Worried travel company will go bankrupt with my money

Jane1984

hi

I've paid an initial deposit for a holiday with a small travel company but I still owe them about £1300 as a balance. I'm starting to get worried though as one of my friends ran a credit check on the company and found out they have just had their credit rating suspended. They are getting pushy about us paying the balance even though it is not due yet and this aroused our suspicions enough for my friend to check them out further. I am really worried if we pay the rest of the money we will loose the lot, and even if we don't I will loose a couple of hundred deposit. can anyone advise on what I should do?

Thanks

tarkytarks

Have you / can you pay with a credit card to cover yourself just incase? Have they given you a reason for paying off the deposit before it's due?

HXDave

what is the name of the travel company? i would help in maybe allaying your fears. is the travel company a travel agent company, or is it a tour operator company? what accreditations have they got (ABTA, ATOL, etc......). are you sure it's the same company as your friend checked out, as some can be very similar in names, but totally different in reality.

If you can provide us with more details, we may be able to help more.

Regards

HXDave

bcl999

Unlike HXDave, I have no connection with the travel industry but I would advise you to be absolutely sure the info about credit rating is correct and verifiable before naming the company in a public forum.

Alan_Bowen

Just because a company is small is no reason to panic. A company who appear to have poor administration or never answer the phone, and there are plenty of large household names who customers state on this forum fall into that category, is far more worrying. I have been travelling for over 30 years, I have never carried out a credit check against any company I booked with and have yet to lose a penny. So long as you received a Confirmation Invoice after you booked which confirmed what was booked, and assuming the holiday involves flights, it has an ATOL licence, I would not worry. If on the other hand you are about to pay using a credit card that you used to pay the balance and they tell you 'its out of order, we would rather you pay by bank transfer' then I might begin to panic and I have never heard of a company's credit rating being suspended, reduced yes, even to zero but not 'suspended', it doesn't make sense

bagand96

As said above, without knowing the name of the company there isn't much advice people on the forum can give.

However, I also agree that having stated they have a poor credit rating, naming them now isn't ideal either. (You would be amazed what effect rumours, no matter how small, can have in the travel industry).

If the company a member of ATOL, TTA, ABTA? Does your booking have these protections? In any event, paying the balance on a credit card should give you protection under the consumer credit act. There will more than likely be a fee to pay on credit card (its standard practice the travel industry), but think of it as a small price to pay for peace of mind - you are clearly worried.

zzzLazyDaisy

bagand96 wrote: »

paying the balance on a credit card should give you protection under the consumer credit act. There will more than likely be a fee to pay on credit card (its standard practice the travel industry), but think of it as a small price to pay for peace of mind - you are clearly worried.

I ALWAYS pay for holidays/flights etc by credit card. ALWAYS.

I have known too many tour operators and small airlines go bump, including ones that I have travelled with (tho not when they went down, thankfully).

For me it is worth the extra cost for the peace of mind. Just my two pennorth.

Daisy

PS that isn't quite true - I did once book Ryanair flights to Dusseldorf for £20 return and used a visa electron card to avoid the fees. I decided to live dangerously and take the risk on that occasion

bcl999

OOh, Daisy, you are quite, quite reckless!

Jane1984

Thank you for all your help and advise - Luckily my friend paid our deposit by credit card so I have asked her to speak to them. The company absolutely has the status "credit rating suspended" my other friend who checked this out works for a company credit rating agency - the company number is 03465479.

They have an abta logo on their website and I checked it out and now it is even more confusing as it brings up a totally different company - which then says it trades under the other companies name. All really confusing and seems very dodgy!!

peachyprice

When is the balance actually due and what excuse have they given for wanting you to pay it early?

bagand96

the company number is 03465479

Is that the company you have booked with? If so, then you may as well just name them now as with a few seconds and Google, anyone can find it out.

If it is the company you have booked with, then they are ABTA members, and the holiday is ATOL bonded (if what you have booked includes a flight.) ATOL is the important one as it means you will get all your money back if they go under. If they go under when you are abroad then ATOL will get you home.

Its worth noting that should they go under, ATOL claims can take many months. If you have credit card protection under the consumer credit act, then you can reclaim from them, and it should be quicker than an ATOL claim.

They have an abta logo on their website and I checked it out and now it is even more confusing as it brings up a totally different company - which then says it trades under the other companies name. All really confusing and seems very dodgy!!

There isn't anything to worry about there, many travel organisations have a parent company which trades under a few brands. If you enter some of Thomas Cook's membership numbers you will get multiple results for "trading as" (Airtours, Direct Holidays, Manos, flythomascook etc)