Holiday Hell....

[nicolee2931]

Right then need some help guys as this seems to be the start of a very long process. I booked a holiday with Going Places in July 2007. No problems there at the time of booking. In December 2007 we recieved a letter from Going Places making us aware that Thomas Cook had been involved with a merger and as a result the Flight times were being changed and as we had been notified well in advance of this there wasnothing we could do other than accept it, well my husband was furious as it meant him taking an extra day off work which was difficult as he already had to grovel to his boss for the time off work anyway. But that issue was overcome quite quickly.

Next issue, we were about to depart for our holiday on the 19th May 2008, when we recieved another letter on the 9th May 2008 from Going Places advising us that the contract that Thomas Cook had with the hotel we had booked had now finished, and as a result we had been booked into another of same standard and without extra cost, again my husband was furious that they could this 10 days before travel, upon checking the new hotel details is was clearly not suitable as two of the travelers had heart conditions and the hotel location was unsuitable, we asked for other arrangements to be made, but with such a short period of time before departure finding suitable accomodation was looking impossible to find. However somewhere was found and upon checking all seemed okay, as we told Going Places and Thomas Cook that 2 travelers has heart conditions.

Now we are on holiday, we have major problems, upon arrival of the hotel it is clearly not suitable, we asked to be placed in a room as close to ground as possible because of the heart conditions, and we have ended up on the top floor of the hotel, last night we could smell raw sewerage coming from somewhere unknown, hubby was not impressed as it was making him feel sick, and the hotel staff are next to being useless as they can´t understand the most basic English about the problems we have, have spoke to the Holiday Rep and they are just as useless and unable to help.

What next? I just want to come home as this is not the holiday I booked and paid for, I´m miserable, hubby is not impressed, we´re trying to put on a brave face for the kids but its my mother and father who are struggling as its them who have the heart condition and I feel I have failed them. I´m taking pictures, keeping a diary of whats going wrong and what has been said to the hotel staff and holiday reps, as my hubby is going to find out who is responsible for this mess and get some joy out of them with the prospect of going to court if no success is found pre-litigation

[nicolee2931]

** bump **

[shywazz]

I take it your still on holiday, 1st port of call is to speak with the holiday rep, okay there might be useless, but you need to address the problems with them, so that all is logged, always get copies of what you have complained about, and seek that there make contact with the head office, should there not be able to assist you, the sewage smell can only be coming from the toilet being blocked, as on the top floor of the hotel, you won't get under ground pipe sewage smells, ask the owner to get the room pipes checked, or the last person in the hotel might have hidden something nasty as a trick, ask for a full room sweep, if you get no joy from the rep, you have a england telephone number to ring, you could ring that, but be prepared to be on hold, you have access to the net, so a quick e.mail to head office wouldnt go amiss either, least you have a copy for when you get home, but there might make contact to the rep, since your holiday has just started. Try stay calm, and enjoy the holiday in the meantime, best you can anyway. Its you and the rep while you are there sadly, but involving the head office might move things along that bit quicker, and get the rep moving too.

[Loubychew]

Hi nicolee,

Sorry to hear you are unhappy, where exactly are you? Is it the two issues - smell and room location or is there more? You've taken pictures? Of what?

Re the smell, do as Shywazz says, if it is in your room then ask them to get a maintenance man in to check. If it not from your room, still they need to get it checked and move you to alternative rooms if possible.

I'm a rep myself and we are often considered 'useless' when we can't fix a problem. We are not miracle workers
A request for a low floor room is just that - a request and never in any circumstances guaranteed. It could be that there just isn't a low floor room for you to move into. They can hardly ask other guests to move out of their rooms for you. Perhaps they could move you in a day or so when guests from low floor rooms have departed?

If it IS that the rep is just no good, go above their head. Go to the reps board and get the phone number for the local resort office and speak to a manager. Stand your ground.
Also, lack of English spoken at reception is not acceptable, you should be able to communicate with your hotel staff.

Don't let this fester for the rest of your holiday as it will only spoil things more for you. As it is, you have already travelled under duress, with the worry that things may not be right and now these problems have become magnified.

As for coming home, thats up to you. The holiday company won't pay for you to come home early. You'll have to find your own flights and as you are travelling in a group, it could be difficult.

Keep us updated.

[nicolee2931]

Still on holiday with 5 days to go, we are in Costa Durada - Salou. Spoke to the rep and she said she would do what she could do but would not promise. When we had to rebook the hotel we did specifily ask for rooms close to the ground floor for health and safety reasons in case of fire, my husband used to be a fireman and can carry 1 down the stairs but not 2 at the same time and 12 flights of stairs is some feat even more so when you would have to do it again to fetch my dad after bring my mother down. The problem with the smell of sewerage is still a major problem the rep spoke to the hotel about the problem and they said it is common to smell it after having rain as they did last week, but is has been sunny for the last 3 days, so I don´t believe that suggestion and neither does the rep. I have sent an e-mail to Thomas Cook but nothing back from them as yet, I am logging everything down for when I get back to the UK and are still deciding who is liable for this Going Places or Thomas Cook, atm I´m holding Thomas Cook to blame but I am putting some of this on Going Places as this is the shop who we booked with.

[Loubychew]

Hi again nicolee,

I see why you would want rooms on a low floor but even though you specifically asked for them, they don't form part of the contractual agreement between you and the tour operator. As I said, a special request is just that - a request and never a guarantee. There will be a blurb in the brochure in the T & C's somewhere stating this.

Here in Cyprus we often have stinky lingering poo smells in our house. As residents we learn to live with it but you as a holiday maker should not have to and this needs to be addressed.

