Advice needed on holiday complaint.

ssedd

I have just returned from a week in Spain booked with a well known holiday company.
On arrival at Gerona airport we were told that our hotel (Aquarmarina hotel in Santa Susanna Costa Brava), was double booked and that we had been booked in at the Hotel Olympic Hotel in Loret De Mar. The holiday had been booked in September last year so that we knew we would be at the resort and hotel that we wanted so it was annoying to say the least. We were given at the airport vouchers for money off any trips we wanted to book with the reps but as we have two small children we dont book on the trips so these were wasted. The rep on the coach could not give us any information as to what the probelm at the Aqaumarina was and the rep in the hotel claimed he knew nothing about it but would find out and get back to us but never did. When we booked into the hotel there was no cot in our room and we had to pay an extra 3.5 Euros a night for the cot, again I went to see the rep who told us he would speak to his manager about trying to get our money back but never did.
I am going to be writing a letter of complaint to the company but wondered if anyone else has had problems the same and what I should expect to get in the way of compensation if any and if writing to the company is the best way forward or is there another route?

jonesMUFCforever

Did you get anything in writing whilst in the resort?
This should always be the main priority if problems cannot be resolved there and then and would back up your argument more strongly.

Looking at the bigger picture was the new hotel better/worse than the one you booked?
Would it have cost more/less to stay there if you had booked it in the first place?
Weere you prevented from doing anything at the new hotel which you would have been able to do at the old?

Lastly I think you should have no bother in getting the cot fees back as long as they were included in the first hotel.

Being honest with yourself was it such a great disaster that you wanted to come home early for example?

duchy

Have you read the booking conditions in the brochure ? It will clearly state what they will offer if they change your hotel so you need to start there.

ssedd

The hotel that we put in was not a bad hotel, however the resort of Loret de Mar is not a resort for young children; we have two children 1 & 3. The resort has lots of bars and nightclubs and is aimed at young men and women not children. The other bad point was that at Santa Susanna the beach is a couple of minutes froin the hotel through an underpass, at Loret the beach was 20mins away and as we didnt know we were going to this hotel we had only taken one push chair for the children so we had lots of carrying to do with the three year old.
I have read the terms and conditions that was sent with the booking invoice email (we booked online) and it states that we may be able to claim compensation of £40 per person if the holiday was changed 0-14 days of depature; the other alternative was that we may have asked to be sent back home if we were not happy with the change of hotel. I imagine we will not get any further than this but can you imagine sitting on a plane for 2.5 hours after sitting in Manchester airport for 3 hours and then asking them to send you back home?

jonesMUFCforever

I think telling you after you got there should mean the £40 should be considered the minimum not the max.
So if you were to ask for say £60 per person (total £240) plus the cost of the cot would you consider that to be fair?

If you don't get what you consider a fair offer then you can ask ABTA to arbitrate.

StaceyAKelly

I know the hotels you are on about (they are H Top hotels arnt they) and the Olympic is not in the same league as the Aqua.

Simply write to them and say ".........based on the above I await to receive your cheque in the sum of £xxx by way of compensation to bring this matter to an end"

I would!

MrSmartprice

The compensation clauses are irrelevant, they refer to changes made before you depart. Explain to the company in a letter exactly what your complaints are, using separate numbered paragraphs so that they have to address each one. (They will try using vague platitudes that do not address specific complaints at first.) Tell them that if they do not offer adequate compensation you will sue them in the Small Claims Court.

Don't accept their first offer, as they wil try to fob you off at first. If necessary call their bluff and prepare to go to court. Over 90% of the time they will settle before it gets there.

Matters such as distances, the type of clientele the place is aimed at, etc, seem to be of no relevance to travel companies, but they are material considerations which would be relevant in court. It was not what you booked, and they failed to tell you in advance, which they are required to do. You hold all the aces here. Don't let them get away with it.

Finally, don't be tempted to use ABTA arbitration if they suggest it. They are a waste of time. Stick to the Small Claims Court if it gets that far.

ssedd

We have sent a letter to the travel company listing the problems and asking for a full refund and compensation, I dont imagine they will go with that but I will see what they offer.

jonesMUFCforever

ssedd wrote: »

We have sent a letter to the travel company listing the problems and asking for a full refund and compensation, I dont imagine they will go with that but I will see what they offer.

I think your taking the biscuit now!
At least you should have taken the flight element out of the equation (this is nearly 2/3rds of total cost of a package holiday) and take it from there.

You will get nowhere with your complaint IMO by acting in this way especially as you seemed to ''accept'' the offer by staying on and not demanding to be flown home at the time.

MrSmartprice

ssedd wrote: »

We have sent a letter to the travel company listing the problems and asking for a full refund and compensation, I dont imagine they will go with that but I will see what they offer.

Wait and see what they offer, but don't be fobbed off. Don't mention any more figures, let them come up with an amount and be prepared to simply reject it as not being adequate. Mention the Small Claims Court at the end of every letter.

ejones999 wrote: »

I think your taking the biscuit now!
At least you should have taken the flight element out of the equation (this is nearly 2/3rds of total cost of a package holiday) and take it from there.

You will get nowhere with your complaint IMO by acting in this way especially as you seemed to ''accept'' the offer by staying on and not demanding to be flown home at the time.

Here speaks a voice of NO experience. This is absolutely wrong, and total rubbish. When apportioning compensation for a ruined holiday, a court does NOT take the attitude that "you had the flights so we will not compensate for that". The holiday package is taken as a whole, irrespective of the individual elements and their relative cost. The failure to demand a flight home is irrelevant too, although clearly you did complain in resort which is what matters.

Incidentally, I was a TSO for 25 years, during which time I recovered many thousands of pounds for holidaymakers in compensation for lousy holidays. I also prosecuted many of the tour operators for their criminally false claims in relation to their holdays. So I know something about how the system works.

Reggie_Rebel

You will get nowhere with your complaint IMO by acting in this way especially as you seemed to ''accept'' the offer by staying on and not demanding to be flown home at the time.

I can't agree with that, what parent would tell two little ones they couldn't have their holiday?

The Tour Operator will try to offer you vouchers against another holiday probably, don't dismiss this out of hand because they will often offer a generous amount of vouchers, more than they would in cash.

I would also ask for the exact reason why you couldn't stay in your original hotel, being double booked when you made your booking more than twelve months in advance is a bit of a lame excuse.