Advice for ruined holiday please, MyTravel

blackcateddie

We have just returned from a fortnights holiday with MyTravel in Kos and I really would appreciate some advice regarding our rights and how to complain properly.
I originally booked back in Sept last year for a party of 12 ( 3 families) to go to the Kipriotis Village, a 4*plus accomodation, all inclusive in Kos. When it was time for the final payment in June we found that MyTravel wouldn't accept payment because there was an issue with the family room availability. After nearly two weeks of uncertainty they finally offered us 3 twin rooms to sleep two families and the other family cancelled ( Recieving their deposit back)
We had packed and were waiting for my husband to arrive home in the evening prior to leaving for overnight accomodation near Gastwick when I get a phone call at 4.00pm to say that they had been overbooked and had changed our accomodation to the other side of Kos and an upgraded 5* hotel. We were now back in 2 family rooms. Since this was two hours before due to leave we really had now choice but to accept but were looking forward to a 5* hotel!!!!!!!!!
How deluded - it was a 3* hotel 5kms away from anywhereand full of Germans and Eastern Europeans. We were the only english party there, the staff struggled to speak English and all the signs were in Greek or German.
We were given 5 hotel rooms all told , in two the aircon didn;t work, we had rats/mice in one and all had broken light fittings, windows and poor bathroom facilities. MyTravel hadn;t ever visited the accomodation, in fact we found out that the original hotel manager had arranged our accomodation, that each week he was overbooked and that MyTravel had been informed three days prior to our departure but hadn;t informed us till two hours before leaving. OUr rep just fobbed us off, saying they were looking for accomodation but the island was full!!!!!!!
Last straw was his attitide when one of our party had to fly home when his father had a heart attack - despite their claims of 24hr emergency help we were told that he couldn;t do anything till the office reopened next day and in fact my friend arrived back in the UK by lunch time the next day, with Mytravel casually ringing us three hours later to see what we wanted!!!!!!. We tried to use the internet in the hotel to book on line but the system kept crachign when we tried to change the language to english saying that they had a pirate copy of windows!!!!!
After a number of phone calls we finally had a rep visit where were completed a three page complaints form but I would really like some advice on where to go from here -

I'm tempted just to put this in the small claims court for fraud - they took our deposit back in sept and then gave our rooms to people who had booked later than us that had paid more ( the reps told us this !!) they apparently have been doing it for most of the summer and have included this property in the new brochure for next season where no doubt they will end up doing it again. They lied when they said we had been upgraded, they lied when they said the island was full, and lied when they said they were looking for alternative accomodation. Any one any ideas on how we can get our money back???

dmg24

I do think you have a cause for complaint, but I cannot see a case for fraud. Also, the small claims court would not deal with fraud cases.

Should you wish to take your complaint to small claims for a reason other than fraud, you first have to exhaust the MyTravel complaints procedure.

Whilst I do think you may have a case, I would consider the following points before writing to MyTravel:

* Was the hotel officially a 3* or a 5*? UK standards are much higher than those in some countries.
* The fact that it was full of Germans is not a reason for complaint.

What you need to do is get a copy of the MyTravel complaints policy, and follow it. Don't start threatening them with court due to fraud, your situation possibly involves misrepresentation, but I would not use any legal terminology that you are not sure of. The small claims court would be the last stage of complaint, and hopefully the situation can be resolved before then.

deva

photocopy the cutomer service report. write a succint letter- dont mention facts about the internet as this is not really the issue. you should hae recieved compensation in resort- did you?
Mytravel do not use the stars system so depending on which branch of the company it will be 4 A or M or whichever which is their independent catergory so this is unlikely to get you anywhere.
The main problem appears to be the lateness of the change- was this head office or possibly a travel agent's fault?
The rep's attitude doesn't sound particualrly helpful but maybe they really couldnt do anything at the time. Mytravels 24hr helpline operates out of majorca and thi number can be found usually with your ticket details, on any rep boards or folders and would be given at a welcome meeting.
Re getting home that is usally a holiday insurance claim and so i believe that you must have contacted them directly- this is not the responsability of the rep but they could have helped you make the call if they were available

budgetflyer

I would write and ask them for a FULL REFUND. If they wont give you one, do as you say, take them to court.
From what you have said, the holiday you got bears little comparison to what you booked and paid for.

StaceyAKelly

hi, my travel are in breach of contract.

This claim will (i expect exceed £1000) A Solicitor will take this on for you as they will be able to claim their legal fees back and anyhow Legal expenses will be claimable, (but you will have legal expense cover under the terms of your insurance policy.

