Haaaa.... we get a few of those in the restaurant i work in

Makes me wonder why they keep comong back

I met a gent in Alcudia a few years back, he carried a small metre wheel and tape measure and would spend time checking the brochure accuracy. He would walk to town with his wheel to measure that distance, the same to the beach etc. As well as all the facilities at the resort and hotel. He boasted that he always found something and hasnt paid full price for a holiday since year dot!

Some people need to get out more....

I'm one who always advocates going for the jugular against travel companies who don't deliver what they promised, but I accept there are professional complainers who ruin it for all. We've had the odd unreasonable complaint even on here.

So, I can see where TUI are coming from, underneath I am a fair person!

Peter

There are professional complainers out there. I have seen them rallying support from other guests, writing copious notes and making report after report with the rep. Only recently, a guest came to a rep I know asking to write a report on her last day so that she could claim her free holiday when she got home. Later, 3 or 4 more guests did the same becuase she had egged them on.

Unfortunately, these complaints, which are normally highly exaggerated have to be dealt with and they take time to investigate making the genuine complaints sit waiting for a response.

Louby

Only recently, a guest came to a rep I know asking to write a report on her last day so that she could claim her free holiday when she got home. Later, 3 or 4 more guests did the same becuase she had egged them on.

That wouldn't work Louby as they have to prove that they gave the company a chance to put things right in resort and this clearly wouldn't be the case.

Here's the link.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article4962668.ece
Quite frankly if I could permanently boycott Thomson, I would, but it becomes difficult when they have a monopoly on your favourite hotel and the prices to book directly with the hotel are inflated to make the Thomson's package appealing.

IMO: Bottom line...we're being screwed left, right and centre by them.
The price of a barrel of oil has halved from last year and is now $68.
Thomson have an hedging policy of which 78% of fuel is hedged..... 84% hedged on the Euro and 76% on USD requirements for the summer season 2009.
For the winter season, the Group is now 87% hedged on fuel, 95% hedged on the Euro and 91% on USD requirements and as such is well positioned to benefit from the recent falls in oil prices, which begs the question..... why are they passing the hike in prices on the price of a barrel of oil/aviation fuel.?
You're being screwed and with less and less competition....it will get worse for us and better for the shareholders, who are the priority, not you or I...FACT!
When I hear statements about "increasing our profits for the shareholders" and nothing about delivering a better service for our customers, then it makes my blood boil.

Go take a look at the German side of this outfit.......they have the choice of the better hotels, better standards of reps and overall a better standard of service than us Brits, and if they (Germans) see so much as one cockroach in the restuarant, the Germans go for the jugular.
The whingers are not solely the Brits, so this black book is "out of order", but maybe if Thomson took a look at both markets and compared the standards of what they're selling to each nation, then maybe there would be less complaints from the Brits.

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Just to say that I have frequently researched hotels and flights offered as package holidays by TUI UK and TUI Deutschland.

I'd just like to point out that many of the hotels they offer are aimed marketed at specific customers ie different resorts and hotels for customers from different countries, and that there are definitely 'British' and 'German' resorts in Mallorca and the Antalya area of Turkey, though of course there are SOME hotels which they offer to both German and British customers.

Hotels used by German customers in addition to their local characteristics tend to reflect those of their prime customer market, ditto for British clients. I had a personal experience where I booked a hotel near Mt Olympus, Greece, a fortnight ago for an overnight from the internet, and on arrival discovered the 123-Fly and Neckermann logos on the windows of the lobby. It was run by a Greek who was born in Frankfurt, and we turned down a perfectly edible buffet dinner for the very reasonable price of 10€ because it was only German cooking and there were no Greek elements at all. That said, the rooms were impeccably clean, the beds comfy and hot water continually available in the bathroom!

Some British people venture abroad very cautiously and would welcome the opportunity of being to eat 'what we eat at home' and not what they might ignorantly call 'foreign muck'.

It would be good to see TUI standardise their hotel accommodation and facilities to the high standards expected by German travellers as a matter of 'the norm'. Also to use the same legal pricing requirements that apply in Germany ......... that the price you see is the final price with no supplements.

I have to say that I was also on an all-British cruise, and some of the complaints I heard seemed to be very trivial, and could have been resolved by a bit of patience on the part of the complainer, or some research before travelling.

