I'm not surprised Thomas Cook have gone under

[Burningcheeks]

Their service was shambolic. I actually got up & walked out mid-booking because they gave me no confidence at all. The staff didn't know their arse from their elbow. I was trying to book one of their packages to the Monaco Grand Prix & it was costing thousands. They were making a complete balls of it. If that was happening on the shop floor I wonder what else was happening higher up? I feel very sorry for all those let down & the enormous number of ensuing job losses.

[lostonadustyrock]

Your experience was hardly symptomatic of every experience. A trip to the Monaco GP would cost thousands, surely.
So gloaty at the news of thousands of job losses.

[Burningcheeks]

'I feel very sorry for all those let down & the enormous number of ensuing job losses'

I'd hardly call that gloaty..

[20viona]

Well Iv flown to Las Vegas for the last 6 years with them and have always had a great experience. It's truly sad.

[tttigress]

I think YABU, their problem is just that the world has moved on, and doesn't require giant package holiday companies anymore that don't specialise in anything.

I mostly book everything individually now, however we recently had a trip to Japan, I booked through a specialist agent, and it was super to have everything arranged, including side trips that would be very difficult to arrange yourself.

Made me think package holidays do have a place, but the companies need to be small and nimble, not some giant corporation.

[BellyButton85]

Another one here that, on hearing the news I said to my husband, well that's a surprise
We experienced nothing but shit from them every time we used them. Therefore we stopped using them but sometimes through other companies we've had to book flights with TC to get the dates and destinations we needed and that EVERY TIME was fucked up.
My heart goes out to the thousands that will lose their jobs but I massively found that it was the staff in general that ballsed up every booking or ruined our holiday/flight with their incompitance or attitude. Not the only ones that stopped using them for fear of them getting the booking completely wrong or didn't feel any confidence in them

[FredaFrogspawn]

Maybe we need to end mass air travel for environmental reasons. I do massively feel for the 22,000 people who have lost or may lose their jobs though.

[WelcomeToShootingStars]

I used them once, several years ago. Service was appalling so never used them again.

Seems like they haven't adapted their business model enough to suit the current market. Shame for the people who have lost their jobs but its been inevitable for a while now really.

[FredaFrogspawn]

Sounds like even those who booked flights only are going to be flown home on ATOL.

[Bluetac19]

I've used them a number of times and always found them excellent.

[NoSauce]

I’ve used them quite a few times. Booking was never a problem but flying was. Delayed numerous times both ways, abrupt staff, unprofessional cabin crew.

I feel sad though to hear this news today.

[BarbariansMum]

I don't know why you'd feel sorry for all the staff losing their jobs today, if by your own account you find them totally incompetent. I would have thought you'd be relieved.

Anyway, I think you are BU and it was changes in market conditions that precipitated this.

[Knickerbockergloryonthebeach]

I used to work for them, and honestly they were awful to work for and cut corners horribly. We still used them to go away with a few times, they were fine, nothing special but OK.

However, I still think its really sad as they're stuck an old company and so many people work for them and will have travel booked with them.

I was thinking the other day about all the holiday companies that used to exist in the high street that have gone out of business.

[jellycatspyjamas]

My heart goes out to the thousands that will lose their jobs but I massively found that it was the staff in general that ballsed up every booking or ruined our holiday/flight with their incompitance or attitude.

So you feel for them, but it’s their own fault for being incompetent? The decisions that ultimately lead to the collapse of this firm weren’t made by the person booking your holiday, serving you drinks on the flight or your holiday rep. It doesn’t take much to see there have been systemic and systematic failures in the business which have resulted in 22,000 people potentially losing their jobs the vast majority of whom won’t be getting a decent redundancy package or any soft landing.

The staff will have been working with the shadow of the business failing with all the uncertainty, restructuring, job changes etc that brings. Would any of us do our best work under those conditional It’s wholly graceless to blame them for the mismanagement that ultimately led to the collapse of the company.

[soulrunner]

It's sad as they were a bit of an institution but agree that the model is outdated. It's a bit like everyone mourning the death of the high street and trying to resurrect store based retail when it's just not going to work because people's behavior patterns have changed. Got 4 empty shops? Great- knock them down and build some houses.

[FredaFrogspawn]

Those in charge awarded themselves ENORMOUS bonuses by the sounds of things. Like BHS? I certainly wouldn’t blame the staff on the shop floors, the aeroplane aisles or the ground crew.

[brentwoodbaby]

Sounds like even those who booked flights only are going to be flown home on ATOL.

Yes, at cost to the taxpayer. If you chose to book a holiday with ATOL protection why should you still be afforded it? Bizarre.

[MarthasGinYard]

Fuck off

I gave excellent service for over 20 years and so did my DH to hundreds of thousands of pax.

[nononever]

Their service was shambolic.

You can hardly label an entire huge company shambolic because of your one experience for god's sake. I feel very sad this morning for everyone involved.

[Frenchfancy]

I think Brexit has more to do with it than the staff on the ground. Poor exchange rates and people being reluctant to travel because of brexit uncertainty will have been the final nail in the coffin of a company already on their knees.

[exLtEveDallas]

Until this year, our last 5 or 6 summer holidays were booked with TC. No problems at all, and actually, comparing their flights with this years Tui flight, TC won hands down.

I feel for the staff and also the hotels that were excl to TC - they must all be devastated.

[Isleepinahedgefund]

Well the taxpayer will be footing the bill for more than just the repatriation - it’s in compulsory Liquidation which means the Insolvency Service will be dealing with liquidating the company rather than private sector. Like British Steel and Carillion.

It isn’t the staff’s fault, what an awful thing to say! People just doing their best. One rude customer service agent doesn’t make a business of this size fail. It’s market conditions and bad decisions from the top.

[minesagin37]

We flew with them to Florida a few years ago. The flight was cheaper than many others and we received really good service. It's a shame for a company that's been going since 1841!

[LiveInAHidingPlace]

Obviously I feel bad for the employees but I am amazed that people still use travel agents at all.

It's so easy to do everything online now. Flights, hotels, get all the information about tours, restaurants etc from wikitravel etc and you've probably saved about a quarter of the total compared to going to a travel agent at least.

Airbnb has lots of classes, tours, experiences and so on these days too, not just places to stay. Trip Advisor has EVERYTHING. Wikitravel has lots of good information.

Even my parents, nearing their 70s, do everything online now.

Maybe there's a gap in the market for some kind of online travel agent where you can choose different things you want for people who are too nervous to go it alone. Personally I like the element of being independent, even if there's sometimes a fuck up - as long as it's nothing major, it's usually quite funny in the end.

[LittleRen]

Very sad. I never use traditional travel agents and never have, booking everything myself individually or via a website like on the beach.
However we flew Thomas cook last year and they were very good, better than Ryanair easyJet etc. It’s a real shame the airline on it’s own can’t keep going.

[hardyloveit]

@Frenchfancy urgh! Always one blaming brexit! TC was in trouble before brexit and has been bailed out before! In 2011 long before brexit!!!