Hi there everyone. Thought I'd provide an update of my claim progress so far.

The DE had until 1st June to respond. I checked the status today and it has been updated to 'Defence'. The full text of the status is :

"You are unable to take any further action online on this claim.

The Defendant disputes the whole amount you have claimed. Your claim cannot proceed online and will be transferred to the appropriate court for continuation. You will receive confirmation to where the claim has been transferred to shortly."

Does this mean that they accept my eligibility but dispute the amount? I claimed £1300 as you don't see too many 7 night cruises for less than £650 plus the 100% single supplement. I did a quick search on Thomson cruises and the figure seemed fair to me.

Will I have to go to court now?

It's just a little bit scary all this but I know I'm entitled to something and I'm determined to fight on!

cleve....dont worry it sounds like a positive step, £1300 seems a fair amount , get Thompsons to send you a written quote and then when you get to court you can produce this to substantiate your claim,i hope that i will soon get to that stage in proceedings,keep us all updated with your progress
GOOD LUCK FROM BAO-LOU

It's just a little bit scary all this but I know I'm entitled to something and I'm determined to fight on!

...And fight on you should!

I, like Aslemma and others have had our DE cruise ages ago but I keep popping in to see how you guys are getting on. It is very encouraging to see people gradually squeezing what they are entitled to out of the organisation that originally made the offer to us all.

`For every reader` if I remember correctly...and so many of us religiously collected the vouchers.

Having come this far please `keep the faith`.....and send us a postcard when you are on the cruise!

Thanks for the messages of support!

Another update : I received a letter from the Daily Express today showing their defence in full. They appear to acknowledge my eligibility. However, this latest letter claims they offered me a cruise in a letter dated 20th April 2007 but I did not accept it.

For goodness sake! I've kept every piece of paper / newspaper cutting / letter relevant to this and they claim I did not accept their offer of a cruise. I would have bitten their hand off up the elbow to get that cruise ticket.

I now have until the 16th June to submit an 'allocation questionnaire' to the court.

The fight is not over.

yes i remember"a cruise for every reader" or is that a cruise for every one who fights them through the courts?
good luck cleve keep us posted

Hi to everyone still fighting, I had my cruise in Oct 2007 and it was worth every letter, time and effort I spent fighting for it.Keep up the good work and thank goodness for HT for the great advice and help given along the way. Good luck to you all, I m sure you will all get there in the end. It will be worth it. I had a fabulous time on my cruise, and still feel rather smug about it by winning in the end.

well done clm36,did you have to go through the courts?

Hi bao-lou. No i didn t go through the courts, I was just about to go on-line in April 07 on the Monday morning, and the Saturday before that I got the letter out the blue, although I had given DE a date in which to reply with an offerof a cruise or else it lead to court proceedings, but still I wasn t expecting them to reply that soon. I had the usual fob off before that, telling me I wasn t entitled to anything as i didn t meet the criteria. Thats just to put people off. I beleive everyone who fights for this cruise will eventually get one. Met some people on cruise that had never heard of HT, but still fought and got their cruises, so there are lots more out there, still fighting and winning. The best of luck, and enjoy your cruise when you get it.

Hi

I am currently pursueing DE for a cruise and proposing a claim in the small claims court. My letters to DE in the past few years have recieved no response at all, and I understand Rise Travel are no longer involved.

Please can someone confirm the bext address for serving notices on DE for this matter ?

Thanks

Geoff

Hi Geoff and welcome to HT!

Here is an address I found earlier in this topic using the Search facility.

Legal Department,
Daily Express,
The Northern & Shell Building,
Number 10 Lower Thames Street,
London,
EC3R 6EN

HTH

Keep us posted on your progress.

luci

hi geoff,I can comfirm that the address is correct that luci has posted,dont be suprised if you dont get a response from them though the response i recieved was rather funny I have posted the full text earlier in the forum.
I can also give a progress report of my ongoing battle with the DE
i have now got thier "DEFENCE" from the small claims court..
I cant really say much more than this because of legal implications only follow what other people have done with the help of this forum and keep your fingers crossed for the right outcome
welcome aboard geoff good luck
bao-lou

I am another who got their cruise in 2005 and it saddens me that there are still so many having to fight so hard for their rights! It is also nice to see some of the old timers still out there supporting you - Hi Tony and Aslemma!

