Hi...
we flew to Cuba via Thomas cook and were at the airport an hour before our gate opened, we were 2nd in th queue for the check in.. on arriving in Cuba my husbands case didnt arrive.. we were told by the rep we would get £25 a day for the first 3 days then get £200 .. we got £75 after 3 days which really helped as the bug repellent and high factor sun cream was in his case.. he wasnt able to buy any clothes as basically there was only t shirts too buy..so we couldnt use the a la carte restaurants as he needed a shirt with a collar and long trousers..not the jeans he travelled in.....his case was located back in manchester and was sent out via a first choice flight 3 days later... which was great..however the REP left the hotel after giving us this info and didnt return for 2 DAYS and she couldnt believe we still didnt have the case..so 5 days down the line my hubby couldnt use the gym the pool or the restaurants and his case had been sitting at Cuba airport for 2 DAYS!!!!
I wrote and complained to TC and we had complained in resort... i got a response telling me the £75 was all we were gonna get..this holiday cost just under 4 grand!!!!!! in the letter the advisor said she had investigated and £75 was fair.... and that due to lack of space on the plane it can be expected that some cases dont go!!!!!!!!! well im sorry but it cost me an extra £100 just to increase my luggage allowance so why sell it if they cant take everyones case!!!
Ive written back to them saying their customer care seems to be as good as thier customer service..utter rubbish obviously the customer doesnt come first...
I have asked for detailed response as to how they think the £75 they gave to replace key items is fair to all my points in my complaint as none of them were even mentioned ..
a. not having any clothes for 5 days
b. not being able to use the a la carte restaurants which were included in the price of the holiday
c.not being able to use the gym or the pool
d. being totally inconvieniece
e. why was the case left in cuba airport for 2 days, surley it should have been a priority!!
I have asked for a response within 28day or i will report them to ABTA, BBC watchdog and i will consult a solicitor...
Is there anything else i can do to hurry this along i really cant afford to go to a solicitor?.. it took us yrs to save for this holiday and it was ruined by someone not doing their job..firstly at manchester then the customer service recieved when the case just sat at cuba airport...
I cant believe the response i got from TC... yrs ago i had a problem with a bug in my food in a thompson hotel and they settled within weeks...
any help would be appreciated
thanks
Pauline
I know this is not much help just now but in future do what a lot of HT members suggest and mix yours and your husbands clothing between the cases.
One of our cases took a few days to appear on one holiday but because I had mixed the packing we both had clothes to wear and did not have to buy much.
Pippa
One of our cases took a few days to appear on one holiday but because I had mixed the packing we both had clothes to wear and did not have to buy much.
Pippa
in the letter the advisor said she had investigated and £75 was fair.... and that due to lack of space on the plane it can be expected that some cases dont go!!!!!!!!!
If you have that statement in writing, the small claims court and even ABTA will slay them.
Suggest you get free advice from Ros Fernihough, a travel law specialist whose contact details are in sickies at the top of this Forum. She works on a no win no fee basis.
Peter
thank you for your replies...
the splitting the clothes thing would have been a good idea, but because we didnt travel together to the airport..he was coming from scotland where he had been working away for 3 months..so had his clothes with him... I travelled from portsmouth...
still we shouldnt have to split the clothes..i think its not too much to ask that somebody do their job properly at the airport... and to provide good customer service which they failed to do by no one giving a jot and making sure someone would bring it too us when it arrived in cuba...
my husband was very calm throughout, but when he found out his case had arrived and no one could be bothered to get it for 2 days he was very annoyed as would anyone!!..other guests had stated they would have had the reps head on a plate!! i didnt want her head she wasnt the one who didnt put the case on the plane, but she was the one who should have made it a priority that someone brought the case to the hotel she just appologuised and said she had been let down!!! she had been let down!!!!! what about my husband!!!!...
i have asked for a full refund because we didnt get the holiday we had paid for but if they think £75 is just! ive got no chance of anything decent!!! they have until the end of October to come up with a response... the 2nd letter i sent wasnt by recorded, so i sent them a 3rd with a copy of my 2nd letter just in case they say they didnt recieve it, and it was signed for...
so i live in hope of them being fair..if they arent i guess i will be phoning the lady mentioned in the post above... one thing..i'll never go with thomas cook again!!!
the splitting the clothes thing would have been a good idea, but because we didnt travel together to the airport..he was coming from scotland where he had been working away for 3 months..so had his clothes with him... I travelled from portsmouth...
still we shouldnt have to split the clothes..i think its not too much to ask that somebody do their job properly at the airport... and to provide good customer service which they failed to do by no one giving a jot and making sure someone would bring it too us when it arrived in cuba...
