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Thomas Cook - ugly

84 replies

mkz10 · 17/05/2015 06:00

Daily Mail have exposed that Thomas Cook received £3.5million in compensation for the death of those two children in Corfu. Thomas Cook did everything in their power to thwart the family trying to get justice.

The family have a horrendous experience to tell, utterly shocking and appalling treatment of them by Thomas Cook.

It is hard to believe that a big company like that could only think of one thing, i.e. trying to preserve their corporate image. I am so glad the family managed to get a public inquest (despite Thomas Cook fighting it all the way) and they are now free to tell their story.

Thomas Cook still have refused to apologise, it is just horrific reading what that family have endured for the past 7 years.

OP posts:
Rosa · 17/05/2015 10:35

I would bet that the H&S would be perfect now in that hotel well I would expect so .

blueshoes · 17/05/2015 10:59

This is really bad PR for Thomas Cook, the exact opposite result of what they hoped to achieve in the legal proceedings by claiming they were not responsible and not immediately apologising to the parents.

This is an own goal. They should sack their PR. The company is already struggling. This is why. Shoddy and incompetent.

hackmum · 17/05/2015 11:33

Appalling. And heartbreaking.

Clearly the hotel was the main party at fault here, and it's right that they should have compensated the parents.

But Thomas Cook was also liable in that its health and safety reps didn't carry out the checks they should have done. The way that Thomas Cook behaved in the inquest - saying it wasn't their fault - was pretty sickening.

It says something about the world we live in that the reputational damage to a large company is considered worthy of more compensation than the deaths of two children.

StickyProblem · 17/05/2015 11:39

It's a dreadful story. How could TC decide to take the attitude that this isn't their fault? They should have policies and plans all ready for the event of a disaster, and this was a disaster.
I had all my holidays as a kid with TC but will never use them now.

prh47bridge · 17/05/2015 11:42

Presumably top execs got massive bonus's

Interesting assumption.

The money paid to Thomas Cook was compensation for loss of profits and other expenses. I don't have any inside information but I would imagine that Thomas Cook saw a drop in bookings and a rise in cancellations as a result of the publicity surrounding this tragedy. They would therefore have seen a significant loss of profits as a result of the hotel's failure. It is not unreasonable for them to seek compensation from the hotel for this. After all, whilst Thomas Cook is responsible for the hotel under UK law, it is ultimately the hotel's responsibility for keeping their operation safe. It is likely that this compensation is significantly less than the actual loss Thomas Cook suffered.

I doubt we would even be hearing about this had it not been for the fact that the company's handling of this case has been a PR disaster from beginning to end.

redshoeblueshoe · 17/05/2015 11:43

Exactly hackmum, totally tragic. But I guess no-one at Thomas Cook lost their job - or actually suffered in any way. Unlike the poor family.

travailtotravel · 17/05/2015 11:46

To those looking to boycott, as a travel co they own a lot of unexpected brands which fall under their umbrella - please do some research before booking with someone who you think may be safe. They bought one of my favourite adventure brands a few years ago. Not going with them again, then ....

redshoeblueshoe · 17/05/2015 11:46

prh - that's exactly the point - their behaviour at the inquest was callous beyond belief. Now I hope they really suffer because not one person from TC has shown any compassion - its all lets protect the company.

glitteryflange · 17/05/2015 11:49

I was going to book with T.C

Not any longer.

candlesandlight · 17/05/2015 11:49

An unbelievable lack of compassion on behalf of Thomas cook, will not be using them again.3.5million will not bring the children back but Thomas cook should at least offer the money to the family to do as they please , and it they don't want it then it should be there choice as to what charity it goes to.
How can any executive / shareholder look at the year end accounts and know that part of thAt profit came from the death of 2 children. Beggars belief.
Come on shareholders...show some dignity and compassion and for pity same get rid of whoever is running the company now

scratchandsniff · 17/05/2015 11:59

They've behaved disgustingly. A total 'Not our fault' attitude and a refusal to apologise to the family is abhorrent. They were just as much responsible as the hotel to ensure the safety of guests.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the occupants of the bungalow immediately prior had been treated for carbon monoxide poisoning yet they put more guests in there. If that is the case it beggars belief.

