I would suggest and I hope others would agree in that First Choice are in breach of contract. My daugter some years ago booked with FC and when they arrived in Majorca they were told that they had to go to a different Villa. It was miles from everywhere, did not have the no of rooms or bathrooms 3 instead of 4 rooms and 3 bathrooms. Washing machine and diswasher not working. Back door no key for it so had to carry passports cash etc with them at all timers. In laws travelling with them FIL would not drive etc. The Villa they had booked was one they saw the previous year and when they got back she immediately booked it. They went and looked at the Villa and it was being refurbished reroofing etc. They knew about this but didn't in form them. If they did then they could have had a refund or perhaps found somewhere else. REP in Majorca said she had offered then another Villa the following day. Big lie!

Now to the question of compensation.
Initally after some weeks £600 same refuses then offer of £1000. She wanted a complete refund plus compensation for the distress caused. To cut it short they went to the small claims court and they were offered out of Court £2100 and told this is our best offer for now. Day before the court case 100% refund and £600 in compensation. Total £3800 +£600.
Regreted now having their day in court! My Daughter has a law degree and work in litagation field.
Result! The complete process took about 8 months.

Hope this information is helpful.

Sue

Total £3800 +£600.
Regreted now having their day in court! My Daughter has a law degree and work in litagation field. Result! The complete process took about 8 months

Wow, well done. That's why I tend to recommend consulting Ros, it pays off to 'cry havoc and unleash the dogs of war'!

I am the only one who thinks we should have a separate Fist Choice Complaints forum?

Peter

Sounds a bit like it! Julie was almost in her element dealing with them. Every Glasgow University Law Graduate is red hot on the law on Contracts! Professor ----- now retired wrote all the textbooks on Contracts. He used to think that the Student were just there as an annoyance and got in the way of his writing. I hope that I am not causing a problems in saying this.

Back to the FC matter. They asked Julie for her holiday photographs and she informed them that the photo's would only be produced if the Court asked for them.
The bottom line was that the case stood simply on the "Contract" ie they did not provide the Villa she had booked. The failed to inform her of this before prior to the holiday. Simple a Contract is a Contract. MIL was looking forward to the Court Case and to see Julie in action.

I certainly would not accept £25 no way, Prior to your holiday starting and in the UK they offered you an alternative Hotel which you accepted. At this time you had an option either to accept the alternative hotel or to cancel.
When you reached you destination they then substituted yet another hotel which was not acceptable and you were then subjected to yet another hotel. FC are quite definitely in breech of contract. Once you had arrived there you were at their mercy.
I myself had a problem with a holiday which made me quite ill and in fact had to be admitted to hospital in the UK.
First they tried to pack the buck then after a bit of to and fro they offered me £600. Julie then tell them you had an awful holiday and that you want your money back. The holiday had cost £1200 and they offered my £1000. I accepted this but asked them to pay my medical expenses of £170 as I was not willing to claim against my holiday insurance.
They paid me £1170 in total again a good result but the holiday had been a nightmare.
Julie says you never accept the first offer on anything and also everything is negotiable.
I think it may well be a good idea to check with Ros as Peter says. Best advice possible.

Sue

Thanks so much for your advice, I have advised them if the £25 is their final response then I am going to register it with the small claims court.
Holiday cost in total £3300 for the four of us, we got £100 back at resort (£25.00each). In all fairness the hotel we ended up in was lovely and had no complaint, however we missed a few days of our holiday as we had to get the ferry over then the ferry back coming home to get back to the airport.
How much do you think I should settle for if offered.
I was going to be happy with £1000 but now thinking I may be able to get more due to them breaking the contract.
What do you think??

Also sorry but I have never done anything like this before, is it easy to sort this out through the courts? and is it expensive?
Do you think there is any chance the courts will say that the £25.00 offered to us each is acceptable or do you not think that fc will let it get that far??

