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Flights2florida - Read this before using their services!
superdon
Posts: 317 Forumite
Please note – this is a very long post, I am sorry for that, but I wanted to give as much info as possible. Text in speech marks is a direct cut and paste from email communication.
In February 2012, we began looking at various options for a holiday in Florida. This was to go to a family wedding over the Easter 2013 period in Orlando. Not our ideal choice of time to go, but thats fine.
As there were a large number of us going, it was a busy time to go and we realised the dates would be expensive, we decided we wanted to get something booked as soon as we could. We decided on 27th March to 10th April 13, which were slightly cheaper dates than going a day or two later.
We spoke to a number of agents and operators and decided we would rent a villa and get flights separately. The party I was booking for was for four adults, one infant. We also wanted two intermediate insured cars.
We considered a lot of options for the flights. As it was ahead of the 11 month window for flights to be released, we considered ‘advance-registration’ flights. But, we didnt really want the uncertainty.
We were speaking with flights2florida (American Specialists Ltd).
[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] at flights2florida gave us two quotes. First a ‘advance-registration’ quote for our dates on Virgin MAN-MCO flights. Along with the cars, we were told;
“My lowest flydrive price that is guaranteed to book now is £1715.00
Or you could wait until they go on sale which is 11 months before and see what the prices are then.”
I asked for confirmation the price was guaranteed and asked how they could gurantee prices for flights that had not been released for sale. I was told;
“We have our own allocation with Virgin.”
“£1715 would be my guaranteed cost at the moment, the price is subject to availability at the time of booking. If the cost is lower when seats go on sale you cannot change. Our other option is to do an advance registration which is where I can take names and deposits (£100pp) and when the outbound date goes on sale I book the cheapest booking class available which I can let you know at the time and then do the same 2 weeks later with the return date. The price is confirmed at that time and you can pay the price or cancel and get a full refund!..”
After some more discussion, the following were the final quotes given and confirmed by flights2florida;
“Guaranteed Quote
2 adults/1 infant - £1755 (subject to availability at the time of booking)
2 adults – £1636 (subject to availability at the time of booking)
Total - £3391
Advance Registration
2 adults/1 infant – £1585 (correct, price is confirmed when seats go on sale)
2 adults - £1476 (correct, price is confirmed when seats go on sale)
Total - £3061”
We decided to pay the extra and go for guaranteed prices, for all the reasons already given. Just before booking, I asked “As for the guaranteed prices. When you say subject to availability at time of booking, do you mean when we call to book and pay the deposit? Is there availability as of now?”
The reply given was;
“When you call to book I will call Virgin to check the guaranteed flight prices are still available.”
So, I called, and booked paying £400 deposit by credit card on 28th Feb. Whilst on the phone, they said they needed to call Virgin whilst I was on the phone to confirm availability. They did this and said it was fine. I was then sent a confirmation invoice, which showed the flights and referred me to VA (for flights) and Alamo (for car hire) for terms and conditions of booking.
Fast forward a few months....
Just after the 11 month (around 2nd May) window for the outbound flights, I emailed to ask if flights were confirmed. My reply was;
“You are booked on the VS75 Manchester 1025 arrive MCO 1550”
Then, (around 17th May) I asked for confirmation on the return flights. My reply';
“Your return flight has been confirmed. VS74 MCO/MAN 2025/0935”
All was looking great. I then went on to the VA website and spoke with someone on their chat facility. He took all of my details and gave me a VA booking ref. I was able to use this to log in to to the VA website and view the booking, which was all in order. I even put in our extra contact details, API’s etc.
On 26th June, I happened to log on to the VA website again to have a look at the booking. It was there, but it seemed the outbound flight had changed to the later VS073. Not a major issue and I presumed maybe VA had changed it. I spoke to VA who stated that our agent had changed it, and they could see no reason why and that there was still availability on the VS075.
I then contacted flights2florida and asked them to look in to it. The reply;
“I have had no notification from Virgin regarding a flight change, I will look into this for you and get back to you. I’ll call Virgin now and get back to you.”
On 29th June, I hadnt heard anything, so tried to log on to VA website again. I couldnt. It was refusing my booking ref. I spoke to Virgin and they said our flights had been removed. I got on to flights2florida, as I was obviously concerned.
I had the following reply on 3rd June;
“Virgin have pulled some flights over the Easter period and therefore I am sorry to say they are not guaranteeing us the fares. Your seats are on option but to confirm them the fare is now £1169 per adult and £155 for Freya.”
I am sure you can imagine my reaction.
