CAA: 60-day deadline was mistake Ian Taylor
The Civil Aviation Authority has apologised for the time it is taking to process remaining claims for Thomas Cook refunds as it confirmed last week that 10,000 are outstanding. Chief executive Richard Moriarty
conceded: “It has taken longer than we hoped.” The CAA reported 320,000
claims, or about 95% of those received, had been settled at a cost of £310 million. Of the 10,000 remaining, it said:
“These have taken longer because the details entered online do not exactly match Thomas Cook’s booking records, in some cases due
COLLAPSE
THOMAS COOK
to incomplete or inaccurate data.” Launching the online claims
process on October 7, the CAA announced: “We aim to pay refunds within 60 days of receiving a valid claim form.” It now concedes the 60-day pledge was a mistake. However, an industry source
said: “The CAA has actually done a remarkable job.” Agents have complained about
the “appalling” handling of refunds and difficulties dealing with claims-handling company Cega (Travel Weekly, January 2).
The bookings data quality caught [the CAA] out. But they have still done an incredibly good job
Some responded to the CAA’s
apology on Facebook saying: “We’re still waiting.” It’s understood some of the
outstanding claims involve inadequate data or insufficient customer information, while others are Cook products that were repackaged by agents. A second industry source said: “There is some of that [repackaging by agents], but it’s not a huge issue.
“The CAA recognises it made a
mistake when they set an expectation that customers would get their money in 60 days. The data quality caught them out. But they have still done an incredibly good job.” The source added: “The last 5%-10% of claims are difficult [but] you see data issues with every failure. It’s nothing out of the ordinary. “There was pressure for refunds
before Christmas [and] they have taken flak about the efficiency of the automatic claims handlers, but to give a half-decent service they had to outsource.” The CAA anticipates another 40,000 claims could still come in
before the September deadline. i Get Social, page 39
Hays to install cruise experts in every store
Harry Kemble
Hays Travel plans to have a cruise expert in every store within its expanded retail network of nearly 700 branches by early summer. The agency said the move was
inspired by former Thomas Cook managers who have joined Hays, which took on all 553 leases of the collapsed travel giant’s shops. The move was spearheaded by
group head of commercial and cruise 4 16 JANUARY 2020
Jonathon Woodall and new head of cruise Catriona Parsons, who joined Hays in September. Parsons, who spent 13 years at Barrhead Travel and briefly left the industry before joining Hays, also hopes to add five new commercial and product roles to her nine-strong cruise team, which is currently focused on partnerships. She said Hays was in the process
of becoming “a big juggernaut”, adding: “We’re going to give the [cruise] suppliers the attention they deserve. There are 115 ships
on order, so cruise is going to be a big part of the Hays business going forward. We want to make Hays Travel the first place you think of to book a cruise.” Parsons hopes all the cruise
experts will be in place by April or May, and said they would require knowledge of all the major lines and their products. Cruise experts will be asked to communicate with customers via email or bite- sized videos, and to “engage” with customers after they have booked.
Catriona Parsons: ‘We want to make Hays the first place you think of to book a cruise’
“[Cruise] customers are booking
earlier,” Woodall said. “We want to talk them through their journey. We get them excited at the point of booking, but then we do not talk to them until they pay the full balance. “It must be daunting not knowing
the dress code or how to book a speciality restaurant. I think [our plan] will lead to repeat bookings.” Woodall said he admired Cook’s
‘cruise experts’ model. “We want to learn from that,” he said. “Thomas Cook did a lot of things well.”
travelweekly.co.uk
PICTURE: Malcolm Cochrane
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