LowCostHoliday - Holiday from Hell

ThumbRemote

lea2012 wrote: »

Your friends were not dropped off in the middle of nowhere, they were dropped off in the middle of palma nova /magalluf one of Europe's biggest holiday resorts!

Stating that the Torrenova headland is 'in the middle' as though that makes it busy is like claiming that the middle of the Atlantic ocean must be busy because it's in the middle of New York and London.

ThumbRemote

Poppy9 wrote: »

Having looked at the hotels, which it's clear from the info about AI that they are adjoining as there is limited service in Waikki and you have to go over to main hotel so they were lucky to be placed in main site to save them walking to get food/drinks.

Therefore I would focus the complaint on the attitude of the shuttle driver (assume it was booked as part of holiday) and that they were not notified of the change of allocation of accommodation so this added to the stress when they were left roadside.

There are three Intertur hotels in Torrenova.

The Intertur Hotel Hawaii Mallorca is reached first, off Carrer Martin Ros Garcia. At the end of that road is the Intertur Waikiki. Then around 100m further up Carrer Torrenova is the Intertur Aparthotel Hawaii Torrenova. Carrer Torrenova is a steep slope.

lea2012 wrote: »

We were in Palma Nova last week (half term) and spent a bit of time near to the Hawaii. Whilst the hotel is on a slight incline I would not say that it's up a steep hill.

tomtontom wrote: »

It's also worth a look on Google Streetview - the very steep hill is, well, a slight slope. There is a half finished building very close by, but I don't know how old the image is.

It is a steep slope. Low cost holidays admit this themselves on their website - they quote "The hotel is situated on a steep incline and may not be suitable for people with limited mobility."

Changing the hotel used by disabled people to this one is utterly ridiculous.

Were low cost holidays UK based, I would certainly suggest legal action against them. Given they are based in Majorca, it's going to be almost impossible to do that. It may be worth talking to the debit card company though to see if they would do a chargeback as the service booked was not provided. It's worth a try for very little effort.

lea2012

ThumbRemote wrote: »

Stating that the Torrenova headland is 'in the middle' as though that makes it busy is like claiming that the middle of the Atlantic ocean must be busy because it's in the middle of New York and London.

No it's not. Is the middle of the atlantic surrounded by bars, restaurants and hotels? No! Is the Hawaii surrounded by them, yes! Were they open at that time of year, yes! They were dropped off at the entrance to the Waikiki, on a busy ish road not in the middle of the atlantic, what a ridiculous comparison.

lea2012

ThumbRemote wrote: »

It may be worth talking to the debit card company though to see if they would do a chargeback as the service booked was not provided. It's worth a try for very little effort.

The service booked was a 3* apartment complex up a steep hill (according to the low cost website). What they got a was a 4* complex located lower down the hill so therefore in a better position than what they had originally booked? Unfortunately I don't think a debit card company would entertain a charge back.

ThumbRemote

lea2012 wrote: »

No it's not. Is the middle of the atlantic surrounded by bars, restaurants and hotels? No! Is the Hawaii surrounded by them, yes! Were they open at that time of year, yes! They were dropped off at the entrance to the Waikiki, on a busy ish road not in the middle of the atlantic, what a ridiculous comparison.

You clearly don't know the area. From the Waikiki there are some restaurants about 50-100m back down the Carrer Martin Ros Garcia - although with the curve in the road these may not have been visible depending on where they were dropped off.

Otherwise there are a selection of hotels and houses. It's not a busy road as it doesn't go anywhere other than round the headland. The only people walking along that section will be going to or from their accommodation, it's not a busy thoroughfare, especially late at night at the end of the season.

In any event, they shouldn't have been left in that position. What sort of transfer relies on you being able to find someone on the street to ask what is going on with your hotel!

ThumbRemote

lea2012 wrote: »

The service booked was a 3* apartment complex up a steep hill (according to the low cost website). What they got a was a 4* complex located lower down the hill so therefore in a better position than what they had originally booked? Unfortunately I don't think a debit card company would entertain a charge back.

No it wasn't. They booked the Waikiki, they got the Hawaii Torrenova (not the Hawaii Mallorca which you seem to be getting confused with). Read my post again for the relative locations.

The Waikiki is not up the steep hill. The Hawaii Torrenova is.

lea2012

I do apologise as I thought they had gone on to stay at the Hotel Hawaii, and not the torrenova. However I still maintain my stance on the location and the fact that they were not dropped in the middle of nowhere. They would have driven past countless bars etc on the way to their hotel, which would have only been a short walk away and I think they over-reacted if they were so distressed on arrival.
As the OP has stated they couldn't walk far, however their hotel voucher would have had an emergency phone number on it that they could have called and got some assistance. The op didn't say how they got to the Hawaii Torrenova or how long they had to wait so it could have been rectified within minutes anyway. (I'm sure we would know by now if it was a considerable length of time).

And again as has been pointed out, the hotel description on the low cost website tells you that facilities and food is served at the Torrenova for those staying at Waikiki so they would have had to go there anyway!

The way the transfer driver acted was poor, no denying that but he was unlikely to know where they were meant to be going so what was he expected to do? Low Cost Holidays were either told that the waikiki was closing and decided not to inform the guests, or were completely unaware as the hotel just did all the changes internally without notifying them.

MasterPoo

lea2012 wrote: »

No it's not. Is the middle of the atlantic surrounded by bars, restaurants and hotels? No! Is the Hawaii surrounded by them, yes! Were they open at that time of year, yes! They were dropped off at the entrance to the Waikiki, on a busy ish road not in the middle of the atlantic, what a ridiculous comparison.

Lea was there, she was sitting in the back of the shuttle bus as all of this was going on!

GIVE. ME STRENGTH!!!

lea2012

Yes I was sat next to you Master Poo!

FieldsOfVision

Hello Folks

I'd like to share this story with you and invite your opinion and advice:

LowCostHolidays.com has charged me twice for a holiday. They have taken money from my debit card twice without my authorisation. Long story but I have tried and cannot claim it back from my bank. I have been in communication with LowCostHolidays.com for almost 18 months now. God knows how many emails have been sent, exchanged and how many of them they ignored, how many proofs have been asked and supplied, how many different people there I have been in contact with.



At first they denied point blank they have taken money twice. They then started asking for one thing after another and sometimes things that cannot be proved by me. How can I provide them the time stamp of bank transitions (payments) or log of their email in-tray?? The matter is still ongoing. They are still not admitting the error and keep asking for various irrelevant information. I have had to spend a lot more on phone calls, bank charges and this matter is taking untold hours of my time. It's taking its emotional toll on my health and well being.

Can you please make any suggestions what I can do?

They say they're a Spanish company and don't operate in this country. They're not a member of ATOL or ABTA and as such consider themselves above the law and practises in this country. Is this correct? Can they do that? Can I not make a claim against them in small county court here in the UK if they're not registered in the UK?

Has anyone got any experience of similar issues with them?

Has anyone tried legal actions against them?

All your constructive comments and advice gratefully received. If nothing else, I hope this informs others and further exposes their unprofessional methods and manners.