Hi Guys, This is the stroy so far, sent DPA access req, in Jun, got what I wanted, sent prelim in Jul, got sorry your upset letter, sent LBA 2 days ago, got an offer for £230.00 today! NO way, I want it all back not 18.5%, what a joke! I have to send off a form to let them know that I accept as full and final settlement! Now what do I do, do I write a letter saying I accept it as part payment and will be pursuing the balance, or do I send this form and amend the part where it says full and final? Stupid question I know, but want to get it right! I feel quite elated after opening my post, if they were in the right, surly they wouldn't offer me anything!!!

Thank you for your reply... I only sent the prelim last week so I will sit tight for a while. Wrote out my LBA to Halifax today! Bring it on! My husband has no faith in this process at all, says I wont get a penny back, well I'm determined to prove him wrong if nothing else!! lol I'm sure he will be eating his words before long!!! ( I hope!!) Many Thanks Heidi

Well done you ! I have just had an interesting conversation with them re: my account, they have charged me over £1000 in one year, what a joke! I sent my prelim last week and now counting down to when I can send moneyclaim! Congrats to you! heidi

Hi everyone, I have sent a letter to A&L (prelim dated 9/8) and over the weekend had a couple of letters from them requsting that I repay my overdraft and that they have withdrawn banking facilities! Yeah ok, I expected this, but it has nothing to do with my letter, they were doing this anyway. They are taking me, and I am taking them too! I have called this morning to put my a/c into dispute, made an arrangement to pay back the overdraft monthly but also made the girl aware that I have requested my charged back. She proceeded to tell me that the charges are valid because they are to clear cheques wrote when the balance wasn't available, some are some aren't.(I had £100 cq guarantee) Whilst I understand this, I do think the charges are harsh. Also there has been aprrox £50.00 per month made for overdraft charges. My prelim letter was to claim back £1004.00 plus anything else they add on since my letter! With the cq thing, am I still in my right to claim this money back? Is it still unlawful or am I flogging a dead horse? Any advice gratefully received. heidi

Hi, I know the post office offers a basic bank account, as does the HSBC, I have just opened a parachute a/c with them, and all it offers is a cash card (no chip and pin) and dd facilities, nothing else. Like you my credit rating took a battering when my ex and I split, he stayed in the house and didn't pay the mortgage or any bills for 6 months! Again leaving me to pick up all the peices! Good luck Heidi

In my experience of this, it depends firstly if a fly drive was booked, then a hotel seperatley, and it depends on who the flydrive is with (tour operator) as the additional charges are set by them. But, I have never come accross a flight "increase" like this before. In most cases, the car comes free, save for the insurance which is usually around £300.00, if you do not require this any longer, then its tough about the flight price, they should not be increasing that! The cancellation fee is loss of deposit.... sorry, but you have to take that on the chin, standard practice! The booking fee should have been charged when the initail booking was made, not half way through! Operators do charge heavily to amend holidays, and it could be that the booking fee is an amendment fee the agent has charged (TCD) for sorting out the amendment on your behalf, believe it or not, it takes the agent quite a while to get it done. There's the getting through to people, explaining, etc etc which is quite time consuming so that charge should be noted as amendment fee or words to that effect, not booking fee! Take what you want from this lot and let us know how you get on, good luck! Heidi

For the original post, as far as I know, Thomson and all the other operators have always charged per person per change, I have never known t be different. In some cases they may do it FOC or at a lower rate as a gesture of goodwill if the basic cost of the holiday is likely to increase! I am a travel agent and have been for 10+ yrs! Even for my own holiday which we took in May. we had to change the date as it clashed with eldests exams (SATS) and had to fork out £140.00, incl our infant! I dont know where the terms and conditions were taken from when you booked. I have never known there be a one off charge like that before, I wish it were the case, it would make my job a lot easier! For the 2nd post, its a long and drawn out complaints proceedure I'm afraid. You could also try and claim for your luggage on your travel insurance assuming you took some out! You can't claim for the delay, 1hr 40mins is only a minor delay, they wont even look at it unless it goes over 10 hours! Hope this helps a little! heidi

Good luck on this one, I hope you get somewhere with it! Its a funny 50/50 situation and could go either way, just hope you get a really nice judge!! I have just taken on a company I booked accomm in Tunisia for one of my clients, hotel totally not as described. Told her she's in for a long wait, but to persevere and not to be fobbed of with the first letter they send back! They will always try and draw it our for as long as poss, in hope you get fed up and give up! Once again, good luck.