Different folks, different standards .................. and different manners of complaining, some more effective than others and some less. But someone always wanting something for nothing or demanding compensation without a concrete reason manages to spoil things for others. Just my opinion.

well i returned from Zakynthos last weekend the food although not what i would call traditional had all the elements of Ionian-Greek food the flavours and colours were there but the sauces/grave were a bit on the thin side but very well prepared and presented, whilst sitting out after dinner having the compulsory fag,2 couples were talking rather loudly across from us saying what sh1t the food was and it was inedible.. we thought strange its some of the best hotel food we had had in Greece and of all the hotels we had been to the only ones we didn't like the food was when it was international/German/British usually tinned or frozen.. I have never understood why when people go abroad they would rather eat factory produced [and not very good ] English style food rather than fresh local produce.. but then those are the people who when at home will pay for and moan about imported produce instead of eating what is fresh and seasonal.

Brian

I know a couple who complain regularly about their holidays - even when staying at 5* accommodation. I know for a fact that they have had loads of money refunded. We were with them once when they started complaining and OH and I took our grandchildren outside and stood on the pavement while it was sorted. We were disgusted, with what was going on. I am waiting to hear the result of their latest complaint about a holiday to Cork

some people seem to have nothing better to do than to complain and moan. most holiday companies, hotels etc are trying their best but everyone is different so pleasing everyone all the time is difficult. if everyone had a different opinion and complained where would we be? most hotels would go out of bussiness. i think more diliberate complainers who do so for leisure should be like the vast majority of people and only complain when its serious enough to warrant it.. the rest of the time just grin and bare it and make the most of your holiday, they come at a high price!!

I was very impressed when I had to complain to Airtours (the one and only time I have ever complained).

We were in Australia and they accidentally sent us on the same tour 2 days in a row, which involved a 3 hour coach journey each way.

I emailed the rep in Sydney and she flew straight up to Darwin to see us all (there were about 18 of us that were on the same holiday, we didn't know each other before hand).

We were going to Cairns as the next part of the holiday and she arranged for all of us to go on the best Great Barrier Reef excursion that there was, and in addition when we all got back to Sydney they gave each and everyone of us $250 in cash!!

I was so impressed that one email resulted in them taking this course of action.

If a complaint is genuine this showed me that they do take action (maybe we were just lucky??) and as such I would never pick faults just to try and get some money back, I'm normally enjoying my holiday to much to worry about minor faults. Lets face it, all of us could find fault with things if we really wanted to.

Obviously its someones right to complain if things are below standard but to complain for the sake of complaining is very sad.

Mark

Glynis HT Admin wrote:

That wouldn't work Louby as they have to prove that they gave the company a chance to put things right in resort and this clearly wouldn't be the case.

LOL you are right, unfortunately it doesn't stop them.
I don't know if I have posted this before but the most memorable complaint this summer for us was from a lady who went to the beach & felt like she was in a foreign country.
Other favourites are too many foreigners, no English food, sea too cold, beach too sandy, fish in the sea, seaweed on the beach etc etc. The list is endless.

Its a real shame that the perpetual complainer clogs up the system with demands for compensation where it is not justified.

What many of them don't realise is that the complaint letter goes directly to the office of the resort where they were staying. They are not answered by the CS depts in UK. That way the issues can be investigated by the people involved - the reps, hotel owners, suppliers etc etc. Thankfully, cases of high exaggeration are soon weeded out.
Louby

I think a lot of the smaller companies already have their own blacklists running. I know the one I worked for did!! As loubychew says, all letters of complaint are sent back to resort for investigation by the onsite staff.

And I know it's but my best was a complaint that I had made a client put his clothes on before he was delivered to the airport for his flight. He said I was very unfriendly when I insisted he couldn't check in naked

I wish I had written down all the funnies!

a friend of ours used to get a complaint form before they went,,,,,,,, theyd come back and we used to say, "well,,,, waht are you claiming for this time?"

What many of them don't realise is that the complaint letter goes directly to the office of the resort where they were staying.

So when I complained that the reps' supervisor was a total waste of space and needed retraining or sacking, the complaint was sent to her to deal with?

That could explain the lack of response...

