Thomas Cook

Commissario
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
32,996
Location
Panting like a fiend
They went bust at 2 am this morning yet were still selling package holidays at midnight as a travel correspondent bought one to test this out, how does that work the?
Not for the first time companies on the brink of going bust are still flogging their wares, still taking peoples money.
From my understanding until they enter administration they can keep trading, as there is a chance they could have got the finances sorted out.

I think there is also a complication with companies that operate aircraft in that they can't go into administration whilst they've got aircraft in flight, or something like that.


You sure that's from a credit card any refunds I have had have been very fast. They then do the chasing to get the actual money back. That's the whole point of a credit card.
That's my understanding as well, credit card refunds are typically quite quick (30-60 days), as it's dealt with as the CC company being jointly liable, they then try and get it back either from the company that sold the service or from their insurance.
It's one of the primary reasons you always pay for things like holidays or any high value stuff (especially if you're not walking out of the store with it) by credit card or specific finance for the product, if anything goes wrong you have the option of claiming the money from the financial company.

When Courts (I think it was) went bust my parents had just ordered carpets and fitting etc from them, the card company refunded without any issue within a month or so, even when Courts tried to get them to accept the carpet (as everything had been paid for under the one transaction they would have had to have provided everything paid for, so not doing the delivery, fitting, or extras meant no issue with the refund).

If a card company was mucking me around with a refund due to a company going bust without supplying the paid for goods over 2 years later I would be making a complaint to the ombudsman as IIRC they're meant to do it within a reasonable time frame. This is assuming it's a credit card company, not a debit card as the rules are different.
 
Caporegime
Joined
25 Nov 2004
Posts
25,812
Location
On the road....
I thought you went santorini?
Yes, we did, flew into Santorini to discover that Ios (where were staying) is an Island an hour away by ferry (I thought it was a town in Santorini :o) so that added a bit of confusion when the hire car guy pointed it out, we ended up spending a night in a B&B on Santorini having landed late due to a flight delay which meant we’d missed the last ferry to Ios anyway so we got an early ferry to Ios the following morning which was beautifully scenic traveling across the Agean - we got the 7am ferry and were at our hotel in town plenty of time for breakfast so didn’t really lose any of our first full day, to boot we had a fantastic meal in Santorini on the Tuesday night having hastily sorted accommodation for the night, not ideal but it certainly added to the experience and we both saw the funny side!
I wasn’t the only one to make that mistake at our hotel either, it’s apparently a very regular occurrence from what the hotel owner told us, our itinerary made no mention of it either which was a bit annoying but hey ho.

Due to a Greek ferry strike tomorrow (Tuesday) we’re going back to Santorini today for a night before we fly so we’ve ended up with two nights in Santorini and five nights in Ios.

So a schoolboy error on my part there but what a fantastic place Ios is, definitely coming back next year albeit a bit better informed than this time around! :o :D

Just so glad we went via Tui rather than Thomas Cook, we were eating last night with a couple who had traveled with TC although in fairness they were not too bothered about it knowing they were ATOL protected, still, it’s a headache I’m sure they’d rather be without.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
9 Apr 2007
Posts
13,453
No doubt we will be having a meeting in work about it all at some point today.
Pretty sure we have a few of repairs of TCs, probably get to keep them to recoup costs.
 
Caporegime
Joined
7 Nov 2004
Posts
30,194
Location
Buckinghamshire
Bye bye Thomas Cook, yet another high street shop

Can't believe people are moaning at the government for not bailing? They're a ridiculous amount in debt (how many billion was it?) So why on earth should they bail them out?

Terrible for the staff, hopefully most can transfer to other airlines
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
22 Oct 2007
Posts
3,067
Location
Hull
Care to elaborate?

I paid 2500 for flights to Orlando with TC, obviously I won't be flying anthem anymore. Virgin flights on the same day are coming out at over 9 grand. Virgin were always a bit more expensive but all of a sudden they have almost trippled in price.

This was for 4 seats.

