Thomson have "downgraded" our room 6 weeks before holiday, what to do?

[DarkBlueEyes]

We are were booked into a hotel with separate bedrooms for us and the children - a sliding partition between the rooms so we both have privacy. Yesterday I got an email from Thomson which says the following:

We've been advised that the features for your chosen room type were loaded incorrectly. Unfortunately, this means that your room will not have a sliding partition.

They then state they wanted us to know so that there would be no confusion when we travel.

I am mightily annoyed, as we were deciding between several hotels and this is a key criteria for us when booking. I didn't book a one bedroom hotel, I booked, and paid, for a two bedroom one!

I tried to call them yesterday but they were experiencing "high demand" probably from all the pissed off people who were ringing to complain

Any advice as to what I can do or how I should approach this?

[DetestableHerytike]

First, decide your ideal outcome. Would you like two rooms? One room and a partial refund? A full refund on the holiday?

What is the difference in price between partitioned room and one room in the brochure?

Does the operator have any other hotels nearby with connecting rooms or partitioned rooms?

[DarkBlueEyes]

Ideally I'd like two rooms. I'll have a look at the property and see if they have a configuration like that. Thanks, I'll get started. How best to approach them? By phone initially?

[user1465823522]

Personally I dislike the idea of children being in a separate room in a hotel - there is just so much that can go wrong.

[RNBrie]

Well that's completely irrelevant user1465.

I would get them on the phone asap and ask what options there are, can you move hotels, destinations, timings? What are your refund options.

Stay really nice and ask lots of questions so get as much info as you can so you can make the best decision on what to do next.

[DarkBlueEyes]

I have an 9 year old and a 12 year old, what do you think might go wrong?

Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, I booked a room with separated bedrooms and now have been told I have a room with one bedroom. It would be like booking a premium economy seat and then told you have to sit in economy without any recompense.

I've just checked on the website and there is a room category with a sliding door bet they are all booked so I'm going to try to get them to change the room.

[user1465823522]

I've just checked on the website and there is a room category with a sliding door bet they are all booked so I'm going to try to get them to change the room.

if they are booked out then they are booked out? what do you expect them to do? magic one out of thin air?

confused

[peggyundercrackers]

Personally I dislike the idea of children being in a separate room in a hotel - there is just so much that can go wrong.

I'm sure they won't all sleep in the same room in the house so why would they all sleep in the same room in a hotel?

[Numberoneisgone]

Start by lodging a complaint stating the desired outcome.

As best though you are likely to get pretty measley compensation as overbooking is a feature of hotels so it is very likely the extra partitioned room does not exist.

[user1465823522]

I'm sure they won't all sleep in the same room in the house so why would they all sleep in the same room in a hotel?

that's a bit different from sleeping in a separate room in a foreign country where you have no idea who has access to the rooms. Not at all like in your own home.

But hey, go right ahead just don't bitch should something happen.

[DetestableHerytike]

User, she expects what she booked.

Could you change your posting name when you get the chance? Personal plea, but it's a lot easier to have conversations on threads if you do!

[Coughingchildren5]

I would also be non negotiable on the interconnecting rooms issue. You just have to stick to your guns and stay nice and clear. You only booked the holiday because it met your essential criteria. It doesn't meet your essential criteria because of their mistake. You shouldn't be expected to incur additional cost because of their mistake. You use Thomson because you trust they understand the needs of families, how are they going to fix this for your family....
I would be aiming for a transfer to a hotel with interconnecting rooms and if this is more expensive then they should meet the cost. I would also do my homework and find an alternative holiday that would be ok and then if Thomson can't sort things due to availability then you know how much compensation to aim for if any.

[Trills]

If you want your advice to be taken seriously you should change your name to something that looks as if you have chosen it.

Being called user253489576843687579348 just makes it look as if you joined in order to be rude to people or to try to make them feel bad.

[Gazelda]

user1465 the OP has posted this in the Legal section asking for legal advice.
She didn't posted in chat or AIBU, so I don't think your comments are relevant or warranted.

