Anyone used Loveholidays.com

walp

Ps: I feel sorry for you re the 75 quid fee. Everything seems to cost Love Holidays 75 quid to be honest.
When you book they state "free amendments to your holiday providing new details do not incur higher costs".
They do state that within two weeks there are admin fees, so I take it yoi are within the 2 week hol start period???
Perhaps not, as they are definitely a tricky company to deal with and may well hide other fees within the small print.
I have actually applied for the price match guarantee they offer against Travel Republics cheaper price. It's a painstaking process, I can tell you, and EVERY SINGLE ASPECT (flight, dates, baggage) must be EXACTLY the same. You need to take loads of dated screenshots of the comparable deal too, as they state they will not help you prove anything either. As stated it must also be done within 24 hours.. I have just sent this off having adhered to every rule, but do wonder what happens if they "never receive" said email. Very easy to press the delete button I feel and how do I prove it was ever sent.. Love holidays have not exactly filled me with confidence on the honesty stakes (eg; "you have saved £451" meaning "you will be paying "£50 more over the direct booked price").
I will report back here if that happens, and to be honest will post my experience just about everywhere I can find if they do that to me.

save4u

save4u wrote: »

Warning AVIOD loveholidays like the plague.
A cautionary tale.....I picked up this site via trivago and booked for a single night's accommodation by credit card. As soon as I had their confirmation I realised that I had booked a week ahead of the date I required. I rang them and explained my situation and received the following email some 2 days later.

"Thank you for contacting loveholidays with your request to change the dates of your booking from (22 Oct 2018 for 1 nights) to (15 Oct 2018 for 1 nights).
We have looked into this for you and can confirm that the current costs to change your Dates would be as follows -
Original Accommodation Cost: £45.00
New Accommodation Cost: £50.82
!!!8226; Dates: Mon 15 Oct '18
!!!8226; Nights: 1 nights
!!!8226; Board type: Bed & Breakfast
!!!8226; Guests: 1 Adult
!!!8226; Room 1:
!!!8226; 1 Adult
!!!8226; Double or Twin Room
Love Holidays Admin Fee (£75.00 per person):

Total Price Difference: £125.82"

So loveholidays are asking me to pay £125.82 to change dates on a single night stay originally costing £45 which is still shown on their site
(via trivago) at this price for the revised dates........a total rip off and sharp practice on their part.
Does anybody have any suggestions as I am writing this off as a lesson learned and vow to never EVER use them again. ...AVOID...AVOID...AVOID

PRICING: 'NIL'
CUSTOMER SERVICE: 'NIL'
FAIRNESS: 'NIL' 'NIL' 'NIL'
I have now replied to Love Holidays email above asking how much for a cancellation and (surprise)...no response.
I have re-booked with the original hotel for the correct date for £40 which is a darn sight cheaper than the extra £125 demanded by love(less) holidays and have learnt my lesson the hard way....don't EVER use them as they have 'nil' customer service and are a total rip off. There are far better agents out there for both price and service who are prepared to treat their customers fairly; I made a big mistake at the outset by not consulting this forum first.

Pollycat

Always do your research before parting with hard-earned cash.

walp

Promised Id reply as goes my final experience with love holidays (above 2 posts), and so here it is.
I don't know exactly if they would have accepted my price match claim, and as it was 100% a legitimate one I would have hoped so.. But what finally sorted things for me was finding out that they were offering two vastly differently priced accommodation rooms at the resort I booked despite (as I later found out) then being exactly the same.
One was described as "studio room only" for around £350 for the period, the other was described as "studio self catering" for £450. To me and the rest of the world "room only" would denote just a room (no self catering facilities). As I needed a cooker etc (self catering) I went for the self catering price.
I then went to the actual providers website to find that the lowest standard of room was the studio, and that all had the full self catering provision. I then contacted the hotel itself who confirmed this and voiced concern that their rooms were being offered in this way.
I fed all this back to Love Holidays who then strangely had a change of heart. I could keep the flight at advertised cost (a price I was happy with), cancel the holiday part for no cancellation fee & have the instalment fees removed. I have now paid fully for the flight and have the tickets directly from the airline. I then booked the same studio room at the same resort for the same 15 nights that match my flights from "Stayforlong" for £313 via Expedia.. The last room available at that rate, nothing to pay until a fortnight before and fully cancellable at no cost up to the point of paying..
Very happy now, but I have learned now not to take things at face value. I am sorry, but there are some unfair and unpleasant staff at Love Holidays who will have no sympathy whatsoever should you feel duped in any way, but there are also a couple there who will eventually listen and act fairly if there is a real injustice.
I have to say that other providers (such as Travel Republic and Sunshine) had stated the same double standards of pricing for what was the same room at the same resort, so it was not a deliberate attempt to rip off. It seems that love holidays are just an agent and different providers describe and charge accommodation differently..
Haha... I would advise holiday seekers to look out for this practice to be honest... Another reason to research fully before pressing the buy button I think..
Pretty sure I only did ok out of this because the deceit and rip off evident in offering the same accommodation at two different tiers and description does clearly suggest dishonest practice and that it was publicity they could do without (although as stated, as other companies offering the same holiday has the same double standard I really don't think that Love Holidays were aware of it).
I would however feel pretty confident that the industry knows that this does go on...
I had made love holidays fully aware that I would have stopped at nothing to paste my experience everywhere I possibly could, and so I think they considered treating me fairly on this occasion in their best interests.
I won't be caught out a second time and now I understand fully their conditions and manner of dealing with their customers, I would only ever book a last minute holiday with them if they really were the very cheapest out there.
It is worrying for a start that a seemingly legitimate cut price holiday firm can offer a holiday exponentially more expensive than booking direct... I will always compare to direct pricing in future..
I doubt many will come out as positively with Love Holidays as I did.

