Tour Operators and Travel Agents

Discussions regarding Tour Operators and Travel Agents
Thomson / TUI
727 Posts
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well it's working fast enough for me, but I noticed yesterday that when I tried to look at pre-booking excursions, it kept telling me to enter my holiday dates...and I had already done it :roll:

Tonight in view of your post, I tried to search for our favorite apartments in Tenerife....and they are not available on the drop-down list...but are shown in the resort spiel....

so a few teething problems I feel.........

either that , or I should NOT use their excursions...or use them to book our apartment :wink:
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Never ever book a holiday with Thomson. Once you've booked it you have to wait nearly an hour to get through to them by phone as they never answer their emails, only to find out you have to be transferred and wait another hour. No apology for the wait and they treat you like some kind of criminal on the phone. (By the way they say you may wait 20mins while waiting on the call - the biggest under statement of the year!).

When you want to change anything you're told that it will cost you shed loads of money as they have fees for everything. Even when the fault is there's - Just be warned that family hotels are only family hotels during School Holidays - outside of this they are available for the 18-30 crowd. You can't speak to the complaints team about this as everything has to be in Writing! (Even though I'm going on holiday in 3 weeks). Obviously it gives them time to ignore the letter and hope the issue blows over.

They are the most unhelpful company I have had to deal with and I will never book a holiday with them or any of their subsidiaries ever again. And they wonder why people are doing DIY holidays.
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Thomson are still my holiday company of choice we use a local travel agency have done for the past 15yrs any problems we have they as a Thomsons agent follow eveything up,having said that we have only ever had to complain once and got a small refund.My gripe with Thomsons is the state of Thomsonfly they are a disgrace since the TUI takeover.
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Is anyone else having problems with Thomsons online booking the price being shown for the Tasia Maris Hotel is 1335pounds each for 2weeks in September this is wrong, we payed 889pounds each,also when trying to book online they are asking for 15pounds each for coach transfers they are free as this is a Gold Hotel.Take Care when trying to book check the travel agents.
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I always rate a company by how they treat you when you have a disagreement. Most companies use the approach 'the customer is always right' and compromise. This is beyond Thompson. Any amendments cost £50 pp, and if you want to upgrade you have to pay the difference between what the current price is, against what you paid (all discounts are lost).

We booked early to get the early bird discount and free family place, but when we wanted to change hotel as we have just found out that the 'FAMILY' hotel we booked is currently full of the 18-30 crowd. Not only do we have to pay the £150 admin fee, but we loose the early bird discount and the free child. Even without the discount the current difference in price is £120 between the hotel we are in to the one we want to change to. The way Thomson work out the price is you have to pay the difference between what you paid for your holiday and the current price for the holiday you want to change to (as I said with no discount) - This is £800! As the price of holidays always go up nearer the time. I questioned the £50 admin fee and asked if I upgraded to having the meals on the aeroplane would we have to pay the fee - Their answer surprise surprise is NO!. So they only charge you when they are not making any more profit on you.

I despise such a company and if anyone uses them, beware if anything goes wrong as you'll pay through the teeth and you'll find out how bad they are.

BEWARE NEVER USE THEM.
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the price being shown for the Tasia Maris Hotel is 1335pounds each for 2weeks in September this is wrong, we payed 889pounds each,


When did you book? This can have an effect on price because depending on how well a particular holiday or set of dates are selling so TOs adjust the prices. It's perfectly possible for prices to go both up and down in the months following when you book. Just becasue the latest price is different, doesn't mean that it is wrong.

It's always a delight to find that a holiday has gone up in price since one booked and a misery to discover that it has since fallen in price. Hence why I never bother checking later - if the I got a holiday for a price I considered to be good value at the time then I never bother checking later prices - it's not worth potential the disappointment.

