I would write a letter asking them to refund the money straight away. If they still refuse, then I would be very tempted to write a letter to Thomson telling them they have 14 days to cough up the supplement for the non-existent room that they sold you, or you will see them in the small claims court. There's no way they can get away with selling something that simply doesn't exist. That's fraud.

And make sure you keep all correspondance with them, including a 'screen-print' of the Thomson site stating sea views.

Edit: the "fraud" should read 'f' followed by 'raud' (damn censorship).

Lardylegs

I would certainly print off where it still shows on the website, as no doubt they will take this off their website soon, at least that way you would have proof.

I would certainly be demanding a refund!

I agree with the above two posters. There is no way you should pay 300 pounds for something you are not getting.

Definately do a print screen whilst they still have the information on there.

Also do another couple of print screens. One of the total price with sea view and one of the total price without sea view. Then you have hard evidence.

Write to them recorded delivery, it doesn't cost much extra. If you email they often just say they never got the letter. even though we all know email is probably more reliable than the royal mail (or what passes for it these days )

Thomsons really seem to have gone down hill lately.

I don't believe it: they have changed it, probably as a result of my travel agent speaking to them. It now looks like they are charging only £84 supplement for the limited sea view room, as opposed to the £336 we paid. Unbelievable!
And no....I didn't get the chance to print off the evidence. Typical!
I will write a letter of comlaint though.

What is printed in their brochure - that would be as good, if not better than a screen dump

I'm confused now. So have they refunded you the difference between
336 for the full sea view and the 84 for the limited sea view?

No, not yet. They told our travel agent that they wouldn't be giving us any refund, despite the fact that sea view family rooms (which is what we thought we were booking and paying for!) do not exist at that hotel. They are pulling a fast one really, by still charging us the original amount we were quoted for a full view room but by reducing the supplement on their online prices as they now know the situation with the rooms. Does that make sense?!
Yaaay! We still have the original brochure we booked from, which clearly shows the full view option. Good one Alan!
Good advice also about recorded delivery. I'll use that when I write to them!
Thanks.

Good luck with Thompsons - you are half way there if they have realised that they are at fault. We have found them fair in the past. Let us know what happens.

Yaaay! We still have the original brochure we booked from, which clearly shows the full view option. Good one Alan!

These youngsters [sic] like Everest all they think about is their computer.

If you don't get your money back in respect of the non existent 'sea view', I think your local Trading Standards might be interested. They take a dim view of duff brochure descriptions and fast ones being pulled.

The different ones all over the country share information, and you might not be the only ones getting a rough deal over this.

Peter

I'm staggered at Thomson - are they on the same planet as the rest of us POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS.

There's a point to bear in mind here. You booked in the belief that you would have a full sea-view. You accepted the condition of £300 surcharge.

The contract was made at that point and is binding on both sides. It Thomson cannot provide this facility, a major part of the contract, they are clearly in breach and you are at liberty to demand a full and immediate refund.

You may not wish to take that option as you then have the hassle of booking a replacement. Do Thomson have any alternate hotels in that resort that are able to offer full sea-views? If so, are they acceptable to you. Remember, they may be more expensive than the one you've booked but that it Thomson's problem not yours - they cannot demand additional money from you.

You may agree to stay at the current hotel but, in my view, demand a full refund of the supplement of £300. Again, Thomson would have little option but to comply and should not attempt to charge any admin. fees for such a change.

They may try and charge you the reduced £84 rate - refunding you the balance of £226. You would need to consider this and you need NOT accept - your choices are stated above.

I'd say you were in the best position - if Thomson refuse to refund, change, accept your cancellation etc and you arrive to find other than a FULL sea-view they are seriously in breach of contract and you could sue for compensation over and above the return of the £300.

Point all that out to them soon - write using Royal Mail signed-for service it only adds 60 odd pence to the cost and you can track the delivery n the internet.

Keep us informed of the outcome please.

Your travel agent should be fighting this battle for you.
You are paying for their services and their expertise in the cost of your holiday.

Just to clarify a point, when using Royal Mail, if you want to trace your letter and receive a signature, you will need to use the Special Delivery service, this is more than the 60p quoted, not sure what it is now but used to be £3.65, this gaurantees delivery the next day, a signature and you can trace it through the system. The other service Royal Provide is called Recorded Delivery, this is the cheaper one and will give you a signature on request, it is not recorded on a system and actually travels through the pipeline the same way as any ordenary letter, all your basically paying for with this one is a copy of the signature if required.

I hope this makes sense.

What is advised is as below from Royal Mail website

Recorded Signed For®
(1st Class)

Next working day
(not guaranteed)

Postage plus 68p

1Kg max

Signature on delivery
Complete UK coverage

fwh

fwh,

Thats right, I work for Royal Mail and train staff on this information, I just wanted to make it clear that a signed for (recorded) item is not traced through the system and that it can still get mislaid, not that this happends that often, where as a special delivery is traced all the way through the system and is handed over from driver to processing centre and then the driver signs for it and takes it to the delivery office where it is signed for again, the last part of the journey is the postie where they also get a signature, each time a signature is received it is recorded on a system, much safer way to send valuable mail than recorded but I would suggest in this case Recorded delivery is the correct method.

Sue x

Many thanks for that information. The objective is to ensure that they cannot deny having received your complaint/query.

Something that frustrates so many people is the hours spent listening to Vivaldi whilst trying to speak to someone. And then not getting much in the way of help.

We may live in the Cyber era, but emails so often seem not to arrive or get lost in the system. We have problems with our own computers so why assume that it only happens to us?

The big advantage of writing a letter is also the fact you engage brain before doing so. Letters so often seem to have been thought out, when compared to complaints sent by email.

fwh

Hi, how very true they can get mislaid. I sent a letter from Sussex to London recorded delivery on the 17th March and to this time and date, nobody can tell me if it has been delivered. As you say nothing on system, so now have customer services on too it. Not going to hold my breath too long. Tonyt