travelbird

doinkthemonkee

does anyone have any experience with the company?

have found what looks like a reasonable holiday but it is not a company i am familiar with & it is putting me off somewhat. Am I just being over cautious?

http://travelbird.co.uk/41621/china-round-trip-flights/

Alan_Bowen

Well, the company is Dutch not British, despite the co.uk website and its conditions say it is not the travel provider but just an agent. The problem is there is no indication of who is the actual seller of the holiday and what do you do if you want to complain? Is there financial protection? There is no mention of it at all, despite the fact that the EU Directive on Package Travel applies in the Netherlands... It may be perfectly legitimate or it may not, caution I think is definitely the right attitude to have

doinkthemonkee

I was a little unsure about using the company tbh because I couldn't find any ATOL protection info on the page/website. Because it is such a big trip I have fears of being stuck abroad with little help if things breakdown e.g. the guide goes sick, or there is a problem with the flight etc

littlereddevil

I think they only started up this year. They have an IATA symbol whatever that means

Alan_Bowen

IATA protects airlines against agency failure, there is no consumer protection ( and I can't see the IATA logo anywhere) Looking at the tour you are interested in, it seems the operator is Sinorama Reisen, no me neither. It is a German operation that started business in January 2014, technically they may be trading illegally as to sell, or offer to sell, a flight inclusive package holiday from the UK, they should hold an ATOL licence and they do not

Former_MSE_Megan

Hi everyone,

TravelBird have asked us to post this message on their behalf. Please note that MSE does not endorse messages from third party companies.

Hi doinkthemonkee & Alan Bowen. My names Matthew and I'm the community manager for TravelBird UK.

In reply to this thread, we are indeed a Dutch company that operates in 17 different European countries from a large office in the centre of Amsterdam. We were set up around 5 years ago although the UK arm was created literally 1 year ago today (we're celebrating our first birthday today).

To put your mind at rest a little, the China deal that you are referring to has been incredibly popular and been booked over 700 times. We, as a company, are in an extremely strong financial position, as shown by the recent investment by the Samwer brothers who have also invested in firms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and created companies that were eventually sold to organisations such as Groupon and Ebay.

Moreover, if you have any more questions, you can email me personally at m.bourne@travelbird.co.uk, call our customer service team on 0203 514 7007.

Hope this gives you more of an idea about who we are and what we're all about.

Matthew

Former_MSE_Megan

Another message from Travelbird...

Hi Alan and littlereddevil and doinkthemonkee. The post above I actually wrote yesterday but because of delays in getting it published a few more areas for me to address seem to have come up.

It is correct that we do not currently hold an ATOL license, it's something we're working towards getting but the process does not take 5 minutes and requires a lot of due diligence on ATOL's side. What we do have is the SGR. This is the Dutch equivalent of ATOL and although it doesn't cover customers travelling form the UK it does show that TravelBird as a company is extremely reliable and safe to use as the process of acquiring an SGR license is just as stringent as acquiring an ATOL in the UK. The added information in my post above about our recent investments and financial security only further stresses my point that you do not need to worry when booking a trip through us. Yes we may be new and not a household name yet but we are growing at a tremendous rate and have thousands of extremely happy customers who could testify to that.

It's also true that the China trip is the same trip that Sinorama Reisen are offering. The only difference is, is that we are selling it at a discounted rate which is what TravelBird is all about.

If you want quick answers to any more questions you have just contact me on the contact information that's included in my previous post.

Thanks

Matthew

mgdavid

personally i see / hear nothing that would make me touch them with a bargepole!

Jasper2014

For info, please see immediate complaint email below. No refund despite repeated attempts. They refused to allow me to contact their Management Directly, so now I have no choice other than Small Claims and Trading Standards.


Dear Sir/Madam,
This is to complain of your mis-selling - reservation below. We booked a romantic holiday at Piccolo-Paradiso, Lake Garda. In truth its the opposite - neither small, nor a paradise.

