Thursday, September 26, 2019

On the Ving

We've taken a few trips with travel operator Ving Sverige.

They've been good. We were sad to see their parent company, Thomas Cook, fail miserably.

Ving operations were badly disrupted on the day of Thomas Cook bankruptcy, 23 Sept 2019. The worst thing about Thomas Cook were ultimately-empty reassurances up to the last minute that everything was OK and all flights were operating. Then Thomas Cook shutdown.

Ving.se now reports they are back, strong, ready to take bookings.

BUT - The Thomas Cook bankruptcy shows we live in a dog-eat-dog environment, where companies are able to say "ALL OK!" until suddenly it's NOT.

We must pity the vendors & suppliers who remain unpaid for services billed to Thomas Cook this summer. Some such accounts are alongside Ving operations, or integrated. 

Smaller hotels and service providers are being reassured billing for customers SINCE Monday 23 September and from now will be paid. But previously unpaid bills are outstanding claims unlikely to be paid in full or even partly. 

So what can we believe?

I've had good results with Ving. But I'd not book with them just now.

Here's what's being said in Swedish on Ving.com today:

De flesta av våra flyg går just nu enligt tidtabell, men i spåren av Thomas Cooks konkurs möter vi en del operationella utmaningar med våra flyg, bla kring licencer och avtal, som kan drabba en del flygavgångar. Detta ska vara löst inom kort. Berörda resenärer informeras löpande via sms. Vi beklagar förseningarna och de besvär som de medför. Som alltid vid flygförseningar jobbar vi intensivt med att lösa det så snabbt som möjligt med alternativ.

Vings resor går som vanligt igen

Uppdaterat 26/9 10:20

De flesta av våra flyg går just nu enligt tidtabell, men i spåren av Thomas Cooks konkurs möter vi en del operationella utmaningar med våra flyg, bla kring licencer och avtal, som kan drabba en del flygavgångar. Detta ska vara löst inom kort.

Vi har just nu högt tryck på våra telefoner, i sociala medier och i kundsupporten och ber om er förståelse för att våra svarstider tar lite längre tid än vanligt.