Whatever you do, DO NOT GIVE UP! When you go on your cruise it will have been worth the struggle!

Good luck to you all!

Hi Magsy How are you?

If I had been involved in this farce I would have proceeded to the small claims court at a much earlier date. It is easy to do and not costly. I would NEVER have let it roll on for this length of time. I would simply have sent another letter saying that if they did not offer me a cruise within a set no of day eg 14 then I would proceed to take legal action against them. Sent the letter by special delivery so that they could not deny receiving it.

I think you are all very strong and yes don't give up but don't wait a minute more at this stage just get out there and do it. I do feel so sorry for all of you.

I was involved in the Hoover fiasco and not only got my free flight but also got my shuttle fare to London from Glasgow paid. I simply gave them a 72 hr deadline and said I would buy the shuttle tickets myself. Deadline 5pm 5.05 pm bought 2 shuttle tickets at a cost of £145 each. Sent them the invoice for payment within 14 days got a phone call telling me that they would pay. Asked for it in writing which I got. Said that they still believed that they acted in the spirit of the offer. Said that because of my determination and spirit they agreed to pay it. NO WAY I was right and they knew it even though I didn't ever tell me on what grounds. My daughter was the eagle eye that spotted it not ever trading standards or the Daily Record. The Editor of the DR was excited and said "She's right" Didn't want my name and address in the paper as I might have been burgled whilst I was away. I did it all myself without help from the DR or anywhere else. I had Hoover calling me constantly and I in the end said don't call me I will call you1
They knew the legal loophole they had failed to close!!
I think I was the only person in the UK who actually got their shuttle fare paid as well as the free BA flight. Of course they made sure after this re the shuttle they closed the loophole! Mr HOOVER UK and Europe head rolled and quite rightly so.

I say to all of you as Magsy has said don't take any more of their nonsense. It is the Express who have to cover this cost and they need to be made more accountable.

Good luck to all of you.

Sue

Magsy Going on Summit on the 27th August 12 nights Med and then 17th Nov going to do Millennium in NZ /OZ Leaving 17th Nov stay 2 nights Singapore 2 nights Auckland 14 nights cruise finishing Sydney and then Fly to Perth and come home 13th Jan. That's me for this year I think. Just back from 5 nights in Ireland and I had my QM2 cruise NY and the Caribbean. Money will be running out so will need to stay at home for a while. I got the benefit of some price drops on both cruises and on the QM I got an upgrade with BA inn both directions as well as a 7 category upgrade on the ship. Must be the luck of the Irish but first time!!

Sue

I think I must be one of the last D E cruisers to have got my cruise without going to the small claims court. My cruise was last November on the Island Star. I was offered choices in Oct but decided to take the 2 week trip to Venice and pay extra. I had written to the Express several times but had not got as far as threats. I may have been too patient in letting them keep me waiting that long, but other things in life were happening . I was determined to succeed, and I got there in the end. Don't give up. I'm sure lots di,d and that saved the paper a fortune so they can afford to give you what you are entitled to.
Best of luck, Maureen

Keep on fighting those of you who are still waiting. DE haven't got a leg to stand on and they know it but still like to prevaricate in the hope that you will give up.

As you can see, some of us old hands are still around (Hi Tony and Magsy ) and we can assure you that it will be worth it in the end as we had a fabulous time.

Hi Aslemma,:wave:

We all had such a wonderful time that it's time to plan a reunion cruise!!! Anyone interested? Of course it wont be £10!

Nice idea Magsy but I doubt my bank manager would approve unless we could get a real bargain (and no, I don't mean £10)

woah!!!!!! hold up i gotta win my cruise yet! ive only been waiting about 4 years but i feel confident as ive had the help of all you guys and gals who have won through, count me in for the reunion!
lol bao-lou

Don't worry Bao-Lou, Your turn will come and hopefully very soon! Don't worry, you can still come on the re-union cruise anyway!!! Just keep at it and on top of it - they know they have a liability to face!