Dear Sirs,
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Holiday Compensation Claim
I am writing with regards to an incorrect booking of hotel accommodation of a recent holiday in Thailand. This holiday was booked for myself and my friend "-----------". This was an error made by Thompson and as a result, we have both incurred numerous losses and seek to gain compensation.
The Events
The entire holiday package was booked with Thompson at the Lakeside branch. This included flights and accommodation to Hong Kong, Bangkok and Phuket. The travel agent who had obtained quotes and booked the holiday was an employee named 'Coral ___'.
We had settled with basic three star accommodation for Hong Kong and Bangkok, as they were short stays (three nights in Hong Kong and two nights in Bangkok). However, we deliberately decided to spend extra money on a high standard hotel in Phuket. We decided that we wanted to be in the main area of Patong in Phuket, as we planned to meet some friends there and had researched thoroughly into the area. Therefore, it was important to us that we were placed in Patong. We decided to book a pool access room at 'La Flora Hotel' in Patong. Coral had shown us the website of the hotel and we had also researched reviews of it where we found it had been ranked the number one hotel in Patong. This had confirmed our choice of the hotel.
As we arrived in Phuket, we were picked up by a representative from Pacific World. As we were driving to the hotel, the rep had revealed that we were booked at La Flora in Khao Lak, rather than La Flora in Patong. Khao Lak was a completely different region of Thailand, and at least 1 hour and 30 minutes from Phuket itself. We informed him that we were in fact booked at the other branch of the hotel in Patong. However, at this stage whilst we sorted out alternative accommodation, we had no choice but to stay in Khao Lak for that night. We were on the phone to Hayes and Jarvis immediatley, to try and resolve the situation.
We called La Flora in Patong to check availability. We found that they did have a pool access room as we had originally booked, available for that week. We then contacted Hayes & Jarvis operations department immediately to inform them of this and to arrange transfer into Patong as soon as possible. However, we were informed that a transfer to that branch was not possible. The alternative was to be transferred to a completely different hotel in Karon, which was disappointing as we specifically requested to be in Patong. This was our only option and we had no other choice but to be transferred. We considered that Karon was at least in Phuket itself and closer to Patong than Khao Lak (15-20 minutes drive away). We were told by Hayes & Jarvis that this alternative accommodation would be 'Centara Phuket Village' and that we would have to pay an extra £140 and transfer fees to gain a Cabana pool villa. We accepted nevertheless as we felt we had no other choice.
Having organised an alternative hotel, we made our way to 'Centara Phuket Village'. However, this hotel had no recollection of our reservation. We then had to wait for two hours at this hotel to resolve the problem, where it emerged that our transfer was actually at 'Centara Karon Village'. This wasted further time of our holiday. When we finally arrived at this hotel, we informed an employee that we had booked a Cabana pool villa. However, we were informed that we had in fact been booked in for a basic room only (due to a mix up that resulted in Hayes and Jarvis booking us into a Cabana room, and the hotel not having any availability of any Cabana rooms). We therefore paid an extra £140 to gain a pool access room in this hotel, when all we had actually received was a basic room. We found that the hotel was also, not of the same league as La Flora. It was a very basic family resort whereas La Flora was a top 5* hotel ranked number one in Patong.
We therefore contacted Hayes and Jarvis immediately, to ascertain whether there were any other hotels of the same league as La Flora which were available. We were informed that the only alternatives was another room in Centura Karon Village or to move to their sister hotel. These alternatives were no better than what we had already been given, and at this stage of the holiday we were extremely tired of wasting time and moving our luggage around. Hayes and Jarvis told us that there was nothing that they could do. We again had no other choice but to check into this hotel and settle for the basic room. Chris did call back eventually, just to say that there was 'nothing he could do'. He then informed us that he would call the following day with other options/ explanations but this never happened. We had to call the company ourselves for a status update and the response we gained was that there was nothing which could be done at all to resolve the situation.
The Law
(i) Breach of Contract
It is clear that Thompson has failed to honour its contractual obligations. The booking details attached demonstrate that the accommodation which should have been booked was 'La Flora' in 'Phuket'. This wrongful booking results in a breach of a condition of the contract and entitles me as a customer to a claim of compensation.