Great, thank you..... Yorkshire Bank... Here we come!

Hi, Just wondered if you can claim for charges on an account that is closed. Asking on behalf of my hubby. I am starting a claim against the Halifax, sending first letter today, wish me luck!!! My hubby closed his a/c a couple of years ago, just wondered if it was poss or if the a/c still needed to be active? Any advice gratefully recvd. Heidi

Hi everyone, I was done by these guys years ago too! I bought a car through them, silly I know. And took out the warranty they offered. Well that appeared not to be worth the paper it was written on. As my car "blew up" about 4 months after I bought it. It over heated and everything melted. I know you guys are probably laughing like hell right now, but let me tell you, I wasn't. It aspired after a thorough check over that it was leaking water (unbeknown to me) and should have been paid for. However, YCC and that warranty co. said it was down to neglect (me not topping water up) now I may be a woman, but I aren't stupid. I had a H reg banger for long enough before I got this car, and in 2 years, I topped the water up once!!! Now after apparantly having a 6m point check, I would assume the water and oil levels to be full or near as damn it before I took delivery (I have since worked in a garage selling volvo's, therefore a bit more clued up!) So... why after just 4 months did my car go Bang? And why did I have to fork out another £1500 for a new engine? (got one 2nd hand, wasn't paying Vauxhall's quote of £5000 for a new one, car not worth that much in the first place!) IMO, ***DO NOT EVER SAY YES, TO YES CAR CREDIT*** Heidi

Hi, You need to be sure that the website you are dealing with is an operator, not an agent. They should have an ATOL number if they are an operator, ABTA is for agents. An agent will book with Major ops, such as COSMOS and Thomas Cook, and any other ops that deal with a certain property. I for one am a Travel Consultant, for an Independent Agency (based at home), being independent mean I listen to you, and what you want, not what the company that owns me says I should sell!! If you want me to look into this for you and give you advice properly, (ie: let you know all the ops that do your holiday) then I will gladly do this for you. I am not after your business, though if you want to give it to me then I wont say no!! lol, just thought I could help you. I know what its like travelling with a toddler, I have one my-self! e-mail me on my private e-mail (not business) at EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED - MOD NOTE - IT IS ADVISABLE TO SEND INFORMATION VIA PM IF NECESSARY, NOT ON A PUBLIC FORUM. Just tell me where the prop is, what ist called. thats all I need to know at this stage!! Heidi

IMO, as a Travel consultant my-self, that you need to get the name of the consultant who booked the holiday for you. If you didn't take record of that, you can find out quite easily by calling the company up and asking them. They will ask for booking references etc etc... The guy that booked your holiday then needs a serious talking to, because he cannot say that he will def. sort you a dble bed, when he knows fine well he cannot guarantee it! He at the very least needs to make you aware that it is a request, and they can never be guaranteed! Unfortunatley, its your word against his at this stage. But if you make your voice heard and talk to his superiors and demand that something be done (if only so it doesn't happen again to someone else). I for one would never say something like that in order to 'get a booking', I have a good reputation with my clients and I like it to stay that way! Honesty gains respect in my book! Shame others aren't too concerned about what other people think of them! Not good business sense. Hope you get this one sorted. Congratulations by the way! Heidi

Hi, I'm sorry for your troubles and hope the little boy is doing well. Just a thought, and it might be a stupid one, but have you seen "Don't get done, Get Dom?" on telly, its on during the day and he has fought a battle with Thomas cook for a disabled couple. It was a long battle, but he won it in the end and got the couple a full refund! Just thought, it might be an idea to give that a try, because along with that, comes bad PR for EJ... ON TV!!!!! I am a Travel Consultant of 10 yrs, and I would love nothing more than to rub EJ's nose right in it, but I really cant offer much else as what eveyone else has said, basically because of their t & c's. Ask your cousin to check for Travel ins on her credit and debit cards. She may have a policy she doesn't know about. Also if she paid on her credit card, I wonder if she can claim the money back from that? Keep us posted! Good Luck. Heidi