If I were to pay Virgin the prices they are now asking I would be fully expecting fillet steak as in flight meal, cocktails on tap and **tame it down a little** incrementally from the air hostesses throughout the flight :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Soldato
Joined
11 Sep 2009
Posts
13,911
Location
France, Alsace
Problem with TC is their broken model. Bricks and mortar to the tune of 544 shops? The cost of keeping those running alone is staggering, and at the same time, you will see everyone saying "I found the prices really good" - Yea, they probably were, but they were also unsustainable to make the business a profit, so a stupid thing to do.

No way they should have been bailed out and agree they would have just gone under next year anyway. They didn't adapt to the changing market and they have suffered for it. Hopefully the people working there and business owed money by them don't feel the hit too hard.
 
Associate
Joined
22 Dec 2011
Posts
2,034
Location
UK
Ceo has taken 8.3m since he took over and that includes a one off bonus of 2.9m In 2015. Absolutely shocking... Should really be bought to justice for mismanagement.
 
Soldato
Joined
15 Dec 2002
Posts
23,299
Location
In a cowfield, London, UK
I last used Thomas Cook in 2018 and they couldn't even sort out the correct hotel in Rome for the missus and I. Ended up at the correct hotel in the end but had a much inferior room than what we wanted. Much faffing ensued and nothing changed.

I could have done the job better myself via online except I was short on time to do so. For years you could organise a holiday online by yourself as a consumer so their model is ancient and has been for sometime. I don't blame the government for not bailing them out as it wouldn't have made a difference at all in the long run.
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
Posts
58,899
I'm not too surprised they're going bust, they do seem a bit antiquated. Its the sort of thing your family might have used for holidays as a kid when the internet was still in it's infancy and it made sense back then, thats when it was useful to have an agency that arranged everything for you overseas and sold you a package etc... you pop along to the local high street store and the walls/shelves are full of pictures/brochures of different regions of the world... then you sit down at the desk and the woman shows you a few brochures and looks up the latest prices on her computer... never had a need for that as an adult with an internet connection.

I get that they can still be useful today, sometimes people want an all inclusive holiday etc.. skiing holidays can be useful to book via a tour operator too. Sometimes they have deals people can take advantage of which work out cheaper than booking yourself. I don't doubt that specialist ones will likely survive but some of these companies probably deserve to go out of business as they're not really offering as much value or as useful a service any more.

Personally when booking holidays myself I've never used a travel agency/company, I just select my flights, select the hotel I want via a comparison site (or these days Airbnb) and it is often easy enough to book any activities online too or just sort it when you get to your destination.

I paid 2500 for flights to Orlando with TC, obviously I won't be flying anthem anymore. Virgin flights on the same day are coming out at over 9 grand. Virgin were always a bit more expensive but all of a sudden they have almost trippled in price.

This was for 4 seats.

If I were to pay Virgin the prices they are now asking I would be fully expecting fillet steak as in flight meal, cocktails on tap and incrementally from the air hostesses throughout the flight :D

To be fair that's just how the market works when you get an increase in demand. Can you change your holiday dates?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Soldato
Joined
3 Nov 2003
Posts
5,036
Location
Lancashire
Bloody shame.

Had a family holiday booked over Christmas. Was our only family holiday this year. Wife and kids will be peeved to say the least.

I'll let the dust settle and see what's left if anything. Worst case ill just grab something in the new year. It's all the people that have lost their jobs I feel bad for.
 
Soldato
Joined
11 Nov 2009
Posts
4,784
Location
Edinburgh
From my understanding until they enter administration they can keep trading, as there is a chance they could have got the finances sorted out.

I think there is also a complication with companies that operate aircraft in that they can't go into administration whilst they've got aircraft in flight, or something like that.

I have been advised that companies are advised to keep trading so as not to unsettle the market but I would think that the markets would be more knowledgeable about the real estate of affairs than anyone. I find that it is immoral that they are being advised to cheat their customers by selling packages they have no hope in fulfilling.

As for planes, they were still landing well after the 2 am announcement.
 
Back
Top Bottom