Subletting Travel Agents!!

Sharon_Mander

We booked a flight & hotel with Travel Republic last year, traveling in September. The night before we were due to travel we found out the hotel had been overbooked. We contacted Travel Republic & they changed our hotel & charged us an extra £139 for the privilege!!! When we arrived it turned out that hotel was also full for that night!. To cut a long story short, we tried to claim compensation when we got back & were only offered 10% of the accommodation cost only & not even a refund for the extra they charged us. In the end they wouldn't budge so we went to ABTA who eventually told us that Travel Republic had "sublet" our holiday to an agent who wasn't an ABTA member so therefore no one was culpable. Beware!!!!! We've learned the hard way & certainly wouldn't use companies like that again. Anyone else had a similar issue??

bigadaj

Pay by card, ideally credit.

Then the bank are jointly liable, using chargeback or section 75.

leylandsunaddict

Sharon_Mander wrote: »

We booked a flight & hotel with Travel Republic last year, traveling in September. The night before we were due to travel we found out the hotel had been overbooked. We contacted Travel Republic & they changed our hotel & charged us an extra £139 for the privilege!!! When we arrived it turned out that hotel was also full for that night!. To cut a long story short, we tried to claim compensation when we got back & were only offered 10% of the accommodation cost only & not even a refund for the extra they charged us. In the end they wouldn't budge so we went to ABTA who eventually told us that Travel Republic had "sublet" our holiday to an agent who wasn't an ABTA member so therefore no one was culpable. Beware!!!!! We've learned the hard way & certainly wouldn't use companies like that again. Anyone else had a similar issue??

They don't "sublet". They're only an agent, so like all agents including high street ones, they use suppliers to book flights, accommodation etc. I'm surprised you didn't know though, because it's quite clear in their terms and conditions.

When hotels are overbooked it's usually down to the hotel. They get more from direct bookers so sell a bedbank allocated room and hope they get a cancellation. When they don't the bedbank guest gets bumped. It's not an unusual situation.

How much refund do you expect them to give you given that it's quite possible it will be coming out of their own pocket, even though none of it is their fault?

Westin

I find it hard to believe the term "sub-let" was used by ABTA.

Was it perhaps explained that Travel Republic purchased your hotel accommodation from a 3rd party (perhaps the term "bedbank" was even used) and that this 3rd party is not located in the U.K. and is not a member of ABTA? This will be why ABTA can't help further.

Leylandsunaddict covers the situation well and I also suspect it was the hotelier that oversold. It is far easier for the hotel to blame the agent, especially when the guests are standing in front of them.

I fear that Spain and the islands will again be over contracted this coming year, as last year, and over bookings will happen again. It will be those who booked the cheaper rates which get walked to alternatives, or those who book via agencies/bed banks with less power over the hotelier. Not that it doesn't happen but a hotel who gets perhaps 10,000 room night+ p.a. from a large tour operator like TUi/Thomson or Thomas Cook will be less likely to bump their clients and overbook them because of the consequences that follow.

The above all said, Travel Republic is probably one of the better agencies that dynamically packages holidays. They are part of the larger Dnata group and have parentage links to Emirates.

I fear this is one to chalk up to experience.

Heedtheadvice

Leylandsunaddict explains the likely situation well according to the letter of the law and the terms and conditions. Many of us are now aware of how these things work and some of us are still learning about the convoluted arrangements that are in place.

It does seem to me it is about time that there was some sort of change put in place to resolve the potential pitfalls that leave the customer with little in the way of assurance that what is advertised does not give the customer cover that would normally be available to other types of sale of items.

It is really a lack of transparency and a shortfall in upfront information regarding limitation of cover. ATOL cover can be invaluable but does not always apply, travel insurance might not fill the void, ABTA membership by an agent often give so little cover it is a joke!
Agents can thus have sloping shoulders, pass responsibility a step or many steps down the chain of contractual links.

Time that the agencies take responsibility that they sell products to the customers. Seldom (if ever?) do they openly sell products and add on an agency fee for their work and really act on behalf of the customer pointing out the pros and cons-for the benefit of those they are supposedly acting for.
We all see the headlines (all the great things about the flights/accommodation/locations/prices they advertise) of what 'they' 'sell' on the front pages but any thing else often unclear or much less obvious. Customers are often unaware of what the limitations are are just do not appreciate the complexities whereas the Agent ought to be in a position to advise.
Should there be compulsory 'insurance cover' by agents that covers when customers do not get what they pay for?

leylandsunaddict

An agent is just that, unless the agent acts as principal, which OTAs don't, except on the odd occasion.

They act as agents for their suppliers, not their customers. The OTAs generally work as agents for their customer when it comes to booking low cost carrier and charter flights though. TR even have a list of which airlines those are. They've more red tape and rules to conform to with what they sell than they did a few years ago.

If customers actually read the terms and conditions instead of just agreeing to them they would know how the OTA books and what they book. The T&Cs are usually transparent enough. They tell you what Atol protection applies to.

The agent takes responsibility if they're acting as principal, just like a tour operator does, but agents, including high street agents, aren't responsible when acting as agents. They can only try to resolve overbooking situations with the alternatives offered to them by their suppliers, and act as a middleman when it comes to complaints.

