Well done Shaz. I know it's not easy so good on you for sticking to your guns.

Well done. Its great to see the consumer coming out on top!! I hope lots of forum users read your posting. Its gives us all loads of hope. Congrats.

thats brilliant, i took a tour operator to small claims court about 2-3 yrs ago and won, we were all gassed and i only got £750 back not even full amount of holiday although i won i was disappointed on the amount as i had been told by a solicitor we should get around £1500, we went ourselves to save solicitor costs and they sent a specialist, wish i had taken a holiday solicitor now as i know i would have got more, they keep trying to trip you up all the time with questions etc

Congratulations on winning your case!
I bet it's a great weight off your mind. I'm in the process of trying to get some compensation for a ruined holiday but hopefully it wont lead to the small claims courts. If it does though it's nice to know that sometimes the holiday maker does actually win.

hi, Shazza, well done on your successful claim. these tour operators think they can take your hard earned money,make interest on it and then give you nothing in return when things go wrong. i am currently proceeding with court action against direct holidays for the way they have treat us since last august. read my holiday report and you will know why. i am a little worried that it has gone so far as to issue court proceedings. they offered us £500 back in january and i thought that was an insult as we shelled out £3200. we now have to pay about £500 towards solicitors etc and i just hope it all comes good for us. any advise?

Hi, Thanks to everyone for your replies.Im still really pleased with myself.
Steviemac-I didnot use a solicitor for my case so we didnot have solicitors fees etc to pay,the advise i would give is make sure you have all the evidence you can ie photos and at my case the judge said he was impressed with the amount i had found out about "the law",i had researched the net for info on the package travel regs and abta code of conduct and had highlighted in my evidence all the bits that were relevent to my case,i also used parts from the safe and sound download from HT.The judge also said he wouldnot even have considered my case if i had not kept the original brochure that i had booked from. Dont give in to any pressure you get from the holiday company,we were not offered any compensation until i threatened legal action at which point they offered us £300,the £1200 we won was two-thirds of the total holiday cost,we were also reimbursed court costs.Good luck with whatever action you take,if you would like any further help or encouragement,you are welcome to PM me.

well done Shaz