my husband was very calm throughout, but when he found out his case had arrived and no one could be bothered to get it for 2 days he was very annoyed as would anyone!!..other guests had stated they would have had the reps head on a plate!! i didnt want her head she wasnt the one who didnt put the case on the plane, but she was the one who should have made it a priority that someone brought the case to the hotel she just appologuised and said she had been let down!!! she had been let down!!!!! what about my husband!!!!...
i have asked for a full refund because we didnt get the holiday we had paid for but if they think £75 is just! ive got no chance of anything decent!!! they have until the end of October to come up with a response... the 2nd letter i sent wasnt by recorded, so i sent them a 3rd with a copy of my 2nd letter just in case they say they didnt recieve it, and it was signed for...
so i live in hope of them being fair..if they arent i guess i will be phoning the lady mentioned in the post above... one thing..i'll never go with thomas cook again!!!
I can understand how upsetting this must have been for your husband, but to try to claim for a full refund on your holiday??! What on earth would you be claiming for if his case hadn't turned up at all?
I think most insurance policies cover 'immediate essentials' for delayed baggage, which they deem to be things like toothbrushes, toothpaste, underwear etc. and the tour operator, in offering £25.00 per day, I think has covered themselves by paying the same sort of payout that an insurance company would cover.
Annoying (especially in Cuba where you would struggle to buy replacements), but surely something to put down to a bad experience.
I think most insurance policies cover 'immediate essentials' for delayed baggage, which they deem to be things like toothbrushes, toothpaste, underwear etc. and the tour operator, in offering £25.00 per day, I think has covered themselves by paying the same sort of payout that an insurance company would cover.
Annoying (especially in Cuba where you would struggle to buy replacements), but surely something to put down to a bad experience.
ahh you may think it is extreme claiming a full refund..but we couldnt use the restaurants that we had paid for and other facilities..im not prepared to pay for something i didnt get..maybe i have no hope of a full refund (it was worth a try..and they will get the hint im not prepared to accept peanuts for a holiday we had to save a long time for!!!) but its a starting point from where im prepared to start..not £75, plus its causing me alot of upset that they think we dont deserve compensation when its very apparent we do!
if they had just been fair i wouldnt be so p'd off..but to say we are entitled to nothing is pure rubbish...im sure if you had paid 4 grand for a holiday and everyone else was having a ball enjoying what you had also paid for, then im sure you would also claim!.. we paid for 14 days not 9!!!! plus it totally dampened the rest of the holiday... and im not prepared to put it down to experience...some people have 4 grand to spend on a holiday every year, thats fine..we dont!!! we had saved for 3 yrs for this!!! and im not gonna let them away with it!!!
Px
if they had just been fair i wouldnt be so p'd off..but to say we are entitled to nothing is pure rubbish...im sure if you had paid 4 grand for a holiday and everyone else was having a ball enjoying what you had also paid for, then im sure you would also claim!.. we paid for 14 days not 9!!!! plus it totally dampened the rest of the holiday... and im not prepared to put it down to experience...some people have 4 grand to spend on a holiday every year, thats fine..we dont!!! we had saved for 3 yrs for this!!! and im not gonna let them away with it!!!
Px
i can understand where your coming from as 4 grand is a lot of money for anyones holiday, i dont think you will get a full refund but surely you should be entitled to a lot more than £75 refund if you couldnt use facilities etc, what they usually do is take flights off and they work out your holiday per day, thats what they did when i took airtours (as it was named then) to court and won. mind you we did get gassed so it was horrendous
sadly im in the process of taking another TO to court over another bad holiday and im going through ross fernihough, it might be worth a ring and chat to her free to see what she says.
good luck i hope you get some where you have my sympathy
sadly im in the process of taking another TO to court over another bad holiday and im going through ross fernihough, it might be worth a ring and chat to her free to see what she says.
good luck i hope you get some where you have my sympathy
I find it rather unbelievable that there were only t-shirts to buy locally. Surely you could have found smarter clothes if you had looked.
Also I presume that the reason your husband couldn't use the pool was because of no swimwear. I can't believe that swimwear and sportswear was not available locally.
I agree that claiming for a full refund is very excessive if not just plain greedy.
Pippa
Also I presume that the reason your husband couldn't use the pool was because of no swimwear. I can't believe that swimwear and sportswear was not available locally.
I agree that claiming for a full refund is very excessive if not just plain greedy.
Pippa
Travel insurance would have covered your expenses for delayed luggage. Buying clothes and toiletries and keeping the receipts and claiming on your return. Trying to claim for loss of enjoyment for the whole holiday is plain greedy.