Although alternative accommodation was provided, it was not of a similar standard to the one which was originally booked. We were required to stay in a basic room and had no other choice as Hayes & Jarvis were not contactable at the time. When we did manage to contact the company, the other alternatives, as explained above, were not satisfactory at all for the amount we had already paid.
It was also made extremely clear to Thompson that we wanted to stay in Patong and that this was important to us. In addition, we clearly stated that we wanted to stay in a particular type of accommodation, which was a room with pool access with private facilities. This emphasises the breach on the part of the company.
(ii) Package Travel, Package Holidays & Package Tours Regulations 1992
The Package Travel, Package Holiday & Package Tours Regulations 1992 are also applicable and have been breached. These regulations set out travel organisers' responsibilities to their customers and provide consumers with statutory legal rights against tour operators. Reg. 2 states that these regulations apply to 'packages sold' in the U.K. This is defined as a holiday for a period of more than twenty-four hours which is sold at an inclusive price and includes at least transport and accommodation. The holiday which was booked with Thompson clearly includes these elements of a 'package' holiday.
Reg 14. applies where a significant proportion of the services are not provided by the travel organiser. Reg 14 (2) states that should this occur, the organiser must make suitable alternative arrangements at no extra cost. Although alternative arrangements were made, these were at an extra cost of £140 plus transfer fees. Reg 14 (2) also states that the travel organiser must compensate the consumer for the difference between the services to be supplied under the contract and those actually supplied.
Reg 15 (1) and (2) are also applicable in this situation, and state that 'the other party' (the travel organiser) shall be liable to the consumer for any damage caused to him by the failure to perform the contract.
Finally, reg 15 (8) obliges the travel organiser to 'make prompt efforts to find appropriate solutions' in the event that the consumer makes a complaint and is in need of help. I found on several occasions that I was required to phone Hayes & Jarvis to resolve the problem, which increased my phone bill and also added to the stress of dealing with the problem. I did contact Hayes & Jarvis at the earliest opportunity whenever I found that there was a problem and therefore complied with Reg 15 (9).
Particulars of Loss and Damage
(i) Difference between Centura Phuket Village and La Flora Hotel.
The alternative that was provided by the company was of a lower standard.
This is firstly demonstrated by the fact that Centura Phuket Village is a 3 star hotel and La Flora Hotel is 4 star.
This is also reflected in the price difference. The booking for La Flora from 13th November to 20th November for a pool access room would currently cost £977.3521. However, a room in Centara Phuket Village for the same amount of time, for a basic room cost £636.9108. This gives a price difference of £340.4413. This demonstrates that the Centara Hotel was not in the same league and price range as the La Flora hotel. This holiday was booked 8 months in advance, therefore the booking of La Flora hotel was slightly cheaper and in fact cost us £780. However, the price comparison above demonstrates that the hotels are of a different league and have a large disparity in price even if the holiday was booked closer to the time of departure.
La Flora Hotel is also the number one hotel in Patong on many accredited websites, including tripadvisor.co.uk, whereas Centura was ranked as number 10 or lower. We would not have booked Centura Phuket for the type of luxury holiday we were seeking. In addition, when speaking to a travel agent at Thompson, we were even told that the alternative accommodation offered would not be 'as nice'.
I have attached pictures of La Flora Hotel and Centura Phuket Village which demonstrate the difference in standard between the two of them. There is also evidence to demonstrate that La flora was in fact ranked as number on in Patong.
(ii) Loss of Enjoyment
As a result of the error, we suffered a considerable amount of stress and disappointment on the holiday. We wasted two days of our time in Thailand by moving to different hotels and calling up the company to resolve the problem. We were unable to relax in these two days. We also experienced a considerable amount of stress by having to constantly call the company. We found that the company often failed to contact us as we were required on numerous occasions to call instead.
The holiday was booked 8 months in advance, and this was supposed to be the most luxurious part of the holiday. Instead we were left having to deal with a wrongful booking.
(iii) Additional Expenses
We have incurred additional expenses as a result of the booking. These are set out below.
