Is this worth claiming for? Balkan holidays

duchy

I'm an ex travel agent and I STILL double check everything online when it comes to hotel facilities. Things can change-a hotel can be fab one year and then a change in management can mean facilities are cut, cleaning budgets cut-all kinds of stuff. I swear by Tripadvisor (although you have to use it properly one bad comment to 10 good ones is fine-some people complain about really weird stuff )
Hope the second letter has a better result.

Alan_Bowen

Not sure now whether you booked with First Choice as the tour operator, when you should get reasonable compo if the room was unacceptably bad, or whether you used them only as an agent and booked with Balkan Holidays, whose reputation may not be quite as high.

As a basic, you are entitled to a clean and habitable room, it may not be big and in a Bulgarian resort it will almost certainly not be luxurious, so size is not grounds to complain but if it was dirty, you talk of limescale which may be as a result of hard water and not a sign of dirt, then you do have a claim.

As regards the promised internet access, it may depend who you asked. The obvious people to ask are the operators using the hotel and if FC was the agent and checked with Balkan and that was the reason you chose the hotel, then that is a legitimate complaint. If on the other hand the travel agent made no enqiries at all then they have breached their duty to take reasonable care in ioffering advice and you should claim against them. Having said all that the reason most people go to Bulgaria is because it is cheap and there is usually a good reason. I went once to Bulgaria, for three days, and said my prayers getting back on the plane at Sofia Airport!

mikeyandsheila

I didnt even think of that, we went with the brochure saying that it had internet and then asked again when we booked it at first choice, we made it clear that internet was very important, without mentioning the Varshava, they then searched and came back saying that that hotel had the internet so it would be the best one for us, so went ahead and booked. I will send a letter to First choice too.
If there was a way of posting the photos so that i could let you all see what i am talking about then i would, the balcony door didnt even have a lock on it and they were all joining! anyone could have walked in and taken what they wanted at any time.
I was aware that it was only a 2 star, but even at that, you expect basic standards of security and to be able to at least have a shower. Yes it was small but thats not what i was complaining about.

Thank you for all the comments and advice.

carole.uk

sorry to hear about your holiday mickeyandsheila, i am really worried now going to bulgaria with eclipsedirect on the 8th of september all inc the reviews were good but now people are saying every one has had really bad food poisioning!!!! some even ended up in hospital

budgetflyer

A 2* in bulgaria would be equiv of less than 1* in Western Europe. Just about clean would be probably max you could expect. We are talking about a country where the closest you get to law and order is the Mafia ejecting gypsies from Sunny Beach
Dont even waste your time trying to claim loss of earnings. How many serious businesses go on a 2* package holiday to a backward Black Sea resort with a company flying Tuplovs held together with sticky tape?

hammy_the_hammer

mikeyandsheila wrote: »

I will be doing that, i have just sent a letter again. Looking at going to abta. I have photos that prove the condition of the hotel.
And mystic_trev, i didnt say it was a business trip, we wanted to work online while we were there, we were assured that the hotel had internet access, and as for checking online regarding the hotel, we didnt feel it was needed as we stupidly trusted the holiday operator (first choice) as we had been on many holdays with them before! and we at no point did we say or expect the ritz as you so kindly put it, it is advertised as having internet.
but thanks for your constuctive comments!

the point has already been made that the hotel did have internet access via the booths ...the fact that it was slow is immaterial ...if you were asked by a holidaymaker whether a hotel had internet access.. you would reply in the affirmative thinking they wanted to pick up some emails , pay for something on ebay etc ....you wouldn't expect someone to claim for loss of earnings because it wasn't adsl piped to your room .
if a swiss guy asked if the hotel had a tennis court and you confirmed it had .....you wouldn't expect roger federer to complain that he couldn't conduct his wimbledon preparations on it would you ?