micks55

Well, it took a while but it's now sorted. Thomson agreed that this was a case of mis-selling and refunded every penny. They offered no compensation but to be honest I didn't ask.

Anyone else who is affected in a similar way might consider what http://www.TheTravelWatchdog.com says which is based on The Sales Of Goods Act and that is now called The Consumer Rights Act. "If goods do not conform to contract at the time of sale a consumer can request their money back "within a reasonable time". (This is not defined and will depend on circumstances)". That is saying that it must match the description of what you agreed to purchase.

Stand your ground, point out that your confirmation email does not match the holiday you booked. If you can still see that it is mis-leading, do screenshots or prints (printing web pages usually shows the time and date at the bottom of the page) to help your case. And don't let them say you only had 24 hours because as the act says, it only has to be within a reasonable time.

The downside is that we have no holiday to look forward to.

Update: Nothing, diddly squat, de nada, silence. A week in and still waiting for an answer. I can't see me ever dealing with the company in the future which is a shame because I've had good holidays with Thomson but that's irrelevant if they can't be trusted. It's their error and they should have put it right immediately, but the call centre staff don't have the authority and whoever does have it can't be contacted so they are either swamped with complaints or they're downright deceiptful.

Sorry UKCruiser2. She could have been drydocked but camera does not see into the dock so we don't know if it was drained or not. It's only my gut feeling given the webcam viewpoint and the total days in dock.

Just checked the Cadiz webcam (10:50 GMT Monday) and can confirm that Dream is out of wet dock and is now moored in front of Celebration.

Hi Motownjules.

Glad you're sorted. No, I did it over the web and it's their web site that shows wrong info when you look at the cruise in detail. Life is supposed to be simple, they offer a cruise of start and finish ports plus 4 stops that include 2 in Columbia, I buy it and find that they've deleted two and added two others where I don't want to go. That's a 50% change! Just can't be right, can it?

I don't see how it can be "For Operational Reasons" when it's in advance of the cruise. Thomson's Operational Reasons obviously include sailing a shorter distance to use less fuel and docking at ports where the port fees are lower.

Bah humbug...

Just phoned them again, the 4th or 5th call, and I'm told it has been passed to Cruise Operations and it takes 4-5 working days for them to respond. Can I phone Cruise Operations? No.

I'm getting more angry by the minute. I'm pretty sure the law says you can't mis-sell a product but it seems Thomson don't agree.

Would I have booked it if they advertised where it was actually going, no. Is it going to places where I don't want to go, yes. And I'm supposed to accept that?:mad:

Vitalsign.

You're welcome. One tip. If you're using an adblocker you might need to disable it temporarily because that's how webcams are usually funded.

Hi GelBel.

Dont see how thay can duck resposibilty during the trip from cabin to coach. Are they saying you took a dodgy suitcase in the first place!

I googled thomson holidays ceo and got Nick Longman but I doubt that even if you had his email it would still be screened and diverted to the complaints desk.

If you get nowhere with thomson complaints I think you might find an ABTA route, have a look in your booking email.

Even if there is a so called adjudicator, I think I would go for the small claims court because I'm pretty sure that these watchdog bodies are funded by the very companies we complain about.

Hi Vitalsign.

Try this link: http://camteria.com/en/spain/cadiz/view-bridge-webcam-1_cam_4022#lat=36.522090911865&lng=-6.2756819725037&z=14&v=Google&mt=map

then click the play arrow in middle of cam image. At first you might think you only have the bridge but it is timed to pan in and out every 5mins or so. When it pans back, look to right and you wll see Celebration. Just under the gantry crane you can see the funnel of Dream. Best in full screen because it's a good webcam and I just checked it is still live. If the link above fails, search Google for "Cádiz. View to the Bridge. Webcam 1". Happy viewing.

Hi fragilek.

Ooops, better apologise to Her Majesty for giving her land away. Yes, lovely place but expensive and we've been there in the past. Also, now that we're older, we're not overly keen on going ashore by tender.

Anyone going should swim with the Sting Rays but be sure you don't tread on them!. If you can't get the onboard trip, there's loads of locals touting for business on the quayside and ours was far cheaper than the ships tour price (P&O). We found a guy called "Duncan" and what a star he was. His knackered, old J4 van was full of rust with missing parts, a sliding door that didn't (stuck open) and cracked windows. Then his old wooden boat was beaten and battered but we couldn't have had a better day out and wouldn't have met such a lovely, happy man who kept us entertained the whole time. He probably retired years ago but he remains a fond memory in life's rich tapestry.

HI FIFE1.

Sorry, I've no more info but I bet your watching vesselfinder just like me. I'm also watching on a Cadiz webcam where I can see Dream's funnel and Celebration's bows. I'll let you know if I see smoke.

Hi rams1976.

My gripe is that they advertised Columbia and, if you go to More Info, they still do. When you actually look at the ports listed in the summary they are correct but when you click the More Info button it shows the ports that include Columbia. Acyually, if you do the same for many of the Pride of Panama cruises, the summary never agrees with the more detailed info.

I'm sure you'll have a great time in Caymen and I recommend swimming with the sting-rays but we've been there, done that. I seem to recall that Caymen is owned by the US and that might have been where a small bottle of Coke was $7 and that was many years ago.

When we booked, the front summary screen (where you search for available Caribbean cruises in a particular month) definitely said the ports that we thought we were calling at so I await their phone call and hope we can resolve things by maybe getting switched to the Jan 10th cruise - that is IF it's calling at Columbia...

Hi WeeCountyMan,

Thanks for the reply and no, what they say is that it was listed in my booking. If you search the website for Carribean cruises in December 2016 it now quotes the revised ports in the summary screen for Dec 13. It was not like that when I booked because we would not go back to places where we've already been.

When you click the more details button it shows the ports that appealed to us. Just spoken to Thomson again and the lady obviously saw the problem because she said she would have to pass the matter upwards and call me tomorrow. I'll be posting their comments.

Bit of a rant I'm afraid. Just looked at my booking so I could sort out the Airport parking and, shock horror, it's not the ports that I booked.

If you're on Thomson Dream, Pride Of Panama, Dec 13th you probably chose it because of the advertised itinerary. Montego Bay >At Sea >Puerto Limon >Panama >Cartagena >Santa Maria >At Sea >Montego Bay. Yes, it's advertised as that on the web but I think you'll find that's NOT where it's going!

My booking confirmation, you know, that long email that we don't read because we trust Thomsons and it's only confirming what we just spent an hour working through on the web, well anyway, my booking says that I'm not going to Columbia. Apparently I'm going to Montego Bay >At Sea >Panama >Puerto Limon >At Sea >Grand Caymen >Falmouth (Jamaica) >Montego Bay.

As it happens, I've been to Grand Caymen and have no ambition to go again. I also liked the 2 Columbia stops and I've paid extra to select my cabin based on the advertised route. And why on Earth would I want to go to Falmouth which is a 30 mile taxi ride from Montego Bay!

I've had a long chat with Thomson who say that they can change an itinerary for operational reasons. Now, I fully agree that ships do have to make a change sometimes and I've experienced a boiler shutdown while at sea so of course it can happen. What makes me cross is that Thomson are advertising and selling one holiday but delivering something so different.

It's not a change to the itinerary, it's a different one. I just checked the web site again and they are still taking bookings based on the wrong ports of call.

I'm so very, very dissapointed that such trickery can be allowed. I wonder how many people are in for a shock when they get on board. Until now, I've always trusted Thompson but this just smells like a con.