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Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers

theguardian.com

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Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers

#181

Post by C1sc0cat »

celticninja wrote: post #141
mcv wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are also old companies who manage to keep up and innovate, and care about competence. Not as much as tiny startups, but enough to survive and do well. One problem with the British upperclass, is that they tend to be educated at private schools like Eton, where they primarily learn confidence. So tons of British politicians and managers know how to appear to know what they're doing, without actually knowing what…

I dont even know where to start with this comment.

Its quite true look at the Mess Cameron and Johnson have created and all the other PPE Oxbridge grads.

Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers

#182

Post by C1sc0cat »

vesinisa wrote: post #143
edf13 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Incorrect (Or have you sources?).... the issue is old legacy based companies. No matter where they are based. Legacy as in business systems, business thought process, legacy IT, etc. TC is a very old company

Company being old certainly does not mean it needs to be full of legacy systems and business processes. It only means that the company's management is not competent at evolving the company's processes and systems, which means it will eventually fail regardless of being a fresh startup or centuries old going concern. Bosch, Siemens, Bayer, BASF and Carl-Zeiss are all examples of over hundred year-old German companies…

Not online they wont

Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers

#183

Post by usrusr »

vesinisa wrote: post #143
edf13 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Incorrect (Or have you sources?).... the issue is old legacy based companies. No matter where they are based. Legacy as in business systems, business thought process, legacy IT, etc. TC is a very old company

Company being old certainly does not mean it needs to be full of legacy systems and business processes. It only means that the company's management is not competent at evolving the company's processes and systems, which means it will eventually fail regardless of being a fresh startup or centuries old going concern. Bosch, Siemens, Bayer, BASF and Carl-Zeiss are all examples of over hundred year-old German companies…

Minor nitpick: Volkswagen isn't over a hundred years old at all.

It might not be entirely inaccurate to say that they have survived a thousand years, but those were the shortest thousand years in history.

Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers

#184

Post by vesinisa »

usrusr wrote: post #183
vesinisa wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Company being old certainly does not mean it needs to be full of legacy systems and business processes. It only means that the company's management is not competent at evolving the company's processes and systems, which means it will eventually fail regardless of being a fresh startup or centuries old going concern. Bosch, Siemens, Bayer, BASF and Carl-Zeiss are all examples of over hundred year-old German companies…

Minor nitpick: Volkswagen isn't over a hundred years old at all. It might not be entirely inaccurate to say that they have survived a thousand years, but those were the shortest thousand years in history.

Hah! Thanks, edited.

It might be also said that their innovation most recently has focused on some less-than legal technologies. But innovation it is, nonetheless.

Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers

#185

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

vesinisa wrote: post #143
edf13 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Incorrect (Or have you sources?).... the issue is old legacy based companies. No matter where they are based. Legacy as in business systems, business thought process, legacy IT, etc. TC is a very old company

Company being old certainly does not mean it needs to be full of legacy systems and business processes. It only means that the company's management is not competent at evolving the company's processes and systems, which means it will eventually fail regardless of being a fresh startup or centuries old going concern. Bosch, Siemens, Bayer, BASF and Carl-Zeiss are all examples of over hundred year-old German companies…

Those companies innovate and do well but they're not online businesses. They sell specialized niche high tech physical goods not digital services.

Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers

#186

Post by dmurray »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #169
buboard wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's completely ridiculous behavior. If anything, they should lock them OUT of the hotel

It's the classic I've seen used in jokes and comic strips - entry is free; once you enter, you discover that leaving costs money.

Also a popular one in certain Eastern European nightclubs.

Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers

#187

Post by DebtDeflation »

mcv wrote: post #132
edf13 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Incorrect (Or have you sources?).... the issue is old legacy based companies. No matter where they are based. Legacy as in business systems, business thought process, legacy IT, etc. TC is a very old company

There are also old companies who manage to keep up and innovate, and care about competence. Not as much as tiny startups, but enough to survive and do well. One problem with the British upperclass, is that they tend to be educated at private schools like Eton, where they primarily learn confidence. So tons of British politicians and managers know how to appear to know what they're doing, without actually knowing what…

>One problem with the British upperclass, is that they tend to be educated at private schools like Eton, where they primarily learn confidence.

Not limited to the British upper class. It's astounding how far someone can go in life by simply being confident, charismatic, and articulate (and tall) despite being completely full of shit.

Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers

#188

Post by tomp »

wp381640 wrote: post #16

Reminder again to never hold gift cards. I had a family member who was gited a $3,000 travel voucher with an agency - I told them to exchange it in for flights asap as you can book up to a year out, change the tickets later and it's better to be a creditor with a national airline than a likely-going-out-of-business-because-of-online travel agency

Depends on the country and industry... AFAIK in the UK, if you buy a restaurant voucher (e.g. via Groupon), the restaurant doesn't actually get that money, but it's held in a separate account until the customer actually uses the voucher.

Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers

#190

Post by dspillett »

markh wrote: post #135
rwmj wrote: post #75

I guess as they've gone bust I can tell this story now ... I used to consult for Thomas Cook about 15 years ago, and they were a basketcase of a company even back them, so this doesn't surprise me. I feel sorry for all the reps and workers out in the field and on the planes who will lose their jobs because of the profligacy of the Peterborough head office. Two examples of stupidity stick with me. One was that at the…

This brings back memories... I was the technical half of a two person team who built the very first Thomas Cook website in 1995. Of course, e-commerce was a step too far at the time, but there was much excitement when the spec for HTML frames came out mid-project (don’t judge).

> e-commerce was a step too far at the time

I remember those times. A number of companies in the UK saw web-sites as extensions to their teletext based advertising, just with more information density and a few small pictures (emphasis on both few and small: most of their customers were using ~28k8 connections at home and/or overcommitted shared connections in collages & libraries). You were sill expected to phone in your order, or physically go to your local branch, once you had seen something that took your fancy.

eCommerce was happening at that point (Amazon started in '94 IIRC, and the gambling & other adult entertainment industries were already actively making moves in that realm), but it was in its early days and far from trusted by either the public or many companies.

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