Hi, This is a letter I sent to Thomsons on the 15th August. I received an acknowledgment of our letter on the 21st August but nothing since. With the letter I also included a photo copy of the page from the brochure along with a copy of the hotel description. I think I have a good case here but wish I had visited this site before as I omitted to state what I was looking for - just moan or compensation.
I am writing to complain about the above holiday which I have just returned with my family.
One of our prerequisites when looking for a holiday is the availability of tennis playing facilities. This is why we booked our holiday this year at the Bahia Principe Cayacoa in the Dominican Republic through your Offices in Basingstoke.
We booked our holiday in March after searching several destinations and eventually settling on the above resort after speaking to your representatives. The brochure we used was the "Thomson Destinations Faraway Shores January 2009 to April 2010 (November Edition)". Having booked the holiday I had some concerns about the tennis availability as the First Choice Brochure did not mention any courts. As a result, I called the Thomson agents in Basingstoke who said they would check. They called a few minutes later to confirm that courts are available and that they had double checked the Bahia Principe web site. I did the same and was relieved to find that two tennis courts were listed. To triple check, I sent 4 emails to the Customer Service desk at the resort (31/3, 2/4, 16/4 and 28/6) - all were unanswered.
Needless to say upon our arrival, we were very unhappy when we found that there were in fact no tennis courts available and naturally complained to your resort representative who asked us to give her 24 hours to sort something out. In the meantime, I looked at other resorts in the area and suggested that we get moved to the Bahia Principe Cayo Levantado but was told that this was out of the question.
Our representative managed to get an agreement for my son and me to go over to Cayo Levantado 4 times in the first week. We agreed to give this a try but very quickly discovered that this trip took half a day (visit schedules are limited by a ferry) and meant that we played during the hottest part of the day. It also meant that we were away from the rest of the family. For the record, my wife, son and I are regular players and my son was due to play in a tournament on our return. It was therefore important for him to practice but also enjoy a family holiday. As a result, we informed our representative that this was not a viable solution.
By now it was Thursday 30th June and our representatives' day off so I called the Thomson 24x7 support team in the UK. I again asked that Thomson consider moving us to the Cayo Levantado even if it is just for the 2nd week of our holiday. He agreed to check. Shortly afterwards he called to inform us that this was not possible. However, we were told we could be moved if we were willing to pay an additional £1700 for the remainder of our holiday or £1200 for a week. He suggested we write a letter of complaint when we return to get the money back. Needless to say I declined this offer.
As our holiday was a package, the Package Travel Regulations 1992 apply to it. Under these regulations you are liable to compensate us for the problems we encountered and for the distress and disappointment we suffered as a result.
If this matter cannot be resolved amicably, I shall send a copy of this letter and enclosures to ABTA (of which I note you are a member). (Also, if, as I suspect, the mis-description in the brochure was made ‘knowingly' or ‘recklessly' by you, you will have committed a criminal offence under the Trade Descriptions Act. Accordingly, I will report it to the trading standards department of my local authority for investigation).
I look forward to hearing from you on this matter.
The travelagent states they do. You probably need to address the problem with the travel agent.
Just my opinion.
Mark
Brent
If they were advertised, they are in breach of the Trades Description Act, and depending on the enthusiasm of your local Trading Standards Office, Thomson could be facing a tricky trip to the Magistrates Court.
I would recommend you do the following:
1) Check with your travel agent that there was not Errata at the time of booking advising the tennis court was not available
2) Check with your travel agent that no letter was received by them from the point you booked till your departure advising the tennis court had been withdrawn.
If they have not received either notification, you are entitled to compensation.
Firstly, send a recorded delivery letter to Thomson advising you are still waiting for a response to your initial letter, and advise that they are in breach of ABTA's Code of Conduct.
Secondly, in the letter state the exact amount of compensation you are seeking.
Thirdly, give them 14 days to reply with an offer or advise you will issue County Court proceedings.
If they do not reply within 14 days, issue the County Court proceedings, sit back and wait for the settlement cheque to come.
CSM
Thank you CSM. Can anyone suggest what compensation I should push for? Some friends have suggested we ask for a full refund and I'm not sure if this is reasonable or not. Thanks you. Brent
Full refunds are very rare as you probably received significant value from the holiday regardless if the tennis courts was a major part of your holiday.
Having said that, a full refund demand is probably a strategically good place to start with your demands but be prepared to negotiate.
CSM
Its a difficult one as if the brochure did say tennis courts, and there were never any ones there then it is misrepresentation.
Perhaps compensation for the travel time might be the best way?
