We were two hours into our flight home when a 'medical emergency' occured. It was a child with suspected chickenpox. We were informed we would be returning to Salvador Airport. Once we had landed a medic came aboard and examined the child and diagnosed a mild allergic reation to an insect bite. MyTravel treated us appallingly. We had to leave the plane and queue for vouchers to take us to a hotel whilst the crew caught up on their sleep, it was 12:30am when we disembarked. No reps, no info, we queued until 4am for our hotel voucher, finally getting to bed at 5am....no drinks or food was given to us whilst we queued and we had no local currency with which to buy any. We were collected from the hotel at 10am to go back to the airport...still no rep in sight to let us know when we would be going home, we couldn't even phone family to let them know what was happening as we had no money left. Eventually the plane left Brazil at 1:30pm, it was only then the pilot decided to tell us that we would now be flying into Manchester before returning to Gatwick!....No complimentary drinks were given to placate the inconvenince & stress MyTravel had caused. Prior to landing we were told the MyTravel ground staff will be waiting to assist us with our onward travel arrangements as a few people had missed connecting flights. Sadly this was not the case, the ground staff didn't give a toss. All they could say was to write a complaint to their head office as there was nothing they could do.....They really care for their customers!
From leaving our hotel in Brazil it took over 40 hours to get home!
To top it all off we can't even claim for the additional costs incurred to get home, through our insurance, because the original fight took off on time. Will never use MyTravel again, they do not care about their customers just our money.
To top it all off we can't even claim for the additional costs incurred to get home, through our insurance, because the original fight took off on time
Has your insurance said this? I would have thought that you would hve been covered because of the delay in your first? I'll let other more knowledgeable members put me right on that one though.
I rang them yesterday, we can't claim for the delay either as we originally took off on time.
Did you book the holiday with My Travel or with a different travel agent?
I booked online through Thomas Cook
That doesn't surpirse me about Thomas Cook not being there or helping you out. They treated us badly in Brazil...I have written a review entitled
Thinking of going on Rio and Iguacu tour with Thomas Cook?
The worst thing about it all was that
we were stuck in Rio aiport with no one to meet us for 3 hours and it took us that long to get through to a rep on their emergency line. They had turned their phones of because they were in a meeting.
Thinking of going on Rio and Iguacu tour with Thomas Cook?
The worst thing about it all was that
we were stuck in Rio aiport with no one to meet us for 3 hours and it took us that long to get through to a rep on their emergency line. They had turned their phones of because they were in a meeting.
It was unfortunate that there was a medical emergency - nobody could have foreseen that.
I have read at times complaints that the flight turned back for what turned out to be something minor. It is easy to complain about such things - unless it is you who is the emergency.
The aircrew running out of hours is one of the hazards when these things happen. It would seem, for whatever reason, the customer service failed to kick in when this happened. The way I read your post that is the reason for your dissatisfaction.
Your insurance company is correct - it is not their problem. Your complaint is against the TO and their failure to give you the service that they say they will in their "blurb"
I suggest that you write to them - not email - and ask them what they are prepared to offer in way of recompense. Whilst you are, rightly in my opinion, upset and angry, please be professional in your approach.
Letters of complaint in any business are a regular occurrence. The ones that create the most problems are those that are factual and well reasoned. Those are the ones that cause people to stop and think. They convey a simple message "Don't mess with me!"
I note that funky expresses no surprise at Thomas Cook. But you say that MyTravel are the guilty party.
You complaint is against Thomas Cook as the agent, they are liable for the failings of their contractor, in this case MyTravel.
I would not single out any particular TO as being bad. If you read the posts here on HT you will see that they are all as guilty at times.
fwh
I have read at times complaints that the flight turned back for what turned out to be something minor. It is easy to complain about such things - unless it is you who is the emergency.
The aircrew running out of hours is one of the hazards when these things happen. It would seem, for whatever reason, the customer service failed to kick in when this happened. The way I read your post that is the reason for your dissatisfaction.
Your insurance company is correct - it is not their problem. Your complaint is against the TO and their failure to give you the service that they say they will in their "blurb"
I suggest that you write to them - not email - and ask them what they are prepared to offer in way of recompense. Whilst you are, rightly in my opinion, upset and angry, please be professional in your approach.
Letters of complaint in any business are a regular occurrence. The ones that create the most problems are those that are factual and well reasoned. Those are the ones that cause people to stop and think. They convey a simple message "Don't mess with me!"
I note that funky expresses no surprise at Thomas Cook. But you say that MyTravel are the guilty party.
You complaint is against Thomas Cook as the agent, they are liable for the failings of their contractor, in this case MyTravel.
I would not single out any particular TO as being bad. If you read the posts here on HT you will see that they are all as guilty at times.
fwh
Sound advice from fwh.
Only thing I might add.......look at EC261/2004 regulations. If you have difficulty finding this PM me and I can send a copy on to you.