We telephoned and spoke to (text removed by MSE Forum Team) who offered some alternative indirect options and refused to take responsibility. We then waited for a telephone call from [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] (apparently operations manager) as we obviuosly were not happy.
I haven't got recordings of the call, but I wish I had. This man can TALK, TALK, TALK. Here are some of the comments made during the calls. Theres some crackers here;
No one goes for our guaranteed fares, they all just do advanced registration.
40 other customers are in the same position as us, and none of those are upset.
I think we will stop doing guaranteed fares now, because of this.
That he would call the police as I was threatening him, when I suggested that I might take the matter to the small claims court/
That flight prices are never guaranteed and that they can ask for extra when checking in if they want to
That they are Virgin Platinum partners.
That they only make £20 per ticket sold commission, and thats all.
That, when VA release more Easter flights, they might still be able to get the original flights at the original price (but then backed down and said, actually that was very unlikely)
Theres more, but I cant recall it all now.....
He tried to explain the reason for the problem was that VA had only released one flight per day over the Easter period from MAN to MCO. He stated this meant that flights on our day were more expensive. Now, firstly, thats their problem and not ours. And, secondly, its a downright lie. VA confirmed they were operating two flights per day, as normal. Although some other flights in the few days afterwards had sold out.
[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] would not give me his definition of the word guaranteed. He also refused to explain how we were booked on the flight and then suddenly were not. He also could explain why we had to find all of this out ourselves.
Honestly, the amount of rubbish that I was told was almost laughable. It felt like [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] was totally desperate but was accepting absolutely no responsibility whatsoever.
After nearly 2 hours of conversation, we left it in their hands to come up with some suitable alternatives. We gave them the chance to redeem themselves, thinking they would come up with some good deals.
Well, they havent. They gave us a couple of options, which we could easily beat by going direct to the airlines. We also decided that we didnt trust them at all.
So, today, I have asked for a refund on our deposit. They have confirmed this has been done, but we will see. Its paid on a credit card, so if its not back on there within a few days I will charge it back through the card company.
We have now booked alternative flights, which arent ideal, but are ok. We have also had to go a day earlier to get flights in our price range, which means another day off work, another night at the villa ($$$) and we now have to re-arrange booked car parking, airport hotels etc....
So, let this be a warning to anyone thinking of dealing with flights2florida. I am sure this is not a one off!
If anyone needs me to clarify anything or wants further info, please let me know.
The main point of this thread is to warn others and also see if there is anything more I can do? Small claims court? Any advice would be appreciated.
In February 2012, we began looking at various options for a holiday in Florida. This was to go to a family wedding over the Easter 2013 period in Orlando. Not our ideal choice of time to go, but thats fine.
As there were a large number of us going, it was a busy time to go and we realised the dates would be expensive, we decided we wanted to get something booked as soon as we could. We decided on 27th March to 10th April 13, which were slightly cheaper dates than going a day or two later.
We spoke to a number of agents and operators and decided we would rent a villa and get flights separately. The party I was booking for was for four adults, one infant. We also wanted two intermediate insured cars.
We considered a lot of options for the flights. As it was ahead of the 11 month window for flights to be released, we considered ‘advance-registration’ flights. But, we didnt really want the uncertainty.
We were speaking with flights2florida (American Specialists Ltd).
[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] at flights2florida gave us two quotes. First a ‘advance-registration’ quote for our dates on Virgin MAN-MCO flights. Along with the cars, we were told;
“My lowest flydrive price that is guaranteed to book now is £1715.00
Or you could wait until they go on sale which is 11 months before and see what the prices are then.”
I asked for confirmation the price was guaranteed and asked how they could gurantee prices for flights that had not been released for sale. I was told;
“We have our own allocation with Virgin.”
“£1715 would be my guaranteed cost at the moment, the price is subject to availability at the time of booking. If the cost is lower when seats go on sale you cannot change. Our other option is to do an advance registration which is where I can take names and deposits (£100pp) and when the outbound date goes on sale I book the cheapest booking class available which I can let you know at the time and then do the same 2 weeks later with the return date. The price is confirmed at that time and you can pay the price or cancel and get a full refund!..”
After some more discussion, the following were the final quotes given and confirmed by flights2florida;
“Guaranteed Quote
2 adults/1 infant - £1755 (subject to availability at the time of booking)
2 adults – £1636 (subject to availability at the time of booking)
Total - £3391
Advance Registration
2 adults/1 infant – £1585 (correct, price is confirmed when seats go on sale)
2 adults - £1476 (correct, price is confirmed when seats go on sale)
Total - £3061”
We decided to pay the extra and go for guaranteed prices, for all the reasons already given. Just before booking, I asked “As for the guaranteed prices. When you say subject to availability at time of booking, do you mean when we call to book and pay the deposit? Is there availability as of now?”