If people want advice, personal service, or for the agent to go the extra mile then they need to go to a good full service agent and pay more for the extra they're getting. You shouldn't expect if from a cheap OTA. Their savings have to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is generally customer service.

I can't see the point of using them personally, because they don't do anything you can't do yourself, and at least you don't then have a middlemans T&Cs to adhere to, along with those of their suppliers (which in the case of an OTA booking could be several depending on how many elements you book). Plus you don't have the extra layers in between you and your bookings.

Westin

Heedtheadvice wrote: »

Leylandsunaddict explains the likely situation well according to the letter of the law and the terms and conditions. Many of us are now aware of how these things work and some of us are still learning about the convoluted arrangements that are in place.

It does seem to me it is about time that there was some sort of change put in place to resolve the potential pitfalls that leave the customer with little in the way of assurance that what is advertised does not give the customer cover that would normally be available to other types of sale of items.

It is really a lack of transparency and a shortfall in upfront information regarding limitation of cover. ATOL cover can be invaluable but does not always apply, travel insurance might not fill the void, ABTA membership by an agent often give so little cover it is a joke!
Agents can thus have sloping shoulders, pass responsibility a step or many steps down the chain of contractual links.

Time that the agencies take responsibility that they sell products to the customers. Seldom (if ever?) do they openly sell products and add on an agency fee for their work and really act on behalf of the customer pointing out the pros and cons-for the benefit of those they are supposedly acting for.
We all see the headlines (all the great things about the flights/accommodation/locations/prices they advertise) of what 'they' 'sell' on the front pages but any thing else often unclear or much less obvious. Customers are often unaware of what the limitations are are just do not appreciate the complexities whereas the Agent ought to be in a position to advise.
Should there be compulsory 'insurance cover' by agents that covers when customers do not get what they pay for?

Sounds like a travel Utopia!

The regulations and ABTA's (AITO) code of conduct for members would seem to provide a great deal of control and management of what can and can not be done by traditional tour operators. There are penalties if they fail.

The problem over the past years has been a plethora of online operations, some based overseas, who cobble together holiday 'packages'. These are the ones that seem to cause many of the issues as people simply don't understand what they are buying or who they are buying it from. The great British public have become largely focused on chasing down the lowest price and do little research on what they are buying and if it suits their needs.

The internet is a great source of information and simple research in advance can often highlight issues with certain hotels or travel companies. People just don't do their homework, look for cheap and go click-click-buy.

Alternatively a good travel agent can help (no, I'm not one).

The Lowcost Holidays collapse last year caught many out but I suspect many will still continue not to focus on who they are buying from before handing over their money.

Now, where can I book that cheap holiday to Utopia?

Heedtheadvice

Leylandsunaddict yet again provides knowledgeable info but I think that post 6 just proves my point!

I paraphrase with tongue in cheek : an agent is an agent for 'them', unless they are an agent for 'us'!!!

I agree with most of the points made in that post and agree independent bookings are a good way of booking and usually me preference.

Interestingly last year I booked with an on line travel agent and fell foul of the chain with low-cost group being in there somewhere. I do read the terms and conditions and fortunately got ATOL cover but there Ts & C's in the small print were really confusing and even revered to the contract between me and the 'supplier' which I read that only referred to the contract between agent and low-cost!

It was totally confusing for my single brain cell!
But it seemed adequate to meet my needs.
However it was certainly not transparent. I pay up front (unlike sensible payment for most goods and services!) The flight gets paid for but the more convoluted chain to the accommodation does not necessarily get paid in advance. In my case payments only get to the accommodation 'principle' at the end of the financial year so no payment at all when I arrive, or even when I leave.

I'll not document further except to say I did not loose out financially (unlike some) but I did not get the 'service' or 'goods' in their entirety that were advertised (by the agent).

OK utopia might seem to be just an impossible aim but as things stand there is a lot of room for improvement, especially when what is advertised is not delivered or support when things go wrong is poor or nonexistent given that having paid ATOL fees it should be forthcoming.

Heedtheadvice

So, I read we are hijacking the thread a bit but very relevant to the general problem.

Assuming Sharon's booking via Travel republic met the 'flight plus' ATOL cover criteria, then should they (TR) not have sorted out the accommodation for Sharon at no extra cost?
Sharon really could have expected that as TR advertise on their home page "We are an IATA Accredited Agent and a full member of ABTA and ATOL, meaning you can book your holiday safe in the knowledge that you’re protected."
Is that not misleading given Sharon's reported experience?

Sharon_Mander

Thank you, that's my point exactly which Leylandsunaddict seems to have missed completely. How many other people have booked flights and hotels with a travel agent who advertises as ABTA or ATOL protected only to find out when something goes wrong that the agent they had booked with has actually passed on the bookings to another agent who isn't covered, so Hey Presto!!! Neither are you....... To be honest it wouldn't have been such a big problem for us if we hadn't pre-arranged delivery of road cycles to our hotel etc. I found out that the first hotel was fully booked only because I sent a courtesy email letting them know this is what we had done, they told us (as did the second hotel ) that they had informed Travel Republic that they were full.