If you want some help with this please contact me.

sloppychops

Try the Holiday Truths website (complaints section)
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=49&sid=78801b8db27d2861982d7686f309f916

There is a Travel Law Solicitor (Ros Fernihough) who they have teamed up with who can maybe help in this matter.

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=57959

Advocate

dmg24 wrote: »

Should you wish to take your complaint to small claims for a reason other than fraud, you first have to exhaust the MyTravel complaints procedure.

I wouldn't say you have to "exhaust" their complaints procedure. Their complaints procedure might be a lengthy process of fobbing-off and delaying tactics (I'm not saying it is, but I'm hypothesising).

You should simply give them a reasonable opportunity to settle the matter (e.g. full refund, if that's what you are seeking) before you commence litigation, in order that they can mitigate their losses (i.e. court costs). 14 days is what a court would consider to be reasonable opportunity.

MyTravel shouldn't be allowed to dictate the timescale of resolving the complaint as your post implies, dmg.

dmg24

MyTravel shouldn't be allowed to dictate the timescale of resolving the complaint as your post implies, dmg.

My post does not say that, what it says is that the travel company must be given the chance to remedy the situation.

The courts do not take kindly to claimants jumping straight into legal action, it is a waste of their time.

14 days is what a court would consider to be reasonable opportunity.

I am assuming that you have legal authority to back up this statement?

blackcateddie

thanks for the advice,
to clarify a few points,
My complaint wasn't that it was full of 'germans' but that no-one spoke english, the entertainment team didn't speak english, the hotel staff struggled to understand our problems and that the hotel wasn't on MyTravel's official listing and hadn't been vetted by them so had no official category assigned. Our original booking was for a much larger hotel with a dedicated MyTravel team and full English entertainment programme.
Whilst both were all inclusive, there was a huge difference in what was on offer - our hotel offered pool snacks which consisted of a tray of ham and cheese sandwiches , made with dry bread, and a tray of sliced plain cake, the original one offered various breakfast menu's till 12 and then pool areas with pizza, burgers etc. Ours gave you beer, wine, brandy and ouzo free till 11.00pm whereas our original booking had all spirits and cocktails free too, till 1.00am.
Where I think they are committing fraud is because they take a booking from you in Sept but don;t actually book the rooms till three months before hand. The buyer relys on the contract between the tour operator and the hotel but since we seem to have got bumped because the manager thought we were paying too little then in this case there doesn't appear to be much of a contract. Kind of makes a mockery of paying your deposit since this in fact secured nothing for us
Thanks for the offer Stacey, I am putting together my first letter back to Airtours and will pm you

saveapenny

under the package regulations if you didnt get what you paid for you have a claim. I strongly recomend you follow sloppychops advice and go over to HT's complaint forum if your not a memeber its easy to join. Then as sloppy says contact Roz she will give you proper advice on where you stand and what you should or shouldnt do next

dmg24

blackcateddie wrote: »

thanks for the advice,
to clarify a few points,
My complaint wasn't that it was full of 'germans' but that no-one spoke english, the entertainment team didn't speak english, the hotel staff struggled to understand our problems and that the hotel wasn't on MyTravel's official listing and hadn't been vetted by them so had no official category assigned. Our original booking was for a much larger hotel with a dedicated MyTravel team and full English entertainment programme.
Whilst both were all inclusive, there was a huge difference in what was on offer - our hotel offered pool snacks which consisted of a tray of ham and cheese sandwiches , made with dry bread, and a tray of sliced plain cake, the original one offered various breakfast menu's till 12 and then pool areas with pizza, burgers etc. Ours gave you beer, wine, brandy and ouzo free till 11.00pm whereas our original booking had all spirits and cocktails free too, till 1.00am.
Where I think they are committing fraud is because they take a booking from you in Sept but don;t actually book the rooms till three months before hand. The buyer relys on the contract between the tour operator and the hotel but since we seem to have got bumped because the manager thought we were paying too little then in this case there doesn't appear to be much of a contract. Kind of makes a mockery of paying your deposit since this in fact secured nothing for us
Thanks for the offer Stacey, I am putting together my first letter back to Airtours and will pm you

I wasn't criticising you for your comment about the Germans (I'd walk out if I was put in such a hotel!), just didn't want you to make a comment that would make take focus off your true complaint. What you have written in the above post shows you have a strong case.

What you have described is not fraud. Morally, it is not good practice, but definitely not fraud. Also, if you did pursue the fraud line, and the case ended up in court, this could not be dealt with on the small claims track.

Let us know how you get on with the letter x