Please Help - Accomodation cancelled. Thomson wont help!
Discussion
Right, this may be a long story so please bear with me.
5-6 weeks ago my partner saw an offer on Thomsons website - £35 for both of us! for a refurbished hotel in Cala Bona, Majorca. Self catering of course. We are due to fly on 24th April, so about 3 weeks.
We both work for the Police and as such dont have much opportunity to get away (always short staffed) so after pulling some favours we both managed to get the time off. The hotel was booked and confirmed and we then arranged flights and transfers. Last night during a particularly harrowing shift, my partner rings me with the news saying shes received an email (not even a phone call to either of us) stating that the original hotel was overbooked due to an error and they are 'pleased' to have booked for us a hotel what they consider equivalent hotel, in another resort 1 hour away.
The hotel reviews for the new place are not as good, considerable amount of reviews say that although clean, the hotel is tired and worn. The location is not ideal as we wanted a central based hotel, and the new one is a considerable walk to the centre. As we are self catering I do not fancy a 40 minute walk to get something to eat 3 times a day. I do not see how this is equivalent. The official (not the Thomson rating) rating of the new hotel is 3 star, the official rating of the old one is 4 star. Definitely not equivalent! In fact, the only reason we decided to go was because the hotel looked so good for the price. Everything is based around the hotel.
I rang Thomson this morning and they've basically said like it or lump it. I can choose a different hotel that I believe is equivalent if I want but I would have to pay for any difference - of course having 'only' paid 35 quid for accommodation, even a hovel will mean we are paying extra money which we do not have! The fact I have 'only' paid 35 pounds means nothing I think as for all Thomson know that could be a lot of money for us! And at the end of the day it was confirmed and accepted.
Not only that, but Thomson are refusing to pay for our original transfers which are now no use to us, nor will they pay for new ones to wherever we decide to go, including the one they are offering, which I find absolutely despicable considering their overbooking 'mistake'.
I rang ABTA but they said they will have a representative get back to us within 3-5 days, by which time myself and my partner will be extremely busy with work yet again. I rang back and requested someone to speak to me tomorrow but I think they will side with Thomson anyway as I have been told by Thomson that a crack team of lawyers have looked over what they are doing and its all above board apparently. So I think that will be a dead end.
We tried going into a Thomson shop but the internet bookings are a complete separate entity so the lady there couldn't help us. As my partner was trying to explain what was going on she burst into tears, it has really upset her especially as we are getting nowhere with this. The regional manager happened to be in store and she called the Thomson online booking again and we were told the same as what I was told this morning - they just dont give a toss.
As I type this my partner has discovered that Thomson may have supposedly breached their contract by cancelling within 12 weeks due to a 'system error'.
3. If We Cancel Your Booking
We aim to provide your accommodation as booked. We reserve the right to cancel your booking in any circumstances but if we cancel your booking, except where this is because you have not paid, you can either have a full refund or accept replacement accommodation from us of equivalent or closely similar standard and price (if one is available) This can include the choice of a replacement accommodation from another TUI Travel Group company. Should you choose this option the terms and conditions of your booking will not change and these conditions will still apply to your booking and we will always refund the difference in price if the replacement accommodation is of a lower standard and price. Other than in the case of non-payment, we will not cancel your booking less than 12 weeks before you go, unless this is the result of an event that is out of our control, such as war, threat of war, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist activity, industrial disputes, natural and nuclear disasters, fire, epidemics, health risks, hurricanes and other actual or potential severe weather conditions, and any other similar events.
I do not see how the fact that they have cancelled our booking due to their apparent mistake is out of their control it is their f
k up and not an act of god??!
