Holiday Complaints

Do you have a holiday complaint? For help and advice post in here.
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I'm afraid that the issue re the flights is probably that Thomson are refusing to change them and the hands of staff at Thomas Cook are, therefore, tied. Much will probably depend on the date of travel - is it fairly soon?

I am assuming that you didn't have travel insurance in place after booking and before you had the health problems because otherwise you would presumably have been able to claim against that?

SM
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Hi Sm

The holiday isn't until August, and yes I do have travel insurance, I was'nt wanting to cancel the holiday just to change the week and did'nt believe it would be too much of a problem to do so. I'ts not somthing I have ever had to do before and would have thought a resonable admin fee might have covered their hassel.
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Hi, if you are having to change this holiday due to a hospital admission or for health related reasons and do have travel insurance in place, as long as this isn't due to a pre-existing condition that you had NOT informed them about (if you did then this shouldn't prevent any claim), then the simplest thing is going to be to get confirmation of the medical need to change the holiday and then claim for these costs from your insurer.

SM
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Another option is the hospital one. I've found our hospital to be really flexible regarding rebooked holidays as the rest, relaxation etc they find is good for you. Would it be possible therefore, as your only going for a week to alter the hospital appointment?

I can't understand why Thomson's won't allow a flight change with amendment fee, although you could get stung for a flight price increase also.
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Thanks folks, I'm not actually the one going to hospital, its my mother and she wants me to be there and too be honest I want to be there for her. Wouldn't be much of a holiday knowing my mum was laid up in hospital on her own... I think the point i'm trying to make is why is it such a big deal for a holiday company to switch dates nearly 4 months away if the customer is willing to pay the admin fee.. Its not going to cost them anything..!
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I hope all goes well for your mum :tup

I can't understand it either to be honest. I'd probably try Thomson's direct but they may not discuss it with you if you booked through TC. Didn't Tc say why Thomson's won't allow a change? If there's seats it doesn't make sense.
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"If there's seats it doesn't make sense" my sentiments exactly, not only are their seats but, the accomodation is available, I wasn't asking for my money back, I'd only booked it the week before, I wasn't aware I had booked anything with Thompson holidays as I'd booked through the Thomas cook website, I was quite happy to pay an admin fee I was happy to pay any additional costs if there was any but, I was told to basically pay the extra £1300 or lump it.. When I phoned them up I was thinking it could be done there and then over the phone for a nominal fee when the call had ended I thought they were being very un-reasonable. I was even told if I didn't like the options then I should take it up with Atol.. When I asked for the operators name he only gave me his first name and when I asked for the managers details I was told he wasn't allowed to give them details out.. Maybe i'm just expecting too much from a tour operator..
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Hope you get things sorted out , I get the feeling that if you had made a hotel booking and then contacted them ( the hotel ) with your issue they would try to be accommodating to you , and if you made a flight booking you could contact the airline to make a change subject to availability , increased price if any and an admin charge ( I have changed an EJ booking this way ) yet you have booked a package which you think would be a safer choice , a sensible and protected choice but sadly offering you no choice in flexibility or even a helpful reply , and I assume that they will be hoping you book with them again in the future as a valued customer .
Good luck anyway , as you said maybe I'm expecting too much from a TO
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It's not clear that the OP has bought a standard package or who the TO is if he has because the problem seems to be that the flights are being treated as a separate component from the accommodation which would. To normally be the case with a standard package? The fact that his only option some 4 months before flying seems to be to cancel the flights and rebook them, suggests that this is not a standard TO package with either Thomas Cook or Thomson and that the flights have been booked as non-transferable, non-exchangeable flights. Without knowing the details and the T&Cs that the OP signed up to it's hard to advise him any further.

SM
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UKnosferat2, just a quick thought - have you actually spoken to your insurer about this? A long as your Mum's hospitalisation doesn't relate to a pre-existing condition either (or was one that you declared as something that might affect your holiday when took it out) you might still be covered for cancelling. Some policies will cover you for circumstances where a close relative falls ill and needs you to be around so it would be worth checking this out.

SM
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SMa wrote:
It's not clear that the OP has bought a standard package or who the TO is if he has because the problem seems to be that the flights are being treated as a separate component from the accommodation which would. To normally be the case with a standard package? The fact that his only option some 4 months before flying seems to be to cancel the flights and rebook them, suggests that this is not a standard TO package with either Thomas Cook or Thomson and that the flights have been booked as non-transferable, non-exchangeable flights. Without knowing the details and the T&Cs that the OP signed up to it's hard to advise him any further.

