MSE News: Goldtrail Travel Limited collapse: your rights

Former_MSE_Guy · 19 July 2010 at 6:05PM

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"Tens of thousands of travellers on holiday or with future bookings have been hit, though many will get refunds" ..."

Read the full story:
Goldtrail Travel Limited collapse: your rights

Raman86 · 20 July 2010 at 10:41AM

My parents went on holiday with this company a little while ago and were in the process of getting a refund from them for various shortcomings of the holiday and illness which they both suffered due to the poor hygiene at the hotel. I guess they might have to kiss any reimbursement goodbye now...

justinclarke · 20 July 2010 at 7:33PM

Thanks for the article. Very helpful.

I'm trying to get back £400 worth of flights. Going to try VISA Debit Chargeback first (as there is a 120 day time limit on this). Failing that I'll go through the CAAs procedure, but that can take 6 months to a year!

bagand96 · 20 July 2010 at 11:50PM

I do not think the article is entirely correct. It states that you are not protected if you had a flight only booking with Goldtrail.

I believe this is incorrect. Goldtrail were solely a tour operator, and even flight only bookings with them will come under the ATOL as they did not directly sell flights, they sold tickets on flights chartered by themselves (subtle difference but big difference at the same time).

The CAA state (my bold):

Q Am I entitled to make a claim from ATOL?

A Check your flight or holiday confirmation.

[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]If you have booked an air holiday package or a flight with GT that’s yet to be taken you can make a claim. Information on how to claim will be provided on the ATOL website. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]If you booked through a travel agent – speak to them as they will be able to help you with your claim and may be able to provide an alternative holiday. [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial]
[/FONT]

the_hammys · 21 July 2010 at 10:05AM

does anyone know if there is any way to claim for a lost deposit for accommodation? I booked through a travel agent who booked the flights with Goldtrail and accommodation with another operator. The accommodation still stands but I cannot get flights on the date. To change the accommodation date by two days I'm being asked for a further £300!

whistler58 · 22 July 2010 at 4:13PM

Booked a package holiday through a travel agent £3000.00. Then had to book another flight £1700.00 and extra accomadation £50.00 as no flights on original date. Don't know yet if I can claim all extra costs, but all has been paid for on a Mastercard.
Does anyone know if claims for extra will be met and how long does it take?

Alan_Bowen · 22 July 2010 at 4:23PM

Goldtrail will probably prove to be a nightmare, so here goes.

If you booked a package holiday ,either direct with GT or via an agent, and have a GT invoice, you are fully protected. If you paid by credit card direct to GT, claim on the card, in all other circumstances, claim from the CAA.

If you booked through an agent and they booked flights only with GT, and they passed the invoice on to you, you can reclaim the cost of the flights but not anything else. You will need to book new flights if you want to travel, if not, whilst you may have saved money at the start, unless the accommodation provider is willing to cancel or amend free of charge, that part is lost.

If you booked through an agent and the first you heard of GT was when your agent phoned to tell you they had used them, but you had received no invoice at all from GT, you are likely to have no claim against the credit card or the CAA. In this case, your travel agent has acted as the organiser and it is up to the them to replace the flights, at no additional charge, or offer you a full refund. Many agents seem to have been unaware of the risk of doing business this way and haven't got the money to repay so are telling customers to pay again. You must insist that if you have an invoice for a holiday showing a single price for flights and accommodation that the agent deals with it. Good luck!

peat · 26 July 2010 at 2:09PM

Allan,
Here is a quote from the Airflights.co.uk website (from whom I booked my flights only):
"We sell two different types of flights, all of which are protected.

No Frills Flights - all No Frills flights available on this web site are protected via an insurance scheme arranged by us FREE to you at at the time of booking. We will re-book your flights (subject to availability) with an alternative supplier up to the value of £1,500 per person and then claim a refund from our designated insurance company.

Charter flights - all charter flights available on this web site, when booked as a flight only, are fully protected via the ATOL scheme operated by the Civil Aviation Authority ('CAA'). Refunds are provided by the CAA directly to you. We at Airflights will assist you with re booking an alternative and with making a claim to the CAA for the return of your original monies."
They have partially filled in an ATOL Claim Form and advised me to fill in and send to them. The claim form asks for credit/debit card statements, my statement shows payments to Airflight.co.uk not Goldtrail. They also categorically state that: "You should not contact your card issuing company as any claim must be made through ATOL. Claims made through card companies will not be honoured and will delay the process"
A phone call to the CAA was of no help as they say that they only deal with claims against Goldtrail.
I paid through a Visa debit card, would you advise that I go down the Chargeback route despite the fact that Airflights Direct Ltd have not gone bust?

justinclarke · 31 July 2010 at 8:13PM

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

If you booked through an agent and the first you heard of GT was when your agent phoned to tell you they had used them, but you had received no invoice at all from GT, you are likely to have no claim against the credit card or the CAA. In this case, your travel agent has acted as the organiser and it is up to the them to replace the flights, at no additional charge, or offer you a full refund. Many agents seem to have been unaware of the risk of doing business this way and haven't got the money to repay so are telling customers to pay again. You must insist that if you have an invoice for a holiday showing a single price for flights and accommodation that the agent deals with it. Good luck!