The reply given was;
“When you call to book I will call Virgin to check the guaranteed flight prices are still available.”
So, I called, and booked paying £400 deposit by credit card on 28th Feb. Whilst on the phone, they said they needed to call Virgin whilst I was on the phone to confirm availability. They did this and said it was fine. I was then sent a confirmation invoice, which showed the flights and referred me to VA (for flights) and Alamo (for car hire) for terms and conditions of booking.
Fast forward a few months....
Just after the 11 month (around 2nd May) window for the outbound flights, I emailed to ask if flights were confirmed. My reply was;
“You are booked on the VS75 Manchester 1025 arrive MCO 1550”
Then, (around 17th May) I asked for confirmation on the return flights. My reply';
“Your return flight has been confirmed. VS74 MCO/MAN 2025/0935”
All was looking great. I then went on to the VA website and spoke with someone on their chat facility. He took all of my details and gave me a VA booking ref. I was able to use this to log in to to the VA website and view the booking, which was all in order. I even put in our extra contact details, API’s etc.
On 26th June, I happened to log on to the VA website again to have a look at the booking. It was there, but it seemed the outbound flight had changed to the later VS073. Not a major issue and I presumed maybe VA had changed it. I spoke to VA who stated that our agent had changed it, and they could see no reason why and that there was still availability on the VS075.
I then contacted flights2florida and asked them to look in to it. The reply;
“I have had no notification from Virgin regarding a flight change, I will look into this for you and get back to you. I’ll call Virgin now and get back to you.”
On 29th June, I hadnt heard anything, so tried to log on to VA website again. I couldnt. It was refusing my booking ref. I spoke to Virgin and they said our flights had been removed. I got on to flights2florida, as I was obviously concerned.
I had the following reply on 3rd June;
“Virgin have pulled some flights over the Easter period and therefore I am sorry to say they are not guaranteeing us the fares. Your seats are on option but to confirm them the fare is now £1169 per adult and £155 for Freya.”
I am sure you can imagine my reaction.
We telephoned and spoke to (text removed by MSE Forum Team) who offered some alternative indirect options and refused to take responsibility. We then waited for a telephone call from [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] (apparently operations manager) as we obviuosly were not happy.
I haven't got recordings of the call, but I wish I had. This man can TALK, TALK, TALK. Here are some of the comments made during the calls. Theres some crackers here;
No one goes for our guaranteed fares, they all just do advanced registration.
40 other customers are in the same position as us, and none of those are upset.
I think we will stop doing guaranteed fares now, because of this.
That he would call the police as I was threatening him, when I suggested that I might take the matter to the small claims court/
That flight prices are never guaranteed and that they can ask for extra when checking in if they want to
That they are Virgin Platinum partners.
That they only make £20 per ticket sold commission, and thats all.
That, when VA release more Easter flights, they might still be able to get the original flights at the original price (but then backed down and said, actually that was very unlikely)
Theres more, but I cant recall it all now.....
He tried to explain the reason for the problem was that VA had only released one flight per day over the Easter period from MAN to MCO. He stated this meant that flights on our day were more expensive. Now, firstly, thats their problem and not ours. And, secondly, its a downright lie. VA confirmed they were operating two flights per day, as normal. Although some other flights in the few days afterwards had sold out.
[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] would not give me his definition of the word guaranteed. He also refused to explain how we were booked on the flight and then suddenly were not. He also could explain why we had to find all of this out ourselves.
Honestly, the amount of rubbish that I was told was almost laughable. It felt like [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] was totally desperate but was accepting absolutely no responsibility whatsoever.
After nearly 2 hours of conversation, we left it in their hands to come up with some suitable alternatives. We gave them the chance to redeem themselves, thinking they would come up with some good deals.
Well, they havent. They gave us a couple of options, which we could easily beat by going direct to the airlines. We also decided that we didnt trust them at all.
So, today, I have asked for a refund on our deposit. They have confirmed this has been done, but we will see. Its paid on a credit card, so if its not back on there within a few days I will charge it back through the card company.
We have now booked alternative flights, which arent ideal, but are ok. We have also had to go a day earlier to get flights in our price range, which means another day off work, another night at the villa ($$$) and we now have to re-arrange booked car parking, airport hotels etc....
So, let this be a warning to anyone thinking of dealing with flights2florida. I am sure this is not a one off!
If anyone needs me to clarify anything or wants further info, please let me know.
