Holiday misleading info - who's at fault

You booked with OTB, paid OTB, so your contract is with them...


Hard to help you though, as you have given no info as to what the issue was, is, etc.. and what you want from the complaint u made ?

Without all the details it is hard to be specific in a point of view, but..

It's not quite as simple as you booked with OTB so your contract is with them. They claim to act as an agent for 3rd parties, in this case Youtravel. That is actually something many agencies do, primarily to reduce their VAT bill, but it has implications for legal liability as well (I'm not a lawyer so won't go deeper on that, the law around this is complex and not heavily tested in court).

However, if you booked based on the information on the OTB site, and it proved to be factually inaccurate, they cannot completely shirk their responsibility for that. They will have disclaimers in their terms about accuracy of information (reasonable as they have so much product and rely on third parties, who also rely on others etc), but in practice reputable companies will still entertain genuine complaints if their info is wrong. At the very least, it is they rather than you who should take up any issues with Youtravel.

ATOL and ABTA protection are really in the event of supplier financial failure, they are not there to cover quality complaints. However, ABTA will have guidelines for how its members should deal with complaints, and that is regardless of whether OTB is acting as principal or agent. Pursue via ABTA if no joy with OTB.

Quality complaints are notoriously difficult unless they are factual (e.g. info said hotel had swimming pool and none existed). If something is in a greyer area around customer expectation, it comes down to customer service.

FYI, although Youtravel is not an ABTA member, they do say on their consumer website that they abide by ABTA guidelines. They are owned by FTI, a large and reputable German tour operator.

Hope this helps

Sorry it seems that there were a few more responses whilst I was typing mine.
When you say you were told, was this over the phone or via their website? If over the phone then there is a possibility that the call was recorded and you can ask to listen to the call. If online, did you take a screen shot at the time of booking? ( I know I wouldn't do this and don't expect that many people would.) Or have you checked since to see if it still says that?

In terms of the gym and bar / restaurant was there any sign of their ever having been one at the hotel? If they were there but closed then thats classed as the hotels discretion and would depend on the hotel offering some form of compensation. And again with the AC was it clearly stated that it was free during your stay? I.e it didn't say 'free in high season' or subject to time restrictions etc?