The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Thomas Cook staff set to help former customers at Perth open day.
Open day to advise holidaymakers in ‘daunting and confusing’ claims process
A group of former Thomas Cook employees hope to give something back to their customers by hosting an open day to help those who lost a holiday.
Jackie Sutherland and her team on Perth High Street were among the thousands of staff members who lost their jobs on Monday September 23 when the travel company ceased trading.
The branch manager, who worked with the company for 22 years, was left devastated for not only herself and her staff members but also her loyal customer base who lost money and dream bookings when Thomas Cook folded.
Jackie hopes she and her team can say one last thank-you to those customers by holding an open day in Perth where they will attempt to help anyone who lost their holidays.
Jackie said: “There were three of us working on the Sunday and at that point we still believed and our directive was that Thomas Cook would get through this and that Thomas Cook would be saved.
“We got the news at 2am. It was devastating but we had customers right up to the end and were still taking bookings. We all believed that we would be back in the next day. It was business as usual.”
With customers who lost holidays able to start their claims process through the Civil Aviation Authority from yesterday, Jackie and her staff hope their open day will offer help with the “daunting and confusing process”.
The former branch manager also wants a chance to say goodbye to the people she has become friendly with through booking their holidays for more than two decades.
She said: “We’ve worked with the customers for years. It was never just a job for us.
“We’ve received so much support and we want to do something to help them. It has been absolutely overwhelming. It’s been so heartwarming.
“We’ve worked with the customers for years. It was never just a job for us. JACKIE SUTHERLAND
“We’re constantly getting lovely messages and this is why we want to give something back.”
Willows Coffee Shop on St John’s Place has offered to host the event, which will take place on Thursday from 2 to 6pm.
The gesture by Jackie and her team is the second heartwarming tale to emerge from the Fair City in the wake of the Thomas Cook collapse.
Last month Perth hair salon boss Ashleigh MacLennan raised thousands-of-pounds by organising a whip-round for cabin crew members who found out mid-flight the company had collapsed and they would be losing their jobs.
Ashleigh, who manages Angus Gordon Hairdressing in the city, had been in Las Vegas with her family to celebrate her brother’s wedding, and was flying back to Manchester on the Monday morning when Thomas Cook ceased trading.
The reverberations from Thomas Cook’s untimely collapse have been felt around the world.
Thousands of the UK holiday group’s stranded passengers have now been flown home on specially chartered flights.
The unprecedented repatriation operation has now been completed and the Civil Aviation Authority deserve credit for the efficient and professional manner in which they dealt with the crisis.
But that is not the end of the story.
Thousands of loyal Thomas Cook staff are still struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss of their livelihoods and many more holidaymakers are facing a bureaucratic nightmare to claim compensation instead of jetting off to relax in sunnier climes.
Often in such adverse situations, the best of people comes out. This week, now-redundant staff from Thomas Cook’s Perth High Street store will give up their time to help customers who have lost their holidays.
Jackie Sutherland and her team are a credit to their profession, demonstrating that even in extremis the customer comes first.
Other Thomas Cook staff members have been similarly generous with their time and know-how since the company went under.
Their reaction to having the rug pulled out from under their feet is admirable, and a lesson to us all.