Anyone booked a Cosmos holiday with Tesco Deals? PLEASE HELP!

taxiphil

For nearly 2 years we've been collecting Tesco Clubcard points to go on a once-in-a-lifetime All Inclusive holiday with Cosmos on 4 September this year.

The plan was to pay almost the full £1500 cost in Clubcard Deals vouchers.

I thought I'd planned it all out meticulously with regard to the timing of receiving Clubcard vouchers and converting them to Deals, etc.

But It was all based on the assumption that the Clubcard mailing would have arrived by today (21 August) at the latest (last year's arrived on 17 August). We're absolutely mortified to find it hasn't arrived yet, and this is now threatening to scupper our holiday as you have to book 14 days in advance, and because of work commitments etc we can only go on 4 September. Since the flights to our chosen destination are only once per week, this delay means we'd now have to go on 11 September instead and that's completely impossible for us.

I know there's no point in phoning Tesco to ask them to hurry up with the Clubcard mailing, as they'll just say it's in the pipeline.

Does anyone know from past experience if Cosmos will show any flexibility in their T&Cs? For example, if the Clubcard mailing were to arrive tomorrow, would they let us get away with booking 13 days in advance?

Another BIG problem we have is that Cosmos told us over the phone that when you book a holiday with Tesco Deals, you have to pay the full amount on your credit/debit card, and then send in the Deals vouchers. After they've received them, they then give you a refund to the value of the Deals vouchers.

The problem is that I don't have available credit on my credit card to the tune of £1500, and I don't have that kind of money in my current account either so can't put it on my debit card. What on earth am I supposed to do?

This policy seems outrageous to me as it discriminates against those of us who aren't loaded. I can understand them wanting some security on the booking, but taking the entire cost of the holiday as a deposit seems a bit steep. Surely the whole point of Tesco Deals is that you've saved up to pay by an alternative means, as you might not have that kind of cash to play with!

Surely it would be much fairer to take a non-refundable deposit of just £200, for example, which they could retain to cover their admin costs if you didn't send in your Deals vouchers (although I have no idea why anyone wouldn't send in their Deals vouchers!).

If anyone could advise on any of these problems it would be greatly appreciated.

richardw

Says here http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/productinfosheets/S6022.pdf that you have to send in your tokens within 3 days of booking, not pay by card and claim it back.

taxiphil

richardw wrote:

Says here http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/productinfosheets/S6022.pdf that you have to send in your tokens within 3 days of booking, not pay by card and claim it back.

It also says:

Please note that if you are making a booking less than 8 weeks in advance of travel, Cosmos Holidays or Cosmos Tourama may debit the full cost from your debit or credit card and refund it upon receipt of your Deals Tokens.

I only found out about this recently as it doesn't appear in the T&Cs in the Deals brochure - it only appears on the factsheet they send you after you've converted your Clubcard vouchers to Cosmos Deals vouchers.

richardw

Apologies. It says 'may' and 'not have to' book with a card, so could indicate a bit of flexibility.

When you get your vouchers give them a call they might take your booking if they haven't sold many holidays.

Might be worth calling Cresta Holidays as well to see if they have anything.

Can you go in October or November?

Call_Centre_Guru

Have you tried ringing your credit card company and asking for a temp increase on the limit on your card for a couple of months?

jaymac_2

Most companies make you pay in full if you're going within 8 weeks of booking so Cosmos isn't unusual. The mail I had from Tesco says the vouchers should be out by Sept 10th this year...much later than usual, and not much good for you. You could use a combination of the vouchers you already have and cash but have you checked the holiday is still available? I booked a holiday for later in the year but had to pay full brochure price though it was a few hundred pounds less online. Phone the cosmos number and see wwhat they say, I'm sure they'd rather sell the holiday if it's available than lose the business. The person I sspoke to was very helpful.