Posters on Thomas Cook shop windows claiming Dawson & Sanderson “are currently acting as a Thomas Cook customer support centre to all holidaymakers who have booked a Thomas Cook holiday” have now been removed following complaints on the Travel Gossip Facebook page.
They add: “Dawson & Sanderson are now offering the same level of help and support to all customers who booked direct with Thomas Cook too!”
Dawson & Sanderson managing director Chris Harrison said: “We removed them this morning. I will apologise to anybody that we have offended. We wouldn’t look to offend anyone at Thomas Cook; I worked there for 14 years and met my wife there.”
The posters drew dozens of critical comments on Facebook site Travel Gossip. One said: “They think they’re doing a good deed but in actual fact it looks ridiculous and it’s very shady.”
Posts described the initiative as “disgusting”, “cheap” and “misleading”, with one saying: “So insensitive to all at TC. I would be livid”, suggesting it should be removed “and superglued right in the middle of their shop windows”.
Harrison said he was hoping to fill eight vacancies with former Cook staff and had already given consultancy work to others.
“Everything this week has been Thomas Cook-related,” he said. He added that staff would help Cook customers fill in claim forms “regardless of whether they have booked with us or not”.