We arrived last night to find:

1. Hotel staff surprised by the discount you claimed via Groupon/Wowcher. We paid the same as if we booked directly.

2. The evening meal was terrible. Including cold, undercooked, congealed pasta with supposedly Gorgonzola sauce. In Italy! I have had better school and hospital food.

3. The dining hall is like a loud aircraft hanger with hundreds of guests crammed in. Impossible to talk or be heard.

4. Our bedroom included:
- glass doors with no curtain to keep out the light.
- 2 prison style steel framed single beds, pushed together, with old, soft mattresses.

5. A dirty old, uncomfortable sofa bed as furniture. Presumably not for our comfort, but rather to cram in more guests. Also an old TV with wires suspended across the room. No pictures or decoration, no kettle etc.

6. Then a very cold shower room in the morning, with no heating and other guests walking past the window.

7. This morning, as soon as breakfast had finished, the lunch salads were brought out. They will presumably sit there for 2-4 hours.

The attached photos support the above.

We have already re-booked to a new hotel at a cost of €1,400. Our ferries were over £400, and hotels en route, plus fuel add a further £500+ to our holiday.

At the very least we are requesting a full and immediate refund. The nature of your response will determine our next steps.

Lastly, despite the booking below promising your customer telephone service is available 9am - 5pm, in truth you have an answer service saying you are closed and referring your customers to your website to find out when you are open. Disgraceful.

Please reply immediately.

Thank you.


Hôtel Piccolo Paradiso
Vicolo Messaga 24/25
25088 Toscolano - Maderno
Italy

Jasper2014

For info, please see immediate complaint email below. No refund despite repeated attempts. They refused to allow me to contact their Management Directly, so now I have no choice other than Small Claims and Trading Standards.


Dear Sir/Madam,
This is to complain of your mis-selling - reservation below. We booked a romantic holiday at Piccolo-Paradiso, Lake Garda. In truth its the opposite - neither small, nor a paradise.

We arrived last night to find:

1. Hotel staff surprised by the discount you claimed via Groupon/Wowcher. We paid the same as if we booked directly.

2. The evening meal was terrible. Including cold, undercooked, congealed pasta with supposedly Gorgonzola sauce. In Italy! I have had better school and hospital food.

3. The dining hall is like a loud aircraft hanger with hundreds of guests crammed in. Impossible to talk or be heard.

4. Our bedroom included:
- glass doors with no curtain to keep out the light.
- 2 prison style steel framed single beds, pushed together, with old, soft mattresses.

5. A dirty old, uncomfortable sofa bed as furniture. Presumably not for our comfort, but rather to cram in more guests. Also an old TV with wires suspended across the room. No pictures or decoration, no kettle etc.

6. Then a very cold shower room in the morning, with no heating and other guests walking past the window.

7. This morning, as soon as breakfast had finished, the lunch salads were brought out. They will presumably sit there for 2-4 hours.

The attached photos support the above.

We have already re-booked to a new hotel at a cost of €1,400. Our ferries were over £400, and hotels en route, plus fuel add a further £500+ to our holiday.

At the very least we are requesting a full and immediate refund. The nature of your response will determine our next steps.

Lastly, despite the booking below promising your customer telephone service is available 9am - 5pm, in truth you have an answer service saying you are closed and referring your customers to your website to find out when you are open. Disgraceful.

Please reply immediately.

Thank you.


Hôtel Piccolo Paradiso
Vicolo Messaga 24/25
25088 Toscolano - Maderno
Italy

Alan_Bowen

Jasper, I hope you realise you are dealing with a company based in The Netherlands so Trading Standards are probably powerless to help. The Tripadvisor reviews are not 'all bad' by any means but I have yet to find any Groupon voucher that offers a real deal. You might, and I do mean might, get a better answer from Groupon who is the company I presume you paid? I have heard they take 50% of the price of the voucher, if that is so, then your expectations may be far too high.

Back in March the company responded saying that it was applying for an ATOL licence in the UK, although this would not have helped you as it appears your holiday did not involve air travel, but 9 months later they still have no licence which may be food for thought for others.....