[nicolee2931]

Still nothing back from Thomas Cook as of yet but I ain´t holding my breath over them getting in touch until I am back home. The situation about the rooms not being close to the lower ground annoys the hell out of my husband especially being an ex fireman, the main problem is Going Places assured him they would get us the rooms we wanted and it was made a condition of the booking or my husband would have walked away, but the hotel we originally choose was only 3 levels high which wasn´t a problem at the time of the booking, but now the hotel has been changed by Thomas Cook we have not choice in the matter that choice has been taken away from us. I will have to think of my legal options when I get home, I quite often see on the forums for claims due to loss of enjoyment well this seems to be a valid case as so far since Monday we have had no enjoyment just misery. Many thanks for your advice Loubychew.

[Bookworm]

Originally Posted by Loubychew

Hi again nicolee,

I see why you would want rooms on a low floor but even though you specifically asked for them, they don't form part of the contractual agreement between you and the tour operator. As I said, a special request is just that - a request and never a guarantee. There will be a blurb in the brochure in the T & C's somewhere stating this.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you there. If the holiday was booked with the request being specific for a purpose, and the holiday wouldn't have been booked if that condition couldn't be fulfilled, it does become part of the contract.

I helped someone a long time ago who had specifically booked a double bed on their holidays as it was for their honeymoon, and they didn't get it. They sued the holiday company and won.

[Loubychew]

Hi again nicolee,

Going Places have made a serious error in promising this to you. I have seen this time and again in resort. Travel agents making promises that cannot be fulfilled. I could tell you a few tales about the things they tell guests. Promises of a sea views in a mountain village or inland hotel is a favourite. But I digress.

They can't possibly say one way or the other which floor you will be on at the time of booking and if it as you say, you may have some redress with them for mis-selling the holiday to you.

Bookworm we will have to agree to disagree on this one. Unless nicolee takes this all the way to court, the TO are unlikely to back down.

nicolee please keep us updated and keep your chin up.

[nicolee2931]

Well taking all the advice on board, all 7 of us have decided to make the best of what we have got for now and sort this mess out when we get back on Monday 26th as there is not much we can do while still in Salou. What sort of legal action should I be looking at, a polite letter at first? Then notice of legal action? I don´t mind the small claims track if need be, but don´t want to act so quickly the other side don´t have time to find a reasonable solution. I´ve been reading a few posts on here and many say not to involve ABTA as they are not very helpful, any further advice would be most welcome.

Thanks Nicola.

[poppynurse]

Have other guests complained about the smell?

[nicolee2931]

Originally Posted by poppynurse

Have other guests complained about the smell?

A few have but most of the guests at the hotel are either spanish or German and can´t seem to to get much out of them other than 1 German chap took my conversation the wrong way and he thought I said he was the source of the bad smell :o.

However we met a nice couple from Barnsley and they said they could smell what we could, and would be making a complaint as well so we have swapped details and agreed we could use them when we took action.

Anyway just saw the rep this morning and he said we might be able to move hotels on Saturday, I said I would get back to him, but seems a little pointless moving on Saturday as we are going home at 10am Monday morning, I don´t want to cause any more disruption to the holiday its been bad enough without the distress to my Mother and Father of moving hotel
for the last day of our stay.

[Loubychew]

Hi again nicolee,

I've read on this and other forums that ABTA are often not much help and they won't get involved until there has been a certain amount of communication between the you and the TO.

The best thing to do is to get a report from the rep first of all, this is important as it is in your favour to show that you gave them the opportunity to put things right. Even if they didn't. Ring the local resort office and log a complaint with the resort manager there too if you can.

Then when you get home, write a letter to the TO or Going Places who will forward it on. State in bullet points what was wrong and how it affected you. Keep it clear and concise. Don't ramble and try to avoid too much personal opinion - it is just that, your opinion.

If the couple from Barnsley are with the same TO, get their name and booking reference number. You can quote them in your letter if you are sure they are of the same mind as you.

Don't threaten legal action unless you really mean it. TO's get 100's of letters of complaint every year, some are just plain ridiculous (too many foreigners, no English food, sea too cold, sea too salty - I kid you not) and threats of legal action are so common that they don't take them seriously.

Best of luck.

[nicolee2931]

Holiday rep has said we can move to another hotel tomorrow but will have to pay any extra costs incured, and would have to sign a statement basicly getting himself and Thomas Cook off the hook, I don´t think I will be signing anything that lets them off. I did write a letter in Going Places with regard to a change in hotel, but I did put in that letter I could still make a claim as it was not the hotel I booked and they accepted it

[nicolee2931]

Well our holiday is almost over just 1 more night to put up with, going home monday night. yippee

Went to PortAventura for 2 days and that cheered everyone up, would recommend to anyone.

Will post again when back home.

[nicolee2931]

Well I'm back home now thank god, our hell is over now so let battle commence. Can anyone confirm that this is the correct address for Thomas Cook.

Customer Relations Dept.
2 - 4 Goodwin Street
Bradford
West Yorkshire
BD1 1SD

And if so anyone know who to mark for Attention of or will the Customer Relations Dept be okay?

Would it also be worth involving Going Places by sending them the same letter and naming them in any court action if need be?

[Loubychew]

Hi nicolee,

According to their website, that is the correct address. No contact name though.

You can also e-mail: customer.relations@thomas cook.com

[nicolee2931]

Well I have sent my letter of complaint to Thomas Cook, I have given them 14 day to look at my complaint, and I've told them if I still ain't happy or they fail to respond then I'll give them another 14 days before court action. I've told them not to treat my complaint as a threat but as a promise of court action if this isn't sorted, I'll wait for their response.

What would be the maximum you can claim for loss of enjoyment, disappointment, stress and not supplying a holiday according to contract, I'm sure I've read on the forums its £150 per person