Thomas Cook left us £450 short after terror attack
A FRIEND and I flew with Thomas Cook to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh last November. A few days before we arrived, terrorists bombed a plane, killing all 224 people on board.
We were able to fly out, but flights back were cancelled. We feared we would be stranded for days and tried to contact Thomas Cook to find out what was happening, but staff kept telling us the wrong thing.
We spent more than £200 calling them in the UK. Eventually we were told to go to the airport, where Thomas Cook staff would be on duty 24 hours a day.
But when we arrived, after paying for a taxi, there was no one to help us.
Another worker told us to call the firm on a particular date for more details. Fortunately, we didn’t listen and kept checking their website.
In the end, our flight was delayed for just 24 hours, but we still ran up £450 costs in extra accommodation, phone bills, food and taxi fares.
Once home, we contacted Thomas Cook to refund these extra costs, but it has refused our request. H. V., Newcastle. It’s difficult to overstate the chaos in sharm el-sheikh last year. Once flights restarted, only a limited number were allowed to depart at any one time.
You were among a backlog of 20,000 tourists waiting to get home.
It’s easy to imagine the strain tour operators such as thomas Cook were under. But the shoddy way you’ve been treated by them since your return really takes the biscuit.
Usually if a flight is cancelled with only a few days’ notice, you can be entitled to compensation of up to £335. But if the reason for the delay is out of the airline’s hands — and in this case it was — it doesn’t have to pay.
Crucially, though, airlines must still cover reasonable food and accommodation costs under an EU law called EC261/2004. You pointed this out repeatedly to thomas Cook, yet it still claimed it was not required to cover the costs.
After I contacted thomas Cook, it apologised for its treatment of you and says it will reimburse the full £450.
In its defence, the company says it sent texts and emails to customers stuck in Egypt last November. You’re adamant none reached you, so it’s just as well you had the presence of mind to check the website regularly. I AM writing in utter disbelief at the incompetence, fast developing into pantomime, that I am experiencing with my Post Office credit card.
I made a £149 hotel booking using the card, only to find an unexpected £12.51 charge next to the amount on my statement.
This was a surprise since a direct debit was set up when I opened the account a year ago.
Customer services told me the direct debit had lapsed due to nonusage, but agreed to a refund.
I paid the £149 over the phone. But I was contacted by them to be told the payment hadn’t gone through. So I made a second payment — only to find two payments on my bank statements for £149, made to Post Office credit cards on April 1 and April 7.
Customer services promised a resolution within five working days. But in July I was told it could take eight weeks.
At the age of 77, I can ill afford to be out of pocket. C. F., Surrey. MOrE than two months after you contacted Post Office Money about the mistake, it finally sent a letter resolving the problem.
Direct debits can go dormant after as little as six months to protect customers from having them open indefinitely.
As you say, Post Office refunded the charges, but inexplicably mislaid your first payment and asked for a second.
Post Office has now found the money, returned it and apologised for the ‘poor level of service’, offering you £100 as a goodwill gesture.
the eight weeks the Post Office refer to is the amount of time they have to resolve a complaint before you can take your case to the Financial Ombudsman service.
But those eight weeks start from the time your issue is recorded as a complaint, so any previous toing and fro-ing does not count.
When something goes wrong, give the firm one chance to fix it. On your next phone call say you wish your problem to be treated as a formal complaint to trigger the beginning of the eight weeks.
If you don’t hear anything, go to the Ombudsman once the eight weeks are up.
Call 0800 0234567 or visit financial-ombudsman.org.uk. IN THE week before last Christmas, I visited my Barclays branch to close my cash Isa account. I was told a cheque for £5,500 would be sent to me.
I have still not received it. Two months ago, I wrote to head office asking them to settle this debt. Again I got nothing. W. A. C.,Hampshire. BArClAYs posted the cheque to your old address — were you were living when you opened the account in 2009.
this was not your fault. Barclays had your new address, but sent the cheque to the old one.
It has apologised and paid you the money.
the good news is you have received compensation of 8 pc interest for the time it had the funds, far and away more than you’d have earned elsewhere.
they have also paid £250 to apologise for the inconvenience.