Feeling Robbed by Teletext Holidays - any advice please

GrinnyP

Telephoned Teletext Holidays 25th May 2014 to follow up 4 night holiday for 2 people to Crete on 27th May advertised online for £311 per person. After transfers, room upgrade and direct debit charge, agreed price of £704.00. Gave debit card details and passenger details in good faith. Queried flight seating arrangement, agent placed call on hold then advised that during our conversation flight had increased by another £150 each so overall cost approx £1,000. Advised agent this was totally untenable and therefore we were not able to proceed. The agent advised my debit card had already been debited to sum of £704.00 and refund would take up to 5 business days. Immediately sent an email to Customer Support to request refund as soon as possible and received a response on 26th May advising refund has been processed and would be received in next 3 – 4 business days. Despite 7 emails to Customer Support and 2 telephone calls we have yet to receive the refund. We have advised them that to withhold the money is tantamount to theft and until the money is returned we are unable to book another holiday. Teletext Holidays response is to say they are investigating the matter and to accept apologies for inconvenience. As other reviewers have said the prices advertised online are never what you pay and from my experience I would never book with this company again. We are now at our wits end as to how to resolve this and have sent copies of all correspondence to ABTA. Any advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated

mgdavid

GrinnyP wrote: »

........ As other reviewers have said the prices advertised online are never what you pay ........

does one infer from this that you only bothered to do some research into who you were dealing with after the above incident?

photome

get in touch with your bank and see if they can help

It has only been 10 days so it may still be in the pipeline

philip1988

We are always reading about how the actual price is more than the advertised price on these websites, but surely once they have debited your card a contract has been formed and they can't insist on you paying extra.

Another one of their cons I think, I wonder what the OP got for their "room upgrade"

worried_jim

I think this is the third thread I have seen on this type of thing in the last week and I too have been a victim of what appears to be a common tactic. Op- I hope you get something back.

GrinnyP

Many thanks for your replies and unfortunately still getting nowhere with Teletext Holidays. They advised by email on Monday 9/06/14 that I would receive refund in 24-48 hours. Hey guess what? No refund received. Rang again today and was informed refund had been processed and I would receive in 3-4 days. Advised them not good enough as that is what they keep saying and refund does not appear. Placed on hold again then customer support agent advised they had not kept debit card details and asked for these again. Further on hold was advised refund had now been processed and will receive within 3 business days. If they no longer had the card details why did they not contact me and ask for them. If they did not keep the card details why did they tell me on 02/06/14 that the refund was processed on 29/05/2014 and the refund would be in my account on 03/06/2014. I now do not believe a word they say and am fed up with their sincere apologies for inconvenience caused. All I want is my refund.

mgdavid your comment "does one infer from this that you only bothered to do some research into who you were dealing with after the above incident?" I made one big mistake booking with this Company and you are right I did not research until after the incident. However we could all act differently with the benefit of hindsight and this experience makes me feel that acting in good faith is a thing of the past. Does my lack of research and naivety before the incident give them the right to withold my money?

aqua111

I am afraid you have joined the queue of many people who have been scammed by Teletext.(me incuded)

photome

why are so many people using teletext holidays? when there are so many alternatives

i didnt know they still exisited, does anyone still use teletext on their TV

hopefully with all these threads about teletext fewer people will use them

Alan_Bowen

Teletext used to be a decent source of mainly last minute holidays of very varying qualities offered by a number of agents. Now Teletext Holidays offers everything from a single source, Truly Holidays of Harrow and India. There does appear to be growing level of complaints and Teletext, on line now of course, may live to regret their decision to only allow one company to advertise. Teletext Holidays is no longer what it was and everyone should go comparison shopping elsewhere before committing to a booking. That advice of course goes for any booking, 'look before you book'....

aqua111

Agree Alan; I had booked many value for money Holidays from several different Agents.
I assumed that Teletext Holidays would be as honest.
They are definiely not, and like me many people will not use them again.

Red_dog_Sam

photome suggested talking to your bank.
If the refund does not come through - get in touch with your debit card issuer and ask about a chargeback.
This is a process run by the card issuers so is subject to the conditions of their chargeback scheme and not a statutory right. You do need to have tried to resolve the issue with the retailer first, which you have.More info onthat scheme if you need it:
http://www.choose.net/money/guide/features/chargeback-visa-mastercard.html