[LizzieMacQueen]

That is really poor of them. So they email you to tell you of a material change to the arrangement but don't give you a chance to get in touch (or did they invite you to call if you were unhappy and you've found it impossible to get through?). This is when you need to get on Twitter - get your friends to retweet etc etc.

[notapizzaeater]

I'd be looking at alternative hotels with the interconnecting stuff to give them an option when you ring.

[MrsRaegan]

user why are you continually looking for an argument on this thread?

Are there other Thomson hotels nearby that fit the specs?

[MyLlamasGoneBananas]

Coughing children has good advice. If you have the time research alternative hotels that suit your needs so you can say x hotel in x resort has interconnecting room's. Make it very hard for them to just say no can do here's a 50 quid voucher off your next holiday.
I get very very annoyed at this. I have teens and don't want to share a room with them but not be totally separate. Interconnecting rooms have been an essential criteria for me in the past. We turned up one year having booked months before with the hotel trying to give us 2 separate rooms in different hotel buildings so in a way be glad you can hopefully get this sorted before you go.

Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

[MardyGrave]

They've mis-sold you this holiday, giving incorrect details of the standards of the facilities which you have selected, purchased and paid for.

I'd want to keep repeating the words mis-sold and ask what they are going to do about it.

[BarbaraofSeville]

What does it say in the terms and conditions about changes after booking?

Ideally they are going to offer you interconnecting or at the very least adjoining rooms, which would surely be fine for a 9 and 12 YO if they are sensible (would get up quickly if there is a fire alarm in the night, wouldn't mess about in the bathroom etc) in a hotel of at least equivalent standard and location, ie not miles out of town if your originial booking was centrally located etc.

But you also need to think about what you want if they can't offer this, given that availability at this late stage will be low. Would you rather have a refund and find your own holiday? Or accept partial compensation for the downgrade? It's a difficult one.

[wobblywonderwoman]

I wouldnt be happy at all. I'm sure the holiday is of huge cost and not what you paid for

[prh47bridge]

Is this a package holiday (i.e. it includes transport as well as accommodation)? I presume it is if you are booking through Thomsons. If so the Package Travel Regulations apply. That means changing the details of the accommodation is likely to be a change to an essential term of the contact. In this situation you can withdraw from the contract without penalty and:

• take a substitute package of at least equivalent quality, OR

• take a substitute of lower quality with a partial refund, OR

• get all your money back

You may also be entitled to compensation for anything you have paid for related to the holiday, e.g. kennel fees.

This is covered by Regulations 12 and 13 of the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992.

You clearly need to talk to Thomson and decide what to do but don't let them fob you off. These are your legal rights in this situation.

[DarkBlueEyes]

Thank you that is incredibly helpful.

[DarkBlueEyes]

Hello again all

A bit of an update. On the fourth time of trying, and after 27 minutes on hold, I did actually get to speak to a human being. His response was that he will email the in-resort team as there is no more availability for this type of room, and ask if they can secure this type of room for us from some other company's allocation, or from the hotel itself. This will apparently take several days to sort out. He was very clear that I was unhappy and that I expected the same or better than I had booked. I also said I'd accept adjacent rooms if necessary but my preference was the family suite I'd booked.

What I'm not sure of is how to play it next. The Package Holiday regulations quoted above are obviously crucial but I hadn't seen that post before I spoke. Do I email them (got this from their Twitter team reply) and follow up with a formal complaint, giving the name of the staff member who is helping, or do I wait and see what happens? I'm not overly confident to be honest... I kind of feel that I shouldn't waste any time at all trying to get it sorted but I don't want to jeopardise a solution. WWYD?

[LizzieMacQueen]

What is the date of your holiday?

If it's more than a month away I would give them the few days initially to see how it goes. Incidentally, was there twitter feed full of similar complaints?

[LizzieMacQueen]

Oops sorry you did write 6 weeks before departure...