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TRAVEL REPUBLIC Nightmare, avoid this company
amandamilner
Posts: 38 Forumite
Please find my letter of complaint about the shocking (lack of) customer service:
In Summary:
1) Booked, paid for and confirmed holiday
2) 3 weeks before the holiday you changed 2 of our return flights to unacceptable inconvenient times, more than 24 hours difference from the original.
3) When I complained that this was splitting up our family (young child and baby) you then proceeded to change the rest of the homecoming flights to 2 days later, but with no accommodation.
4) As this was not convenient or acceptable, and you were breaching our confirmed contract, I requested flights back home on the same day that we had originally booked.
5) This incurred a huge additional cost to ourselves, changing details for your own greedy gain.
6) Furthermore it meant the outgoing flights would also be changed to a totally inconvenient time to a young family.
In June I booked a holiday (flights & accommodation) online with Travel Republic for my family (partner, myself & children 1yr and 3yr) & a friend. 29th Aug 2012, 3 weeks before our holiday, I received an email stating that the flights coming home had been changed for my partner and friend. The home flight for M was changed to 2 days later and for C nearly a whole day earlier.
I telephoned the following morning to try& make some sense of this. I first spoke to a Charlotte. Her attitude was extremely unprofessional and rude. She would tut at any question and everything just seemed too much of an effort for her, as if I was imposing. I asked if they had booked M in to the hotel for the extra 2 nights that he would now need due to your flight change. Of course not. So I explained that clearly this flight was not acceptable. I asked for her name and she refused to give me her full name. When I said what was her surname, she replied that she didn't have a surname, so I reiterated that she had no surname to which she replied she had never had a surname and was born without one. Lie no. 1. At this point I asked to speak to her manager Mel. Unfortunately she too had the same attitude problem. When I complained that her staff were lying to me, she said that they weren't lying, but it is not policy to give surnames on the phone. I said thats not what I was told, and she was rude and unhelpful. My comments were ignored and Mel again said that there had been a major flight change and some of my parties flights had been changed. She refused to deal with the issue about her staff being rude to the customers. I had to explain again that these were not acceptable as my partner had nowhere to sleep for the extra 2 nights and so she started looking at alternative flights that were similar times to the ones I originally booked. She then explained that these cost more and how much baggage would I need at £30 a piece. I explained I had already paid for all flights and baggage as agreed in the contract when I booked. She then said I could cancel them for a full refund. I asked if that included the hotel, she said no & I would have to find flights elsewhere from other operators. So its not a full refund Lie no. 2. I asked why the flights have been cancelled and was told it was explained on my email. I said I did not have the email infront of me, so she read it in the most slow patronising manner, determined to antagonise what is clearly an already upsetting situation, being told I have to pay more for flights that Travel republic have changed through no fault of my own, plus the fact that I am now being separated to travel home with 2 small children on my own in the middle of the night. At no point did she understand why this might be upsetting and at no point even now have I ever received any form of apology that my original flights I have booked were changed. I said yes I received all that but why exactly have my flights been changed? Again she told me what was written in the mail - unforeseen operation reasons. I asked what these were to which she answered in a condescending manner " What it says they are - unforeseen operation reasons " She clearly was clueless and had no idea herself.
I realised I had been on the phone trying to rectify Travel Republic's 'unforeseen operation reasons' for an hour out of my work time (I am self employed)& was getting nowhere. So I said I would look into it & phone back.
I immediately telephoned Consumer Direct, Citizens Advice and Abta. I spoke to Abta who told me that Travel Republic are not allowed to incur any additional cost to myself as they have formed a legally binding contract when I booked my holiday which they are now breaching. If I was to further cancel the changed unacceptable flights offered, it would cause a huge significant inconvenience. The contract was formed on the price given and for the dates and times carefully chosen by myself. The change is causing me consequential loss. Furthermore the changed flights are more than 24 hours from the original booking time so I would be entitled to compensation.
This was even confirmed in an email from Travel Republic stating "We now have pleasure in attaching the formal Confirmation invoice. This should now reflect full details of exactly what you have booked with us and is the formal contractual document. It is a very important document. "
I was advised due to the situation, to explain that I would pay the extra under protest, and when I returned from the holiday then I had every right to claim back my money and further compensation in the small claims court. Furthermore the terms & conditions state that they may change the flights, but it does not say that I should be liable for the additional cost of this.
