Who to Sue

le_loup

Really disastrous holiday; insulting offer from holiday company; so want to go to small claims court for refund.
Question is, who is my claim against? The travel agency through whom the holiday was booked and who I paid, or the travel company.
Any help appreciated.

b33r

What exactly are you claiming for?

What was the price of the original holiday? How did you pay?

What happened that meant it was disastrous? Whose fault was it?

What was the offer from the holiday company?

cyberbob

Was the holiday company a member of ABTA

moonrakerz

Who is "Sue" ?

cyberbob

moonrakerz wrote: »

Who is "Sue" ?

Friends of Rita and Bob

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091859/

MoneySavingNovice

The company with whom you have a contract.

Look on you order documentation, it should be clear on there.

Pollycat

le_loup wrote: »

Really disastrous holiday; insulting offer from holiday company; so want to go to small claims court for refund.
Question is, who is my claim against? The travel agency through whom the holiday was booked and who I paid, or the travel company.
Any help appreciated.

You might find this link useful - once you have decided who to sue:
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=142919

Do bear in mind though that you should have made every effort to resolve your dispute with the supplier before starting the 'small claims' process:
Extract from this website:
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/index.htm

"Going to court should always be the last resort. There are now a number of other ways of sorting out complaints, disputes and legal problems without court action, including arbitration, mediation and ombudsmen schemes These are often called alternative dispute resolution (ADR) schemes."

There's also a lot of clued-up people on the Holidaytruths website (they have a specific 'complaints' forum).
Maybe you should document exactly what was wrong with the holiday, what you said to the travel agent/tour operator, what they said to you, what they offered you and see if the general concensus of opinion is that you have a valid case.

le_loup

b33r wrote: »

What exactly are you claiming for?
What was the price of the original holiday? How did you pay?
What happened that meant it was disastrous? Whose fault was it?
What was the offer from the holiday company?

£500 each
Credit Card
3 night coach trip to France, 4* luxury hotel offer, gourmet food
translated to:
... film company filming in hotel (unable to get into hotel whilst filming in entrance, unable to get down stairs with cables snaking down stairs, unable to use lounge whilst filming, unable to use bar one evening (whilst filming). Cameras, lights, cables all over ground floor
Dinner at 7:30 (no choice of time) fed on tables of 12 in 3 rows
Food good but no choice
Vegetarian option ... a plate of vegetables
Because of canteen conditions, food kept hot ... well dried out
Coach, magnificent. Hotel rooms magnificent.
Fault lies with hotel. Luxury it was not.
Had it been a charabanc to Blackpool, it's what I would have expected!
Holiday company offered £40 (VOUCHER) each
Rejected their offer and gave them 10 days to refund. That was ten working days ago.

le_loup

Pollycat wrote: »

You might find this link useful

Thanks Pollycat for a very helpful response.

unholyangel

IMO (whether right or wrong) I dont think you're entitled to a full refund. Partial yes but not a whole.

While you were inconvenienced and maybe not provided the food you were promised.........were you really hanging around the hotel 100% of the time for your whole holiday to be ruined?

What offer would you deem reasonable as compensation? Or do you honestly think 100% refund is reasonable?

As for 4*, it doesnt always mean what people think it does. It just means they offer a certain range of services. See the link for more info and you'll know for yourself whether the hotel lived up to its rating: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_%28classification%29

If it didnt, there will be a classification body/organisation you could complain to.

le_loup

The whole point of the break was "luxury and gourmet food".
Eating off trestle tables with no choice and coach party service did not represent "A few days of pure luxury and indulgence ... an excellent restaurant and service second to none." Even taking a bit of brochure hype into account, this was not as advertised.