Express Bookers

wendb69

AdrianA wrote: »

I have a holiday booked to florida with these and just paid the balance in full yesterday as it was due by early june as we travel in sep,i'm now starting to get a bit worried after reading some of the comments on here.

After emailing hotel for Ground floor room Ive only just found out that this company have gone in to liquidation. I fly Thursday - gutted!

wendb69

Dont know where to start. Only found out gone in to liquidation by pure fluke by contacting hotel and being told reservation cancelled.

Boyfriend paid for this trip (for me and his mum) - deposit on C Card.

I paid the balance in bank transfer.

We were supposed to be going Thursday. Flights have been paid for.

Where do we go from here?

Any help much appreciated as all this talk of ABTA etc is confusing me and 1st payback vs 2nd payback

:-(

Alan_Bowen

As the deposit was paid on a credit card, contact the card company, make sure you have a copy of the CC statement showing the debit was by Express Bookers or Travel Experts Ltd which was the company behind Express Bookers. The card company will be liable for the full loss, including the amount paid by bank transfer but for others out there, when companies stop taking credit card payments, stop doing business with them, remember the card company knows more about their finances than you do! It is a good warning sign.

You need to book new accommodation immediately, there are plenty of websites, it might even be cheaper booking direct with the hotel but you will have to pay again, hopefully the card company will re credit the card within a short time.

AdrianA_2

wendb69 wrote: »

After emailing hotel for Ground floor room Ive only just found out that this company have gone in to liquidation. I fly Thursday - gutted!

Check your PM Wendy...

Between ABTA,ATOL and Thomas cook they're all useless! even though they were fully ATOL protected when i booked for florida last Aug 2011 ATOL won't cover more than 30 days after them losing their licence! no wonder ATOL and ABTA kept this quiet when they knew about Express Bookers difficultied months ago but prob didn't want to make an official statement prob due to the numerous claims they would have had against them!

And i must of racked up phone charges totalling of over £30.00 trying to ring thomas cook to get them to tell me whether the flight had been paid or not but they wouldn't discuss the booking even though they ceased trading!

Will never fly thomas cook again,They're ok when everything is going smoothly but they're customer service is beyond a joke.

Alan_Bowen

They were ABTA members from Sept 11 to the date of failure, if you booked in August 11, then when you booked, I suppose ABTA will say you didn't book because of ABTA membership because they didn't have any. The CAA licence was in the name of Express Bookers, my understanding was that the licence expired on April 1st this year ATOL 10387 and the CAA normally accept claims made for bookings taken during the licence period, which it was, up to 6 months after expiry of the licence, as they hold the bond for that period. Speak to the CAA themselves on 020 7453 6242 rather than the claims handling agents who are not always right.

BenMac

Coming into this thread late as I've only just found out that Express Bookers took the money out AGAIN for our hotel on 31 August.

We'd already been through turning up at the hotel in Greece to find our booking had been cancelled. After a number of calls we found that our payment had been refunded the previous day and our bank confirmed this. We then paid for the hotel direct which was no small amount, 5 people all inclusive and I assumed this was the end of the matter. This was on August 1st.

Last night I discovered the amount we paid was then taken out again on 31st August. No notification from Express Bookers or my bank.

I don't understand how this payment can be taken without my consent, or 3 weeks after the company went into administration.

My bank are not being helpful, saying the payment on the 31st is not one that can be disputed, being an inter branch payment and not a point of sale payment!

HELP! Can any one offer any advice.

Thanks

Alan_Bowen

The first thing liquidators do is to freeze the bank account and then try and gather in money that may be due to the company to pay the creditors. It is unlikely therefore that the company was in a position to claim again on your credit card and if it did, you would have a clear claim against the card issuer under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

What is interesting is your final comment, that the amount shown is an inter branch transfer, this sounds to me as though the bank is giving you a refund, even though on the face of it you are not entitled to one as you were refunded by the company! Are you sure the amount shown is not actually a credit rather than a debit, some accounts show these as a minus sign when money being spent is a positive figure. I cannot think of any other possible explanation but if the bank say this is money they did pay to the agency, and I don't think they are saying that, then you should contact the liquidators in the IoM

BenMac

Alan,
Thanks for your reply, sounds like you know what you are talkin about.
I have been in touch with the receivers and they said they are concerned as there should be no transactions after 10th August. I have asked them to look into it but not heard back yet.
My bank are trying to say it is nothing to do with them, which I do not agree with as they allowed the money out of my account.
Definately a debit I am afraid and at the moment no one is showing much interest and I am 4k out of pocket!
Ben