SM
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has anybody got an email address for Thomson customer services?
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Did a Nile cruise with Thomsons this year and went to book it again for next year, found there was a substantial price increase. :o
Went to first choice and got the same standard of cruise with drinks included, upgraded cabin and better hotel for the second week for £301.00 per person less. Cant believe the price increase Thomsons are inflicting on us. I'm very glad i have booked with First Choice so early as they are joining forces with Thomson's and prices are bound to increase.

suzie.
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I recieved a reply to a email I sent them. They just pointed me towards yes another 0870 number. Wonder why they keep you on the phone waiting, its because they make money out of the call which could be upto 50% of the call charge.

I managed to get them to change my hotel and waive the admendment fee's. They tried to say the new hotel would make the price £70 more than what I was seeing on the web. The hotel allowed dogs in the rooms, sa coma playa thomson platinum hotel. I am allergic to dogs and they can cause to have a asthma attack. They tried to charge me the £50 per person but when I said if I am forced to go to this hotel and I have a asthma attack I will be sueing. The change took all of 5 mins to do over the phone. They even sent out a new set of flight tickets for the same flight. They have funny way of making a change, they cancel the first holiday and then rebook the new holiday. The have gone where somebody mad a change the tour op didn't bother about the admin charge, probably they knew it cost them nothing to do a change. The new fee is all about boosting profits.

They wouldn't of got away with 18-30's out of the schools and then in the school hols family hotel. It is too easy for somebody to make a mistake. Remember if they quote their terms and conditions, its there terms and conditions and have been found to make a unfair contract in court cases in the past.

I would say to anybody who is charged a admin fee to change their holiday, once you return write and complain and ask for all but the fee for 1 person. I think its reasonable to have to pay something, but it costs no more changing a part of a holiday for 1 person or 10 people. If you get nowhere with them, tell them that you are to sue in the small claims court for the over charge. They will have to show in court that it actually costs them £50 person to change a detail. Something they won't be able to do.

Try it, its no difference to the banks and you have nothing to lose.
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They just pointed me towards yes another 0870 number. Wonder why they keep you on the phone waiting, its because they make money out of the call which could be upto 50% of the call charge.

You don't have to pay over the odds to dial 0870 numbers - http://www.saynoto0870.com/ :wink:
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I have just had the worst customer service from Thomson that I have ever experienced. I was firstly sat on the end of the phone for 25 minutes before it was answered by a rude, can't be bothered young man, who didn't help me at all. I wanted to ammend my booking to add my son, he came back with a comment of it can't be done, then a price which I queried, he then recalculated it to a lower price. I wasn't confident in his skills so decided to ask for a supervisor, I was then told there wasn't any supervisor to speak to. I then put the phone down. I rang back and spoke to another young man (30mins to get thru) who gave me another figure, I then asked to speak to a team leader and was put through to another chap. He told me the higher figure was the correct one. This chaps people skills were also sadly lacking.

I always use First Choice but this year opted for Thomson, but I doubt I will again after today.

Dire Service Thomson!!!
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Something I can praise thomson for is their customer survey. I believe these to be honest. Even top hotels have poor ratings. I looked at one of their platinum hotels in spain and its a low score location and for the food rating 40 something per cent. In the skytours brochure they don't give food rating by customers, maybe they know the food is awful at most of the proerties in the brochure. But seriously there must be hotels where the food is good in skytours brochure. Just wish thomsons would include customer ratings for food. There is nothing worse than not being able to eat the food in a hotel especially if you have kids.

Something can't understand if you read any of the thomson customer reviews for their hotels on the web there is a not bad review and they all praise the hotel. But when you visit review sites its a very different story.

Johnny
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To carol57

The address of Thomson's customer sevice dept is
Wigmore House
Wigmore Place
Wigmore Lane
Luton
LU29TN

blot
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Just enquiring, we possibly will need to make a name change on a holiday which we're going on next Monday with Freestyle and Thomson.

Are we able to do it prior to leaving as it is so late and how much does it cost? Only the one name change needs to take place as one friend dropped out and another wishes to come on holiday now.