There are also a lot of reports on the internet that all self catering who had booked this have been told their hotel is cancelled. Half board who pay more, despite booking later, are still at the hotel - its not a first come first served system as we were originally told then is it? If Id have known that half board had preference and self catering would have been thrown out Id have gladly paid extra. Again, possible breach of contract? - You paid less so we will fob you off to a sttier hotel miles away? When trying to explain this on the phone to Thomson, we get shifty sounding staff spouting stuff like "well you only paid 35 quid didnt you?" - cant believe the cheek of them, its besides the point. And despite what we feel may be equivalent hotels available they keep on trying to fob us off to the one they offer as presumably they dont want to spend the extra money despite what they say is down to a mistake - cant see why I should be punished for it??
Anyway, sorry about the rant. I am not too knowledgeable about these things so if anyone can advise that would be fantastic. Thank you
5-6 weeks ago my partner saw an offer on Thomsons website - £35 for both of us! for a refurbished hotel in Cala Bona, Majorca. Self catering of course. We are due to fly on 24th April, so about 3 weeks.
We both work for the Police and as such dont have much opportunity to get away (always short staffed) so after pulling some favours we both managed to get the time off. The hotel was booked and confirmed and we then arranged flights and transfers. Last night during a particularly harrowing shift, my partner rings me with the news saying shes received an email (not even a phone call to either of us) stating that the original hotel was overbooked due to an error and they are 'pleased' to have booked for us a hotel what they consider equivalent hotel, in another resort 1 hour away.
The hotel reviews for the new place are not as good, considerable amount of reviews say that although clean, the hotel is tired and worn. The location is not ideal as we wanted a central based hotel, and the new one is a considerable walk to the centre. As we are self catering I do not fancy a 40 minute walk to get something to eat 3 times a day. I do not see how this is equivalent. The official (not the Thomson rating) rating of the new hotel is 3 star, the official rating of the old one is 4 star. Definitely not equivalent! In fact, the only reason we decided to go was because the hotel looked so good for the price. Everything is based around the hotel.
I rang Thomson this morning and they've basically said like it or lump it. I can choose a different hotel that I believe is equivalent if I want but I would have to pay for any difference - of course having 'only' paid 35 quid for accommodation, even a hovel will mean we are paying extra money which we do not have! The fact I have 'only' paid 35 pounds means nothing I think as for all Thomson know that could be a lot of money for us! And at the end of the day it was confirmed and accepted.
Not only that, but Thomson are refusing to pay for our original transfers which are now no use to us, nor will they pay for new ones to wherever we decide to go, including the one they are offering, which I find absolutely despicable considering their overbooking 'mistake'.
I rang ABTA but they said they will have a representative get back to us within 3-5 days, by which time myself and my partner will be extremely busy with work yet again. I rang back and requested someone to speak to me tomorrow but I think they will side with Thomson anyway as I have been told by Thomson that a crack team of lawyers have looked over what they are doing and its all above board apparently. So I think that will be a dead end.
We tried going into a Thomson shop but the internet bookings are a complete separate entity so the lady there couldn't help us. As my partner was trying to explain what was going on she burst into tears, it has really upset her especially as we are getting nowhere with this. The regional manager happened to be in store and she called the Thomson online booking again and we were told the same as what I was told this morning - they just dont give a toss.
As I type this my partner has discovered that Thomson may have supposedly breached their contract by cancelling within 12 weeks due to a 'system error'.
3. If We Cancel Your Booking
We aim to provide your accommodation as booked. We reserve the right to cancel your booking in any circumstances but if we cancel your booking, except where this is because you have not paid, you can either have a full refund or accept replacement accommodation from us of equivalent or closely similar standard and price (if one is available) This can include the choice of a replacement accommodation from another TUI Travel Group company. Should you choose this option the terms and conditions of your booking will not change and these conditions will still apply to your booking and we will always refund the difference in price if the replacement accommodation is of a lower standard and price. Other than in the case of non-payment, we will not cancel your booking less than 12 weeks before you go, unless this is the result of an event that is out of our control, such as war, threat of war, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist activity, industrial disputes, natural and nuclear disasters, fire, epidemics, health risks, hurricanes and other actual or potential severe weather conditions, and any other similar events.
