they wouldnt tell me much, very careful what they said, just that i had to accept this and she didnt deal with the changing of flights so doesnt know why i was given manchester and that there wasnt much give in these type of flights. i suggested flying flying from east mids back to brum as i had been originally told i could do, to that she said i would have to pay extra and not just to the east mids flights but to both flights at todays prices too and it was £600 extra, i said that surely they cant charge me extra to fly back to brum as i paid for this already and she said your now on the manchester flight so you will, totally unwilling to help, i even said im being flexible with my flights dont mind changing a few days if it meant i could fly local as my daughter has travel sickness in cars , but got nowhere
this is interesting just gone online myself and priced up the manchester flight they have changed us to and the gatwick i would prefer prices for the 3 of us are
manchester 935.50
gatwick 772.50
luton which is even nearer to me 667.50 although for only 2 wks
Its very poor on the part of first choice. There clearly is a suitable alternative in the Gatwick flight. I didn't realise there was so little protection when you book these tickeless flights.
I hope this isnt a sign of things to come with all these mergers going on. Customer Service with the big companies is a bit hit and miss anyway, if we go from 4 big companies to two, it will go right down the pan.
I would still be tempted to write to FC as a matter of principle, see if you can get the name of someone at the top, MD or similar. Keep it simple, say when you booked, that you paid up front, they have changed airport and dates, you know the Gatwick is available, why is it not being offered as a suitable alternative?
After all their terms and conditions say you are entitled to an alternative if yours is cancelled. Mention how much time you have spend on 'premium charge' phone lines to try and sort it.
I hope this isnt a sign of things to come with all these mergers going on. Customer Service with the big companies is a bit hit and miss anyway, if we go from 4 big companies to two, it will go right down the pan.
I would still be tempted to write to FC as a matter of principle, see if you can get the name of someone at the top, MD or similar. Keep it simple, say when you booked, that you paid up front, they have changed airport and dates, you know the Gatwick is available, why is it not being offered as a suitable alternative?
After all their terms and conditions say you are entitled to an alternative if yours is cancelled. Mention how much time you have spend on 'premium charge' phone lines to try and sort it.
trouble is chris they have only given me a week to accept these flights or i will lose them, and its already 2 days and a letter will take a few days to get to them etc so they will probably cancel my flights by then. they got 10 mins before the morning goes and by the looks of it they arent going to ring surprise surprise !!!
Just seen your edit, re the different flights that are available. It doesnt make sense why they are being so difficult.
There are alternatives for you that seem to cost them less! Perhaps you might be better asking for a staight 14 days as there will be more options.
I sometimes wonder about call centre staff, if we can surf about and check a few screens why cant they? It all seems very odd.
Have you decided what you are going to do?
There are alternatives for you that seem to cost them less! Perhaps you might be better asking for a staight 14 days as there will be more options.
I sometimes wonder about call centre staff, if we can surf about and check a few screens why cant they? It all seems very odd.
Have you decided what you are going to do?
Hi Elle-Meg, I have done a flight check on the web and they have cancelled the flight, they have probably offedred the package deals the TUI flight as that goes out half an hour later than the Fc flight they cancelled, good luck with your flight, have they offered you any transport cost to Manchester as i know people who had their flight changed and theairline paid for transport. 
I have read through the posts on this topic and the comments and advice given may be well meant but they do not resolve your problem.
I keep saying that any comments on here can only be personal opinions. In some cases they may be of help where someone has had a similar problem.
The simple answer is to get professional advice. Contact Consumer Direct and ask them.
Go on their website for information . There is a telephone number you can also use shown on the site.
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/
fwh
I keep saying that any comments on here can only be personal opinions. In some cases they may be of help where someone has had a similar problem.
The simple answer is to get professional advice. Contact Consumer Direct and ask them.
Go on their website for information . There is a telephone number you can also use shown on the site.
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/
fwh
ive tried that chris, hence being on the phone so long, tried everything i could think of to pay no more money but to be nearer to home, they have refused to do anything, first chap i spoke to said as long as it falls within 48 hrs for my outgoing and incoming flights i could change free, last 2 people ive spoken to said thats incorrect and its manchester or pay the difference, i said ill change dates or go 2 wks but nothing i said made any difference, so frustrating
no they refused any costs towards transport or airport parking when i asked them and told them i would be out of pocket by at least £100.
1 thing i did do and havent mentioned is ring atol yesterday , what a waste of time said they couldnt help as its only if airline goes burst and to ring abta on monday.
fwh ill look at that website thanks
1 thing i did do and havent mentioned is ring atol yesterday , what a waste of time said they couldnt help as its only if airline goes burst and to ring abta on monday.
fwh ill look at that website thanks
Hi Elle-meg, was you going on the Monday flight at 17.15 as thier is a flight from East Midlands at 1750, what is the flight they have offered you from Manchester is it the Saturday night flight. 
-
Edited by
bellingham
2007-03-24 12:18:05
Good website FWH. I have had quick look on it Karen I couldnt find a much on 'flight only' type problems. But thats probably just me. It must be worth sending them an email. Especially as it seems that eveyone at FC's call centre seems to be giving you a different story as to what they can and cant do.
Also could be worth giving Ros a ring on Monday as well, just incase she or her staff have come across this before. I'm sure it must have happened to others.
