Transfers4u/Hoteltransfer/Medhotels/Thomas Cook WARNING/scam

soil_2

hcb42 wrote: »

I avoid package holidays like the plague too, although I did one last year, as was cheapest way to get to my destination.

I would find being knocked up at 0930 and him coming back at 1030 very intrusive!

Well indeed it was, I guess I felt it was polite to agree to see him as the tourist situation in Tunisia is very quiet and there were only 2 other people on the coach, so we were the only people for him to visit.

Sometimes it's handy to see the excursions on offer if only to make arrangements to do the same thing privately for less, although the big tour companies now have their excursions online so this isn't really necessary.

DCFC79

Im still unsure what the issue is, is it about being sold this carpet which isnt worth as much you paid or is it about the rep

budgetflyer

So you bought a carpet that wasn't worth as much as you thought and you want to blame Transfersf4u/Medhotels/Thomas Cook ?
I bought fake sunglasses for a tenner from a Lookie Lookie. Shop round the corner was selling them for a fiver. Moral- DUE DILLIGENCE- buyer beware.
Thats the way things operate abroad. Its good to be aware of it, but its also part of their culture and often, a nice little trip for free.
They take you to their mates shop, you buy - they get commission.
Its not really a scam. Just a hard sell. From a tourist point of view, its good to be aware of it though

soil_2

budgetflyer wrote: »

So you bought a carpet that wasn't worth as much as you thought and you want to blame Transfersf4u/Medhotels/Thomas Cook ?
I bought fake sunglasses for a tenner from a Lookie Lookie. Shop round the corner was selling them for a fiver. Moral- DUE DILLIGENCE- buyer beware.
Thats the way things operate abroad. Its good to be aware of it, but its also part of their culture and often, a nice little trip for free.
They take you to their mates shop, you buy - they get commission.
Its not really a scam. Just a hard sell. From a tourist point of view, its good to be aware of it though

The problem was they conned us into going there by saying it was a Thomas Cook bus. Obviously if a random man on the street takes you to the shop and agrees behind your back to split the money 50/50 with the shop-owner that's nothing to do with Thomas Cook, but in this case the man is working on behalf of Medhotels and is lying to tourists and they don't care and refuse to even contact the Tunisian company to take action to stop other tourists being conned.

If you go on holiday with Thomas Cook the rep might offer you a trip to the Sahara for say £200. Most probably a local company will sell you the same trip for £100. That's not a scam, it's just overcharging, you buy a pineapple from Harrods it costs £15, but you can buy them in Tesco it's £1.99. You see up front what's on offer and then you can choose to take it or leave it, there's no hint of any obligation.

It all comes down to who you are dealing with. When we were in the JW Marriott in Phuket they offered to give us a free dinner if we went to their timeshare presentation at the Marriott Yacht Club. We chose not to go, but the thing was if we had gone you know that you are dealing with an international company and you are under no obligation to buy, you can take the freebie and leave. OTOH, when you are dealing with some random Tunisians, it's quite obvious that they are likely to demand money for their 'tour' if you don't buy something, and this is a part of the con. We went with these people because we were told by the rep that we were dealing with Thomas Cook, and so I believed it was 'safe', you get on their bus, no obligation.

This was just a lie and Medhotels need to take action firstly to try and stop this Tunisian company using their good name to rip people off, secondly they should change their advertising and transfer vouchers to make it MUCH clearer that the transfer is with a random Tunisian company with no seat belts, no standards and no scruples, and thirdly they should not allow their agents to represent themselves as 'Medhotels' or 'Transfers4u', but instead should prominently advertise the provider 'Tunisian Travel Club', and also instruct guests that they rep at the airport (who is an employee of Tunisian Travel Club) will identify himself, not as now as 'Medhotels', but rather 'Tunisian Travel Club'.