walp

To SAVE2U..
Yes. This does seem to be their practice.
I would advise you to speak to one of the telephone agents again, stay polite and calm (not easy I know.. I struggled).
If despite reasoning for some kind of gesture (partial or full refund under the circumstances etc) they refuse to understand, make it very clear to them that you are posting on MSE as concerns it and remain determined to find all the time in the world it takes to criticise them publically via every avenue.
Then also post a negative review with your booking number displayed on TrustPilot. They do monitor this, and negative reviews all receive an (admittedly pasted) note saying that they will look into your complaint..
Probably horse feathers, but worth a try and at least will be another bad reflection on them.
Interestingly, TrustPilot gives them 4 out of 5 stars out of 2000 off reviews, but all recent reviews are horrific (their earlier ones good... which suggests a definite downturn in the quality of this company's service). I contacted TrustPilot to point this out, and they replied that their policy was to publish the score as a whole, not based on more recent patterns a policy which clearly favours the business in question..
Might also be worth contacting the hotel who may just refund you a portion of the cost given that they can rent the room out again (and knowing that they will still retain the fee from Love Holidays)... Long shot I know
I guess given all of the above your best option otherwise seems leaving it as is, losing the £45 and rebooking somewhere else.
It stinks, but good luck

walp

Ps.. Their holiday admin fee (ie for anything) is £75.
Not worth cancelling in many cases. If you also book a trip that has instalment oayments, they will also continue to take those unless you cancel via their cancellation process..
Have flights with them and you lose the cost of those also (I think you can still use the flight but must pay for it as according to them it is not cancellable).
If you then threaten to close the card account that the installments are based upon (and you are unfortunate to be addressing one of the less pleasant member of staff), then prepare yourself for sarcasm, threats of being harassed by post and being taken to court for the full outstanding amount of your holiday..
Nice

Pollycat

walp wrote: »

Promised Id reply as goes my final experience with love holidays (above 2 posts), and so here it is.
I don't know exactly if they would have accepted my price match claim, and as it was 100% a legitimate one I would have hoped so.. But what finally sorted things for me was finding out that they were offering two vastly differently priced accommodation rooms at the resort I booked despite (as I later found out) then being exactly the same.
One was described as "studio room only" for around £350 for the period, the other was described as "studio self catering" for £450. To me and the rest of the world "room only" would denote just a room (no self catering facilities). As I needed a cooker etc (self catering) I went for the self catering price.
I then went to the actual providers website to find that the lowest standard of room was the studio, and that all had the full self catering provision. I then contacted the hotel itself who confirmed this and voiced concern that their rooms were being offered in this way.
I fed all this back to Love Holidays who then strangely had a change of heart. I could keep the flight at advertised cost (a price I was happy with), cancel the holiday part for no cancellation fee & have the instalment fees removed. I have now paid fully for the flight and have the tickets directly from the airline. I then booked the same studio room at the same resort for the same 15 nights that match my flights from "Stayforlong" for £313 via Expedia.. The last room available at that rate, nothing to pay until a fortnight before and fully cancellable at no cost up to the point of paying..
Very happy now, but I have learned now not to take things at face value. I am sorry, but there are some unfair and unpleasant staff at Love Holidays who will have no sympathy whatsoever should you feel duped in any way, but there are also a couple there who will eventually listen and act fairly if there is a real injustice.
I have to say that other providers (such as Travel Republic and Sunshine) had stated the same double standards of pricing for what was the same room at the same resort, so it was not a deliberate attempt to rip off. It seems that love holidays are just an agent and different providers describe and charge accommodation differently..
Haha... I would advise holiday seekers to look out for this practice to be honest... Another reason to research fully before pressing the buy button I think..
Pretty sure I only did ok out of this because the deceit and rip off evident in offering the same accommodation at two different tiers and description does clearly suggest dishonest practice and that it was publicity they could do without (although as stated, as other companies offering the same holiday has the same double standard I really don't think that Love Holidays were aware of it).
I would however feel pretty confident that the industry knows that this does go on...
I had made love holidays fully aware that I would have stopped at nothing to paste my experience everywhere I possibly could, and so I think they considered treating me fairly on this occasion in their best interests.
I won't be caught out a second time and now I understand fully their conditions and manner of dealing with their customers, I would only ever book a last minute holiday with them if they really were the very cheapest out there.
It is worrying for a start that a seemingly legitimate cut price holiday firm can offer a holiday exponentially more expensive than booking direct... I will always compare to direct pricing in future..
I doubt many will come out as positively with Love Holidays as I did.

Re the bit in bold:
we always book 'room only' accommodation in Greece and expect that to give us a fridge and very basic cooking facilities - usually a 2 ring electric hob.

Didn't the description on LoveHolidays website state what you got in each room?

If I'd seen two different descriptions - "studio room only" and "studio self catering" - I'd have checked with the booking agent or if possible with the accommodation direct to determine exactly what facilities each room had.

Interesting that you say Travel Republic & Sunshine also had the same pricing anomaly.

Chrispo

A few days ago I made a booking with Loveholidays.com to Bulgaria at what I thought was quite a good overall price of £532 for the two of us for a week. This included airport parking at Luton and hotel transfers. I made three mistakes - the first was just paying a deposit of £98, as they will be charging an extra £14.85 transaction fee for paying by instalments. The second was not checking that the flight, parking, and transfers were non refundable if cancelled. They also have hefty amendment charges of £75 anyway. My third mistake was in not checking out their costs. I could have got the hotel £37 cheaper by going direct, the parking £5, and the transfers £20. The moral is do check their costs before pressing that Pay button.

Seanoz

I Booked a Holiday to Tunisia through Love Holidays. On arrival the Hotel was nothing as advertised on their website it stated:

Air conditioning ( no mention it was not able to be used until June maybe July time of year) I always book a room with Air Conditioning due to suffering with breathing in heat.

Indoor swimming pool - did not have one

Leisure activities - 95% were not there

2 pool bars. - both closed one had a tree and weeds growing through it.

Jacuzzi - was not one there

Heated Pools - this was just a lie !

No lights on the walk back to the room where I was. I fell twice

No lights on stairs up to the room

The list could go on.

I contacted Love Holidays in resort and got no response. I emailed the ceo when I returned and he got a member of staff to contact me who was looking in to this. Even though a statement and pictures had been sent.

They said that they are just booking agents and as such my contract is with the service provider not them. But as this is not mentioned until after you pay deposit or in full I reject this claim. I called them today almost a month later and was told they are still awaiting a response. I have just filled in a money claim form through the county court website and it is a cost of £60 and have added that to the claim I am seeking.

We need to start letting these so called travel companies we want what we pay for. I await their response / reaction to them receiving the court papers.

Westin

Seanoz wrote: »

I Booked a Holiday to Tunisia through Love Holidays. On arrival the Hotel was nothing as advertised on their website it stated:

Air conditioning ( no mention it was not able to be used until June maybe July time of year) I always book a room with Air Conditioning due to suffering with breathing in heat.

Indoor swimming pool - did not have one

Leisure activities - 95% were not there

2 pool bars. - both closed one had a tree and weeds growing through it.

Jacuzzi - was not one there

Heated Pools - this was just a lie !

No lights on the walk back to the room where I was. I fell twice

No lights on stairs up to the room

The list could go on.

I contacted Love Holidays in resort and got no response. I emailed the ceo when I returned and he got a member of staff to contact me who was looking in to this. Even though a statement and pictures had been sent.

They said that they are just booking agents and as such my contract is with the service provider not them. But as this is not mentioned until after you pay deposit or in full I reject this claim. I called them today almost a month later and was told they are still awaiting a response. I have just filled in a money claim form through the county court website and it is a cost of £60 and have added that to the claim I am seeking.

We need to start letting these so called travel companies we want what we pay for. I await their response / reaction to them receiving the court papers.

It is mentioned on the front page of their website and also within the booking terms and conditions that you would have ticked to agree.

> loveholidays acts as an agent in respect of all bookings made on our website or by telephone. For all bookings, your contract will be with the applicable Service Provider of your chosen Arrangement (who may be the principal or the agent of the principal) and loveholidays acts only as an agent on their behalf. We do not create or organise package holidays. All package holidays available through us are organised by third-party Service Providers on whose behalf we act as agent and where flights are included, protected under their ATOL. Where you book certain flights or a flight and hotel product, it is protected under our ATOL (10989) but we still act as an agent on behalf of the applicable Service Provider. All the Arrangements are priced independent of any other Arrangements booked at the same time and creates separate contracts directly between you and the principal of each Arrangement. Please see our Agency terms and conditions for more information.<

I would be careful about the court action as I think they will simply refer the court to the above and your action would fail.