The main point of this thread is to warn others and also see if there is anything more I can do? Small claims court? Any advice would be appreciated.
0
Comments
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Very sorry to read your tale of woe, although Virgin are notorious for cancelling flights in winter, they never cancel the Orlando flights and particularly at peak periods like Easter. Virgin appear to be saying that the agent cancelled the flights, so they have broken their contract with you for no obvious reason.
I have had a look at their website, in order to be an appointed agent of any airline a business needs IATA accreditation which they do not display nor do they appear to hold an ATOL licence which is a legal requirement for agents who do not issue the tickets immediately. This rings alarm bells because it means the booking has actually been made by a different company altogether and for some reason, they have cancelled the reservation. I leave it up to your own imagination to guess why that might be. They are members of ABTA but they won't be providing financial protection in this case so we need to do some detective work. After the booking was made and you paid £400, did you receive a Confirmation Invoice with details of an ATOL holder on it, they are the company with whom you are in contract, this business is at best an agent for someone else. If the 'unknown' company has cancelled, they have broken the contract with you. You can complain to ABTA Customer Relations and allege they have broken ABTA's Code of Conduct, which may result in action being taken but most importantly you need to sort out your flights ASAP as they will either go up in price or worse, sell out. Good luck0 -
Alan_Bowen wrote: »Very sorry to read your tale of woe, although Virgin are notorious for cancelling flights in winter, they never cancel the Orlando flights and particularly at peak periods like Easter. Virgin appear to be saying that the agent cancelled the flights, so they have broken their contract with you for no obvious reason.
I have had a look at their website, in order to be an appointed agent of any airline a business needs IATA accreditation which they do not display nor do they appear to hold an ATOL licence which is a legal requirement for agents who do not issue the tickets immediately. This rings alarm bells because it means the booking has actually been made by a different company altogether and for some reason, they have cancelled the reservation. I leave it up to your own imagination to guess why that might be. They are members of ABTA but they won't be providing financial protection in this case so we need to do some detective work. After the booking was made and you paid £400, did you r eceive a Confirmation Invoice with details of an ATOL holder on it, they are the company with whom you are in contract, this business is at best an agent for someone else. If the 'unknown' company has cancelled, they have broken the contract with you. You can complain to ABTA Customer Relations and allege they have broken ABTA's Code of Conduct, which may result in action being taken but most importantly you need to sort out your flights ASAP as they will either go up in price or worse, sell out. Good luck
Thanks.
I have a confirmation invoice and it mentions 'mainstreet' but doesn't have any ATOL numbers on it.0 -
Mainstreet is a trading name of Proofgolden Ltd based in Durham, ATOL 2718, they have a valid ATOL and you might want to contact them to find out why your flights have been cancelled. Telephone number appears to be 08705 526900, explain you appear to have a confirmation invoice from them with specific flights to Orlando and you want to know why they have cancelled the booking. Good luck0
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I will post an update with the outcome of my complaints.
Why would i want to "slander" anyone? Just putting the truth out there, and i do have it evidenced.0 -
Here is the Dibb link if anyone wants to read it. It seems some problems between both parties resulted in their Mods removing some of the comments made.
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=622349&highlight=Flights2florida0 -
I will post an update with the outcome of my complaints.
Why would i want to "slander" anyone? Just putting the truth out there, and i do have it evidenced.
The problem with this forum, and others is that it attracts the type of people who will always try and glorify themselves in the face of other peoples misery.
You come on here and vent anger and frustration - Others come on here to tell you it's your fault etc etc. From that they take some kind of satisfaction, it's probably like !!!!!! to them.
That said there are some genuine people who try and help/advise/emphasise/sympathise just cut through the bullsh*t and ignore those idiots who never get ripped off or step a foot wrong. They'll be getting bullied at some train convention this weekend in any case.0 -
Hiya,
So sorry to hear this is happening to you.
we are going through a very similar thing with flights 2 Florida.
I was just wondering if you would be able to advise me who you contacted at virgin/tel no?
many thanks!0 -
Hi, I have used flights2florida for a few years now and they have never been a problem. If anything the service has always been exceptional! [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] normally handles my booking and he always throws in a little extra as we are returning customers. I would recommend them to anyone. I understand that your experience was obviously different to mine but anyone I know that has used them could not thank them enough...0
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I have also booked again with them for this year and no problems again. I booked my VA flights with them last march and when the prices dropped [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] reduced this also for us
0 -
Also I made an error on my booking and a refund was in my bank within 2 days, no arguments or hassle and they ARE ATOL protected0
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