Sorry Pippa,
You obviously haven't been to Cuba. The only items of clothing I saw for sale on my visit to Cuba last year were T Shirts, beach hats, a few knitted items, and odd items of womans clothing , all of a very poor quality. I had read before my visit about the lack of the most basic items in Cuba, things that we take for granted in Europe and found this to be correct. I had filled my suitcase with toiletries, clothes, school and medical supplies which I left with hotel staff, schools and nuns before returning home. These items are just not available in the shops.
You really shouldn't make statements about what the poster could have found if you are not familiar with the country.
Aliceadventures
I don't think you understand, clothes and toiletries are rarely available to buy in Cuba.
I am in agreement though that the poster is expecting too much to get a full refund.
You obviously haven't been to Cuba. The only items of clothing I saw for sale on my visit to Cuba last year were T Shirts, beach hats, a few knitted items, and odd items of womans clothing , all of a very poor quality. I had read before my visit about the lack of the most basic items in Cuba, things that we take for granted in Europe and found this to be correct. I had filled my suitcase with toiletries, clothes, school and medical supplies which I left with hotel staff, schools and nuns before returning home. These items are just not available in the shops.
You really shouldn't make statements about what the poster could have found if you are not familiar with the country.
Aliceadventures
I don't think you understand, clothes and toiletries are rarely available to buy in Cuba.
I am in agreement though that the poster is expecting too much to get a full refund.
I guess it depends where in Cuba you go. We stayed at the Paradisus Rio de Oro in Guardalavaca last Autumn and the hotel shop sold toiletries, clothes and swimwear - certainly enough to get by for a few days. We went into Guardalavaca and found that the shops in the commercial centre sold clothes and shoes, though admittedly not the standard you would see in the UK.
Pauline, have you tried to claim on your travel insurance?
Pauline, have you tried to claim on your travel insurance?
As the op talked about a la carte dining, so I presumed rightly or wrongly that they stayed in a luxury hotel after all the cost of their holiday was not the average amount that you spend for a holiday in Cuba. Also some luxury hotels have shops. I expect business people in Cuba do not spend their time in beach wear and most can find toiletries, even if they are expensive for locals to buy. I do understand it is not like popping to Marks.
That was very nice of you to take those items with you. I am sure the majority of people are unaware of how the wealth is spread in Cuba, far more diverse than most places and where the average wage remains at under £10 a month.
That was very nice of you to take those items with you. I am sure the majority of people are unaware of how the wealth is spread in Cuba, far more diverse than most places and where the average wage remains at under £10 a month.
If the holiday cost the amount the poster said it did then I imagine that it wasn't a hotel at the back of beyond. Most hotels of that standard do have a shop which would sell basic items if nothing else.
Cuba is fast becoming 'the place to go' so surely there must be shops selling normal items of clothing especially beachwear?
Pippa
Cuba is fast becoming 'the place to go' so surely there must be shops selling normal items of clothing especially beachwear?
Pippa
As per a previous post, it depends on where in Cuba you are as to what is available locally. We stayed in Cayo Coco last year and the hotel shops (4* and 5*) sold rum, coffee, cigars, Che t-shirts, wooden carvings and very little else. There were no local shops at all within 15-20 miles of the resort. Those that were in the nearest town (Moron) sold very little in the way of clothes (that I could see) and certainly nothing that I could buy for holiday wear. Likewise, toiletries etc were exceptionally hard to come by. Go in to a chemist in central Havana and you will find rows of empty shelves and, if you are lucky, some cotton wool and a flannel or two - and that is it!
Some of the 5* Havana hotels had designer outlets, but what use is a Dior scarf when you need some underpants, shirts, trousers, socks and a pair of swiming trunks!
Cheers,
Jet
Some of the 5* Havana hotels had designer outlets, but what use is a Dior scarf when you need some underpants, shirts, trousers, socks and a pair of swiming trunks!
Cheers,
Jet
I can only sympathise as on one of my trips to Sharm, First Choice left my case back in London. They denied liability as they "were only responsible for lost cases and mine wasn't lost, we know where it is. It is in London, so that is your problem not ours". That was the actual quote from the reps supervisor.
When the case turned up on the last day of the holiday, FC made me hire a taxi and go to the airport to retrieve it myself.
The hotel was brilliant, I compained in reception about the lack of luggage after yet another head banging against a brick wall session with the FC Reps. I then went into th erestaurant without without thinking and was thrown back out by the manager, so I went straight back to the reception and told them I had been turfed out because of my attire. The reception rang the restaurant and explained the situation so the restaurant manager apologised and welcomed us into the restaurant. I aplogised and pointed out I had only gone in because I wasn't thinking straight after dealing with the rep and I had no problems going back to change into my travelling clothes.
