"In respect to a days work to refit a 757 and i would think that they had more than the two days notice that they have for the TCS charters.. This transatlantic flight for a 757 was not a one-off they were using it for a few flights so they could have kept the aircraft in a decent seat pitch config. couldnt they ?"
Theoretically yes, but you forget the 2 days worth of refitting before, and after the transatlantic flights. The summer season is up and running, and these 4 lost days may well have meant a lack of an aircraft for several European flights, meaning big delays for them and their passengers.
One forgets also that the TCS config is for 88 seats, so out of say 256 booked passengers, there are no seats for what, 168 pax when they arrive........ Finding alternative seats elsewhere for that volume of people is next to impossible, and if some of those are put onto other UK charter flights going the same direction, they will have the same seat pitch as on an FCA 757. Finding seats elsewhere for for 23 or so (256-233) passengers is a much different ballgame.
In short, to move 88 people in TCS config actually creates a much larger problem, and in the end those displaced off the flight will probably find themselves travelling in small split numbers on other UK charter flights, not necessarily the same day, but certainly with the same final seat pitch of a normal 29" config of a 757.