I booked through an agent and my invoice was only from the agent. It had the following on it regarding the flights part:

Passenger Details
A: Mr xxxx
A: Miss yyyy
Flight Receipt
Flights
Bristol -> Dalaman SGX4538 Tue 28/09/2010 20:00/02:00
Dalaman -> Bristol SGX4537 Tue 05/10/2010 17:00/19:00
Chadwell Travel are acting as a retail agent for Goldtrail Travel Limited with whom your flight is booked. This flight
booking is subject to their booking conditions. Their ATOL number is 4684. The locator number is XXXXXX/YYY.
Important Notice
Timings and Flight Numbers are for Guidance Only. Please refer to your Tickets and Itinerary for Latest Details.
Flight Cost
Flights (Adult) - 2 @ 88.80 each 177.60
2 x 15Kg Baggage (BRS-DLM) (Adults) @ 22.22 each 44.44
2 x APD (BRS-DLM) (Adults) @ 10.00 each 20.00
2 x Fuel (BRS-DLM) (Adults) @ 75.00 each 150.00
Flights Total: 392.04

So are you saying it is down to the agent to refund me? Where did you get your information from?

Thanks.

hippychicknos1 · 1 August 2010 at 8:21PM

Just want a rant....so feel free to join in.....

Am I the 0NLY person who finds this entire episode sooooo very confusing.....I have read and read and read through so much info and I am still none the wiser about who to turn to first and if I am covered or not.

Why is there not better and CLEARER information for the ordinary person in the street to understand what to do next.....I am NOT a qualified Travel Agent and so DO NOT understand all the do's and dont's of all the processes involved in simply getting your money back.

You work hard all year and simply want to book your annual holidays and go and enjoy what you have worked hard to pay for......and before you know where you are, not only do you not have a holiday, but you are been asked to pay out AGAIN....for something that you have already paid for.

We booked our hols through R-Travel (part of Co-op).....got a call on Sat morning to find out about collapse of Goldtrail. First we knew we were even booked with them......We booked a package and received 1 invoice showing one total from them.........

They told me that they could not get us alternative flights until 8th Aug from our Airport, but I managed to get them myself and flew out on 21st July from our airport......Had to pay for the flights again on our credit card........

Got to the Hotel and our WONDERFUL R-Travel or their company that they had farmed us out to had booked us into the sister hotel of the hotel that we were supposed to be booked into and which we had paid for.....not the 5 star hotel that we had paid for and were looking forward to.......Nobody was interested even although we phoned back to the UK and tried to resolve.......Seemingly takes this supposidly reputable company 10 days to "pull a call" to listen the whole conversation of what we asked for and paid for..... and so we had to stay in a lesser hotel abroad and no-one gave a dot.

So.......now we're back....we have paid for a holiday with some of it being paid out twice and now are getting ready to start a Legal claim against those responsible for taking our money, mis-selling us a holiday and giving us something entirely different and trying to claim our money back for the Goldtrail disaster......Happy Hols:rotfl:

willworkforfood · 4 August 2010 at 10:16PM

hippychicknos1 wrote: »

Just want a rant....so feel free to join in.....

Am I the 0NLY person who finds this entire episode sooooo very confusing.....I have read and read and read through so much info and I am still none the wiser about who to turn to first and if I am covered or not.

Why is there not better and CLEARER information for the ordinary person in the street to understand what to do next.....I am NOT a qualified Travel Agent and so DO NOT understand all the do's and dont's of all the processes involved in simply getting your money back.

You work hard all year and simply want to book your annual holidays and go and enjoy what you have worked hard to pay for......and before you know where you are, not only do you not have a holiday, but you are been asked to pay out AGAIN....for something that you have already paid for.

We booked our hols through R-Travel (part of Co-op).....got a call on Sat morning to find out about collapse of Goldtrail. First we knew we were even booked with them......We booked a package and received 1 invoice showing one total from them.........

They told me that they could not get us alternative flights until 8th Aug from our Airport, but I managed to get them myself and flew out on 21st July from our airport......Had to pay for the flights again on our credit card........

Got to the Hotel and our WONDERFUL R-Travel or their company that they had farmed us out to had booked us into the sister hotel of the hotel that we were supposed to be booked into and which we had paid for.....not the 5 star hotel that we had paid for and were looking forward to.......Nobody was interested even although we phoned back to the UK and tried to resolve.......Seemingly takes this supposidly reputable company 10 days to "pull a call" to listen the whole conversation of what we asked for and paid for..... and so we had to stay in a lesser hotel abroad and no-one gave a dot.

So.......now we're back....we have paid for a holiday with some of it being paid out twice and now are getting ready to start a Legal claim against those responsible for taking our money, mis-selling us a holiday and giving us something entirely different and trying to claim our money back for the Goldtrail disaster......Happy Hols:rotfl:

would be happy to hear a update to this one, we were in the same boat - ie we thought we were booking a package via R Travel - we were due to fly out on the 24th, they did offer us flights but we would have to pay out an extra £1700:eek: (the total holiday only came to £1900) - now R Travel has said we may be able to claim back back the cost of the flights via the CAA/ATOL but the £800 for accomadation is lost? and the Natwest who we have our travel insurance with dont want to know? - surely our contract is with R Travel and its up to them to honour their side?

MSE News: Goldtrail Travel Limited collapse: your rights

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