SM


They state they used the Thomas Cook website so they'd be under the impression (& so would I) that a package holiday was being bought?
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But if they made a flight+hotel booking or one using the Flexible trips branding then the T&Cs (here https://www.thomascook.com/terms-and-conditions/booking-terms-and-conditions/) that type of booking clearly state

.We will charge amendment fees each time you request us to make a change to your booking, but will not charge more than £150 per person or £500 per booking for each individual request made at any one time. This does not include where cancellation charges are applied as shown.
Note 1: Flights not operated by Thomas Cook Airlines: If your booking does not include a flight operated by Thomas Cook Airlines (or includes another form of transport, e.g. Eurostar), or if you have booked a Flexibletrips branded holiday, changes to your booking/flight can be very restrictive. We will pass on to you the cost imposed by the supplier, for any amendments they agree to make. Please also note that destination and date changes can be treated by some suppliers as a cancellation and rebooking, regardless of the period of notice given to us. Suppliers may charge up to 100% of the transport element of your booking and you must also pay the charge listed in the table above.
Note 2: If your booking includes a flight with Thomas Cook Airlines, you are permitted to change your departure date to another date within 6 months of your original travel date without incurring cancellation charges (unless the change is made less than 84 days before departure). A change of travel date when travelling with any other airline/transport provider will incur cancellation charges imposed by the supplier which could be up to 100% of the transport element of your booking.
Note 3: In some cases we negotiate special offer rates with our accommodation providers, such rates may not allow cancellations of accommodation ? any such changes will incur up to 100% charges. Where this applies, you will be advised at the time of booking. For all other cancellations you make to accommodation the charges stated in the table apply
Note 4: You are not permitted to change all the names on any booking and at least one of the passengers (over 18) on the original booking must remain, unless you are prevented from travelling for reasons beyond your control and not simply from a change of mind. Name changes on day of departure, where permitted, will incur additional administration costs. Name changes (including initial changes), on flights other than Thomas Cook Airlines may be treated as a cancellation and re-booking and you will be asked to pay any costs we incur from our supplies together with the charge set out in the table.


If Thomson are treating the change of dates as a cancellation then that would explain the high cost for changing the dates.

SM
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Also, I doubt that Thomsons will be bending over backwards to assist a Thomas Cook customer.
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Any advice? Sorry to be blunt but always read the Terms and Conditions before agreeing to them.

The Thomas Cook website is an agency website, not a tour operators one. They sell flights with many airlines and use other airlines for ready made packages.

Without knowing what the OP booked it's impossible to pass comment really. A standard package and it should be changeable within Thomas Cooks T&Cs.

As this isn't the case I'm thinking this isn't a ready made package, but a tailor made one via the flights and hotel tab on TC website. If this is the case the OP picked the airline themselves during booking and as has already been posted, sometimes holidays bought with airlines other than TC can be very restrictive.

For a change of date to a flight this far from departure, Thomson Airlines charge £30 per person plus 50% of original fare.
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Glynis HT Admin wrote:


They state they used the Thomas Cook website so they'd be under the impression (& so would I) that a package holiday was being bought?


I think that's the idea they like to give .

I don't want to quote all the T&CS in the following post because by the time I had read to the end of Note 1 I had a splitting headache , how many more different types of packages can these people sell ? " flexible trips " which appear to me to be rather inflexible :think

Sunaddict wrote:
Any advice? Sorry to be blunt but always read the Terms and Conditions before agreeing to them..


I agree but it's getting to the point where you need to employ the services of a solicitor to book a package !!!
It's all very well covering yourself in T&CS and yes they are important , but.....

uknosferat2 wrote:
When I asked for the operators name he only gave me his first name and when I asked for the managers details I was told he wasn't allowed to give them details out.. Maybe i'm just expecting too much from a tour operator..


So you are having to abide by a raft of T&CS, but a simple request after parting with your money is met with this sort of reply ????

del949 wrote:
Also, I doubt that Thomsons will be bending over backwards to assist a Thomas Cook customer.


Doesn't sound like anyone is even leaning slightly backwards to help/ assist / look after a paying customer

Perhaps I'm really wrong here and very much on my own but I just find this type of " thing " disgraceful .
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It might be disgraceful but if customers keep ticking the box to say that they have read and agreed to the Terms and Conditions then TAs will keep doing this. What incentive is there for them to change their working practices if customers keep buying holidays with these sort of T&Cs attached to them?

SM
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Flexible as in the flexibility to choose your airline and your accommodation instead of being stuck with something that's been pre packaged.

I can never understand why people tick the box and agree to the terms and conditions without even reading them. Do these people buy a house, a car, take out a loan, by on finance etc without reading the contract first? :yikes
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I'm not saying understanding and agreeing to T&CS is not important , but its the total complexity of them , I would argue that's it seems easier to understand exactly where you stand when buying a house than trying to fully explain to someone else the T&CS of your holiday package !!! I just don't get the poor service so often portrayed in these type of complaints , I would like to think that a TO or TA would want to crawl up to higher ground or at least achieve higher moral standing than the perceived view of estate agents , car dealers and banks / money lenders , and by buying something that is unseen you do have to place a reasonable amount of trust in someone that after all is selling you something that is fun desirable and exciting , I think I'd feel safer buying a timeshare from a journalist !!!!

It's not so much the T&CS that annoy me , they exist in everything we buy , we all agree to them but probably don't understand them fully to their extent , but its the disgraceful service that can't be excused for a paying customer trying to resolve any issues , it's al, just passing the buck .
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