I agree if you cash the cheque it would be seen as acceptance. I personally would send it back asking them exactly what it covers.

Been out of internet connection for a couple of days, hence the late reply.

I have no intention of cashing the cheque for the reasons given.

I did receive a letter at the airport telling me a about a "last minute" change to aircraft and if I were to hand that letter in on the aircraft I would get a £ 10.00 credit towards purchases.

I haven't used that letter and it is still in my posession.

Mark

I don't think you'll get anything for the bad last day, however I think they should give you something for having to go through all of this **** and for them keep messing it up and you having to keep re seding stuff and probably not getting anywhere! Seems a shame that you're going to have to keep chasing this back and forward to get the one way refund that you are owed!

This post is from the Thomson Airways Thread interesting

Posted Today

afternoon all.

we returned from our honeymoon from p.plata, dominican republic this morning into manchester on the Thomson Airways flight. we had booked premium which we always do on long haul and enjoyed mjust that on the out bound flight 2 weeks previous.

anyway, at arrival at the check in on the way home in resort, we were presented with the dreaded ''due to operational needs we have changed your aircraft'' letter. in other words, one of the premium fitted 767's has conked out somehow, and is in punta cana, dom rep's other main airport, and has been since sunday- 'tech'

i have to admit at first we were prety crest fallen, the thought of nine hours in all economy with no seat back telly, bla bla bla was not a nice thought. the letter said we will be refunded the money for the journey home which is good of them and we were also given a £10 voucher to spend each, which we thought would have to go on drinks etc as the letter stated ''no premium service''

fast forward to boarding and we were pleasantly surprised, the all economy 767 does infact have seat back IFE fitted throughout, we retained our pre-booked seats so had the first row left side of the aircraft (not as roomy of course as premium but classed as extra leg room in this set up) so seat pitch was not too bad.
the crew were fab, i really felt for them though, some passengers were being very unfair and blaming them for the no premium sitution, in the end, the captain had to come on the PA and explain himself that the alternative would have been a minimum 24 delay to source another premium aircraft which would have been spent at the airport, and not a t our hotels living it up an extra day as some would imagine, and that he would quite like to ge home to his family within a reasonable time, so in the most polite way- STOP BLOODY MOANING! One idiot even had to be told by the cabin manager that unless he stopped complaining to her to her and waiting til we were airborn, we would incurr a legnthy air traffic delay as they still needed to do a head count before take off which he was preventing her from doing-and he still tried to carry on moaning!

once airborn, the crew spoke to all prem passengers individually and apologised-again, no need as really not their fault!!!!
we were given free drinks throughout the flight, plus wine with the meals, there was still a choice of food presented on the larger premium trays, the entertainment was still the premium upgrade, free head phones and the vouchers could be spent on all duty free, snacks and gifts so i only paid £6 for my favourite perfume, and we are still getting refunded despit the free drinks, upgraded IFE etc, etc-it was very good actually considering what we were expecting and the fact that thomson had agreed to a full refund, literally, the only thing we missed out on were the wider seats and seat pitch, which was ok for us anyway as we were in bulk head seats and are both slim so thinner seats did us ok.

there were plenty of moaners, who all seemed to quiten down considerably once the free bar got going, even the guy who held us up on the tar mac wittering and giving it the old ''it might not be your fault, love, but it's your company who you work for'' routine.

moral of the story, don't always expect the worst, rather than writing a complaint, we wil be writing to thomosnfly to congratulate them on their handling of the situation, and to praise their cabin crew for their professional attitude to the less than greatful passengers.

one final note, the absolute priceless moment for us was looking over at ''mr. moaner'' 30 minutes into the flight, having calmed down after a vodka tonic, and pouring over his free daily mail newspaper and studying the air france article entitled ''how did air france flight disintigrate in the air'' and shaking his head in sympathy whilst muttering ''poor buggers''- indeed, surely that is the bottom line- SAFETY, NOT FANCY SEATS AND INCREASED SEAT PITCH...

Whilst people will accept that for technical reasons, a different aircraft may be used, in the case of the OP they had already made the decision at least a week before he flew back. Money was reimbursed to his account whilst he was away, and in considering they had to arrange this in their accounting system, they probably knew before he even left the UK that there would be a shortfall in the premium class seats.

Airlines and TOs need to be more open. If they have got it wrong then say so. They will find customers far more understanding than denying it and then being found out. The old tale about the boy who called wolf applies here. Nobody will believe you when it is the truth - can you blame them?

fwh

Exactly my point FWH!

