Coachtour - any comeback at all?

Some advice wanted please.

My elderly parents recently went on a 5 day coach tour costing over £500 which included all board and excursions etc.

Unfortunately they had a terrible time and didn't enjoy it due to a complete mix up by the company in not picking them up at the start of the tour. This resulted in them having to be rushed by taxi down the motorway to catch the coach. Obviously the rest of the passengers were not pleased and accusations were flying about, which were not corrected by the driver, and so my parents were 'ostracized' by the rest of the group for the rest of the tour which obviously made them unhappy. They didn't take part in the excursions purely because of this situation.

On returning they have contacted the company to ask what happened relating to the pick up and have just had a letter basically blaming not only the driver, but apparently my parents should have not been on the tour because it was a group booking and they should have been grateful that the tour company allowed them to go and have a holiday! This is actually in the letter sent back, would you believe!

Would my parents have any legal come back at all do you think? I am so annoyed that they have been treated like this that I have written to the MD and requested a refund for them but I don't know how far this can be pushed.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Comments

  • Alan_Bowen
    Alan_Bowen Posts: 4,847 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    The reply seems to be complete nonsense, your parents booked a tour and presumably the coach company issued a confirmation invoice with details of the pick up point. If it was group tour, then I presume the Group Organiser paid for the whole coach and then some people cancelled and the coach company decided to sell seats separately, if so they are entitled to get exactly what was promised.

    It does seem that the company arranged a taxi due to the drivers error so they did get the tour and it was your parents decision not to go on the excursions but if this was a group tour, I expect everyone else knew each other and wondered who on earth your parents were if they were the only 'outsiders' At the very least your parents should have been told that it was group tour, they might well have decided not to travel at all but I do not think they are entitled to a full refund by any means. The more unreasonable you appear, the more unlikely they are to offer anything, at best I would look for a 20% refund
  • ally18
    ally18 Posts: 761 Forumite
    Many thanks for your reply.

    My parents did receive a reply from the Managing Director which, I have to say was appalling. It was at his discretion apparently as to what constitutes a tour (even though their paperwork says different) and again my parents should have been grateful they had been allowed to join the group!

    Their request for a refund relating to the excursions was refused and no explanation was given as to why my parents were not told of the group booking.

    Anyway, my parents have now decided to drop the matter and of course, will never touch this particular tour company with a barge pole again! Hopefully word of mouth will pass the message across to their friends.

    There is obviously no customer satisfaction with this company at all. It makes me mad that they can treat people this way without any comeback. :(
  • mandragora_2
    mandragora_2 Posts: 2,611 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
    edited 9 December 2014 at 2:36PM
    If they can be bothered, I'd encourage them to fight for recompense. They didn't get what they paid for. My mum is an elderly, lone traveller who lives for her trips. She goes on the organised ones because that way she feels she'll be looked after properly and there's an element of payment for the services of someone sorting out the arrangments, making sure no-one gets missed out from pick ups etc etc that is included in the price for the package overall. After one tour, she was very unhappy with how it had been handled, and she wrote a clear letter detailing her reasons that she felt the company hadn't delivered what she had paid them for, and requiring reimbursement for the elements she felt were missing. The company sent a few derisory offers after stonewalling her for a while. She wasn't happy, so, on Trading Standards advice (who supported her every step of the way, and were fantastic), she started small claims court proceedings. The company made her an offer pretty promptly after that, and settlement was swift, without her having to go to court. I would say they could do worse than seek advice from your own Trading Standards department. They told my mum that they wished more people would do what she had done.
    Reason for edit? Can spell, can't type!
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