Holiday misadvertised

jkhuk

I've run into a bit of a brick wall after making a complaint & was wondering if I could get a bit of advice please?

I booked a ski holiday back in January and was told no standard rooms were left but at an extra cost we could get a superior room with 5 course meals. I was told this would be a newly refurbished room including a marble bathroom with whirlpool bath and tv/dvd media centre. When we arrived (in march), the hotel room was not as advertised. The room had none of the advertised extras, was not refurbished, and without the 5 course meals that we had been looking forward to !

We queried this with a hotel staff member and they shrugged their shoulders and said that they had told our tour operator about these various differences in what the hotel offered. We also brought it up with our ski rep at the end of the holiday but she said we would have to follow it up with the intermediate online company that we booked it through. So on returning, I contacted the intermediate company but they said it was the tour operator who would have to deal with the complaint. So they forwarded my complaint but it took 2 months of me chasing to gain any response from the tour operator. The Tour Operator finally replied with an offer of a 50% refund of the supplement that we paid.

I have replied to them saying that a 50% discount on something I had not received is not acceptable. They have now replied saying that they checked with the hotel and understood that I was offered and accepted a bottle of champagne as compensation. This is not true! I am furious that the tour operators are calling me a liar as they say they trust their hoteliers and are not willing to offer me a full refund of the supplement. What happened to the customer always being right? I have emailed back and forth a few times but to no avail. I booked the holiday & paid the supplements in good faith, I did not enjoy any of the things I was paying extra for, and I'm now being labelled as a liar - what would anyone recommend for my next step?

maninthestreet

Your contract is with whoever you paid for the holiday - who was that, and what did any invoice or paperwork you received state about the 'extras' you would get for paying the supplement??

jkhuk

I paid the intermediate company and got a booking acknowledgment from then and then a confirmation invoice from the actual tour operator. On both bits of paperwork, it only states Superior room and not what that includes. The tour operator still has the incorrect superior room details on their website but the intermediate company has since corrected their website and so it no longer states the superior room details. I only have a copy and pasted line of text from the latter incorrect website.

The intermediate company said the tour operator has to take responsibility of the problem and they seem to accept the fault. So would re-challenging the intermediate company get me anywhere?

unholyangel

Whoever you paid the money to, thats who you have a contract with.

I would maybe contact the hotel and see if they can confirm you didnt receive a bottle of champagne AND that they (tour op/travel agent) have been misadvertising their hotel for some time.

Whats the link to the tour op's hotel description page? Take a screenshot or print screen - just in case they actually get round to changing it.

jkhuk

Some good ideas. I've taken a screen shot of the tour operators website and have messaged the hotel to see when and who they spoke to at the tour operator about the situation. I'll then try delving deeper to see who gave the incorrect info etc.

If I get anywhere, should I still return to the tour operator as that's who I'm 'bargaining' with at the moment? I'm a bit confused that if the intermediate company is the one I have the contract with then why the tour operator is handling the complaint and offering the compensation?

unholyangel

Only thing i can think of (bearing in mind i've been awake for 24 hours and have had a total of 9 hours sleep since saturday afternoon) if maybe they were acting on behalf of the tour operator?

Just out of curiosity, does the tour op know the booking was made by someone else? My mum works at a travel agents in a call centre and they get actual travel agents from shops trying to book through them because they're cheaper!!!

jkhuk

Yes the tour operator definitely knows I booked with the intermediate company. I first complained to the intermediate and they forwarded my complaint to the tour operator. Then the liaison between the tour operator and I has been through the intermediate. It is only recently that I was able to directly contact the tour operator and do without the middle man.