Help appreciated so I can stop stressing!
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It will be £50 per person per each change and if the new choice has increased in price you will have to pay the difference. I would do it sooner than later. They have a rule if the change is to a late booking discounted holiday they won't allow the change or they won't discount the price to the offer price. A bit off, me thinks because they are charging £50 per person per change which I see as a complete rip off.
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The holiday was booked on New Years Eve and the said person is exactly the same age as us. It's literally just the name change we want on the flight ticket and I suppose for his name to be down at the Fiesta Jungla in Magaluf, thats all.

He's confirming tomorrow so we will make the name change tomorrow or Wednesday before flying out Monday.
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I have just checked the terms and conditions and it looks like you can't change a name at such short notice. Here are the terms and conditions taken from thomson web site.

If you want to change any details of your booking (such as changing to a different hotel or changing your point or date of departure) or to cancel an optional extra you have booked, we will do our best to help, but please note that we usually treat amendments that would lower the basic price of your holiday as a different holiday (see 11.4 below). We charge an 'Amendment Fee' for each detail of the booking which you change. If you make the change more than 56 days before departure, the fee will be £35 per change per person. If you make the change within 56 days of departure, the amendment fee will be £50 per change per person.
The price of your new travel arrangements will be based on the prices that apply on the day you ask for the change. These prices may not be the same as when you first booked your travel arrangements.
Name change, and or departure details such as date and time changes are not always allowed by airlines and other transport providers whenever they are made. Whilst we will do our best to change the details of the booking, please bear in mind that most airlines and other transport providers treat name and departure detail changes as a cancellation and charge accordingly. These charges will be passed on to you. Once tickets have been issued, and sometimes even before they have been issued, any changes made to the ticket, including names or initials, will result in you having to pay for the cancelled ticket and buy a new ticket at full cost.
If, within 56 days of departure, you want either to change to a different holiday or you wish to change your departure date to a later date, you will have to pay cancellation charges (see section 12). If the change means we must send you new tickets, we cannot give you any refund until we have received all your old travel documents, including tickets.
Some types of accommodation (such as apartments, or hotel rooms with reductions for three adults) are priced according to the number of people staying there. If your booking changes because someone in your party cancels, we will recalculate your booking cost based on the new number of people going. If fewer people share the accommodation, then the cost for them may go up. This extra cost is not a cancellation charge, and it is not covered by our recommended Insurance.
Except where we are your Booking Agent or providing Our Accommodation, and subject always to clause 11.3 above, if you are prevented from taking the holiday you have booked, you may transfer your booking to another person, provided you meet the following conditions:
You must sign an amendment/cancellation form authorising us to make the transfer;
The person to whom you transfer your holiday booking must comply with all the terms of the existing booking;
That person must sign a holiday booking form accepting the transfer and the terms of Our Agreement;
That person must show us new evidence of their holiday insurance, as your policy cannot be transferred to another person (and the premium cannot be refunded);
We will also charge amendment fees in accordance with section 11.1 above. This will be added to the new Invoice issued to that person;
You cannot transfer a holiday booking within 14 days of departure; and
You will remain responsible for the payment of any balance on that new Invoice should that person fail to pay it.

You must sign an amendment/cancellation form authorising us to make the transfer;
The person to whom you transfer your holiday booking must comply with all the terms of the existing booking;
That person must sign a holiday booking form accepting the transfer and the terms of Our Agreement;
That person must show us new evidence of their holiday insurance, as your policy cannot be transferred to another person (and the premium cannot be refunded);
We will also charge amendment fees in accordance with section 11.1 above. This will be added to the new Invoice issued to that person;
You cannot transfer a holiday booking within 14 days of departure; and
You will remain responsible for the payment of any balance on that new Invoice should that person fail to pay it.
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Ok I just found this on the Q&A:

I have booked a holiday. Can I change the name of one of the passengers?

Yes, however there is a charge for this which is dependent on when you are travelling.

If you wish to make the change:

* 56 days or more before the departure date, the charge is £35 per person, per change;
* 55 days or less before the departure date, the charge is £50 per person per change.

If you make the change within 14 days of departure, a £15 ticket on departure fee may also apply.

Please contact our After Sales number on 0870 550 2590 to make amendments.
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Let us know if thomson charge for 1 person or charge for each person the admendment fee.
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