The carrier should abide by the requirements stated in that document with regard to delays. I would imagine your unscheduled stop should have resulted in a couple of 'phoned calls each, food and drink as appropriate for the length of delay - and accommodation (provided).
Not a lot more I'm afraid but as fwh says, that child might have been yours.
Only thing I might add.......look at EC261/2004 regulations. If you have difficulty finding this PM me and I can send a copy on to you.
The carrier should abide by the requirements stated in that document with regard to delays. I would imagine your unscheduled stop should have resulted in a couple of 'phoned calls each, food and drink as appropriate for the length of delay - and accommodation (provided).
Not a lot more I'm afraid but as fwh says, that child might have been yours.
These are my thoughts.
I don't see suspected Chicken Pox as a medical emergency and enough reason to turn a plane around in mid air and inconvenience a plane load of passengers. What were they going to do if the child was diagnosed with Chicken Pox?... were they going to isolate the whole plane for a given period (including crew)? I think not. So why turn back? they could have done that in the UK.
Also given that the crew knew they would be 'out of hours' and could not fly until they were absolutely amazes me.
Call me hard me hearted... However, I'm far from it.
More severe medical emergencies happen every day on board aircrafts. I was once on a BA long haul flight from MEL to LHR and assisted with a baby who had boarded at BKK and was most unwell and started to 'fit'. This child could have had any number of tropical diseases. At first it was dealt with the crew, then me because I was sitting near the galley and had befriended the crew... usual stuff, what do you do for a living? This came in handy when the child became so ill I was asked to assist. I did all I could then asked to put a call out on the PA for a Dr.... and as if in every good movie there was was one on board .... there was nothing more could be done and we continued on to London Heathrow. I met the parents in the immigration queue and enquired how the baby was and they had been advised by the young Aussie Dr to take the child straight to hospital to be checked as the child had been off the beaten track and could have had anything.
In regards to travel insurance I would regard the whole time from being turned back as an 'unforeseen delay' and expect my insurance company to deal with my claim accordingly.
Cheers Geri
I don't see suspected Chicken Pox as a medical emergency and enough reason to turn a plane around in mid air and inconvenience a plane load of passengers. What were they going to do if the child was diagnosed with Chicken Pox?... were they going to isolate the whole plane for a given period (including crew)? I think not. So why turn back? they could have done that in the UK.
Also given that the crew knew they would be 'out of hours' and could not fly until they were absolutely amazes me.
Call me hard me hearted... However, I'm far from it.
More severe medical emergencies happen every day on board aircrafts. I was once on a BA long haul flight from MEL to LHR and assisted with a baby who had boarded at BKK and was most unwell and started to 'fit'. This child could have had any number of tropical diseases. At first it was dealt with the crew, then me because I was sitting near the galley and had befriended the crew... usual stuff, what do you do for a living? This came in handy when the child became so ill I was asked to assist. I did all I could then asked to put a call out on the PA for a Dr.... and as if in every good movie there was was one on board .... there was nothing more could be done and we continued on to London Heathrow. I met the parents in the immigration queue and enquired how the baby was and they had been advised by the young Aussie Dr to take the child straight to hospital to be checked as the child had been off the beaten track and could have had anything.
In regards to travel insurance I would regard the whole time from being turned back as an 'unforeseen delay' and expect my insurance company to deal with my claim accordingly.
Cheers Geri
Alarmhead stated it was "suspected" chickenpox therefore it was for medical clarity what exactly the spots (I presume) were.
Chickenpox is a serious condition and for anybody on that flight with a compromised immune system it's a very serious condition indeed. People with Chickenpox can legitimately be refused boarding and given that the the plane was only 2 hours into a long haul flight the crew took appropriate action. If I was someone who'd had an organ transplant and was on immunosuppressants I would have been most unhappy to be confined for any longer than absolutely necessary on a plane which had constantly re-circulating air infected with the chickenpos virus being pumped around it. For most of us chickenpox is an inconvenience but for some people it is a life threatening disease and the possiblity of being infected IS a medical emergency.
As far as I can see Alarmhead and other passengers probably do have a legitimate case against the operator for the way they treated passengers as a result of the need to turn back and the insurance company is probably on very shaky ground trying to turn down their claim too but the air crew were acting reasonably in response to a suspected case of chickenpox and I don't see how they can faulted for the decision they took. The operator could have potentially been liable for far greater claims for compensation had someone contracted chickenpox and died as a result - they would have been liable for being sued for negligence if it could have been proved that the air crew knowingly prolonged the risk vulnerable passengers to exposure to a highly contagious disease that is potentially life threatening to anybody who has had an organ transplant and is therefore on anti-rejection drugs that work by suppressing their immune system for the rest of their life.
