Beware Online Travel Agents Ripoff?

beer4maria

hmm. point taken. I SHOULD have shopped around for, especially as the holiday is for the end of March. Naive of me not to realise that a 'discount' holiday website would charge me as much as £89 more than the tour operator.
I will be very much more wary in future. £89 seems to me to be so much more than is reasonable for admin costs or whatever it is I am paying for.
I have written to the company and asked them to refund the whole cost, as I am really not at all happy with this deal. They call themselves a 'discount' holiday site and promise you a 'great deal' on their website. Not so in my case!
Perhaps they can continue to be such poor value because most people don't complain?
Thanks for responses, and I will keep you posted!
Ms Persistence!

jamminjamaica

dont forget a lot of tour operators have a policy that if you find the same deal cheaper they will refund the difference. granted you have a limited amount of time to contact them after you booked. you should ring them and discuss it in addition to the letter. just incase they do have a policy.

beer4maria

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ICELOLLY

don't!!!icelolly
wish I had trawled the thomas cook website and booked myself, instead of imagining that it would be cheaper and more convenient to do it through this operator just because their website said so!
It wasn't cheaper or more convenient through ICELOLLY. Won't use them again! Despite immediate phone calls and two letters they will not entertain any thought of compensation, meeting half way, goodwillgesture etc. It is easy and convenient to book directly with the holiday companies, and you can save a lot of money. When I phoned Thomas Cook to check prices they offered to undercut!!!!
I have learned from this................not to use ICELOLLY

beer4maria

will not use ICELOLLY again!!

TRAVELMAN_2

YOU agreed the price...YOU gave them your credit card number....YOUR fault.

God....some of the people on this board amaze me. WHY SHOULD they give you the money back? The price on the Thomas Cook site might have dropped since you booked with Ice Loly. When are people going to realise that holiday prices change all the time....sometimes hourly.

Tip for next time-set yourself a max budget & have a ring round. Book the best deal...

I had someone the other day who booked a Holiday with me with a well known tour op. We get 14% commision so knocked 6% off (more than fair in my opinion). Customer more than happy. Phone call 3 days later....'but it's on 'xxxxxx' web site £30 pp cheaper!!! I want a reduction!' (it was a 'sale weekend' on-line). I tried to explain but they would have none of it. Holiday prices can go UP too!!! Said she was writing to watchdog.....trading standards...etc (yawn!)...AGREE A PRICE & GIVE YOUR CARD NUMBER-that's a contract.End of story. I can't beleive how anal some people are on this site. WHY did you punt round AFTER you booked it! End of rant...

saveapenny

Good point ..Would they have rung up and offered you more money if the holiday had gone up in 3 days...lol I dont think so

Lady_E

Lord E and I have a deal - if we book something after doing all our research and believe we have got the best deal , there is NO way we will take a sneaky peek after booking to see if we could have it cheaper! Why put yourself through the angst of realising you did not get the" best" deal, IF the price is cheaper , or feeling smug if the price has gone up . Hey life is too short to fret , think about getting BOGOF sun creams , deals on Airport car parking, savings on duty free etc and you will soon recoup your £89. Have a great holiday and post your requirements for your next break on this site and see if you can better it - Enjoy x

stratford_2

It is tempting to have a sneaky peek afterwards though isn't it? Luckily though, because I spend so long (maybe too much!) checking prices before booking, I've yet to find cheaper. Fully agree with Travelman and Saveapenny re. the contract side of things.

I'll use ICE LOLLY if they happen to offer the exact holiday, for the cheapest price...

budgetflyer

As a rule of thumb. add 50/60 GBP on to Icelollys price for the actual price its going to cost you

photome

I agree with most on here. The Op bought and paid for what they thought was a good deal. they were happy with that, Why then go looking for cheaper?. Like others have said if the OP had found it more expensive after booking would they have rung and offered to pay more!

To name and shame a company for doing NOTHING wrong is not right.

I booked a flight to america in april last year, flying next month. I have no idea if the price changed up or down since i booked it beacause I havent looked.