(a) The transfer fee of £140 - this debit is evidenced by a bank statement attached to the letter. This was an additional cost which we were required to pay to be transferred to the pool villa in Centura. However, we had only received the basic room and this money should therefore be refunded. Further, this money was taken out of our spending money for the holiday.
(b) Phone bill - I have incurred a large phone bill due to the calls I was required to make to the company whilst in Thailand. A statement of the bill is attached to evidence this and I expect this to be refunded.
(c) The cancellation fee.
(d) Taxi fares - As the hotel was not located in Patong, we were required to pay a taxi fare to reach the area each time at a cost of £6.50. I have attached taxi receipts to this letter as evidence. This is an additional expense which we would not have had to incur if the booking was made for La Flora in Patong. I also expect this to be fully refunded.
I am aware that Hayes and Jarvis is a member of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA). If I fail to receive a favorable response from you within a 14 day period, I reserve the right to report you to ABTA and utilise its arbitration or conciliation service to resolve the dispute.
If I am still not satisfied with the outcome of this matter, I have the right to instruct a solicitor and issue proceedings against you, as a co-defendant, in the small claims court without further notice. This will be to recover the costs incurred as a result of the error made by the company plus interest (which a court is likely to grant to account for the delay I would experience in receiving my money) as well as costs for bringing such proceedings.
I hope that such action will not be necessary and that you respond as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
----------------------------------------
I realise it's very long, but the person who drafted it thinks that it's alll info that we need to tell them initially??!
Thanks in advance..
Mini
you need to explain how much and why
silly though it may sound but as someone who deals in these matters, ( i have succesfully claimed compensation of Royal Mail and several utility companies to name a few ) it makes it easier when you break down what you want and why.
As a guide you would expect £10 at least for every hour of disruption, ie 1 1 1/2 hours travelling to where you were originally booked equals £15
on top of this you want your travelling expenses and that is just the start
I did find something online that helped to calculate the amount of compensation, it was something like : how much the holiday cost, and how much each day was worth, plus additinal expenses etc.
I'm just confused as to whether i should detail a specific amount initially, or maybe wait for a response and if i dont like it, then quantify it?
Now, they may if they offer you anything, say that this is the first and final offer. In that case go to to arbitaton / ombudsman, as you CANNOT lose.
It costs you nothing and if you get ruled against you still win
i.e if your awarded £500 and refuse, if the ombudsman rules against you still get £500, however if they say you should get more then you win. If my memory serves me right it costs you nothing but the holiday companies have to pay, so it in their interests that you don't.
How would i go about going to an ombudsman, is that where i'd contact ABTA?
Thanks for your help so far...
You have no automatic right to compensation
thats why you have work to get it
they will, like most insurance companies do they're best to avoid paying out
send them your letter of complaint and give them a reasonable time to reply. What you call reasonable may differ from thiers.
Gaive them 20 working days maximum. After that go the ombudsman and explain they refusing to answer. All this adds weight to your claim
Don't take it personally, but I think things like that are important.
I wouldn't mention figures in my opening letter, but when you do make sure you can justify what you are asking for. I would imagine you will get a standard reply, apologising etc.etc. Bear in mind that the Abta code of conduct gives them 14 days to acknowledge your letter and 28 days from receipt to provide a detailed response. If you get an none favourable response after the first letter, write again.
Have a look at Abta's website. There is a lot of helpful info.
http://www.abta.com/consumer-services/travel_problems/frequently_asked_questions_consumer#delays
If you want more info use the site search at the top of the site
No worries about the spelling mistake, like i said i didnt draft the letter, so it still needs to be cleared up a bit before i send it!
I am thinking about how much compensation i should ask to claim, backed up with reasons.
Is this reasonable?:
expenses such as cancellation fee, my phone bill, transfer costs, the costs incurred for upgrading but not getting the upgraded room
the mistake affected 7 days of a 12 night holiday. 59% of it. could we ask for 59% of the money back? (£1829)
Loss of enjoyment, £500.
I realise this is quite a lot, but seriously the only thing that kept us going and helped us feel better about the disaster that had happened, was holding onto the fact that maybe we'd get some justice when we got home!
i will have a look at the ABTA site.
