Co-Op travel - help /advise needed

dipsy

Can anyone help, my parents booked a holiday for themselves and my Aunt and Uncle to Barbados and a cruise.

My mum and my aunt were asked if they all had British passports, my mum informed them there were 2 british passports and 2 irish passports. Mum then asked if they needed visas to visit any of the islands on the cruise, No, no visas required.

Well it turns out that as my father holds a british SUBJECTS passport he does need a visa (only found this out on Thursday 8th February, travelling 19th February - today)

Anyway it seems the travel agents should have asked the question do you all hold British Citizens passports..... it was too late to get a visa, so luckily my dad is an irish citizen and we have managed to get an Irish passport, my parents travelled to London on Monday and the passport is being collected today. This involved my Aunt in Dublin getting his long birth certificate and the necessary passport forms for my dad.

What I want to know is do they have any come back on the travel agents as they did not give them the right advice/ask the right questions and could have potentially cost them their 10k holiday....

Many thank in advance

lottee

What did the booking form say that they signed ? If they signed to say they were British Citizens, then they didn't read what they were signing, so I don't think they would have a come back. But even so, agree that they should of asked if all were British passport holders, that is part of the booking process. May be worth a call to customer services perhaps. They should have got a customer survey with their tickets, so you could pass comment on that also. Lucky devils, wish I was off on a cruise today!

glammakid

From my experience, they should have given you some form of document to sign confirming the booking details.

If they haven't signed anything then you do have a leg to stand on because human error could have been a consequence.

dipsy

They were given a form, to sign - they didn't fill any of it in, and one of my first questions was did you sign anything.

I said that although most people don't read what they are signing for, it does mean you have accepted what is said on the form to be true.

I do however, feel that had the girl in the travel agents been properlytrained this problem would never have occured.

Is there any course of action my parents/Aunt & uncle could take, albeit that my mother signed the form?

Any advice gratefully received

lottee

If your mother signed, I take it she was the 'lead name'? This meaning, the agency in question have all of her contact details etc. If this is the case, then she was signing on behalf of all passengers - unless it was booked as two bookings? They shouldn't have had anything to fill in anyway, it is a standard couple of forms, but there is an option to select whether the client is a subject or citizen on the actual system itself, before the forms print out.

It may not be that the girl isn't properly trained, we all make mistakes, but as you state above, it may not have all worked out ok. As I said before, perhaps a call to their customer services dept, explaining all the inconvenience that has been caused. Don't go into the branch, it will just be swept under the carpet by the manager (probably) & won't go any further. (ooh, I sound a little sneaky!!!)

littlereddevil

I think if you have anything other than a British citizens passport you must always check very thoroughly as there are so many rules and regulations and a British subjects passport has never been classed the same.