Bob_the_Saver

If you don't want it don't buy it - simple, you weren't held at gunpoint.

bcl999

I would have said that I'd just arrived, was going to be there a week(fortnight or whatever) and that I'd look at them nearer to my departure. If I do see the same guy again towards the end of the holiday, I say he's too late and I've no money left. They can't really argue with that.

soil_2

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

If you don't want it don't buy it - simple, you weren't held at gunpoint.

That's not the point. We were conned into going to the shop by the rep.

I have emailed medhotels with my complaint:

Thank you for your reply, however responses I have received have been entirely unsatisfactory.

Referring me to the small print of your terms and conditions is all very well, but the issue is the manner in which you operate is far from transparent to the consumer.

Medhotels.com is a reputable Western company, Tunisian Travel Club is not. They do not operate according to Western standards of safety, selling or customer protection, and you should not permit them to use your name. Since you refuse to accept responsibility for the companies whose services you sell, it is clearly quite wrong for them to use your name, as you refuse to even contact them with complaints - you should instruct tourists to look for the 'Tunisian Travel Club' (or whatever other company pertains locally) rep, and further since you disclaim any responsibility for scams, etc. perpetrated by these companies and their staff they should NOT be permitted to use your branding as you make it so plain that you have nothing to do with them.

It is your deficient operating practices that creates the climate in which these scammers can operate. We did not appreciate being woken by the rep, we did not appreciate the hard-sell to buy tours, and we certainly did not appreciate that the rep was able to exploit his ambiguous position facilitated by medhotels/transfers4u to claim that we were going on a Thomas Cook/medhotels bus.

The nature of your responses and refusal to accept that there is any fault with your procedures places me in an awkward position as I feel now obliged to take further action in order to protect others from the dubious processes you have in place.

Bob_the_Saver

soil wrote: »

That's not the point. We were conned into going to the shop by the rep.

I have emailed medhotels with my complaint:

Thank you for your reply, however responses I have received have been entirely unsatisfactory.

Referring me to the small print of your terms and conditions is all very well, but the issue is the manner in which you operate is far from transparent to the consumer.

Medhotels.com is a reputable Western company, Tunisian Travel Club is not. They do not operate according to Western standards of safety, selling or customer protection, and you should not permit them to use your name. Since you refuse to accept responsibility for the companies whose services you sell, it is clearly quite wrong for them to use your name, as you refuse to even contact them with complaints - you should instruct tourists to look for the 'Tunisian Travel Club' (or whatever other company pertains locally) rep, and further since you disclaim any responsibility for scams, etc. perpetrated by these companies and their staff they should NOT be permitted to use your branding as you make it so plain that you have nothing to do with them.

It is your deficient operating practices that creates the climate in which these scammers can operate. We did not appreciate being woken by the rep, we did not appreciate the hard-sell to buy tours, and we certainly did not appreciate that the rep was able to exploit his ambiguous position facilitated by medhotels/transfers4u to claim that we were going on a Thomas Cook/medhotels bus.

The nature of your responses and refusal to accept that there is any fault with your procedures places me in an awkward position as I feel now obliged to take further action in order to protect others from the dubious processes you have in place.

I think that is the point, nobody MADE you buy it. I would avoid Agra, Istanbul, Rajasthan in particular for future holidays if you can't say no to such salesmen.

soil_2

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

I think that is the point, nobody MADE you buy it. I would avoid Agra, Istanbul, Rajasthan in particular for future holidays if you can't say no to such salesmen.

Thanks for the advice, that doesn't change the fact that these dodgy third world companies should not be permitted by Medhotels to use their brand.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi

Hotels4u has asked us to post on the forum. MSE doesn't endorse anything a company may say on the forum.


Hi Soil,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience on your holiday in Tunisia. The agent in Tunisia has asked us for some more details in order to investigate this case further. If you could please email your booking reference to lisa.pierce@hotels4u.com we can assist them with their investigation and try and get to the bottom of what has happened.

Many thanks,
Jen
Hotels4u Representative