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!!

greetings from your friends in the north.Jessica the letter is brilliant,and we are happy to be co-signatrees to it.The irishman loves the picture Dave!!
We like Mick and Mandy, emailed Portland/Thomson a week ago but sofar no response.Have been reading TripAdvisor,it just reaffirms what we know that The Island is a shambles,and should with immediate effect be withdrawn from sale to tourists.
We cannot see anyway that the companys who sold us and others like us these holidays cannot be liable for misrepresentation and failure in there duty of care.
We have photos like everyone else,however are not that great with the old laptop,the irishman is trying to work out how to do this.
Regarding people just back,wanting to join blog,we are fine with this,as we feel anyone who was subjected to Huduranfushi,is entitled to pursue justice,and know that there is strength in numbers..

A Visual Reminder of Some of the Nicer Moments!

Another Sunny Afternoon on Huduranfushi!

Morgan's great close up of a clown fish (can't think how he managed it!?)

And the Award for the Loudest Shirt goes to........

Your Happy Web-hosts Jessica and Dave after fish curry

Neighbours from hell ?

hi Jessica just read the letter, I think its brillant,its very similar to what i have emailed Thomson's but much better.
we were your neighbours on the island Mandi and Mick, will be looking forward to every ones comments , keep in touch the mcs

The Proposed Text Of Our Initial Joint letter

Dear Sir

Re: Huduranfushi Island Resort

We are writing to express our great disappointment in relation to our experience of the above resort during our stay on the island over the Christmas period. This letter represents the views of all the Thomson holidaymakers whose names are given below and not simply the views of one person or family. Each of these individual travellers will have their own personal experiences to relate but, as a group, we all believe that this resort was misrepresented by Thomson Holidays,and that it failed by some distance to meet the standards we had a right to expect of it.

Our complaints relate to the following in particular:

The misuse of the term “all-inclusive”;

In no sense could this term be accurately used to describe the policy of this resort. Indeed, the resort itself described its approach as: ‘Semi-All Inclusive.’ The range of drinks, both alcoholic and non alcoholic, that were included and available under this policy, was minimal. In addition, the policy seemed to vary from day to day and by location! We feel that Thomsons seriously misrepresented the range and quality of the food and drink available as part of this package.

The unfinished condition of the resort;

It was clear to all of us from the moment of our arrival that we were not coming to the paradise we had all hoped and paid for, but to a resort that was unfinished and on which building work was still on-going. Numerous examples could be given but here are just a few:

· Our meals were regularly interrupted by the sight and sound of a JCB digger moving from site to site around the island.

· The spa was under construction during our stay. In addition a number of ‘garden’ rooms were built/refurbished whilst we were on the island. The building works often went on throughout the night, and on one occasion there was drilling in the main bar area which started at midnight.

· Broken tiles, glass, and rubble were to be found on many of the paths criss-crossing the island as well as on the beach which offered the best of what were limited snorkelling opportunities.

· Piles of building materials were stored offshore on an island opposite the main bar and pool, alongside another island covered in shacks which were used to house construction workers.

· A very long line of rusting metal supports, intended to be the basis of water bungalows, stretched out into the lagoon.

The absence of both facilities and entertainments specifically described in the brochure, such as:

· The italian restaurant

· Internet access

· Shops (None were open when we arrived and only two were operational by the time we left).

· Evening activities like crab racing, fire dancing and beach parties.

The poor quality of both marine and beach conditions.

The brochure said that the “beauty of this island extends far below the water where you will find a colourful array of marine life”, sadly the reality fell far short of this description:

· The lagoon on one side of the island had plainly been destroyed by the tsunami and only tiny patches of living coral remained, amidst what can only be described as a graveyard of rubble. So bad were conditions on this side of the island that the resort management felt able to scoop out three five metre deep holes to allow guests to swim.

· One corner of the island had no beach at all and was walled off to prevent guest access.

· On the side of the island where the main restaurant and bar were located, swimming conditions were better and there was some limited reef life, but this area stretched from the projecting line of metal poles at one end, to the jetty at the other and faced directly onto the two islands being used by the construction crews for storage and living quarters.

· Finally, the small area of beach which provided access to the best snorkelling was littered with broken tiles, bottles and rubble and provided conditions which can only be described as both unpleasant and dangerous.

· The beaches themselves were actually under construction whilst we were on the island and throughout the holiday a small dredger was operating in the harbour area dreging sand from the sea floor and spreading it on the beaches and paths around the island.

Some of us received a phone call from Thomsons before our departure informing us that the water bungalows were still under construction, but we were assured that this would not affect our enjoyment of the island and our holiday. Nevertheless, we note that one of the photos on the Thomson website which purported to show the entire island and to have been taken on the 11^th December 2006, did not show the islands where the workmen lived and where building materials were stored. The manager of the hotel himself was clear in his view that his hotel had been misrepresented by Thomsons and was most apologetic.

All of us paid a significant amount of money for this holiday. For some of us it represented a large part of our annual income and the fulfilment of a dream. Sadly we were all disappointed as a result of Thomsons misrepresentation of the resort. We now ask that Thomsons offer us a reimbursement of a significant proportion of the costs of our holidays, as what we received was clearly not what we paid for.

With this letter you will receive the individual comments of each of our group setting out their own particular experiences and complaints. We feel sure that you will recognise that it is your responsibility to respond to this letter, seriously and in an appropriate and speedy fashion. We wish to assure you that we will not let this matter drop until we receive adequate recompense and we will remain in close communication with each other about this matter.

Yours in expectation

Welcome disgruntled Thomsons holidaymakers!

Hello all

Hope your first week back in the grey and dreary UK has not depressed you too much.........at least not as much as our 'paradise' island anyway!

This blog is our bulletin board for how our complaint to Thomsons is progressing. All of us Huduranfushi escapees should have received an 'invitation' to become a blog member. Opening an account as the invite asks will allow you to post onto this site details of any contact you may have had with Thomsons as well as any other comments you'd like to make.

If it's all too confusing to cope with then feel free to email me and I'll post your comments/ photos for all to read.