Maybe Thomson could be a bit more honest themselves then!!!
How many times have you looked at a place in their brochure, Salou for example and the hotel they're advertising is 3 miles away from Salou?
Or when they say it's 300 metres to the beach! After 300 metres you usually have to 'swim' across another 200 metres of roads etc!
Peace and quiet = Nothing to do
Great for young adults = Yobs puking all over the place, (fair enough but the hotel's also being advertised with a kids club)
A stones throw from the beach = Bring a catapult
Only 1.2 miles from the beach = 1.6 miles from the 300 steps leading to the beach
In Salou = about as close as Birmingham airport is to Birmingham city centre!

stevebell001 wrote:

So when I complained that the reps' supervisor was a total waste of space and needed retraining or sacking, the complaint was sent to her to deal with?

Yes quite likely it was though you should have still received a reply. We get to see all the hurtful remarks, personal comments and the like. Not nice when you have actually bent over backwards to assist.
Louby

this is an interesting post, ive just put in a claim with ros over our thomsons holiday, although its the first time ive complained about a thomsons holiday and ive been on about 4 with them the last year, wonder if ill be on the black list now lol, saying that i did put in nice comments about the rep as she did try to help us and was very nice, it was the manager ive put in complaints about absolutely vile man, he needs to learn how to deal with guests, so hope he reads my report, had so many awful problems on this holiday, too many to list, but the most concerning 1 to me was when some turkish man grabbed my 8 yr old daughter and chased her across the complex with her 2 friends, he took the ice cream off 1 of her friends and tried to pull her away but she broke free,thats when he turned on my daughter , she was terrified, he followed her to us and still wouldnt leave he wanted photos of her in her bikini , hubby shouted at him, security knew about him and said he wasnt all there and yet allowed him into the grounds of the all inc , i dread to think what would have happened if they hadnt got away,they had only gone 1 min to get an ice cream from the complex, after our report to security and the manager all they said to us was tell your daughter to say no shes really quiet and shy and wouldnt be able to stand up to him,it was diabolically handled he should have been reported to the police, someone else came up to security whilst we were telling them what had happened and pointing out the man to them and said this man had also grabbed their daughter, ive been going to turkey for over 26 years and ive never had anything like this happen before , very worrying. this in my opinion alone is serious enough to complain about , but we encountered so many other problems too grrr .

i do agree some people complain over the slightest thing, it would be very difficult to have a perfect holiday, but you sort of expect minor hiccups , but not potentially having some pervert grabbing your young child in a private 5* all inc !!!

Maybe Thomson could be a bit more honest themselves then!!!
How many times have you looked at a place in their brochure, Salou for example and the hotel they're advertising is 3 miles away from Salou?
Or when they say it's 300 metres to the beach! After 300 metres you usually have to 'swim' across another 200 metres of roads etc!
Peace and quiet = Nothing to do
Great for young adults = Yobs puking all over the place, (fair enough but the hotel's also being advertised with a kids club)
A stones throw from the beach = Bring a catapult
Only 1.2 miles from the beach = 1.6 miles from the 300 steps leading to the beach
In Salou = about as close as Birmingham airport is to Birmingham city centre!

Spot on Chivas
So Thomson don't like us complaining,? well that's just tough because when I read reports of moved, delayed and cancelled flights, weddings and honeymoons ruined, reps as useful as a hole in the head, sharing your room with families of cockroaches, overbooking hotels, hotels situated out in the sticks.... blah blah blah......the list is endless.
Whose fault is that? It certainly isn't the paying customers fault, they don't organise these things and it's about time Thomson took the responsibility on their own shoulders instead of blaming the people who part with their hard earned cash and keeps Thomson viable as a company.....so what do they think we're going to do.? put up and shut up with their glorified cr@p holidays and service.?
Not forgetting that all important profit margin that they strive to achieve.

Of course in all walks of life there are the habitual whingers and people who make it their sole purpose to moan about something, but I personally believe these people are a minute minority and the majority of people who make a complain have a genuine grievance.
I don't think we should encourage Thomson by specifically highlighting these cases...what about all the other people who DO have a genuine grievance and who have to resort to the services of a solicitor or the courts to get what's rightfully theirs when a product does not come up to the expectations of their brochures or because of Thomson's inability to approach a genuine case and accept they were at fault......instead of dragging it on for months with mountains of bull correspondence going backwards and forwards ?

I like this bit from the Times link....
*quote removed- copyright*
So, there you go folks....stop advising people to fight for their rights because they hardly pay out.
Just pay up, put up, shut up and when it goes wrong.....

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii