Teletext Holiday Scam.

aqua111

If you are offered an upgraded room you may find it does not exist and like me you have paid about £80 extra.
An Ex Emloyee says they are encouraged to do this to boost profits as most people do not check.
I am now trying to get the money back.

jonesMUFCforever

It depends on what an upgraded room is.


My opinion might be different to yours but both could be seen as upgrades.

aqua111

Told by Teletext better size decor and location.
Hotel Manager said all rooms and prices identical. Director of Hotel Chain said it reflected badly on them and we were advised to complain to Teletext as they were well aware of these facts and could not understand why we had been charged £80 for something that did not exist.

jonesMUFCforever

Well you chose to pay extra for some d!cor - did you not research the place at all on the net?

aqua111

Yes I did but fraudulently taking money did not enter my mind.
They said we could end up in a small room anywhere in the Hotel.
Unfortunately I am a trusting person.
I will never use them again!

RichardD1970

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Well you chose to pay extra for some d!cor - did you not research the place at all on the net?

Not just decor, I know its late on a Saturday night, but it still helps if you read the post properly.

aqua111 wrote: »

Told by Teletext better size, decor, and location.
Hotel Manager said all rooms and prices identical. Director of Hotel Chain said it reflected badly on them and we were advised to complain to Teletext as they were well aware of these facts and could not understand why we had been charged £80 for something that did not exist.

Full thread here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4977642, although it does take some deciphering, so maybe leave it till morning.

aqua111

Thanks Richard, I just felt I should put a warning on this forum as it was confirmed by an ex employee that this was the usual practice at Teletext.

PeacefulWaters

Nothing to do with Teletext, but I recall being upgraded to a sea view room many years ago.

The description was accurate. The sea was there, a thin line of grey between the treetops and the sky away in the distance.

Fortunately it didn't cost me anything. But it did teach me to check detail closely if I ever pay for it.

If you don't get anywhere with your complaint but paid by credit card a section 75 claim maybe in order. Did you get anything in writing from the hotel?

worried_jim

aqua111 wrote: »

If you are offered an upgraded room you may find it does not exist and like me you have paid about £80 extra.
An Ex Emloyee says they are encouraged to do this to boost profits as most people do not check.
I am now trying to get the money back.

I fell for this through a holiday booked through the Icelolly website, when we got there all the apartments were exactly the same.

Trying to remember who the travel agent was, I think it was something like Jetsave. Great headline holiday price but by the time we had been "stitched up" with all the extras it would have been better to go to a high street travel agent- in fact we did this the following year and got a much better holiday + service.

aqua111

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Nothing to do with Teletext, but I recall being upgraded to a sea view room many years ago.

The description was accurate. The sea was there, a thin line of grey between the treetops and the sky away in the distance.

Fortunately it didn't cost me anything. But it did teach me to check detail closely if I ever pay for it.

If you don't get anywhere with your complaint but paid by credit card a section 75 claim maybe in order. Did you get anything in writing from the hotel?

Thank you!
The only thing I have in writing is it was called a Bronze Room.
The Hotel Manager asked me what that was as it meant nothing to him We needed a comfortable room as my Partner is recovering from a recent operation and we were persuaded by Teletext that we could only be assured of this if we paid the £80. we did not want to risk being in a small room in a corner of the Hotel.
The Hotel even got the Director of the Hotel chain involved and we were told he was furious as all rooms were excellent and identical including price.
We were advised we had to complain to Teletext which we have.
They are investigating.

Nirvana9

This almost happened to me with teletext a few years ago. Called up about a holiday priced according to three of us sharing a room; they offered me an upgrade to a one bed apartment.

We said no, we'll just have the room, and then suddenly they'd run out of the basic rooms.

Ended up booking the same hotel through another company and of course, the hotel only has apartments, no hotel rooms.

And then there's all the holidays I rang about which had conveniently sold out when I called. But they could offer me something at a higher price...