SM
As far as I can see Alarmhead and other passengers probably do have a legitimate case against the operator for the way they treated passengers as a result of the need to turn back and the insurance company is probably on very shaky ground trying to turn down their claim too but the air crew were acting reasonably in response to a suspected case of chickenpox and I don't see how they can faulted for the decision they took. The operator could have potentially been liable for far greater claims for compensation had someone contracted chickenpox and died as a result - they would have been liable for being sued for negligence if it could have been proved that the air crew knowingly prolonged the risk vulnerable passengers to exposure to a highly contagious disease that is potentially life threatening to anybody who has had an organ transplant and is therefore on anti-rejection drugs that work by suppressing their immune system for the rest of their life.
SM
I totally agree. As cabin crew myself there were probably many other factors that led the crew to make that decision. We have many different avenues to turn to with medical emergencies, and the crew were probably advised by another authority to turn back, even if it does mean going out of hours.
The 'out of hours' scenario is another thing we do not take lightly. The hours we can work is governed by the CAA and strictly regulated. If we work illegally it is not the operator that is liable but us as an individual. We can have our own licence revoked for not adhering to regulations, which will in turn probably mean losing our jobs etc. We too, just like everyone else, have mortgages and family to support. We don't go out of hours because we can't be bothered or to annoy passengers.
I am sure that there were many other factors involved on that day, it is not all black and white.
The 'out of hours' scenario is another thing we do not take lightly. The hours we can work is governed by the CAA and strictly regulated. If we work illegally it is not the operator that is liable but us as an individual. We can have our own licence revoked for not adhering to regulations, which will in turn probably mean losing our jobs etc. We too, just like everyone else, have mortgages and family to support. We don't go out of hours because we can't be bothered or to annoy passengers.
I am sure that there were many other factors involved on that day, it is not all black and white.
If your tour operator was Thomas Cook, you have no complaint with MyTravel other then the delay for which I personally wouldn't care about as long as the child taken ill was okay at the end of the day.
It is Thomas Cook's responsability to look after you in resort, not MyTravel's therfore they couldn't possibly have any control over whether representatives would be there on hand to look after you. MyTravel Tour Operations representatives probably where on hand to look after their customers but Thomas Cook's customers are not their responsability whatsoever.
Why should MyTravel offer you free drinks onboard? They didn't puposely ensure a child fell ill and delay flight.
It is Thomas Cook's responsability to look after you in resort, not MyTravel's therfore they couldn't possibly have any control over whether representatives would be there on hand to look after you. MyTravel Tour Operations representatives probably where on hand to look after their customers but Thomas Cook's customers are not their responsability whatsoever.
Why should MyTravel offer you free drinks onboard? They didn't puposely ensure a child fell ill and delay flight.
The complaint is that MyTravel failed to provide the service for which they were contracted.
Any claim for compensation needs to be against Thos Cook as they were the people who the booking was made with.
MyTravel cannot use the excuse that they were not their customers - they were, having been contracted by Thos Cook.
The regulations as quoted by Mike Cunliffe are very clear on this point.
The claim is made against Thos Cook, as they were the company who took the booking and then in effect sub contracted. They are responsible for ensuring that any sub contractor complies.
fwh
Any claim for compensation needs to be against Thos Cook as they were the people who the booking was made with.
MyTravel cannot use the excuse that they were not their customers - they were, having been contracted by Thos Cook.
The regulations as quoted by Mike Cunliffe are very clear on this point.
The claim is made against Thos Cook, as they were the company who took the booking and then in effect sub contracted. They are responsible for ensuring that any sub contractor complies.
fwh
Thanks for all of your replies concerning this unfortunate experience.
I sent Thomas Cook my letter of complaint on 14th December but am still awaiting a reply.
I sent Thomas Cook my letter of complaint on 14th December but am still awaiting a reply.
gerib wrote:I don't see suspected Chicken Pox as a medical emergency and enough reason to turn a plane around in mid air and inconvenience a plane load of passengers. What were they going to do if the child was diagnosed with Chicken Pox?... were they going to isolate the whole plane for a given period (including crew)? I think not. So why turn back? they could have done that in the UK.
Whilst I sympathise with the original poster and feel they may have a claim against Thomas Cook, at the end of the day, the Captain of an Aircraft has overall control of his aircraft and has a duty of care to his crew and all those on board, and as such it is up to him/her to decide what is or what is not a "Medical Emergency" onboard his aircraft. The original poster does not state whether or not there was a Doctor on board and in the abscene of any professional medical diagnosis the Captain must make his decision based on all the information/evidence/facts presented to him. He does not have time to dilly dally as the safety of all on board could be in jeopardy. Ok, thats a bit dramatic but I think you get my point.
Plus, again as has been pointed out, the aircraft was only two hours into the flight and the Captain would need to divert his aircraft to the nearest available airport suitably equiped to deal with the size of the aircraft, weight and number of passengers on board etc. Presumably, returning to Salvador Airport was the only option to the Captain in this instance.
As Glynis as pointed out....the crew "suspected" chickpox....but it could have been something much worse, and therefore IMHO, and without and in the abscene of a professional diagnosis, I believe that the Captain took the most appropriate action he could in this case.
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