I telephoned Travel Direct back so I could book the flights home similar to times that I had originally booked. She asked who I spoke to, I said Mel, she said that "Mel will phone me back in 5 minutes, I PROMISE as it is up already on her screen." Lie no.3. The promised phone call never arrived. I eventually phoned back. It was at this point too that I stressed that I want to be on the same flight as my partner otherwise I will be travelling alone with 2 young children, 2 pushchairs and luggage at 12am which is really not acceptable. There was nothing on the system about any of the previous calls I made so every time they passed me over to someone else, I had to explain the whole situation again. This time I actually lost count how many people I was passed to, including a Sarah and Eve, who were unable to help and again told I would be phoned back. I explained that I had been told this before but no one bothered but it made no difference - guess what, no phone call. Lie no 4. So at 2.20pm I complained online that no one had bothered to phone me to try & rectify my holiday despite being told otherwise.
This seemed to do the trick & Travel Republic phoned me, but this time with a totally different story. I was now told that ALL of our flights had been changed to 2 whole days later. I was told I had been sent an email confirming this; Lie no. 5 - No I hadn't. Unbelievable. I was told that If I changed the details, I would be charged. This now meant that we would ALL now have to pay extra to change our flights back to the original day & time. I had no choice but to accept. In order to then do this, I had to be put through to a sales consultant. Who was called Mel, the original Mel I spoke to earlier. She was now a sales consultant- but this morning she was a manager. Well either she had been demoted since this morning or she was never the manager in the first place. Both quite possible the latter is more credible. Lie no. 6.
I asked the newly demoted and/ or deceitful Mel if I could have the manager's name, she told me Kathryn Dunbar. I was told it was your policy not to give out surnames? Lie no.7. To change the flights back to the originally booked and paid for day and time, it would cost nearly £400 extra. I didn't have that money and was now very upset and unsure as to what to do. I told them I would phone back later.
Furthermore, if we were to change our homecoming flight back to the original day that I originally booked and paid for, this would also mean we would have to change the outgoing flight too. Travel Republic only offered a 6am flight. Which means arriving at the airport at 4am. Which means waking up a toddler & a baby, let alone ourselves in the middle of the night. Did you care? No. This was extremely unfair &selfish, especially seeing as I had originally taken the time and effort to deliberately book flight times at a decent hour so as not to disrupt the children. I also was very upset at the absolute lack of any consideration or apology. Despite the fact that it was known we have a young family no one realised or sadly, cared about the severe inconvenience& stress this would bring.
I then had to find £400 to pay for changing my return flights back to what I had originally book. I had to further embarrass myself by asking our friend C to hand over more of his money due to your error. It was very embarrassing& awkward for me.
I am now getting bombarded by emails to give our passport details. Despite emails from myself stating I have not got all these details, you have chosen to ignore any communication from myself and carry on sending me emails requesting information that I do not have. I have never had to do this with any holiday company including yourselves in the past. I am now worried that you will further our torment one way or the other. I have now emailed you to say that should this cause us any further unnecessary inconvenience then I will be adding it to the compensation I am already entitled to. I am now getting fed up with the chorus from everyone who has heard what you have done "They can't do that" You cant, as reiterated by ABTA and Consumer Direct, but you still operate in this way. ABTA need to stop this now.
It really has ruined my holiday before its even started, I am not excited at all as I should be but anxious angry &upset.
In Summary:
1) Booked, paid for and confirmed holiday
2) 3 weeks before the holiday you changed 2 of our return flights to unacceptable inconvenient times, more than 24 hours difference from the original.
3) When I complained that this was splitting up our family (young child and baby) you then proceeded to change the rest of the homecoming flights to 2 days later, but with no accommodation.
4) As this was not convenient or acceptable, and you were breaching our confirmed contract, I requested flights back home on the same day that we had originally booked.
5) This incurred a huge additional cost to ourselves, changing details for your own greedy gain.
6) Furthermore it meant the outgoing flights would also be changed to a totally inconvenient time to a young family.
In June I booked a holiday (flights & accommodation) online with Travel Republic for my family (partner, myself & children 1yr and 3yr) & a friend. 29th Aug 2012, 3 weeks before our holiday, I received an email stating that the flights coming home had been changed for my partner and friend. The home flight for M was changed to 2 days later and for C nearly a whole day earlier.