I do not see how the fact that they have cancelled our booking due to their apparent mistake is out of their control it is their f
k up and not an act of god??!There are also a lot of reports on the internet that all self catering who had booked this have been told their hotel is cancelled. Half board who pay more, despite booking later, are still at the hotel - its not a first come first served system as we were originally told then is it? If Id have known that half board had preference and self catering would have been thrown out Id have gladly paid extra. Again, possible breach of contract? - You paid less so we will fob you off to a s
ttier hotel miles away? When trying to explain this on the phone to Thomson, we get shifty sounding staff spouting stuff like "well you only paid 35 quid didnt you?" - cant believe the cheek of them, its besides the point. And despite what we feel may be equivalent hotels available they keep on trying to fob us off to the one they offer as presumably they dont want to spend the extra money despite what they say is down to a mistake - cant see why I should be punished for it??Anyway, sorry about the rant. I am not too knowledgeable about these things so if anyone can advise that would be fantastic. Thank you
Sorry about that, I dont usually waffle on like that. In short:
Original hotel is the Bonaire in Cala Bona
They want us to accept an inferior hotel , the Alcudia Pins in Alcudia (or rather, a fair walk from the centre) Alcudia according to google maps is about 45 minutes away and not what we were after resort wise. Alcudia Pins was actually meant to be closed but now that Thomson have lumped people there its going to be half open.
Its not a like for like (which they should offer) at all, its 1 star less. They claim they have overbooked and the last people to book the Bonaire have been rebooked to the Alcudia pins, when in actual fact only those who were self catering have been given the heave ho. Half board who paid more and booked later are still ok from what Ive heard. We and a lot of other people have seen a hotel which is closer what we think is an equivalent to the Bonaire that is still in Cala Bona but if we want that then we have to pay a few hundred for the pleasure of staying there.
Oh if we want to accept their crappy offer, we've got to pay for transfers despite their fk up. A lot of people have kicked off and Thomson have appeared to close ranks. I can give you the link to UK hot deals if you like which we saw the deal on and a lot of people are now left angry on
Original hotel is the Bonaire in Cala Bona
They want us to accept an inferior hotel , the Alcudia Pins in Alcudia (or rather, a fair walk from the centre) Alcudia according to google maps is about 45 minutes away and not what we were after resort wise. Alcudia Pins was actually meant to be closed but now that Thomson have lumped people there its going to be half open.
Its not a like for like (which they should offer) at all, its 1 star less. They claim they have overbooked and the last people to book the Bonaire have been rebooked to the Alcudia pins, when in actual fact only those who were self catering have been given the heave ho. Half board who paid more and booked later are still ok from what Ive heard. We and a lot of other people have seen a hotel which is closer what we think is an equivalent to the Bonaire that is still in Cala Bona but if we want that then we have to pay a few hundred for the pleasure of staying there.
Oh if we want to accept their crappy offer, we've got to pay for transfers despite their f
k up. A lot of people have kicked off and Thomson have appeared to close ranks. I can give you the link to UK hot deals if you like which we saw the deal on and a lot of people are now left angry onI'm not surprised this has gone pear shaped, the Bonaire is a good hotel and they've obviously f*cked up big time overbooking. Cant commend on the Alcudia pins but they are totally different resorts. Alcudia is about as far from the airport (bar Puerto Pollensa) that you can get. A private transfer will cost 75 euros approx in a taxi but I do have a few contacts for shared transfers if you want.
Thanks for the advice and the offer of contacts. We have already arranged transfers with travel republic separately and they said that for a small fee of £7 we can go to any hotel, just let them know where and when (Thomson should take note as travel republic have been fantastic)
The issue we and others have is that the only hotel they are willing to offer is not desired or suitable nor is it an equivalent. I am of the ilk that I would be prepared to not go on holiday, lose out on the flights and transfer money just to deny Thomson the £35 and the satisfaction of me being lumped in an inferior hotel that they are forcing on the self catering people. There are a couple of other hotels that are available that I would be happy with in Cala Bona but there is no way I and others feel we should pay extra for them as they are suggesting. Just keep on hitting a brick wall with them time and time again - they are only interested in the money.