I hope this hits Thomas Cook hard.

wormshuffled · 17/05/2015 16:12

The thing is though, I booked to go this hotel through Thomson And stayed in one of the bungalows also. The hotel allocates the rooms don't they? So we could just have easily ended up in the same bungalow having booked through Thomson. So surely they and all the other booking agents are just as negligent with not finding this issue?
It was an international hotel there were people there from all over the world.
Thomas cook need to donate this money either to the family or to a charity nominated by them and apologise publicly.

Babylonbaby77 · 17/05/2015 17:28

There is a petition set up on change.org but for some reason I cannot paste the link. Please sign. Thanks

Original poster
mkz10 · 17/05/2015 18:38

Hi Babylon, can you post the name of the petition, I can't find it on change.org.

OP posts:
redshoeblueshoe · 17/05/2015 19:12

I can't find it either

mellicauli · 17/05/2015 22:22

I think this is the end of Thomas Cook. they listened to the lawyers instead of their PR team. Now they have a toxic brand. Who wants to trust their precious summer holidays to heartless bastards?

AliceAnneB · 17/05/2015 22:29

We were considering them for our summer holiday but after reading the CEOs "apology" he can fuck right off. We will be voting with our feet.

hackmum · 18/05/2015 08:19

I assume it's not just bad advice from their PR team - it will be advice from their lawyers who will have told them they risk being sued if they admit liability.

redshoeblueshoe · 18/05/2015 09:03

You are right there hackmum - but blindly following legal advice - did not one single person in management question this stance ? Did they not for one nano second think - what would I expect if I were in their shoes. Lawyers are not actual Gods. Their behaviour in court was disgraceful. The parents had to re-mortgage their houses just to attend the court case in Greece. Didn't TC think - hmm - lets give them free flights and accommodation. Clearly a case of too much legal advice and zero common sense. How much will it cost TC to repair their damaged reputation now ?

Rudebarbandcustard · 18/05/2015 09:49

I am appalled by this.

I agree with you hackmum, they were probably told not to admit liability. But redshoe is right too - it's astonishing that anyone thought this would be anything other than a PR disaster. They ought to come out with a public apology, give all of that money to the family as it would probably save them more loss of earnings from the fallout in the long run, and offer free holidays for life to those poor people.

Basically they should be grovelling both publically and privately to salvage their public image.

Why they aren't doing this, from a purely business point of view, regardless of what they ought to be doing from a morally right point of view, is truly beyond me.

blowinahoolie · 18/05/2015 11:03

Will be boycotting Thomas Cook from now on.

timtam23 · 18/05/2015 14:42

I have been so upset to read about this. I now have children of a similar age to Christi & Bobby so am maybe overidentifying with the story.
I can't find the change.org petition either but the Thomas Cook UK facebook page was bristling with negative comments last night (a lot now being deleted or blocked by TC) and there is also a Boycott Thomas Cook facebook page.
I agree that TC's handling of the PR situation has been absolutely appalling although I assume they were sticking word-for-word to their legal advice, being desperate not to admit any liability for fear of being sued. They have come out of it looking horrendously moneygrabbing & callous.

LemonEmmaP · 18/05/2015 14:59

Breaking news on BBC just now - Thomas Cook have donated £1.5m (says that was the full amount...presumably there was more than one payment then). I have to say it was the only thing they could reasonably do...albeit perhaps too late.

Heels99 · 18/05/2015 15:04

Still being promoted on MN till this morning! Only just stopped the partnership with Thomas Cook today!

redshoeblueshoe · 18/05/2015 15:50

I don't understand - TC have donated £1.5 million to UNICEF. So what happened to the other 2 million ? And why not donate it to the families ? Or am I missing something ?