C again ... I think it is in their control to fix a fault with the aircraft that has been causing delays for months now.

Also my son checked into the hotel on Sunday when we should have also, and they only had us booked in for 6 nights from Monday as Thomson had already told them!

Forget the "claim compensation through your insurance", the first thing I shall be doing is demanding a refund for the 1 nights hotel that we paid for, but Thomson didn't pay the hotel for!

By the way, the holiday was fantastic other than the Thomson issues. But we will definitely fly with a scheduled airline next time, not only is it the same price, more reliable, and faster ... but also I didn't realise with Thomson you need to pay for your drinks and even the entertainment system; both are free on Delta and Continental plus you even get airmiles!

ethansmum

The only compensation we got was £350 from our Travel insurance for our 24hour delay in Cancun. Good Luck trying to claim from Thomsons, but I think you'll find they will fob you off.

I hope you had a good holiday once you finally got there!

seftonsun

Angel80 wrote: »

..........but also I didn't realise with Thomson you need to pay for your drinks and even the entertainment system; both are free on Delta and Continental plus you even get airmiles!

You mentioned earlier that Delta have more aircraft which would assist with delays. Yes , they do have more aircraft but they are not based in either Cancun or Gatwick. Delta are based in Atlanta and most of their back up is there also.

I have flown Delta in the US and had massive delays, including a 24 hour, when they have mecahanical failures away from their Atlanta base. The same will apply to most airlines when you fly from their base or local station airport. they do not have aircraft sitting around waiting for a possible failure. Planes need to earn money and if they are not the ticket costs are increased to cover the capital employed/lease costs that is and not generating revenue income.

Angel80_2

Yes Continental and Delta don't have hubs in London or Cancun, but they both have multiple flights every day to both destinations via American cities and they rarely run completely full planes.

Where as Thomson often run their planes with no empty seats and only have 2 flights a week, so they have no way of transferring you, or any desire to transfer you to other airlines.

angrypassenger

Hi Angel80

How did you find out about the the one night less at the hotel? did the thomson rep tell you? or did you find out direct from the hotel?

I wish you all the luck in the world with you demands from thomson.
I am flying on this route in two weeks time,and i will not be best pleased if this happens to me.

I want what i'm paying for and i want it right,I think what you paid for you did not get.

bagand96

From cabincrew.com I found out it was the A/C again ... I think it is in their control to fix a fault with the aircraft that has been causing delays for months now.

Do you have proof that it was the same fault that caused delays to the flight more than once? Or even it was the same aircraft running both weeks?

I'm not defending Thomson, but when writing to them I'd avoid giving them advice on aircraft maintenance, they'll be hard enough to get anything out of in the first place. Also be careful of quoting web forums as gospel, there's no proof that anyone there actually works for Thomson/TUI, and they are certainly not representing Thomson in any capacity while posting on the forum.

Like I said, I'm not defending Thomson, but tour operators are horrible to deal with at the best of times, stick to the facts you know, anything else they'll just turn round and use against you.

Angel80_2

Hi angrypassenger

When my son checked in he asked where our room was compared to his, to check we weren't the other side of the resort. It was a sit down desk and the lady brought up the details on the screen in front of him, and it clearly said 6 in the number of nights box. He then pointed this out to us when we checked in the next day.

ethansmum

That is right - you were booked in for 6 days at the resort, the people who were delayed at the resort got the other night. Have you not thought about the people who were due to come home on your plane? They needed to have a place to stay. We have 3 young children, so I kicked up a fuss to keep the same room we had stayed in.

We were really happy to get another day's holiday, whereas alot of other people needed to get home due to commitments. They probably felt just as angry as you. You got a night in a hotel, we got a night at the resort.

Angel80_2

It's not equal though, there are not always the same number of guests every week.

As far as we are concerned we paid for 7 nights at the resort and Thomson only paid the resort for 6. I don't think they will be silly enough to tell us we were paying for someone else the 1st night ... but then we can only wait and see.

ethansmum

No, what I'm trying to explain is why the computer had you down for 6 nights and not 7.

Good Luck persuing them though, they just told us that they fulfilled their legal obligation to house us for the delay, and compensation for lost earnings had to come from the travel insurance.