It will not cost you anything to speak to Ros who can advise you better. How many days of the holiday and how much inconvenience did you have.
If you had say 10-12 days holiday in a really nice hotel then they might look at it differently. If you are saying you would accept £1000 that is not unreasonably given how much you paid for the holiday. I would be very wary of saying how much you want without speaking to Ros or somebody with some legal input.
Did you say they sent you vouchers and you sent them back. If they have sent you a cheque keep it and under no circumstances cash it. Write and tell them that this is not acceptable and repeat that you want compensation for the inconvenience and subsequent distress you experienced as a result.
I don't know what others feel is acceptable. As I said with me they refused the claim and then when I refused to accept their ruling they offered £600 but Julie said no tell them you want your money back which in the end they did pay.
If you decide to go to the Small Claims Court it is very easy you just need to get the forms fill them in and return them. When you ask for the forms they will help you through the process and I am not sure what the cost is but it really is a pittance.
You can represent yourself and in many cases they won't defend as it will cost them too much too do it. If you win or they don't show by default then the court will find in your favour. If they contact you just before you go to Court which they will often leave it to the wire.

I don't have enough knowledge to really advise you but it will cost you nothing to phone Ros and just know how watertight your case is. This will give you bargaining power.
I wish you well and do let us know how you get on.

Sue

Here are Ros Fernihough (travel law solicitor who often assists our members) details.

The direct number to Ros's PA Pam is 01922 705134

Or try the switchboard number 01922 633214 and ask for Travel Dept.

Ros will give you free advice.

We were given £25 each and a free excursion whilst there, but it was stressed that this was just goodwill whist at the resort and that we could complain when we got home.

Meant to say never, ever accept any form of gestures such as shown as above as they can be used against you as 'compensation' in resort.

Did you need to sign anything?

Yes we did sign somthing when we were given the £25
Thats why we queried if this was settlement of the complaint and she said no it was just goodwill whilst we were there but thinking now she was probably lying and we have signed our right to any further compensation away

The only thing is there were 17 of us all different families all moved and were all told at the same time that it did not affect any rights we had to further compensation when we got home, and we all are complaining so its not really the reps word at the resort against mine, rather than the reps word against 17 other people.

You are right . When my Daughter complained and she was awaiting them investigating her claim the Rep in the resort put in a written statement that she had offered them another villa. She had also told them at the Airport that they were going to a lovely villa in a nice area. Because my Daughter had been there twice before she suspected that they were out in the country.
They were on holiday with her in-laws and because her FIL would not drive there they had all to go at the same time with my daughter and SIL driving the other car. Also could not go out in the evenings they did one night and took a taxi back. They said after that holiday they would only ever go on their own.

You really need Ros to help you with this and as has been said her advice is free.

Good luck Sue

Have you kept in touch with some or all of the others as this will help you all greatly if you stand together as a group?

Ring Ros on Monday Please let us know how you got on.

Yes we all email each other to see if anyone has heard anything from them
Up to now one couple have been offered £50 on top of what they got at the resort, no one else has heard anything.
If they pull the one about signing a contract in Mexico I will just hit them back with the contract I signed with them prior to traveling which they broke.

Will ring tomorrow and let you know
Thanks so much for your help

Tracy

Result! The complete process took about 8 months.

And that is the problem.

Not for anyone who is prepared to follow it through though. These things do take time and providing your complaint is justified then what is the problem.

Over a year we see many complaints here on Ht about ALL TOs and having given advice and help we hear no more. I suspect the problem is that people just do not understand you need to be patient.

So many seem to have the idea that it can be resolved in a matter of days.

Claiming against a TO for compensation is no different from claiming against anyone else. They will deny responsibility, then make a derisory offer and slowly will come to an agreement. That is how it is.

I have had holidays that were not right in some way. In some cases I have followed them through, in others I have not.

Is it worth the hassle? Did it spoil my holiday, or just was it just an irritation? That is what everyone should consider.

If you really do feel that it made a complete mess of your holiday then stick at it. If not just get on with your life.

fwh

How right you are! Any Company or TO will always try to fob you off. They do hope that you will go away and at the end of the day are you prepared to see this through. I think it depends on just how much impact you have in terms of just how badly this affected your holiday over all. If your case is a bit on the grey side then you have to look at the holiday overall. If they put you in a nice hotel which is at least up to standard of the one you booked or higher.
Yes it is a long and winding road!

Sue

The thing to remember is that you have nothing to lose. So you can not only take them to court, but also tell the press etc. TO's hate negative publicity!