Sorry this is quite long but I would like to provide some background on our situation in the hope that someone will be able to give us some useful advice on what our next step should be. The following paragraphs come from my letter of complaint sent to Thomas Cook on 6th December 2009.

We are a family of four consisting of two adult parents and our two sons, one is 10 years old and the younger is seventeen months old. We booked and paid for four seats on the flights so as to allow our baby to have his own space as the journey is too long for him sit comfortably on a parents lap. This was discussed in great detail between our travel agent and a member of your reservations team which resulted in us having four adult reservations instead of two adult and two child reservations. We did not mind doing this or paying extra for it as our primary concern was for our children's comfort, and we were assured that everything was booked and arranged and all we had to do was bring ourselves and a child car seat that was of solid construction made of either metal or plastic but not polystyrene measuring no more than 16 inches across with a five point safety harness.

We checked carefully on your website to ensure that we had the correct measurements as we needed to buy another car seat to fit as our usual one being a Maxi Cosi Tobi was far too large. But just to be on the safe side we contacted your customer service call centre to double check exactly what we should be looking for. The staff member again told us the same information that had been relayed to us by the travel agent and was also on your website therefore we were certain that this must in fact be company policy and was reliable information. When asked if they could advise us of a type of car seat that was known to fit well on your aircraft your staff member declined to comment on this and told us that any within the guidelines would be acceptable. After much research I discovered that the Bebe Confort Iseos TT Car Seat which although width adjustable is at its smallest the narrowest seat available in this country.

Our problems began initially at the Glasgow check in desk where the staff member quite rudely informed us that the seat was unsuitable for use on your aircraft as it had a rigid plastic frame and not a metal frame. When we pointed out that Thomas Cook had consistently informed us that this was acceptable she informed us that your sales team do not have a clue what they are talking about and will basically tell you anything to make a sale, your customer service advisors are never actually in or around the airports or aircraft and do not know what they are talking about, and also that your website is quite often inaccurate with incorrect information showing.

We were left with no option but to check a brand new never used seat into the baggage hold as we were not allowed to take it on the aircraft. Our son then spent a miserable four plus hours cramped and uncomfortable sat on my lap where he could not be consoled and was constantly crying and at one point became so upset that he ended up being sick absolutely everywhere including the floor, seats, and on fellow passengers. Our baby lifelong has rarely ever been sick and when he has it has only ever been as a result of severe illness or on a very few occasions as a result of being extremely upset which leaves me in no doubt at all that this was caused by not being able to use his own seat.

I would like to add at this point that the in flight crew were fabulous both outbound and return. They were all very helpful caring and considerate and went out of their way to help in any way they could. We were also advised that the seat would not have been a problem as they fit plastic ones regularly and most models fit absolutely no problem.

On arrival at Aricefe we collected a still unused but now grubby and battered looking car seat at baggage collection feeling reassured that we would at least be able to make proper use of it on our return journey.

Having had our opinion of your company briefly raised after our contact with the flight crew it quickly diminished after our welcome to your resort meeting. It was a blatant marketing exercise which I personally found highly offensive as one of the sales pitches was a night out at a drag show. I should have been advised that this meeting was optional and what the real purpose of it was as I found it highly inappropriate that this material was being discussed in the company of my children. Our rep was highly irritating and was so pushy with her tour sales that we used to hide from her any time we saw her before she saw us. No matter what you tried to mention to her she seemed almost programmed to respond by suggesting that we go on a mini submarine tour. This is despite my husband explaining to her several times that as a serving member of the Royal Navy on active service onboard a nuclear submarine he had no interest whatsoever in doing this.

Our return to this country was awful as well and lowered our opinion of your company even further. At check in we were told by airport staff that again the car seat would not be allowed on the aircraft only this time being made of plastic was not the issue we were told this time that it was not allowed because it was too large, despite only measuring 15.7 inches across which I am certain is less than the 16 inches specified. We immediately approached the Thomas Cook rep who seemed incapable of comprehending what our problem was never mind having any idea of how to resolve it. We asked to speak to a manager to try and resolve this issue as we could not face flying home subjected to the same intolerable conditions that we faced on our initial flight. The kindest thing I can think of to say about the manager is that although her level of incompetence should seem shocking it was sadly on a par with every other member of your non flight crew that we met on our holiday. She hardly listened to a word that we said and constantly insisted on talking right over the top of us. Being a Thomas Cook team member we asked if she could please verify with the Thomas Cook flight crew whether they would accept our car seat to which she responded that it was nothing at all to do with Thomas Cook and that it would be at the discretion of the carrier airline who was not Thomas Cook so there was nothing at all she could do except issue us with a complaint form. We completed this and were told that it would be forwarded that evening and that we would receive a written response within seven days. However when reading the form more closely we have discovered that according to the form we must make a written complaint or our initial one will be disregarded.

Our second journey was equally as miserable as the first one for all members of our party.

On our arrival at Glasgow we retrieved our still totally unused car seat to find that it was now filthy as opposed to grubby and had a large crack in its frame. Our pushchair bag had also aquired a large hole in it and the actual pushchair had a large hole punched through its fabric seat in exactly the same location which meant that it could not be safely used to place our baby in while we tried to collect our bags. We looked for a member of staff to report this damage to but there were absolutely none to be seen anywhere.

I have never been so disgusted by or disappointed in the service (or lack of it) provided by any company or before in my life and would never so much as consider using any of your services in the future. Your company has shown absolutely no concern in our well being or comfort and has been totally disinterested in our holiday from the moment we actually handed over the money for it.

I would like a detailed explanation of the treatment we received from your company and what the justification is for insisting that we bought four adult holidays if there was never really any chance of our baby being able to use his seat regardless of what your sales team had to say on the matter. This was meant to be a relaxing family holiday as my husband had been on active deployment overseas service for the previous four months but instead we had the most miserable and stressful experience imaginable.

We have finally received a response from Thomas Cook informing us that they will be taking a further 28 days to investigate our complaint as per ABTA rules which I found confusing as I thought that they had to provide you with at least some form of response within 28 days. We are not seeking compensation or anything of the kind as this will not change what we experienced but I really want to know why this was allowed to happen and I want to know that it absolutely will not happen again.