HELP! Flight Centre mis-sold me a holiday - what do I do next?

Lorriepops

After sending a detailed complaint to Flight Centre about an issue I had with a holiday 1st-8th October, they eventually wrote back saying they weren't prepared to do anything about it - is there a travel ombudsman or other external body I could contact?

In brief, I booked a Thomas Cook holiday from Flight Centre in Bristol based on a description given and photos shown to me by one of their travel advisors and turned up to find out there were two hotels with very similar names near each other and I had actually been booked in to the one I would never have chosen to go to! Looking back the girl was very confused - she suggested the holiday package because I said I wanted to go to Portugal when it was actually in Southern Spain, she didn't use the Flight Centre / Thomas Cook sites for showing me photos but went on to Trip Advisor and the hotel's own website...

On the day my boyfriend and I arrived and realised what had happened I spent all afternoon on the phone trying to get Flight Centre or Thomas Cook to sort it out, they both said they couldn't do anything and the next day I had to pay more than £200 extra to transfer to the hotel we wanted so we could get on with our holiday. After about six weeks of waiting to hear from them Flight Centre are refusing to do anything, they won't tell me what their complaints processes / procedures are, if I have a right of appeal or if there's anyone else I can follow this up with.

I do have some evidence - she wrote down two hotel names for me and my boyfriend to look up online plus the Thomas Cook rep at the resort said she would happily recommend I get paid back at least the extra sum I paid to move hotel, but Flight Centre aren't acknowledging any of this and haven't even said whether the rep's comments have been taken in to consideration.

I kept very detailed notes as it was all happening and would happily paste these here if they're of interest / use. I just want to know what I can do to stand up for myself on this one so any tips would be very gratefully received.

Moto2

I presume you signed some sort of agreement when you booked?
Which hotel did that list?

Unless you can show you were misled or the TA made an error, I think you'll struggle with this one.

Lorriepops

Hi Moto2 - yes I did sign an agreement and it had the name of the actual hotel they booked - as it was all done face to face in the office of course I just went ahead and signed it. The hotel I was shown by the TA is called Punta Umbria Mar and the one they booked us in to is Punta Umbria Beach. The TA had no knowledge there were two with such similar names so close by, but she wrote on the piece of paper (which I kept, thankfully!) Punta Umbria Mar.

Moto2

If they won't even listen to your complaint, try getting ABTA to give them a push to open up a dialogue

InsideInsurance

You need to be very clear about what the differentials are between the two resorts. On paper they are next door to each other, both 4* places and looking at late summer next year only about 15 quid a night difference in price.

It is all well and good saying that it isnt the one that she showed you but its going to be difficult to prove that (unless she emailed you photos or such) and that is heavily balanced by you signing paperwork giving the other hotel name.

See http://abta.com/go-travel/travel-clinic/complaints about making complaints.

richardw

I don't think you'll get anywhere with flight centre or abta, perhaps just put it down to experience.

Lorriepops

Thanks for your helpful tips, everyone. I'm not prepared to back down over this, FC have been immensely unhelpful from the get go.

photome

Lorriepops wrote: »

Hi Moto2 - yes I did sign an agreement and it had the name of the actual hotel they booked - as it was all done face to face in the office of course I just went ahead and signed it. The hotel I was shown by the TA is called Punta Umbria Mar and the one they booked us in to is Punta Umbria Beach. The TA had no knowledge there were two with such similar names so close by, but she wrote on the piece of paper (which I kept, thankfully!) Punta Umbria Mar.

I think you will struggle as you signed a contract with the hotel name that you paid for, so you may have paid less in the first instance than if you had booked the other hotel.

What compensation are you after?

I think this may be another example of going DIY

Lorriepops

Thanks photome - what do you mean about going DIY?

I suppose at base level I want them to admit what happened and apologise and pay me back the extra sum I paid to change to the hotel I was originally sold + the £10 or so I spent on phone calls to them on day 1 trying to sort it all out. In an ideal world some compensation for ruining the first two days of a 7 day holiday would be even nicer!

Doshwaster

Lorriepops wrote: »

Thanks photome - what do you mean about going DIY?

"Going DIY" means booking the flights, hotel and transfers yourself. Doing It Yourself. With the internet at your fingertips there really isn't any need to use a travel agent these days. By booking direct you cut out the middleman, will have a far greater choice of hotels and you will usually save money.

Lorriepops wrote: »

I suppose at base level I want them to admit what happened and apologise and pay me back the extra sum I paid to change to the hotel I was originally sold + the £10 or so I spent on phone calls to them on day 1 trying to sort it all out. In an ideal world some compensation for ruining the first two days of a 7 day holiday would be even nicer!

Were the first two days really "ruined"? You were in the resort of your choice. Looking at Google Maps the hotels are literally next door to each other.