Oh yes, all references included - their ref and the intitial booking reference.

I received their standard letter in reply acknowledging my letter and saying it could take upt to 28 days to check.

Then low and behold around the 28 days another template saying sorry but their investigations were still on going.

That was on 10 th aug, still nothing.

I chased last week to no avail, silence.

They've already offered you £80 in compensation so how can their investigations be still ongoing?

I know stincts of playing games if you ask me.

The below was the most recent contact i received on 9 aug

"We sincerely apologise for the delay in responding to your recent communication, we are still actively investigating your complaint and will respond as soon as we are able to provide you with a full resolution concerning the points you have raised.



We thank you for your patience in the meantime.



Yours sincerely"

And the saga continues

Tomorrow is 28 days since their previous correspondence and after sending 2 email to chase them I decided to phone.

Upon speaking to customer services I was promised a letter/email today.

Within 5 minutes the letter hit my email ( very fast typer if i say so which makes me feel they are playing the wait game)

Letter offers me the £80 compensation again with an addtion £192 so total £272 apparently the £192 covers the difference between the two properties.

Now baring in mind we booked 5 star and it is the only property in their indulgencies and we had to stay 3 star.

We weren't offered a flight home nor any notice given.

I still feel they are taking the mickey.

Maybe its time to complain to abta ?

Any advice would be appreciated.

The fact that they have offered compensation means that they have admitted liability for the problem. Complaining to ABTA probably won't do very much but should be done as well as other things ...

You might contact the legal firm mentioned on this website to see if you have a case, or perhaps consider the small claims court if the amount you consider you should be receiving in compensation falls within the amounts awarded by this type of court.

Ok thanks, I have sent an email to the solicitors.

Its not just money its the principle

Sadly the travel trade is not known for its principles .... but it's not alone in this!!

Oh yes I agree and from what I can gather the terms and conditions they are bound by haven't been reviewed for a very long time!!

Anyway the solicitors contacted me, very helpful. Have guided me through the next step.

Cheque refused and a more direct letter replied.

I shall update when I hear no doubt it will be yet another month.

Thanks for suggesting contacting simpson Millar I would definitely recommend contacting them!

Tillyfloss,

Dont give up, keep records of everything, All emails, All Phone Calls and length of time in dealing with this. All these things are chargable and let them know how much you charge for your time and phone calls.

I normally charge £10 per email and £15 per phone call plus £10 per hour for my time. Everytime I have done this the company involved has conceded and paid up for my additional expenses. It keeps them in toe and that the longer then let it go on for then the more it is going to cost them.

I had issues with Thomas Cook in the past, they kept saying no, not getting anything and making excuses that they had to investigate things more and more. I let this go back and forth for 3 months from when I returned from holiday.

I then filled Small Claims court proceedings against them. All of a sudden it was them calling me looking to settle out of court. They paid what I was looking for in compensation plus court fee of £50 plus all my time and phonecalls. I think the bill for them was £150 just for my time and effort and to cover the cost of phone calls.

If they had just accepted their mistakes and paid the origional compensation I was looking of £350 it would have cost them a lot less!

If you have a case, see it through and accept no unjustified offers, there are playing on the basis that a large percentage of complaints disappear dus to the person complaining threating legal action but having no intention of taking it.

Hello

Well this is still on going they are saying a total o £292.00 THAT INCLUDES the £80 compensation.

The hotel we were originally booked into has received numerous awards for best hotel aswell.

Would you recommend Abta or small claims?

thanks

Hi All

Well Jet 2 'customer service manager' had replied to me with numerous errors in his reply. In my honest opinion I think he simply left it sitting on his desk until such time was up within abta terms but clearly hadn't read through the files.

I have replied to this noting his errors obviously the standard template letter of 28 days arrived again but I have decided to take this our of their hands and take it to court!

Its a disgrace how rules that were set over a decade ago still apply via abta for compensation and how these tour operators have little or no respect for exactly how a ruined holiday can emotionally affect their customer!

I have been both polite and patient from day one including our holiday period but my patience has run thin.

Sorry to hear this is still ongoing Tillyfloss have Simpson Millar was it Simpson Millar who recommended issuing court proceedings?

Stay patient and dignified Tilly! (Even though you might well be close to the end of your tether!) Note the errors carefully - keep a full diary of what happened, when and what the next action was ... because if you go to court, this could be very helpful. The fact that they have offered £80 compensation (as well as other money for other things) shows admission of liability. ON NO ACCOUNT ACCEPT THEIR PAYMENT OR CASH THE CHEQUE.

Now is the time either to go to court (they probably won't turn up and you'll win by default) on your own behalf or involve a solicitor. You could start with the firm mentioned on this website who are used to dealing with holiday litigation ... stay strong, stay polite and persevere. All the very best for a successful outcome.

Not making excuses for tour operators, but complaints are very time consuming. The ones that involve waiting for reports back from a third party can take forever. The third party doesn't have time limits to meet, and the tour operators sends ages chasing them for replies, just so they can try to meet theirs. You probably wouldn't believe the number that tour operators receive in a day! The genuine ones, and the not so genuine ones, all have to be dealt with in the same way. If people stopped complaining that they got served spicy food in India, that there was fish in the sea that frightened their kids, that the sand was too hot etc etc. genuine complaints could and would be dealt with far quicker.

In cases of hotels having no reservation for you, in the majority of cases it's because they've overbooked, not the tour operator. They overbook regularly, like airlines, relying on cancellations and no shows. When they don't get them the bump people. Unfortunately, unlike airlines there is not such thing as VDB and IDB, and Tour operators and bedbank guests are the first to go, as they both pay peanuts to the hotel. The hotel's direct bookers pay a fortune in comparison and don't get bumped!
As the transfer rep still had you on the manifest as staying at that hotel, the chances are the tour operator hadn't even been told. The transfer manifest is produced from the hotel booking manifest so if they hadn't booked you into the correct hotel, the transfers would be wrong.

Write to them telling them that you intend taking court action. Serve the papers and wait and see. We did this with Thomsons a few years ago. The court actually mediates via the telephone, to try to stop it from getting in to court (or they did in our case). It's obviously better from the courts point of view if it never gets that far. We sorted it out that way. It took 9 months in total. I didn't go near a travel solicitor, and wouldn't, free or not.

Sorry for the late replies I don't seem to be getting the notifications when someome posts.

Glynis - Simpson solicitors are one of a number of persons who have advised to take this further.

Alsacienne - I won't defer from being patient polite etc and I have also kept details of every single contact both by diary and copies of correspondence. I returned their initial £80 cheque and they haven't sent any more just letters.

Sunaddict - I apprecaite that tour operators maybe busy in their complaints departments but the only extended sympathy I have is to the employees dealing with people in behalf of the tour operator. I don't think it should matter at what level a complaint is if someone is unhappy, I agree some may appear minor but to the person making the complaint its is most likely affected their holiday enjoyment.

I am aware that hotels do overbook and tour operators attempt to shift the buck on who is responsible but I agreed a contaract with Jet 2, I am their customer what happens behind the scenes is between them & either the hotel or whom ever makes the bookings on their behalf.

Whilst it sounds strong I care about am much about the tour operator as they do about me, for example if i buy a pair of shoes and something went wrong I would return them to where I bought the shoes from not contact the manufacturer. The fact that tour operatours know this happens with overbooking yet they still tollerate it speaks volumes.

I intend to take every option available to resolve this and maybe if more of the numerous travellers would do the same and maybe win tour operators would respect us as their customers rather than bowing down to the accomodations that regularily take our hard earned cash