When we got back to the restaurant the manager came over with a selection of brand new trousers from the hotel shop so I could get the right size, all courtesy of the hotel management, and it was not even their fault. I tried to turn the offer down, but the management team were insistent. Fantastic above and beyond which really put the Tour Operators attitude to shame.
When I got back, the TO eventually after many months of wrangling admitted some sort of liability for delayed luggage, but nothing else, however the chap settling the claim felt bad about the way we had been treated and somehow added extra to the offer which effectively paid for most of my holiday costs, though not the rest of the party.
Best bet is to use Ros and see what she advises.
Good Luck.
When the case turned up on the last day of the holiday, FC made me hire a taxi and go to the airport to retrieve it myself.
The hotel was brilliant, I compained in reception about the lack of luggage after yet another head banging against a brick wall session with the FC Reps. I then went into th erestaurant without without thinking and was thrown back out by the manager, so I went straight back to the reception and told them I had been turfed out because of my attire. The reception rang the restaurant and explained the situation so the restaurant manager apologised and welcomed us into the restaurant. I aplogised and pointed out I had only gone in because I wasn't thinking straight after dealing with the rep and I had no problems going back to change into my travelling clothes.
When we got back to the restaurant the manager came over with a selection of brand new trousers from the hotel shop so I could get the right size, all courtesy of the hotel management, and it was not even their fault. I tried to turn the offer down, but the management team were insistent. Fantastic above and beyond which really put the Tour Operators attitude to shame.
When I got back, the TO eventually after many months of wrangling admitted some sort of liability for delayed luggage, but nothing else, however the chap settling the claim felt bad about the way we had been treated and somehow added extra to the offer which effectively paid for most of my holiday costs, though not the rest of the party.
Best bet is to use Ros and see what she advises.
Good Luck.
we went to cuba almost 9 yrs ago and , not sure where the original poster stayed, but, we were in varadero and you CAN get nice clothes !! there was even a 'mango' where I bought a lovely t shirt which I still wear to this day. seriously, this lady has no chance of getting a full refund on her holiday, to say her hubby couldn't use the pool because of no swimwear as it was in the lost case, no excuse !! these hotels always have shops where you can buy such things !!
sorry, original poster, just my opinion and probably not much help to you, good luck in your claim.
sorry, original poster, just my opinion and probably not much help to you, good luck in your claim.
I can really understand why some new posters never return given some of the responses they get at times {Sorry it had to be said} 
Some folk just jump straight in with statements that I would find offensive if I was new and having problems, and it's not the first time this has happened.
I can understand where to OP is comming from, we were in a simmilar situation some years ago, my friend was a size 16 at the time and trying to find even swim wear to fit was a no no as everything was a size 8 or less we spent most days marching round shops in swear the heat of the day looking for clothes when we should have been sunbathing and relaxing. A message to the OP, don't give up, our TO settled out of court and we won most of the holiday costs back, you go for it, don't let anyone put you off 
best of luck, chazy
Some folk just jump straight in with statements that I would find offensive if I was new and having problems, and it's not the first time this has happened. I can understand where to OP is comming from, we were in a simmilar situation some years ago, my friend was a size 16 at the time and trying to find even swim wear to fit was a no no as everything was a size 8 or less
we spent most days marching round shops in swear the heat of the day looking for clothes when we should have been sunbathing and relaxing. A message to the OP, don't give up, our TO settled out of court and we won most of the holiday costs back, you go for it, don't let anyone put you off best of luck, chazy
100% agree with you chazy, im wondering if some of these people have been in this situation to know how it feels, i havent thankfully but as im not a size 8-12 i would also have problems abroad getting clothes to fit, why should you spend days walking around in the heat finding clothes when its clearly not your fault the case hasnt arrived. we dont know the full circumstances etc so its not right to judge why she couldnt or didnt get any clothes, could be a lot of reasons.
let us know how you get on good luck
let us know how you get on good luck
Hi ellie_meg I do hope the OP comes back and lets us know how they get on, too many times posters do not return with the outcome and I for one can see why. Please pau11n3, let us know what happems, have you started to get things sorted?
chazy
chazy
I hardly post here anymore for the simple reason I'm fed up of people just slating peoples posts before they even know any facts or details!
So many complaints on here are met by comments like "It's your own fault" or " I for one wouldn't have been such an idiot"
It just doesn't help any of the situations!
So many complaints on here are met by comments like "It's your own fault" or " I for one wouldn't have been such an idiot"
It just doesn't help any of the situations!
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