The issue we and others have is that the only hotel they are willing to offer is not desired or suitable nor is it an equivalent. I am of the ilk that I would be prepared to not go on holiday, lose out on the flights and transfer money just to deny Thomson the £35 and the satisfaction of me being lumped in an inferior hotel that they are forcing on the self catering people. There are a couple of other hotels that are available that I would be happy with in Cala Bona but there is no way I and others feel we should pay extra for them as they are suggesting. Just keep on hitting a brick wall with them time and time again - they are only interested in the money.
Its pretty poor, I've always found Thomson to be pretty good in the past and actually offered a better hotel when we weren;t happy with the one we were staying in Sa Coma but that was some time ago. Obviously things are a little more tricky in the travel industry now. I suppose the old addage if its too good to be true, it probably is rings true with this one. Only other thing I could suggest if you want to kick off is go to trading standards or see if one of the papers is interested.
Watchdog has been contacted already. Possible press interest from tomorrow and some awkward questions have been asked by lots of people on Thomsons facebook page. ABTA are contacting me tomorrow regarding a possible breach of Thomsons terms and conditions despite what their advisor's keep on rudely saying on the phone, I aint going to let this one lie just yet.
Another disappointed customer and her husband are freelance photographers for the papers with various contacts in the press. She will speak to us tomorrow if there is any interest in a story as myself and my partner are willing to go to the press. Great Idea about the PR department thank you. Ill certainly have a word if I get chance.
It seems to all involved that Thomson booked self catering first, then released the half board rooms. As the self catering people were happy with the offer, hotel etc and gave it good feedback there was a large demand for half board. Never one to miss a trick, Thomson have appeared to give the self caterers the heave ho and filled the hotel with half boards, despite stating repeatedly to us that they run a last booked, first out policy regardless of board status. Then they turn round and say that actually, they run separate booking systems for self catering and half board and they overbooked the self catering only. Which is it??
Thing is, I would have gladly have paid the extra for the half board if they had bothered to ask, the area and hotel were perfect for us. Now they are trying to hold us hostage by effectively forcing us to accept an unsuitable alternative knowing we can accept it or lose out on our hard earned.
It seems to all involved that Thomson booked self catering first, then released the half board rooms. As the self catering people were happy with the offer, hotel etc and gave it good feedback there was a large demand for half board. Never one to miss a trick, Thomson have appeared to give the self caterers the heave ho and filled the hotel with half boards, despite stating repeatedly to us that they run a last booked, first out policy regardless of board status. Then they turn round and say that actually, they run separate booking systems for self catering and half board and they overbooked the self catering only. Which is it??
Thing is, I would have gladly have paid the extra for the half board if they had bothered to ask, the area and hotel were perfect for us. Now they are trying to hold us hostage by effectively forcing us to accept an unsuitable alternative knowing we can accept it or lose out on our hard earned.
Call me harsh but for £35, I think you pretty much are first in the line to be faffed about. Mallorca is a stunning island and while I don't particularly like Alcudia, if someone dumped me in the middle of Mallorca with a tent for £35, I wouldn't really complain. I've paid over £300 for an apartment which was pretty crap and came with a chugging generator through the night.
I also wouldn't pay too much attention to the reviews of hotels as they can be totally wrong.
I don't know your budget or what you can afford but I would seriously consider finding a very cheap car hire deal and exploring the island and just use the hotel as a dumping place to sleep. In short, make the most of it, don't get stressed about it.
Over the years, I've stayed in cheap hotels that weren't the best but can't recall any that were so bad the holiday was toast.
Mallorca is also a very expensive place to hire villas and the like and if you're going to suggest "£35" is "hard-earned" at £17.50 apiece and that a change in accommodation makes your other half cry, I would question her suitability to be a police officer.
I also wouldn't pay too much attention to the reviews of hotels as they can be totally wrong.