Also could be worth giving Ros a ring on Monday as well, just incase she or her staff have come across this before. I'm sure it must have happened to others.
i was going on a thurs flight on 12th july to 31st july, the 31st is still available not the 12th and from birmingham, pasted from my email
FLIGHT DETAILS Flight No Depart Arrive 758 BIRMINGHAM C THU 12JUL 2255 Dalaman THU 12JUL 0455 663 Dalaman C TUE 31JUL 0040 BIRMINGHAM TUE 31JUL 0300
now they have put me on this
From: Manchester (MAN)
To: Dalaman (DLM)
New Flight Details: Thu 12/07/2007, Flight No. FCA 496, Depart MAN at 22:30 and arrive DLM at 04:45 919
From: Dalaman (DLM)
To: Manchester (MAN)
New Flight Details: Mon 30/07/2007, Flight No. FCA 919, Depart DLM at 16:50 and arrive MAN at 19:25 919
i have rang consumer direct and they told me to email fc and send a recorded delivery and she said it just depends on their terms and conditions as to my rights, but their terms and conditions are very vague and dont say much. she told me to keep ringing them too grr
FLIGHT DETAILS Flight No Depart Arrive 758 BIRMINGHAM C THU 12JUL 2255 Dalaman THU 12JUL 0455 663 Dalaman C TUE 31JUL 0040 BIRMINGHAM TUE 31JUL 0300
now they have put me on this
From: Manchester (MAN)
To: Dalaman (DLM)
New Flight Details: Thu 12/07/2007, Flight No. FCA 496, Depart MAN at 22:30 and arrive DLM at 04:45 919
From: Dalaman (DLM)
To: Manchester (MAN)
New Flight Details: Mon 30/07/2007, Flight No. FCA 919, Depart DLM at 16:50 and arrive MAN at 19:25 919
i have rang consumer direct and they told me to email fc and send a recorded delivery and she said it just depends on their terms and conditions as to my rights, but their terms and conditions are very vague and dont say much. she told me to keep ringing them too grr
Karen just out of interest what department are you speaking to at first choice. Out of experience i find that different departments vary enormously in the help they give. if its customer services it may pay to try a different one .ask if you can be put through to the pre-departures /flight dept and see what happens . they seem to use their brain a bit more 
-
Edited by
lynwestie
2007-03-24 12:27:01
lyn
i got the number off the bottom of my email , ive pasted it
if you have any queries, please contact us on 0870 850 3999 option 3, option 1, option 4, and a member of our team will be more than happy to assist you
i got the number off the bottom of my email , ive pasted it
if you have any queries, please contact us on 0870 850 3999 option 3, option 1, option 4, and a member of our team will be more than happy to assist you
Karen . dont use the 0870 number . check out http://www.saynoto0870.com for a geographical number that doesnt cost you as much. there are 2 numbers listed for that one you gave . 0161 7452105 or 0161 7454000. . that department appears to be for "website only bookings" . check out that website lots more number options and ask for pre-departures
thanks lyn never heard of that site before looks good, ill ring that number a bit later on today so i know they will have received my email, ive got free mobile phone calls so that should help. i wonder how many other people are going to have this same problem
I think the Consumer Direct advice is sound, about emailing and following up with a recorded delivery letter.
I just dont trust some of these companies, it is so easy for them to say they didn't get the email.
On my work email now we can request what is called a 'read receipt' you can then do a printscreen and it confirms that the recipient has both recieved and read the email. As we move to more 'electronic times' this should be made compulsory for big companys.
I just dont trust some of these companies, it is so easy for them to say they didn't get the email.
On my work email now we can request what is called a 'read receipt' you can then do a printscreen and it confirms that the recipient has both recieved and read the email. As we move to more 'electronic times' this should be made compulsory for big companys.
Hi Elle-Meg, I have lookes on the web and they still have flights from East Midlands on the Thursaday at 17.50pm would that be better than the Manchester, it looks as like FC have cancelled all their Birmigham flights and tranfered people to differant airports and to TUI flights instead.
hi
yes east mids is fine, about 50 mins away, birmingham is 25 mins but i would be happy to go to east mids, but they wont let me change without paying about £600 more grrrr, how do you know they have cancelled all their flights from birmingham as they told me i could change to another brum flight but at a high cost, im not prepared to pay 400-600 more
going to try and ring on that 0161 now fingers crossed
yes east mids is fine, about 50 mins away, birmingham is 25 mins but i would be happy to go to east mids, but they wont let me change without paying about £600 more grrrr, how do you know they have cancelled all their flights from birmingham as they told me i could change to another brum flight but at a high cost, im not prepared to pay 400-600 more
going to try and ring on that 0161 now fingers crossed
rang that 0161 no she told me it was an internal number and gave me a 0845 number so far ive been waiting 31 mins and havent been answered on hold and costing me money grrr, what a bad company this is, im not waiting any longer than that costing me too much
does anyone know if i could get a refund and start again, although its coming back a day earlier when ive added up the hours its only about 7-8 hrs so i dont know if this is classed as a major change with the change of airport too
does anyone know if i could get a refund and start again, although its coming back a day earlier when ive added up the hours its only about 7-8 hrs so i dont know if this is classed as a major change with the change of airport too
Hi Elle-Meg, If you try and book a holiday with a flight from Birmingham it comes up no flight availablefor all dates, it looks like they have tranfered all the flights to TUI, i can remember a few years back when w had a flight change they said if the flight supplement was more we would have to pay the differance and that was monarche airlines, i would phone FC nd ask them if you can go from EM and if they say no see what FC contract aggrement is as i dont think they can treat people like this, also do n ot believe a word FC customer services tell you as they tell that many lies being all the trouble we had the year Pegasos Palace opened, the only way they let us move without cost was when i spoke to a someone a cutomer sevices headoffice, im sure someone on the PP thread has the number for them.
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