If I was looking to book a holiday that had to have tennis courts I would have did a bit of homework and not just booked any hotel out of the brochure.I would have made sure there were reviews that stated how good the tennis facilities were.Also asking for a full refund?.Are you having a laugh.I went on holiday to Ibiza ,All Inclusive, this year and the brochure stated that they had a beach bar which we enjoyed visiting.When we went there this year we found that they had sold it and we would have to pay for any drinks if we went there.It was very disappointing but I did not look for any compensation.I am sorry but in my opinion you really are taking the biscuit looking for compensation.
If I was looking to book a holiday that had to have tennis courts I would have did a bit of homework and not just booked any hotel out of the brochure
I think the original poster did, she checked the brochure
When we went there this year we found that they had sold it and we would have to pay for any drinks if we went there
Did the brochure state this??
Your argument is flawed as if something was so important I would have booked a hotel that was well known for its tennis facililities.Also as I said in my last post the brochure stated that the hotel I was at had a beach bar which was untrue.I did not seek compensation.For gods sake what is this world coming to when instead of enjoying your holiday you are looking for any reason to claim compensation.
Anyway, I will follow CSM's advice and let you know how I get on.
Was there evidence that the hotel had had tennis courts at some time?
to hillbankdee do you really need to be so rude..please have some respect for posters on here.
I have just been on the Bahia Principe website and I cant find where they state tennis courts.
I don`t think I was rude to anyone.The point I am trying to make is that this compensation culture is spiralling out of control.
With a holiday you pay a lot of money upfront without really knowing whether what you paid for is going to materialise. So if something is wrong, you expect it to be dealt with.
If it isn't, court here we go. Simple as.
Mark
As mentioned, a full refund is not realistic as value has been received fom the holiday. It does appear every reasonable step was taken to ensure tennis facilities were there. So simply as a strategic start, claim for a full refund, and you are likely to end up with a better settlement.
A full refund for the loss of a tennis court? IMHO asking for a full refund for the loss of one facility (all be it an important one) is neither realistic nor reasonable. If it were me I would decide how much time I would have spent at the tennis courts (perhaps 2 hours a day) and what that time that is as as a percentage of my overall holiday. Add a bit for loss of enjoyment and whack in a reasonable claim. The one and only time I had to claim compensation from a TO involved transferring to another hotel after one night. My claim was for one night's loss of enjoyment (total cost of holiday divided by 14) plus the cost of the taxi. The TO in question paid up within 28 days. I felt my claim was fair and reasonable and was happy with the outcome.
If so, you should look at the Validity Date of the brochure and ensure it was applicable at the time you made your holiday booking with the travel agent.
Some agents do not update their shelves with the latest edition brochures.....
If a later edition brochure was in effect and the tennis courts had been removed from being listed as available, at the time you made your booking - the tour operator have done nothing wrong.
Did your agent check the tennis courts availability with the tour operator directly or by looking in the brochure?
If however, a later brochure was issued (after you made your holiday booking, which showed tennis court being a facility of the hotel) and the courts were no longer part of the hotel - you should have been informed by an errata message from your tour operator via your travel agent.
If the courts were shown in an earlier brochure (prior to making a reservation) and had been removed during the current issue brochure - an errata would have been entered into the reservation history of the booking and should have been read to you and confirmed by the travel agent who made the booking.
So, first stop should be for you to check if the brochure you booked from was valid for the date you made your holiday reservation.
As for compensation, remember that around 60% of the cost of a package holiday is generally the flight & transfer part of getting you to your destination. The remaining 40% will be the cost of putting a roof over the heads of all your party members and any board basis included.
A refund for a loss of a facility such as a tennis court is likely to be very small... It would be looked at as a small portion of the overall holiday package. After all, I understand this was a family holiday and not a tennis holiday?
If you reckon your son may have played for a couple of hours during each 24hrs of your time on holiday, it may give you some indication of how much of a proportion you might want to initiate a claim for.
I used to work for a major UK tour operator and deducted monies paid in compensation to our guests from the hotel, if the hotel had breached the contract between them and us as the tour operator.
Apportioning blame and costs was a huge part of my job and a position which I truly enjoyed.
As for compensation, remember that around 60% of the cost of a package holiday is generally the flight & transfer part of getting you to your destination. The remaining 40% will be the cost of putting a roof over the heads of all your party members and any board basis included.
That is a flawed argument and one that the tour operators make you believe being the case.
As I have peviously stated, I can go to Barbados for £800 per person staying at a cheap hotel or £5000 per person staying at the Sandy Lane. So how can £480 go on flights for the former and £3000 for the latter for the same flight?
The extra night price (often quoted in brochures when wanting to extend a holiday) is a better guidance for the true cost of the hotel portion of a holiday.
Mark
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