Thompsons. Please read.

[Val n Bill]

Shame on them! How can a multinational even think that this was adequate.
Get some advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau, they will tell you the right way to proceed. Also check Martin Lewis's site for how to gain compensation from travel companies.

          Val x

[Barry]

It's now well over 28 days since we wrote to them and still no response. Going to put the whole story on their facebook page to see if they take notice of that.

Barry and Christine

[Val n Bill]

Barry and Christine, my daughter and family were delayed 11hours at Manchester airport on 26thAug. Everybody received a £10 food voucher after 3hours....then a £20 voucher after eight hours. This was with Thomas Cook, not Thomsons I know, but the tour operators are all tarred with the same brush.

On her return she wrote to them following the advice on the Martin Lewis site. She got back a nice letter with "not our fault" but we are "sorry".

She then downloaded from the same site template letters of complaint......last Friday she received a holiday voucher from Thomas Cook for £1400 towards her next holiday (£350x4).

So fourteen days from her complaint she had a result. The holiday cost £2000 for the four of them and they lost only 12hours in resort. She thought £1400 was fair

Thomsons are not treating your complaint with the importance it deserves.

           Val x

[Barry]

The power of Facebook. Got a reply.They've contacted the shop where we booked who rang us to say it's been escalated to someone higher up who will ring us within the next 3 days.
Barry and Christine

[daisyday]

We went to Mexico in March and were delayed 7 hours flying out - we were given £7 each for food!  Holiday was with Thomas Cook.  We realised early on flight was delay (i.e. before we left home) but apparently after a lot of ringing around we found out you still have to be at the airport at your scheduled time in case they find another plane!  Our delay was caused by them sending too small a plane to Orlando to collect people so they had to send our plane to collect remaining passengers. I wrote to them using the template and just got back a polite reply saying unfortunately it was a technical problem.  I have now written to the CAA complaining but they said because of the backlog it takes about 6-8 weeks for a response (i.e. to see if any grounds for compensation) but as we were all inclusive we lost 7 hours of it and of course also had to pay more than £7 for food at the airport for 7 hours.

They seem to have it all ways.  If I got a voucher I would be more than delighted although I understand from Martin Lewis website a voucher will be offered first but you can in fact insist on cash ... so worth bearing in mind.

[Val n Bill]

 
My daughters plane was also sent Orlando as it was the only wide bodied plane available on that day due to a breakdown, so everyone on their flight had a delayed holiday. What is it about America that causes these companies to fall over themselves. Is it the large penalties they have to pay there?

Barry, glad that you are now having some success, just hope it is all sorted very quickly. Do not accept less than you deserve.

      Val x

[Barry]

Spoke too soon. Six days later and still waiting. Sent them another message via facebook and told them we will not go away untill it's sorted.

[ness44]

Barry why dont you get in touch with Watchdog? i bet if they got involved Thomson would respond quickly!!!

[GaryS]

After the initial letters and lack of response in 28 days, also include ABTA address on the letters. Once they are on board it means that thompsons can't just ignore you. You will end up with a case number through ABTA and although it will still take time (twelve months for me) They will in the end have to play ball.

[Barry]

Just got a letter from Thomsons. Final offer of £75 cash and 10% off next holiday. They initially gave us £80 for a meal while in Arillas and paid for a taxi to Manchester airport as we couldn't fly from our local one  , and entry into the premier lounge. Thoughts please.
Barry and Christine

[Val n Bill]

Refuse, tell them you are now taking legal advice and thinking of telling the press of their extremely poor customer service.

      Val x

[Truth]

Its a personal choice really Barry , do YOU think its fair ?  If you think its reasonable and if you simply can't be bothered with any more hassle on the subject (I get like that sometimes !) take it.

[GaryS]

Its pittiful, but from experience I'm not sure you will get anymore. 10% off another holiday and £70-£90 is standard fare for the big tour operators and with ABTA on board too its exactly what I was offered and encouraged to accept.

Gary

[Barry]

Having given this some thought when everthings added up i don't think we'll get any more.
Altogether we have now got...
£240 off the cost of flights to Corfu
£80 for a meal
£138 for a taxi to and from the airport
Entry into the premier lounge at Manchester
A cheque for £75
10% of another holiday ( they can forget that one)
So i don't think we'll persue it anymore, lifes too short.
As promised i can now give you all a holiday report.
We originally booked the Kaloudis having stayed there before but due to the afore mentioned troubles we booked in at the Hotel Marvel. And what a brilliant time we had there! Kostas met us at the airport to take us to the hotel but as another couple he was waiting for were delayed he took us to the nearest bar and bought us a drink. (wouldn't get that with Thomsons).
At the hotel we were shown to our room, nice balcony with a view, room was very clean and remained so thoughout our 3 week stay. Free safety deposit box and air con.
Second day there was our 1st wedding anniversary  and when we returned to our room there was a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine waiting for us.   
As much as we enjoyed the Kaloudis we did prefer the Marvel. There's nothing better than having a good meal with a caraffe of wine, watching the sunset, then sitting on our balcony having an ouzo or two. It was so quiet at the Marvel all you could hear was the odd owl hooting and not a lot else. Bliss!.
We went to various restaraunts  and ate at the hotel a few times and never had a bad meal anywhere.
Weather was perfect.
Did have a funny experiance on the beach one day. Whilst up to my neck in the sea cooling off i was suddenly "slapped" on the back of my head, turned round to see a large fish, 2 to 3 feet long chasing all the other small fish. it didn't half make me jump. Chris said she would never have believed me if she hadn't seen it as well. I can only assume there were some small fish round me at the time. It left me with red mark on my neck for an hour or so. I was a bit paranoid for a while as i'd been getting an allover tan at the time so was grateful it was swimming on the surface.
All in all we had a fantastic time, Kostas, Spiros and family were very friendly and nothing was too much trouble.
Will be back in July 2014. Already checked Jet 2 flight times.
Best wishes to everyone we met.
Barry and Christine.

[ness44]

Barry so glad you enjoyed it after all the bother you had( we bumped into you on the trip to Corfu town and a few times on the beach). I bet you will be going to the Marvel again next year? Might bump into you both again as we are going back in July.
Vanessa and Tim