Thomas Cook

[macdo]

nsthee,
from my (wide) experience of airport delays, the chances are that you were not lied to. Customer Service Agents are rarely told enough or at all when a delay happens that is more complex than a late inbound flight. In some ways that makes sense as the reasons, sometimes, are outlandishly complex. I remember only to clearly standing in front of 300 irate pax in Cyprus to explain why a technical problem in Calgary, 36 hrs before, had caused them a 10hr delay. Frankly, the sequence of events, that included multiple a/c swops and FTL issues, largely went over their heads, but it was a comprehensive explanation and they were satisfied that they weren't being lied to.
You are possibly looking towards the EU compo to make up for your inconvenience, TCX, no doubt, were thinking that at the time of the delay. 6 figure delay claims (for a whole a/c) are the last thing likely to make any Euro airline want to be free with the facts. Hence, your CSA at BRS, probably knew little, and (i have seen this) under the intimidating circumstance of a planeful of irate pax, probably made a confused mishmash of the facts to keep the peace!
I am sorry you had a delay, its never a nice start/finish to a holiday, my advice would be to go directly to the CEO of TC Group.