I don't know your budget or what you can afford but I would seriously consider finding a very cheap car hire deal and exploring the island and just use the hotel as a dumping place to sleep. In short, make the most of it, don't get stressed about it.
Over the years, I've stayed in cheap hotels that weren't the best but can't recall any that were so bad the holiday was toast.
Mallorca is also a very expensive place to hire villas and the like and if you're going to suggest "£35" is "hard-earned" at £17.50 apiece and that a change in accommodation makes your other half cry, I would question her suitability to be a police officer.
Edited by LuS1fer on Friday 30th March 12:11
I stayed at the Bonaire this time last year. It cost around £400 for a week's half board in an one bedroom apartment with small kitchenette.
The hotel was great, so was the room, so was the food. The location wasn't bad either.
I thought £400 was a bargain. I booked with Thomson and have never had a problem with them.
Sorry, I know that doesn't help. Just offering some perspective.
The hotel was great, so was the room, so was the food. The location wasn't bad either.
I thought £400 was a bargain. I booked with Thomson and have never had a problem with them.
Sorry, I know that doesn't help. Just offering some perspective.
Cupramax said:
I suppose the old addage if its too good to be true, it probably is...
^ This.I mean, seriously OP, what did you expect? It's like seeing one of those price errors on Tesco.com and then being disappointed when they cancel your 42" TV order that you thought you were going to get for £9.99.
I got royally messed about by Thomson a few year ago on a half-term holiday to Tenerife and I vowed never to use them again. If you made all the other arrangements yourself, why didn't you sort out your own accommodation? We mainly go to the US now and I wouldn't dream of using a tour operator.
Dare I say that I feel some of you are being a bit harsh with the OP, almost siding with Thomson which comes across to me as "well we are outwith the contract but it was only for a small amount, so we will assume you are poor and therefore fall foul of the everyone is equal but some are more equal than others" rule.
Shame.
Sorry OP I have no more advice to offer other than moral support, and wish the pair of you all the best in sorting out this wholly undeserved mess.
Second thought; note you don't have travel insurance yet, which is a lesson for all of us, perhaps another insurance, maybe house policy, has some sort of legal advice helpline? Bit of a long shot maybe.
Shame.
Sorry OP I have no more advice to offer other than moral support, and wish the pair of you all the best in sorting out this wholly undeserved mess.
Second thought; note you don't have travel insurance yet, which is a lesson for all of us, perhaps another insurance, maybe house policy, has some sort of legal advice helpline? Bit of a long shot maybe.
F i F said:
Second thought; note you don't have travel insurance yet, which is a lesson for all of us,
Not sure travel insurance would help in this case?One thing to be aware of though, is that most ordinary travel insurance assume you're on a package. If you make any part of the arrangements yourself, as the OP seems to have done, than make sure it covers independantly made travel arrangments.
Deva Link said:
F i F said:
Second thought; note you don't have travel insurance yet, which is a lesson for all of us,
Not sure travel insurance would help in this case?One thing to be aware of though, is that most ordinary travel insurance assume you're on a package. If you make any part of the arrangements yourself, as the OP seems to have done, than make sure it covers independantly made travel arrangments.
They've offered him an alternative. Admittedly he's not happy with the alternative but it has been offered.
Deva Link said:
F i F said:
Second thought; note you don't have travel insurance yet, which is a lesson for all of us,
Not sure travel insurance would help in this case?One thing to be aware of though, is that most ordinary travel insurance assume you're on a package. If you make any part of the arrangements yourself, as the OP seems to have done, than make sure it covers independantly made travel arrangments.
If I'm constructing my own package, pretty much the first thing on the list to be physically purchased is "Independant traveller insurance" which will cover a "constellation of independent arrangements." Obviously tends to be an annual policy rather than specific trip cover.
Not sure if the above is the correct terminology to cover a "package" of own construction comprising various components but that are all necessarily interlinked in some way, eg flights, accommodation, car rental, excursions which need to be pre-booked and so on.
As people found in the ash cloud debacle, thought they were covered but limitations of normal travel insurance was often found wanting.
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