I telephoned the following morning to try& make some sense of this. I first spoke to a Charlotte. Her attitude was extremely unprofessional and rude. She would tut at any question and everything just seemed too much of an effort for her, as if I was imposing. I asked if they had booked M in to the hotel for the extra 2 nights that he would now need due to your flight change. Of course not. So I explained that clearly this flight was not acceptable. I asked for her name and she refused to give me her full name. When I said what was her surname, she replied that she didn't have a surname, so I reiterated that she had no surname to which she replied she had never had a surname and was born without one. Lie no. 1. At this point I asked to speak to her manager Mel. Unfortunately she too had the same attitude problem. When I complained that her staff were lying to me, she said that they weren't lying, but it is not policy to give surnames on the phone. I said thats not what I was told, and she was rude and unhelpful. My comments were ignored and Mel again said that there had been a major flight change and some of my parties flights had been changed. She refused to deal with the issue about her staff being rude to the customers. I had to explain again that these were not acceptable as my partner had nowhere to sleep for the extra 2 nights and so she started looking at alternative flights that were similar times to the ones I originally booked. She then explained that these cost more and how much baggage would I need at £30 a piece. I explained I had already paid for all flights and baggage as agreed in the contract when I booked. She then said I could cancel them for a full refund. I asked if that included the hotel, she said no & I would have to find flights elsewhere from other operators. So its not a full refund Lie no. 2. I asked why the flights have been cancelled and was told it was explained on my email. I said I did not have the email infront of me, so she read it in the most slow patronising manner, determined to antagonise what is clearly an already upsetting situation, being told I have to pay more for flights that Travel republic have changed through no fault of my own, plus the fact that I am now being separated to travel home with 2 small children on my own in the middle of the night. At no point did she understand why this might be upsetting and at no point even now have I ever received any form of apology that my original flights I have booked were changed. I said yes I received all that but why exactly have my flights been changed? Again she told me what was written in the mail - unforeseen operation reasons. I asked what these were to which she answered in a condescending manner " What it says they are - unforeseen operation reasons " She clearly was clueless and had no idea herself.
I realised I had been on the phone trying to rectify Travel Republic's 'unforeseen operation reasons' for an hour out of my work time (I am self employed)& was getting nowhere. So I said I would look into it & phone back.
I immediately telephoned Consumer Direct, Citizens Advice and Abta. I spoke to Abta who told me that Travel Republic are not allowed to incur any additional cost to myself as they have formed a legally binding contract when I booked my holiday which they are now breaching. If I was to further cancel the changed unacceptable flights offered, it would cause a huge significant inconvenience. The contract was formed on the price given and for the dates and times carefully chosen by myself. The change is causing me consequential loss. Furthermore the changed flights are more than 24 hours from the original booking time so I would be entitled to compensation.
This was even confirmed in an email from Travel Republic stating "We now have pleasure in attaching the formal Confirmation invoice. This should now reflect full details of exactly what you have booked with us and is the formal contractual document. It is a very important document. "
I was advised due to the situation, to explain that I would pay the extra under protest, and when I returned from the holiday then I had every right to claim back my money and further compensation in the small claims court. Furthermore the terms & conditions state that they may change the flights, but it does not say that I should be liable for the additional cost of this.
I telephoned Travel Direct back so I could book the flights home similar to times that I had originally booked. She asked who I spoke to, I said Mel, she said that "Mel will phone me back in 5 minutes, I PROMISE as it is up already on her screen." Lie no.3. The promised phone call never arrived. I eventually phoned back. It was at this point too that I stressed that I want to be on the same flight as my partner otherwise I will be travelling alone with 2 young children, 2 pushchairs and luggage at 12am which is really not acceptable. There was nothing on the system about any of the previous calls I made so every time they passed me over to someone else, I had to explain the whole situation again. This time I actually lost count how many people I was passed to, including a Sarah and Eve, who were unable to help and again told I would be phoned back. I explained that I had been told this before but no one bothered but it made no difference - guess what, no phone call. Lie no 4. So at 2.20pm I complained online that no one had bothered to phone me to try & rectify my holiday despite being told otherwise.
This seemed to do the trick & Travel Republic phoned me, but this time with a totally different story. I was now told that ALL of our flights had been changed to 2 whole days later. I was told I had been sent an email confirming this; Lie no. 5 - No I hadn't. Unbelievable. I was told that If I changed the details, I would be charged. This now meant that we would ALL now have to pay extra to change our flights back to the original day & time. I had no choice but to accept. In order to then do this, I had to be put through to a sales consultant. Who was called Mel, the original Mel I spoke to earlier. She was now a sales consultant- but this morning she was a manager. Well either she had been demoted since this morning or she was never the manager in the first place. Both quite possible the latter is more credible. Lie no. 6.
I asked the newly demoted and/ or deceitful Mel if I could have the manager's name, she told me Kathryn Dunbar. I was told it was your policy not to give out surnames? Lie no.7. To change the flights back to the originally booked and paid for day and time, it would cost nearly £400 extra. I didn't have that money and was now very upset and unsure as to what to do. I told them I would phone back later.
