OKAY....
HAVE JUST CHASED UP A COMPLAINT LETTER WITH THOMAS COOK THAT WE SENT TO THEM ON THE EARLY OCTOBER... AFTER 28 DAYS THEY SAID THEY NEEDED MORE TIME AND IT IS WAY OVERDUE NOW...
I CALLED THEM BACK TODAY AND THEY SAY.....
" WERE NOT ABTA BONDED ANYMORE SO WE DO NOT HAVE TO REPLY WITHIN 28 DAYS AS WE HAVE LEFT ABTA, SO EXPECT A REPLY WITHIN 5-6 WEEKS LONGER"
WHAT!!! HAS ANYBODY ELSE HEARD THIS!!!!!???????
A quick search online reveals that:
Thomas Cook UK and Ireland’s two bed banks Hotels 4u and Med Hotels are the first to leave ABTA following the decision to force them to adopt liability for bookings.Sales and marketing director Teresa Walsh said Hotels4u, which owns the hotels4u.com and medhotels.com, is no longer a member of the association.The move comes following a recent vote by the association’s members to enforce all bed banks with ABTA membership to accept liability for customers bookings should an agency fail. Walsh said: “We can confirm that Hotels4u has resigned from ABTA with immediate effect. We feel that ABTA membership is now incompatible with our current trading model.”Thomas Cook Group director of government and external affairs Andy Cooper said: “The Thomas Cook UK & Ireland business remains 100 per cent committed to remaining an ABTA member, providing it continues to offer good value to its members.”ABTA chief executive, Mark Tanzer, said: “We are disappointed that Hotels4U has felt it necessary to take this step. The resolution, which was overwhelmingly supported by ABTA members, restates a fundamental principle of agency law, in that any company, agent or principal, that sells via an agent is deemed to have taken receipt of the customer’s money at the point of sale. We do not believe that the step we have taken is prejudicial to any particular business model. It demonstrates the board’s commitment to consumer protection, and recognises the value of the ABTA brand in maintaining consumer confidence. “
(Scource: http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/33869-Hotels-4U-and-Med-Hotels-first-bed-banks-to-leave-ABTA)
Is this true?
Not sure what to say about the first post - Thomas Cook is still an Abta member, number J9375, with the logo still clearly displayed on its website. Blahhh (nice username, by the way) - what was the nature of your complaint, and what Thomas Cook department were you dealing with?
Andrew's reply is correct though, the Cook-owned Hotels4u and Medhotels bed banks did leave Abta around this time last year. But that isn't the same as Thomas Cook leaving.
http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2009/10/30/32263/hotels-4u-and-med-hotels-first-bed-banks-to-leave-abta.html
Nathan Midgley Web editor, Travel Weekly