I am copying below the complaint letter sent to Panorama which details what has been happening.This letter is already on the Egypt forum titled
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=116210&start=40&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
We have still not received a refund and when I ring they say it is being dealt with and be patient.Do you think I am being unreasonable expecting my money back by now and how do we stand legally.
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to complain about the appalling treatment we have received from your company and as a share holder of Thomas cook am totally dismayed that customers can be treated in this way.
On the 5/03/2008 we booked the above holiday and paid in full .On 27/03/2008 We received an email telling us that the original hotel was over booked and where being sent to The Park Inn. This was not acceptable to us so I phoned the telephone number for operations only to either be told after pressing several options that no one was available to take my call and ring back later or to be kept in a queue for 2 hours and 45 mins at 8pminute and still not speak to any one ,which has now left me with telephone charges alone of £18 just to try and contact your operations.
I then decided to try and email your customer relations team only to have notifications that some of my emails had been deleted unread !!When I emailed back to enquire why this had been done I was told it was because I'd sent more than one email but each one contained different questions.
Desperate now to contact operations I sent a letter by special delivery for which I never received a written reply.
I eventually found a free phone number for customer services whom were very nice but were unable to help as I had to speak to operations.
Operations eventually contacted me on the 1/04/2008 ,I was told I had no alternative but to accept the Park Inn or to cancel as there was no other availability in Sharm el Sheikh even though I was willing to pay extra for different accommodation. When I looked into this by going to a Thomas cook travel agent found I could book numerous hotels for the same dates that We had booked. In the opinion of myself and the travel agent we had been told a pack of lies.
On the 4/04/2008 after much consideration and checking reviews of the Park Inn we decided to cancel and have a full refund .
I rang operations and spoke to xxxxxxx who said this would be fine and a full refund would in my account in 5-7 working days.
I then received an email (enclosed) which worried me a great deal because it showed a zero balance I then rang again and spoke to a xxxxx on the 4/04/2008 who told me not to worry it was just a technicality and the refund was being processed and would with me 5-7 working days. I also rang accounts on the 10/04/2008 only to be cut off once I'd told her my query.
On Tuesday 28th April we returned from our holiday which I'd had to rebook through the travel agent only to find that no refund was on my credit card. When I rang to enquire was told by xxxxx that it takes up to 28 days and was very sorry I had been told incorrect information. I will now incur charges on my credit card because the bill is due and no refund has gone through. As of today's date no refund has been given.
We feel that we should be compensated for the Phone charges ,credit card charges which we will now incur and for the distress and unreasonable way we have been treated through no fault of our own. I look forward to your response ,
Yours Sincerely ,
Thank you for taking the time to read this,
regards Hassie
