@thomsoncares Thomson holiday disaster

[Kaylieanne88]

Hi I was wondering if anyone knew where we stood on our complaint to Thomson? I have never complained before so bit nervous.

 

Dear Customer Relations Department,

 

Booking reference: XXXXXX

Account Reference: Hard Rock Punta Cana

 

I am wishing to make a complaint regarding our recent holiday from start to finish, I have pictures, videos and a resort map to back up my complaint but am unable to attach them to this form, however I can email them across if you would like to see them.

 

We booked to stay in the new Sensatori Punta Cana last year and could not wait to experience not only a Sensatori but a brand new one at that, we booked a family swim up room which included a bath tub, the reason for this room selection was the fact the I have Cystic Fibrosis and only have a lung capacity of 24%, this means I am unable to walk without struggling to breath and that I am unable to stand for a period of time (hence the reason for the bath tub) I have to endure a lot of medication every day and need to return to the room while on holiday to do my medication, the idea for getting the swim up room was so my partner could still enjoy being in the pool or at least outside but close to me while I done my medication.

 

On the 11th May we received 2 voice mails asking us to call the change team as the hotel was not going to be open on time, my heart sank, I had arranged to be admitted into hospital 13th May to under go 3 weeks intense treatment to get me as well as possible for my holidays, I had also purchased my travel insurance costing me £1328 and was very worried as to what I was going to do, I waited on hold to speak to the change team for almost 2 hours, when we got through we were offered 2 alternative resorts neither of which were anything like the sensatori nor did they have a bath in the room, I quickly went onto google while I was on the phone and typed in 5* resorts punta cana, The Hard Rock Hotel came up with Thomas cook, I asked the lady about the resort and she said you TUI also sold that holiday but for an extra £600 I explained the price on Thomas cook and the lady matched it and I had to pay £148, I have now been told by WHICH that Thomson should have covered that cost as it was Thomson who were changing the booking, as I was unaware of this and terrified that we would loose our holiday altogether I proceeded to book The Hard Rock, I asked the lady about walking and lifts ect as I am disabled and she said there was nothing to state there were any issues, as it was very rushed I never had a chance to look on trip advisor in depth (although I wish I had as there are hundreds of reviews advising disabled people not to travel there and Thomson should know this and state this in my opinion)

 

I booked the Hard Rock and got excited again.

 

6th may our flight was delayed 4.45 mins due to a technical fault, we managed to get on an aircraft and get to Punta Cana which is the main thing however, it was not a Dreamliner my tv did not work and we were only able to get two cans of pop during the full flight, we were honestly just happy to get there, we got through customs ect and looked out for a Thomson Rep, we spotted a woman with a Thomson sign and asked what bus we should head to, she told us bus 8 so we went looking, we found a small mini van and a young male driver with number 8 on his van he told us to get in with another couple and started driving, he spoke no English and did not work for Thomson, he started saying the wrong hotel for us after he dropped off the first couple we had to try explain to him several times before he rang someone and agreed to take us to The Hard Rock.

 

Check in went smoothly the front desk give us a map and said we were block 1A next to the beach, told us to take a left out the reception. The resort is absolutely huge we were completely lost and I was so out of breath I had to stop while my partner walked back and asked if a golf buggie could take us to our room (I have the resort map) we got to our room and found it to be an adjoining room but didn't think there would be a problem. The next morning we hiked to reception which took us over 30 mins to get to, we asked reception if we could change rooms and explained my medical condition and the fact I was unable to walk and they said there was no other rooms of that type available only an upgrade for over $1000 we asked when our rep would be coming so we could try get the help from them and for welcome meeting and told them Thomson or firstchoice to our horror they said they don't come here and said only Thomas cook. We just decided to try have a good holiday and went back to our room, we then walked to the nearest pool to find that and the one next to it was for exclusive guests only and we could not use them or the beach are closest to us, the next nearest pool was a 15 min walk away or a ten min walk to bus stop 30 min wait then 30 min ride round the resort to the pool, as you can imagine doing this so manay times a day to the restaurant or room to do medication would be very frustrating and completely ruin our holiday, by day 3 of doing this I was completely exhausted and would have done anything to move to any other resort.

 

My mother called form the uk to 24/7 give them my booking ref and mobile number and they said they would get the rep to contact us, they didn't, on the 13th may I found the text number and text 24/7 82345 (I have my texts) explaining we had no rep and no details of getting back to the airport or anything, they replied saying they would find out the rep contact details ect and get back to us, they didn't, I text again two days later and it actually took 5 days to get our pick up time back to airport but nothing about our rep.

We felt completely alone on holiday and had no one to turn to, I spent 10 days out of the 14 days we had in hotel room, if we had of had a Thomson rep I would have begged them to put us in a different hotel or to send us home, the holiday got far worse then just us being unable to actually go to the pool or beach, our room never got cleaned 5 times, the mini bar was never restocked with water and pop I had to call every single day, we were were in an adjoining room and the first 4 days had a cigar smoker next door, reception couldn't do anything then had a family of screaming kids for the last 7 days (I have videos of the noise and screaming that you wouldn't believe)

 

I feel if we had a Rep we would not have had all these issues as they could have communicated with the hotel to either relocate us or move us hotels altogether, we didn't just ask and beg reception once but so many times, they couldn't understand us and said English are just very sad and white (as a joke however its not funny the state we were in) while we were there hotel staff also dragged a shark out the sea onto the beach and killed it then posed for pictures, disgusting!

