also when we were on the returning flight, the chair infront of one of my party broke and fell backwards, the person in this chair was moved and initiall my friend was told she would have to also,

the flight attendant then fiddled with the chair for a couple of mins and told my friend it would be ok to stay seated there even though there were seats free and she was happy to move.

upon landing, the seat flung backwardsn and had she not been quick to react and put her arm up would have smacked her in the face, and at the speed it moved, would have done serious damage,

had she, horribly, had a baby strapped to her, as is the requirment, it would have crushed it and is likely to have been fatal,

this shouldnt happen,

the flight attendant did not apologise or rush to help her,

advice?

With regard to the dangerous seat, hang on to every bit of paper that shows you were on the flight (especially any boarding card stub with seat number) and contact the Air Accident Investigation Branch immediately. This incident raises two questions, the standard of maintenance of the plane and the training of the flight attendants.

As for the car fiasco, first thing is to establish who said you could have the cars at 23, was it First Choice or did you see it in a seperate Hertz document (and if so, did First Choice give you that) - hang on to everything? Secondly, did Hertz give you a written explanation of why you couldn't have the cars?

Just out of interest was it the Villa Vaso or Villa Eva in Rethymnon you stayed in or The Nine Muses in Hersonissos?
We found a deal in october to go to the villa vaso but the villa cane with two cars and they wouldnt let us have one , we are a family of five and didnt want to go everywhere in two cars so we left it. Otherwise we would have booked it, I was also waiting for my new card driving liscence from dvla because I had changed address so couldnt guarentee i would have had it in time to drive.

HI there,

Word of warning to anyone out there travelling with First choice - don't if you can help it.

We have an apartment in Tenerife and use it every New Year usually flying out with First Choice from Luton (as we live in Maidenhead so closer than Gatwick).

Last year (Dec 2007) the Luton flight was discontinued so had to go from Gatwick and the price was an extra £100 each than from Luton the past 6 years.

Also paid to upgrade seats as the coach seats are just so tiny and cramped - not fun for a 4 hour + flight (and I feel for anybody travelling to Florida in one of these crates)

Anyway total cost for 2 of us with upgrades - £750!!!!! and to match that figure on our return back to Gatwick on Friday 4th Jan 2008, we had a delay of 7.5 hours.

No explanation, just a letter saying technical problems and a 10 Euro per person coupon to spend in the Airport - WOW.

So we sat there all Friday afternoon being told by the boards that we would eventualy board at 23.55 and depart at 0.30 on Saturday 5th Jan. (We should have been landing at Gatwick at 22.00 on 4th Jan).

The really galling thing for all the pax was that there were no First Choice Reps around to ask what the hell was happening - all the groundstaff miraculously disappeared so you were left on your own to spend 10 hours in Tenerife Airport.

What was worse was that at 0.20 on 5th Jan the board was still displaying boarding at 23.55 on 4th Jan but nobody to ask what was going on - we all really thought we were going to be doomed to spend the night in the Airport.

Eventually we boarded and took off at 01.30 that morning without a word from any ground staff or a sorry. Apparently an empty plane had to be flown from Manchester out to us to get us back but we still don;t know why.

Their customer care or total and utter lack of it was appalling. We all know that there can be problems as if today's news doesn't surely reflect that but for god sake, at least have the decency to let the paying passengers know what is happening and how long they are going to be delayed for and don't just leave them floundering - that is truly dreadful.

I wrote and complained to First Choice only to get a 'without prejudice' email back saying sorry and look forward to welcoming you aboard again in summary. Totally missed the point that I was not complaining about the delay but as to how it was not dealt with.

So, again word of warning - we will never travel with them again and another carrier will get our hard earned cash. What made it worse when we were queuing to check in people in the next line said it had happened to them last year that was why they were flying with Air Europe and they took off on time and to Luton et al.

First Choice - Last Choice if you have any sense.

Regards,
Bacardi Sister #1

Hi Rich,

The answer to your question is here -

The aim of this section of the holiday-truth website is to enable holidaymakers to get advice and assistance as soon as possible on any holiday complaints or problems encountered.

Our members will be able to offer you advice on how best to deal with your holiday complaints and how to deal with the Tour Operators. However please remember that this will be non qualified advice. We therefore suggest you seek professional assistance from someone qualified in Travel Law.

We have teamed up with Ros Fernihough, Travel Law Solicitor, to provide the best information available.

Ros has offered our members free impartial legal advice. Please note that Ros does not read or post on this board any contact to her must be made via :-

Tel :- 01922 621114

Suggest you contact Ros before you go any further.

Peter