onthebeach.com holiday booked - hotel closed

johnjameson

Yesterday, on the phone, I paid for a holiday with onthebeach.com
I paid on the phone

I had some questions for the hotel we booked with. I sent these 5 minutes after paying on the phone. Within 20 minutes, the hotel replied saying that they couldn't find our booking reference, but in any case they were closing for the season tomorrow (which is now today)

onthebeach.com are now frantically working with their supplier (holiday brokers) to find analternative

I've searched in other websites - there is no alternative as far as I can find. We need a booking for 5 people - nothing is available in ANY hotels of the same spec and location for us

onthebeach.com have apologised and said that the hotel fee could be refunded, but NOT the flights

Not fair

It's their responsibility to keep track of hotels
They told us that they ONLY found out about the hotel closure, AFTER I had told them

Just want to know where I stand...?

[bI do have travel insurance[/b] - I have it through my bank account. I made sure I paid using the same Barclays bank account. In previous conversations, they have told me that to be fully protected, that I should pay through the account

Any advice/opinions would be great

Thanks


JJ

Moto2

You're going to have to wait and see what they come up with first

Did they make it clear to you when you booked that it was separate contracts and not a package holiday?

jpsartre

johnjameson wrote: »

onthebeach.com have apologised and said that the hotel fee could be refunded, but NOT the flights

Not fair

Fair or not, that's how it works when you buy from companies like OTB. They simply cobble together separate elements and if one falls through you're still stuck with the others. They make this clear on their website as well.

Moto2

jpsartre wrote: »

Fair or not, that's how it works when you buy from companies like OTB. They simply cobble together separate elements and if one falls through you're still stuck with the others. They make this clear on their website as well.

It is how they work
But as he booked on the phone, they need to make it clear to him that it is not a package and separate contracts at the time of booking.
They can't expect people to simply realise that, given the style of marketing they employ

i.e ""All Inclusive Holidays from £299"

Most people in the street would think of that as a package unless they were told otherwise.
So if he wasn't told when booking, they have some work to do.

savercol

I'm probably wrong but under EU law any flight and hotel purchased from one company in a 24 hour period is treated as a package holiday surely. Is it ABTA covered?

jackieblack

savercol wrote: »

I'm probably wrong but under EU law any flight and hotel purchased from one company in a 24 hour period is treated as a package holiday surely. Is it ABTA covered?

You could be thinking of Flight-Plus.
http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?pageid=12990

The definition of Flight-Plus is set out in Regulation 24 of the ATOL Regulations 2012.




Key points to note include:

• A Flight-Plus exists when a flight is sold with overseas accommodation and/or car hire.
  
• The flight and accommodation and/or car hire must be requested on the same day or within one day of each other, but it does not matter which the customer requests first.
  
• The trip must be over 24 hours in duration or include an overnight stay.
  
• The flight must have its outbound leg departing from the UK, except where the arrangement includes travel departing the UK by another method such as ferry, coach or rail and a flight into the UK.
  
• A flight which begins and ends in the UK does not form part of a Flight-Plus.
  
• Other tourist services sold in connection with the Flight-Plus that form a significant part of the trip must also be included in the Flight-Plus if those services are requested on the same day or within one day of the request for the flight.
  
• If a business sells another ATOL holder’s flight inclusive package and then adds separate overseas car hire or accommodation, this also forms a Flight-Plus and the business must protect the Flight-Plus under its own ATOL.

Obligations of a Flight-Plus arranger
Flight-Plus arrangers have obligations to their customers if a supplier fails. The Flight-Plus arranger will be required to replace that part of the trip (at no extra cost to the customer) or provide a refund for the whole arrangement to the customer.

The bit I've made red would suggest that OP should entitled to a refund for the full amount.
However, anecdotal evidence from this and other forums shows that OTB don't always fulfil their obligations, hence their appalling reputation.

Their website states this:
On The Beach act as an agent providing a web search interface between you and various third party suppliers of travel products (e.g. flight, hotel or transfer). Each product you choose has its own price independent of other products booked at the same time and creates a separate contract between you and the supplier of that product.

Does that statement exempt them from ATOL regs?

photome

jackieblack wrote: »

It's classed as Flight-Plus.
http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?pageid=12990

The definition of Flight-Plus is set out in Regulation 24 of the ATOL Regulations 2012.


Key points to note include:

• A Flight-Plus exists when a flight is sold with overseas accommodation and/or car hire.
  
• The flight and accommodation and/or car hire must be requested on the same day or within one day of each other, but it does not matter which the customer requests first.
  
• The trip must be over 24 hours in duration or include an overnight stay.
  
• The flight must have its outbound leg departing from the UK, except where the arrangement includes travel departing the UK by another method such as ferry, coach or rail and a flight into the UK.
  
• A flight which begins and ends in the UK does not form part of a Flight-Plus.
  
• Other tourist services sold in connection with the Flight-Plus that form a significant part of the trip must also be included in the Flight-Plus if those services are requested on the same day or within one day of the request for the flight.
  
• If a business sells another ATOL holder’s flight inclusive package and then adds separate overseas car hire or accommodation, this also forms a Flight-Plus and the business must protect the Flight-Plus under its own ATOL.

Obligations of a Flight-Plus arranger
Flight-Plus arrangers have obligations to their customers if a supplier fails. The Flight-Plus arranger will be required to replace that part of the trip (at no extra cost to the customer) or provide a refund for the whole arrangement to the customer.

The bit I've made red would suggest that OTB should provide a refund for the full amount.
However, anecdotal evidence from this and other forums shows that OTB don't always fulfil their obligations, hence their appalling reputation.

Its a shame that last sentence doesnt pop up everytime someone navigates to their website

savercol

This is interesting. I recently booked with TravelBag and made sure it was an ABTA holiday even though flight and hotel were booked as individual items. I was assured and got an ABTA A4 paper saying so.
In my mind, having checked the OTB web site it is clearly an ABTA member. I would check with ABTA as your situation.

johnjameson

guys, thanks for the replies
i didn't know i had any replied to my thread
i wasn't told or made aware that it wasn't a 'package' - i'd be happy to hear the call on the phone - they say they record

maybe it was said super fast along with some other terms - that i maybe didn't understand - this could be - but i'm saying that i wasn't aware

in any case... ok... so i now get the package vs booking separately bit... but... but... in my (non legal) opinion, if you're going to sell like this, then you (on the beach + other companies) should take payment in 2 transactions - then it would be crystal clear to the customer

questionwhat's the difference between a package holiday and a flight and hotel holiday?
my answer: nothing. absolutely nothing. well, apart from the fact that u run the risk of what happened to me?

this is my opinion only - am i wrong?
so... all the more reason why companies should take payments in 2 parts to make it abundantly clear

i'll call abta tmrw and i'll report back what they say on this thread

thanks

EmmaParsons

Hi

My names Emma and I work for Holiday Brokers, which you have said is the hotel supplier for your booking. We do supply accommodation to On the Beach and other Online Travel Agents.
I have sent you a private message asking for your booking reference (it should be on your accommodation voucher) and further details so that I can look into this for you and find out what alternatives we have available for you.

johnjameson

emma: i've replied to you with details. i look forward to your reply

abta: i called up and enquired. it seems that u are not covered as suggested above. i spoke to someone (who was very polite and helpful). i pointed out that it was unfair that the payment was taken in one go. he said this didn't matter.

i've got my fingers crossed that emma will be able to pull something out of the bag for me