To think Thomas Cook extremely unreasonable?

[Mopswerver]

Thursday night I booked flights, car hire and airport parking with Thomas Cook for a holiday to take place mid Aug. I find these websites a bit of a nightmare and I was jiggling around with dates etc, trying to make it all work. It was late and I was tired. Somehow I managed to book our return as Sept 1st rather than Aug 31st. I realised when I got up the next morning and called them.

Apparently this booking has been made via 'Flexible Trips' which is part of Thomas Cook but seemed to require me to ring another number. The operator was impenetrable and told me that they could change it but it would cost me £200! For a mistake reported within 12 hrs of booking for a trip not due to take place for over 6months!

I asked to speak to a manager and was told in no uncertain terms that cancelling was NOT an option. The attitude was basically "you made a mistake, tough!"

Has anyone else had experience of this?

This is for the car parking ? So you are actually coming back on the 31st and picking your car up from the car park then.?You have paid for a night more than you will be using. The car people won't mind . Or you have booked your flights back on the wrong day?

Sorry ..if its the latter then it is unlikely they will change . I agree YANBU at all it is called 'customer service' If it was within a week then understandable but the likely fact is they can and will probably be able to re sell ypur seats anyway.

I think the whole lot has been booked incorrectly.

It seems unfair but had you booked with most other airlines you'd probably find yourself in the same position.

Is it £200 for the flights, parking etc to be changed for all of you?

I know it's harsh & unfair but it's a pretty big mistake to make.

That's usually the way it is with flights and such like.

Isn't there some sort of cooling off period for Internet bookings?

My dad had a similar experience with Ryanair. He misspelled a name on the booking form. They charged him 100 euro to change it. I think it's fairly usual.

£200 to change the bookings is pretty cheap tbh

This is the thing with booking it all yourself - you have to take responsibility for it. If you had gone to the TA and booked through them, and theuyd made the mistake, theud have to pay. Its probably the airline demanding the change.

Pay or stay.

Thomas cook really angers me worst customer service ever after you have booked!!

Good luck in getting it sorted with them!

Sorry I am confused. Have you booked your flight to come home a day later tgan planned?
Would it be cheaper yo come home that day and book an extra night somewhere znd pay for a days xtra parking?
How much would you lose if you cancelled the whole booking? Or any part of it?

It is usual for a charge to be made to make an amendment to a booking. I'd say it's worth sending a letter though, you might have more luck than with a phonecall.

It was one mistake as you put the date in and it does the whole lot together.

I thought there would be a cooling off period too. BA give you 24hrs to cancel for a full refund. I know they can't all do it but £200 seems a bit steep considering the time factor involved. I agree Rosa I'm sure it's not really a huge problem for them but looks like I will have to swallow it. Just feel a bit aggrieved

Mop I had the worst experience with TC and they would not budge with me!

Could you not book an extra night for you car yourself directly with the car park it will be much cheaper than £200

"I find these websites a bit of a nightmare and I was jiggling around with dates etc, trying to make it all work. It was late and I was tired"

Booking the correct dates and having the names spelt as they are on the passports, is essential. So you should of left the booking until the morning and/or triple checked everything.

The date changes the prices, so does the time it was booked (if you re-enter a website the price always changes).

I can imagine friends, other family members checking out different prices for knocking a night off/on, if it is a group booking and wanting it changed, which would create a nightmare situation for the Holiday Companies.

It has got to be a blanket policy, once booked, if there is a mistake, you pay extra.

That is how they offer and get people to book on-line, some are happy to not get the internet discount, so they know what they are getting before they pay.

Thanks Weelady but it's not just the car park. That wouldn't amount to much. It's the whole lot and the fact is I've changed it now and paid the £200 - my option was pay it or lose substantially more by cancelling so not much of a choice really! so I can't go back either! Well, you live and learn I guess but I feel so angry about it. I certainly won't be using them again.

Is it a flight that leaves on 31st Aug but arrives back on Sept 1st?

Is the day later crucial to you or can you just absorb the later day? Would that be cheaper than re-booking?

What a shame £200 is a lot to part with on top of what you have paid!!

Nope I wouldn't book again with them infact I never even got my holiday with them that I paid for!!

I am a bit confused as to what the actual problem is.

Will you miss the first day of school? We did this, don't worry about it. If it is that you are a day of accommodation short at the end of the holiday, book one more day somewhere, probably less than £200.

Look at it in this way... You got discount for booking online. You lost the discount because of your error. So you're even. Nothing lost, nothing gained.

The consumer columns are full of people who have made mistakes in online travel bookings - names on tickets, dates, etc. The story is always the same, with every company. I think Lastminute.com allow 12or 24hours to correct a name mis-spelled, but that's it!

Actually the next experience I had was EasyJet - DS's school put the wrong lot of hol dates on their website, I had booked flights independently with them and chosen the non-flexible option - so thought we would be stuffed when I tried to change them. In fact there was a modest admin fee and then just the difference in price for the outward leg flights.

On reflection that is what I ought to have done Blu but was worried about the DD's having time to prepare for school.

Yes, Weelady, in this climate we have stretched ourselves to afford it but DH's family live there and they had a bereavement this yr so we really wanted to go. Ah well.

1st day of High School for DD2

Can you imagine how many people are "jiggling around with dates when tired" though... Thomas Cook would be altering an awful lot of holidays for customers if everyone rang and said they had made a mistake. It is your fault, not theirs. Read, reread and check again before pressing the submit button next time.

YABU

They were lovely to me last week. I booked a holiday on a Friday evening, thought bette rod it & phoned to cancel at 8am on the Saturday morning. The lady was lovely, sorted it all out (no charge) and didn't once tell me I was mad.
I suppose it depends who answers your call.

I would book with them again because they were so lovely to me.

Check with consumer rights. It may be that you are entitled to a 7 day cooling off period, so can reasonably cancel the whole thing and rebook not with Thomas Cook