We were so happy when the 20th june came and we could get home we waited nervously for our transfer and were picked up on time at 11.30, we were the first pick up, every other hotel we stopped to collect guests their rep was there making sure they got off okay!

We got the airport and found out about the $20 departure tax again we should have been told this by our rep said the Thomson worker that had escorted us on the bus, obviously we never had one or any notice boards.

Our fight was delayed 1.5 hours on the way home and the aircraft had ran out of pop so we had a choice of orange juice or water, again not what you expect from Thomson or the Dreamliner however I understand the flight out uses soft drinks too but you would think they would try to share it out equally, we were so happy to get home.

 

I feel like we have travelled all the way to the Dominican Republic for our dream holiday and have not been able to do or see any of it, nor experience the weather (our balcony was covered by trees and plant (also have pics) so we couldn't sit on that either.

 

We saved for a very long time for this holiday and classed it as our big holiday before I go on the lung transplant list, which then I will not be able to travel anywhere, I feel completely let down and neglected as a customer of TUI and feel like I have completely wasted 2 weeks of my life and £3790 of our money on the worst experience of my life, we have been all over the world (with Thomson) and tried to make as many memories as possible and our trip to the Dominican has been ruined and I may as well have stayed at home in my room instead of in a strange country, stuck in a room wishing for the holiday to end. There are so many other little issues I could state about the hotel like the one restaurant which was close enough for us to walk to was closed for a refurb then used for weddings, or that every time we used room service (every night bar 2 nights) they mocked us and said we were sad.

 

I understand a Thomson rep can not be at a hotel 24/7 but surely there should be at least a welcome meeting or some kind of information left at reception for you, absolutely anything would have been better than what we had and the customer service and response we were given.

 

I feel it only right that Thomson compensate us with a the holiday that we were suppose to get to relax not be stuck in a room and be trying to beg hotel staff to move us or try our hardest to contact a Thomson rep out in The Dominican Republic, the stress before our holiday was bad enough and now after that experience we are completely devastated, depressed and feeling very let down.

 

So to summarise we spent £3790 to sit in a hotel room for two weeks breathing in cigar smoke listening to children scream and cry and get told we are sad English people, if anything this holiday has made me more poorly adding to the already very stressful life I have, like i said I have lots of evidence of us contacting Thomson, maps of the resort, pictures and videos.

Edited July 13, 2016 by Sidewinder
Edited to include line breaks and to remove identifiable reference number

[Sidewinder]

Hi - I have inserted some line breaks to make the text easier to read and I have removed the reference number

[Kaylieanne88]

Ok thank you

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG.

 

How did you send the complaint? Email or by post? Emails get missed. If you haven't sent it by snail mail, please do so but send it by Signed For delivery. If you sent it by post but with just a stamp then I would re send it via the way I mentioned.

 

I am going to find out if we can add a twitter link so that we can direct this thread direct to twitter.

[Kaylieanne88]

Hi I sent it via email and had a generic response saying they aim to reply in 28days, I wasn't too sure what to do as I've never had to complain before

[silverfox1961]

I d have to say that your email is a bit long winded but the deed is done. In the future, if you need to complain, make the main points short (bullet points) and keep that to the first page. Fleshing out the details can be done over subsequent pages. The idea is to get over the 'boredom factor'

 

How many times have you read something long only for your eyes to glaze over?

 

What you didn't do was to state what you wanted in compensation or how they can put this right but that doesn't matter that much as you will be given the chance a bit later on if they reply.

 

If you need to ring them, record the conversation. You don't have to tell them you are doing so as long as you don't publish the recording. You can make a transcript of it and post that up.

 

Have a good read of this

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?439552-Guidance-note-Dealing-with-Customer-Service-Departments-or-making-telephone-contracts&p=4676004&viewfull=1#post4676004

 

Keep all paperwork, make copies of all photo's and video's and keep them safe. DO NOT keep them stored on a computer but on a USB drive or a memory card.

 

You will notice that there is now a twitter link for this thread. Thompson are aware of this thread now and they don't like bad publicity

[Kaylieanne88]

I did state what I'd like in compensation but it must have been too long winded to read that part, as I said I've never complained before and wasn't trying to grip the attention of anyone was explaining in start to finish what happened for a Thomson representative to read, I know the email drags on but believe me I could have put so many other little things and didn't lol. Thanks for your advise I've got all my emails saved in a folder along with my pictures and information of hotel

[Kaylieanne88]

Folder on my memory stick I should say. Thanks again

[silverfox1961]

I did state what I'd like in compensation but it must have been too long winded to read that part, as I said I've never complained before and wasn't trying to grip the attention of anyone was explaining in start to finish what happened for a Thomson representative to read, I know the email drags on but believe me I could have put so many other little things and didn't lol. Thanks for your advise I've got all my emails saved in a folder along with my pictures and information of hotel

 

Hi,

Sorry if you felt I was having a go. I wasn't. It was a comment on the length. As you had never had cause to complain before, you would not know the 'rules of engagement' so don't feel this was a criticism of you.

When (if) you get a response please let us know what they say. Keep copies of that as well.

I would advise copying the folder to another drive as well as the one you have if you can. (just in case)

[Kaylieanne88]

Yeah I will thank you again.