AT last a response.....but it's only 7.5% .....surprise, surprise.

Hi Everyone.

We've finally received our, wholly inadequate, response from Thomsons and, yes, it's the same as everyone else's. They're obviously operating a policy here. This is what I've sent back in reply. I expect no further offer from them but we have to go through the whole rigmarole before we can get ABTA involved (besides, I quite enjoy writing these things...it's quite cathartic!)

Dear Sir

Re: Huduranfushi Island Resort

Thank you for your letter regarding our not so recent holiday at the above resort, which we finally received last week. We note that you did not manage to achieve this within the timescale set out in the communication guidelines of the ABTA Code of Conduct. ( “a detailed reply, or a reply containing a detailed explanation for any delay (no)…later than 28 days from the date of receipt” of the initial letter). We also note that whilst the letter was dated 31^st January 2007, the envelope was post marked 19^th February 2007; perhaps you might wish to examine your procedures in light of this?

With regard to your response, I can only describe it as wholly inadequate. The amount of compensation offered is nothing short of an insult in light of all we experienced, and to offer it in the form of a holiday voucher merely adds insult to injury.

I shall not restate our complaints here. It seems obvious that you have not considered our experiences very seriously and I would ask you to review our previous two letters, the many letters you have received from other unfortunate travellers on the same subject, and the photographic evidence supplied by them which is also available for all to see on the Trip Advisor website. Once you have done this I would urge you to make an offer that truly reflects your appalling misrepresentation of this resort and the consequent disappointment and distress felt by your customers.

I have enclosed your voucher, and look forward to receiving your response shortly. I would be grateful if, on this occasion, you could attempt to produce a response more promptly.

Yours

David Corby

Jessica Corby

Jumping on the band wagon so to speak...

We have a new member!! Kim who went to the island in our second week, and had the dubious pleasure of staying a week after we left when the food ran low....

She has sent me this to post!!! Welcome Kim

I sent my original letter to Thomson on the 10th January and received a response on the 23rd January.
The response was a standard one which did not specifically address any of my issues but rather skimmed a variety of problmes that seem to have come up about the Island. They actually referred to things i did not even mention.
I took this to be their first and standard response. Presumably they have a protocol for these things!! They offered me £210.76 in vouchers which i have of course rejected!!
Interestng to read that Portland offered £500 vouchers - was this their first offer?
Hope this helps all
Kim

Our Response - Keeping up the Pressure!

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for your responses to our last post. If they offer us £500 we will of course be telling them to stick it where the sun don't shine too!

In the meantime, Gail very helpfully suggested contacting ABTA. I did a bit of delving around and found ABTA's code of conduct on the net. If you want to read this delightful document yourself it can be found at: http://www.abta.com/articlesandcode.shtml

It may be that if we're not satisfied with Thomsons' offer we should seek to involve ABTA, as they run an arbitration service for disputes like ours. If we are to do this we mustn't leave it too long however as arbitration applications must be put in no later than nine months post holiday departure date.

Whilst we await some kind of substantive response to our initial letter, I've sent the following to keep the pressure up...

Dear Sir

Re: Huduranfushi Island Resort

Thank you for your letter acknowledging receipt of our complaint regarding conditions at this resort. We note that you did manage to achieve this within the timescale set out in the communication guidelines of the ABTA Code of Conduct. We hope that you will also be able to provide “a detailed reply, or a reply containing a detailed explanation for any delay (no)…later than 28 days from the date of receipt” of our initial letter, as the Code of Conduct requires.

As you are considering your response, which I hope will be honest, accurate and offer compensation commensurate with the disappointment and distress caused by your misrepresentation of this resort, let me draw your attention to several other clauses contained in the Code of Conduct which are of relevance:

Clause 1A: The ABTA member is required to “make every effort to ensure that accurate information is provided to enable Clients to exercise an informed judgement in making their choice of Travel Arrangements.” The guidance accompanying the code of conduct helpfully goes on to say that “the first point of contact between you and your client is likely to be your advertising. Difficulties with clients later on can often be traced back to problems with advertising… You should have processes in place to ensure that any brochure descriptions given are accurate and up to date.” Clearly this must be an area of concern for you as your brochure and website descriptions were woefully inaccurate. Clause 1D also points out that the ABTA member must “ensure that no Advertising or Promotion or any other publication, whether in writing or otherwise, shall contain anything that is likely to mislead the public.”

I should also like to draw to your attention Clause 2I which states that the ABTA member must “ensure that all prospective Clients are alerted to any building works which may reasonably be considered to seriously impair the enjoyment of Travel Arrangements and provide them with accurate information about the extent of the building works.” The phone call we received from you just prior to our departure was obviously your attempt to comply with this condition. Unfortunately, the caller did not state that there were works under way which might seriously impair our enjoyment, nor did she provide accurate information about conditions at the resort. The guidance notes are helpful once again in this regard stating that “you should ensure that you have systems in place to find out about building works….For principals it’ll mean having adequate processes in place to ensure that you’re notified by the properties or by your resort staff of any building works that are being carried out and their likely impact on your clients’ holidays.” Thus, it was your responsibility both to find out the relevant and accurate information, and communicate it to us truthfully and openly so that we would have been able to decide whether or not to continue with the booking. This you signally failed to do.

I look forward to receiving your response shortly.

Yours

David Corby

Jessica Corby

So, we'll see what they have to say!

Keep smiling through......

yeah have just received an offer of a 500 pound voucher from Portland we wont obviously accept this so looking forward to our next direction all the best from the south the mcs

Letter from Thomsons - where to next?

Hi Guys

As promised here is the text of our letter - and as warned, it really will not win any prizes for being exciting!!

Dear Mr Corby

Thank you for taking the time to contact us about your recent holday.

We have passed your correspondence to a member of the Customer Service team and they are currently investigating the points you have raised, they will write to you within 28 days, once all the necessary information has been gathered.

Please be assured that your correspondence is being dealt with as speedily as possible and that we will be in touch in the very near future.

Thank you once again for writing to us.

Yours sincerely


Customer Service Support Team

So there you have it - do click on the comment button below, to let us know what you think we should do next!!

Kind regards

J + D

News as of the 23rd January

And the news is....... there is none!

No replies received as yet from Thomsons. In our letter we gave them a two week deadline to respond, so they've not got long before phase two is initiated.

"Start those tanks up, Jessica..."

News as of 13th January

Hello all -

Thank you for the kind responses to our letter!!

We have sent our copy of the "joint letter" off to Thomsons, with a copy of our own letter. I know that Gail and Tony, Caroline and Steve, Tracey and Owen are at this stage as well. Derek and Pearl have already sent their complaint off - brilliant!!! Could everyone please send off their individual complaint letters, and also a copy of the joint letter, signed by yourselves. Please keep the list of names at the bottom though, so it is clear that it is a joint complaint. Probably best also to put your own address in the top right hand side. If you know of anyone else who wants to compain (like Mark and Kim, Tracey) please give them my e-mail address and I can correspond directly with them!

There are some other people who are interested in using our letter, which we all think is good - the tricky bit seems to be getting their contact details as we are not supposed to post e-mail addresses on Trip Advisor.

People who are booked to Huduran Fushi aren't able to swop islands because Thomson say there are no negative reviews of the island on their website. As we are such a helpful bunch, I suggest we all write reviews for Thomsons! Dave and I have already done this, if anyone else would like to join in, go to:

http://www.thomsonbeach.co.uk/th/beach/reviewHome.do

We wait with baited breath to see if our review actually makes it onto the site!!