Ian’s long wait for flight refund is now at an end
EVERYBODY sets off on a sunshine break hoping it will prove to be the dream holiday.
For some, these can unfortunately rapidly develop into a nightmare.
Ian Moir, from Banchory, was one of those who saw his holiday hit the downward trend after taking unwell.
It was in September last year that Iain and his wife, Elizabeth, headed to the Turkish sunshine on a Thomas Cook break.
However, on the day before the couple were due to fly home to Aberdeen, Ian suffered a heart attack.
Following a few days in a local hospital he was released with a fit-to-fly certificate.
He contacted the Thomas Cook rep in their hotel to see what the procedure was for getting himself and his wife home.
The rep said he would arrange a flight to the UK at an upfront cost of £598. Ian asked what about contacting his insurance company?
He was told that was the way the reps had been trained and the insurance company would reimburse the cost.
Although it seemed costly, Ian agreed as he needed to get home.
The following day his insurance company contacted him to make arrangements for his repatriation. He told them Thomas Cook had already arranged this.
At that, Ian was told if he took the flight from Thomas Cook his insurance would be invalidated and he would no longer be covered by them.
On hearing this, Ian phoned the Thomas Cook office in Marmaris to cancel the flight four days in advance of departure and pointed out that he felt he had been misled into purchasing the flight in the first place.
He was again told this is how they were trained to react.
Iain did take the flight home arranged by the insurance company, even being accompanied by a doctor.
Once home, and feeling fit, he wrote to Thomas Cook on several occasions in an attempt to reclaim the cost of the flight he didn’t take.
He was told it was up to his insurance company to reimburse him.
Armed with that information Ian emailed Raw Deal telling us he had no argument with his insurance company as it’s not in their policy to reimburse such costs but he wanted his money back.
We contacted Thomas Cook and very quickly there was much better news for Ian.
He said: “I received an email from Thomas Cook saying they were reimbursing me £600 for the flight they booked for me after my illness.
“I can confirm the money is now in my bank.
“Many thanks for your assistance, we are truly grateful.
“They were totally ignoring me until you came on the scene.
“You certainly know how to get results fast. Keep up the good work.”
A Thomas Cook spokesperson said: “We’ve spoken to Mr Moir and arranged the refund.”