Thanks for the information. I have had a stock reply acknowledging the complaint letters, and have been told that they will respond within 28 days. I am assuming that I need to await their response before taking any further action? I will contact ABTA on receipt of their reply and see what they say.

I would really like to meet the joker at TC who comes up with these ridiculous "Health and Safety Regulations" I'd hazard a guess that he is on a bonus for the most ludicrous ideas and obstacles that he can come up with (see my earlier cancellation of a nile cruise problem) I'll be interested to hear how you get on

I most certainly will, they have had two letters already. Is there a cheap method of taking legal advice and action?

Hi there, How did you get on with your claim? I am interested as I have a similar one beginning at the moment where due to their error, we were not allowed to go on our hol and got less than one weeks notice. I hope your was compensated satisfactorily D

It was only last week as you said. I was really wanting to know which lines of attack are open to me, as I don't expect to get anywhere with TC in the first instance, and I want to be in a strong position to answer their stock response letter

Here is the wording of a letter I sent to Thomas Cook, to explain to their legal people, just how unfairly I have been treated. As yet I have not even had an acknowledgement of the complaint! Does anyone have any advice they can offer or know of any direct way to address this, in order to ensure that Thomas Cook are taken to task over this Fiasco? Thanks "Further to our conversation earlier today, please see below the details of the problems, which have occurred with this booking. I originally booked the holiday in April 2008. All the relevant details regarding the children’s ages were given then, and the booking was accepted without any problems. There was nothing in my brochure to advise me of any age restrictions on the Nile cruises. I have the December edition which covers April 08 – April 09. Just less than one week prior to our departure, I received a phone call from Thomas Cooks, advising me that our three year old was unable to travel, as there had been an errata issued, which stated that children under the age of six were not allowed on board the Nile cruise ships! I asked for this to be investigated, and also spoke to the cruise ship operator in Egypt. They advised me that there was no problem accepting a three-year-old child on board. I spoke to Thomas Cook and advised them of this. I also stated that if it was a company procedure that had changed, I would be willing to sign a disclaimer, in order to allow my daughter to travel. Unfortunately, they declined to accept this as a solution. We have my wife’s parents who have come over from America in order to travel on this holiday with us, as it is a present for my wife’s 40th birthday. We have also spent an enormous amount of time and effort, researching and planning for this trip, and apart from the expense my parents-in-law have incurred, travelling from the USA, we have also spent substantial amounts on clothing, holiday essentials and inoculations for the trip. I have tried in vain to book a suitable replacement trip. This has been unsuccessful, due to the October half term holiday, and the fact that we need six seats. I am now left in the situation where my children cannot go on holiday, I have wasted a valuable week of leave, and my Parents-in-Law are forced to spend the week on the British October cold, instead of the warmth of Egypt. Family holidays are very important to us. It is quality time spent together that cannot be replaced. We are being deprived of ours this year due to the errors made by Thomas Cook. I have been offered compensation of £100 per adult which, quite frankly, is a derisory amount, when you consider all the inconvenience, loss of holiday, and costs incurred by us. This is a gross error on the part of Thomas Cook, and the fact that this was not picked up until less than one week before departure is negligent, and an in-depth investigation is imperative. I require substantial compensation for the loss of my holiday, the massive inconvenience caused for us all, and expenses incurred."