Had these been genuine unforeseen circumstances, I would have a degree of sympathy.

The situation I found myself in was far from unforeseen. I would go as far as stating that somebody made a consious decision to replace the airplane for whatever reason without considering the implication of that decision.

Congratulating the airline for this is not going to convince them that such a behaviour is far from acceptable!

Mark

I don't think the post to the Thomson thread is relevant to Marks post.

Whilst it is not my intention to stir the pot I would like to comment on it ... I don't think the person who wrote that post could possibly see where their fellow passengers were coming from as they clearly stated they were seated in extra leg room seats (I'm all right Jack syndrome) and knowing they were getting a full refund.

The complaining passengers were sat in normal economy seats and understandably not happy. For all we know the whinging, moaning passengers may have had physical disabilities or a history of DVT's... and extra legroom may well be an absolute necessary for both mobility and easy access to the toilets or to prevent a further DVT re occurance.

As much as I appreciate the pilot wanting to get home too... I don't think much of anyone who takes the 'mike' and b*llocks his passengers from the cockpit to humiliate him. And totally unprofessional in my opinion.

Just my thoughts.

It has been always 4 weeks and no reply from First Choice Holidays.

Will give them a little grace as there is a postal strike here in London.

What is the procedure if they haven't acknowledged your letter within 21 days? Have they broken some sort of rule/law/piece of legislation?

Mark

They have 28 days in which to respond even it is only an acknowledgement. They are in breach of ABTA guidelines if they go over this time. If they still have not replied, in what you consider to be a reasonable time, given the postal strike I would inform ABTA.

Thanks,

Wasn't too sure on 21 or 28 days. That leaves it till Tuesday for them to reply.

Will wait until the end of next week to see if they have replied.

Mark

Depending on their reply you have two options.

1 - If the reply you receive is satisfactory - not necessarily an offer of settlement but accepting you have a case you can let it proceed - although you should consider that having replied they have a further 28 days before they need to reply further.

2 - If they reject your claim, or you consider that they are in effect just waffling then the first option can be ignored. You may then legally apply your own (reasonable) time limit.

You could for example give them 10 working days from receipt of your letter - sent signed for service to enable tracking proof of delivery. Inform them that failure on their part to make an offer of settlement will result in your taking legal action without any further correspondence.

Having read your original and subsequent postings re a refund being made without your knowledge they have, in my opinion, shot themselves in the foot. A court could easily consider that an admission of guilt on their part. After the 10 days is up then I would then proceed to submit a claim via the small claims court - remember when submitting your claim to include any costs you are required to incur - funny how many fail to do that.

fwh

Still nothing received and we are now receiving post.

I am now going to assume that First Choice Holidays has not responded to my letter within the guidelines set by ABTA.

Is it worthwhile reporting them to ABTA? Do I have to give them another chance by sending them yet another letter? Can I just go straight to the small claims court?

Mark

I would speak to Abta to let them know that one of their members is breaching their guidelines and see what they advise.

Thanks.

If I've not received a letter in the post from them today, I will give them a bell and see what they have to say.

Mark

Ok post received today and no letter.

Have sent the following to ABTA via their online form:

Complaint letter send on 15th June 2009 and as of 17th July 2009 no response received which breaches your guidelines that a response to a complaint should be sent within 28 days of receipt.

Will keep you all informed.

Mark

More post this morning, but nothing from First Choice / Thomson / TUI.

No reply from ABTA to my online enquiry either.

Does ABTA have to reply to a query within a certain amount of time? Perhaps I have wasted my time contacting them.

Feel like writing to First Choice again and giving them 5 working days to reply before I refer the matter to court.

Thoughts?

Mark

Hi Mark,
I wouldnt give them anymore time,its see you in court,and maybe just maybe they will get the message??

This will be in the post to them on 22nd July 2009:

Following my letter dated 15th June 2009 that was received by yourselves on the 16th June 2009 as per Post Office tracking number xxxxxxxxxx, at the time of writing this letter I have not received a reply to my request for a refund and compensation of £ 1,020.80.

In line with ABTA guidelines you failed to address my complaint within 28 days of receipt.

If no reply to my letter dated 15th June 2009 is received by 31st July 2009, I will excersise my right to bring the matter to court without further reference to you.

Mark

Maybe it will get their attention.