Furthermore, if we were to change our homecoming flight back to the original day that I originally booked and paid for, this would also mean we would have to change the outgoing flight too. Travel Republic only offered a 6am flight. Which means arriving at the airport at 4am. Which means waking up a toddler & a baby, let alone ourselves in the middle of the night. Did you care? No. This was extremely unfair &selfish, especially seeing as I had originally taken the time and effort to deliberately book flight times at a decent hour so as not to disrupt the children. I also was very upset at the absolute lack of any consideration or apology. Despite the fact that it was known we have a young family no one realised or sadly, cared about the severe inconvenience& stress this would bring.
I then had to find £400 to pay for changing my return flights back to what I had originally book. I had to further embarrass myself by asking our friend C to hand over more of his money due to your error. It was very embarrassing& awkward for me.
I am now getting bombarded by emails to give our passport details. Despite emails from myself stating I have not got all these details, you have chosen to ignore any communication from myself and carry on sending me emails requesting information that I do not have. I have never had to do this with any holiday company including yourselves in the past. I am now worried that you will further our torment one way or the other. I have now emailed you to say that should this cause us any further unnecessary inconvenience then I will be adding it to the compensation I am already entitled to. I am now getting fed up with the chorus from everyone who has heard what you have done "They can't do that" You cant, as reiterated by ABTA and Consumer Direct, but you still operate in this way. ABTA need to stop this now.
It really has ruined my holiday before its even started, I am not excited at all as I should be but anxious angry &upset.
0
Comments
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Is that a copy of the letter you have sent?
If so, I appreciate that you appear to have been treated rather badly but the letter is extremely difficult to read.
Perhaps you could state the main facts precisely in chronological order referring to exact flight numbers? That way it will be much easier for someone experienced in these matters to advise you what your rights are and what recourse you have but in the meantime I would delay sending that correspondence in it's current format if possible.
Good luck!0 -
Your letter/post is very difficult to read.
I tend to use TR a lot to book flights and hotels, when I have needed help I use either their Facebook page or on here http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/forum/tour-operators-and-travel-agents-f43.html?sid=b2b774db690965bb63fac6de8c5f9339
They have a guy called Steve who is extremely helpful.
I hope you get it sorted.
The emails asking for API are routinely sent as you have to give details before you fly to some countries.0 -
Aside from the fact that your letter is waaay too long, you need to understand that TR did not change your flight times or split up our family, the airline did. As for point 3), that sounds more like a misunderstanding and TR trying to accomodate your request to all fly back together.
I have never used TR and would never recommend them to anyone but the problems people report very often stems from the fact that they do not understand the product they are buying. In effect, you are not buying anything from TR, you are merely paying TR to make bookings with hotels, airlines, etc. on your behalf. Also, TR do not sell package holidays.0 -
Oh dear, you need to understand why people book with companies like Travel Republic. They are not tour operators and they don't sell holidays. They simply offer you the opportunity of paying them to book flights and accommodation, in separate contracts, for you. They make sure you have no contract with them for anything, your contract is always with the airline and usually a company that books beds in hotels and also denies libaility by saying your contract is actually with the hotel not them.
When everything works, and it must do for them to survive, everyone thinks what a great holiday and so much cheaper than buying a package but when things go wrong, as they seem to have here, you are in a mess. A tour operator has a real contract with the customer and with charter flights, they run them and link them to their own hotel contracts. In this case you have a contract with a low cost carrier presumably and they change flight times as they see fit. Your problem is that the hotel is only concerned about you arriving and leaving when you originally booked the rooms, they are not concerned about your transport problems, after all it has nothing to do with them. If you have an accident at a hotel which is the hotels' fault, you sue the hotel in whichever language and law they use, if you are on a package, you sue the operator in your local court.
The differences may go to explain why Travel Republic has no control over their suppliers , and have left you with a 'confused' set of contracts. They should try and help you, but almost certainly the costs will be at your expense, everyone needs to read booking conditions before ticking the box on the web page, sometimes there really is a good reason to pay more.0 -
OP
When posting on this forum unless you post satire, sarcasm, snide comments or are gloating at another's misfortune, the regulars become illiterate.
hth0 -
Lost the will to live. Can't really understand your post. No paragraphs etc so it's really hard to understand. Just got back from Tenerife after travelling travel republic and all went well.
If you are going to complain make it readable .0 -
Another issue you may want to consider is does your travel insurance cover you for separate components or only packages, as this could also leave you in a mess.0
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I put paragraphs in, just when I copied sand pasted it these have got lost. It was readable and only 2 pages but thats got lost in quickly copying and pasting!0
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according to abta, as I booked it with them and they took my money, TR are responsible as they are the agents. It will be up to TR to recoup any losses from flight company.0
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