Thankyou very much for your help
Leave the "without prejudice" out - if it goes to court you may not be able to use the letter.
Bear in mind that included in the 59% of the cost of your holiday was a flight, which you still used and was 'as booked', so you cannot really include that in your 'percentage' claim.
Every minute of YOUR time spent sorting this out is claimable.
Remember though, you are going to have to fight for everything.
I would suggest that as this is your first letter opening up the complaint procedure that you limit yourself to
a) Proving that they messed the booking up - There's no need to go into why it was important to you that you stayed in this particular hotel - the important thing is that this is the one you wanted to book and they didn't book you into it. Going back to what you said in your original post in the the first thread you opened up - it appears that this will be easy to do because your invoice from them (that is Thomson) lists a diferent hotel to the one you were actually booked into.
b) Ask them for the refund of the difference between what you actually paid them to stay in your chosen hotel and the the price of the one you ended up staying in.
c) Itemise the additional costs that this mistake resulted in for you. Itemise all the extras you paid in order to try and ensure that you could salvage what you could from the holiday including what you ahd to pay the hotel you ended up in, any transfer costs etc, the cost of your phone bills, anythings that had to be paid for at this hotel that would have been included in your original choice of hotel etc.
d) Then ask them for compensation for loss of enjoyment via refund of the dissatisfactory aprt of the holiday. As others have mentioned this will have to based on the total price minus the flights - they were correct - and minus the days spent in Hong Kong and Bangkok. So it won't be for 59% of the total cost given that the industry tends to work on the assumption that flights account for 40% of the total price of a package.
However, the best advice of all is probably to consult a specialist like Ros - she is the expert, not any of us who can only express a personal opinion - and she will be the best qualified of all to draft your letter for you.
SM
You do not (and should not) enclose bank statements. It is sufficient that you are able to prove the figures should you be required to do so.
There is no need to quote chapter and verse of the regulations. Simply state that your claim is under The Package Travel, Package Holidays & Package Tours Regulations 1992. They know them better than you.
You might like to have a read through this topic - http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=135246
MarkJ (one of the HT mods) is in the process of making a claim via the small claims court and it started in June so it could take a long time to sort out. It is also a good example of how to keep a letter short and sweet. Loading your letter with fine details will only delay and confuse matters at this stage.
The most sensible advice has already been given that you should contact Ros who is a leading lawyer in this type of case.
Do consider that they require time to investigate the matter so any deadlines you impose must be realistic.
fwh
Shame on them for not dealing with this better at the time. It was a basic error, that a) shouldn't have happened, but once it did happen (and I can see why it might for inexperienced agents) they should have rolled out all the stops to fix it, especially as the paperwork quite obviously backed up what you were saying. There is no shortage of top end accommodation in Patong, and i'm sure they could have got you into one. La Flora vs Centara is chalk and cheese.
You won't be able to claim 59% because that includes your flights. Except if you take them to court and it's easier for them not to defend.
However, regarding the 'don't accept the first offer' I will say I know of 2 travel companies who actually make one fair offer, and won't negotiate after that. However, they are small Tour Op's with exemplary customer service (who i'd like to think wouldn't let this happen). So as you're dealing with a larger company it's probably valid advice.
Oh - who is Thompson? Did you book a Hayes & Jarvis Holiday through Thomson's? Or is Thompson a person? Need to clear that up.
I can't edit - but you've answered my question re: Thompson / Thomson / H&J in your other thread. From the notes you have there, it sounds like Thomson are to blame is H&J person said 'That ones in Khao Lak'.
Thompson - bless. My sister means Thomson - who we booked it through who I then presume booked it through Hayes and Jarvis, I don't know how all that works, but Hayes and Jarvis have already said that they have listened to the tapes and that it's Thomsons mistake.
Have a look at revising your letter and if you post on here we may be able to assist further.
fwh
Also did you sign a booking form showing the correct hotel at the time you made the booking or did it show the incorrect hotel and you signed it without picking up on it? Just a thought because they will check all of these kind of things to try and catch you out. Hope this helps.
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