Help with Transfer

liamsteven1

Hi

I am after some advice.

We went to Tenerife in early July and booked a private transfer costing £34 return (sounds cheap but I have booked them cheaper!) but when we landed and went into arrivals we found the transfer operator’s office closed and nobody in sight. We were ten minutes early and so decided to wait around to give them a chance. We waited ten minutes beyond our confirmed collection time at which point I called the emergency number (It was a Saturday) that was provided on our booking but it kept going to an answering service; I left several messages over a further ten minute period. 

We decided to get a local taxi but had no cash (silly yes, but the advice was to avoid cash due to COVID-19) and the cash machines were all switched off (due to COVID-19). There were only a couple of Taxi’s but neither had a card machine and the language barrier didn’t help. 

I then decided to contact the company who took payment but it was an American number and I knew I was going to end up paying charges but had no choice. All in all I was on hold for 30 mins (was cut off twice!) and in the end they said there was nothing they could do as they could not get hold of the local provider. They said they would call back to help us but hours later they emailed me! 

We finally managed to track down an airport rep who convinced a taxi driver to take us into town and visit a cashpoint on the way, which he reluctantly agreed to. This journey cost us €30.

I contacted the supplier via email and chased them all week asking about our return. We finally got a cancellation the day before departure. Literally just an email saying our transfer had been cancelled and a voucher was being issues for use through July 2021! 

I tried to use the voucher to book a return journey but they were almost four times the price.

We used another local Taxi for the return and this cost us another €30.

I have now received my phone bill with £28 of call charges to America (I knew they were coming!).

So what originally should have cost £34 cost £82.25 (minus refund see below).

I have spoken with the company several times and they refunded the outbound transfer fee (£17) but were adamant they would not refund the inbound (instead providing a voucher) until I stood firm and they eventually refunded the remaining £17.

I asked them if they would consider refunding the difference between their refund (£34) and the costs for local taxi’s/phone charges and they said yes at first and asked for my PayPal address but then said they no longer offer refunds two days later...

I want them to refund my call costs and the difference paid to local taxi’s which would be £48.25. 

I’ve argued that I wouldn’t have needed to call them or get a taxi if their provider had provided the service. 

My other half thinks I should just drop the matter but I’m the sort of person that won’t let it go. Money is really tight and £48.25 is a lot of money to us. 

I know there are many people and families who haven’t had a break this year or may have had a worse experience but I’m not looking to debate that, just to ask whether you would pursue this or put it down to experience?

bigadaj

Sound like an international nightmare you can pursue but dealing wih a us company means you probably don't have recourse to many uk options, a lesson to be learned I'd say and ensure you k now who you are dealing with when booking.

TELLIT01

I would advice you to pick your battles, and accept that this is one you are unlikely to win.  I accept that nearly fifty quid is a lot of money, but you are likely to spend a lot more than that chasing a lost cause.  Just avoid that company in future.  Cheap doesn't always end up being good value.

silvercar

Leave honest reviews in places that matter, like tripadvisor.

mattyprice4004

I'd leave a lot of poor reviews, but you're unlikely to get a refund from them. 
While I can appreciate the £48 is important, if you're willing to travel in the middle of a pandemic there are certain risks - that includes some elements of the trip not going to plan as in this case. 
Besides, if you paid for a flight and a hotel then money can't be as tight as say, someone losing £50 and not being able to top up their electric as a result. 

Not meaning to sound mean, but I think it's going to be one you'll need to take on the chin and put it down to a COVID expense. 

TELLIT01

mattyprice4004 said:

Besides, if you paid for a flight and a hotel then money can't be as tight as say, someone losing £50 and not being able to top up their electric as a result. 

You have no idea of the OP's financial situation.  The holiday may have been paid for months ago, and the OP really left with the choices of losing their money or taking a risk on the holiday.

liamsteven1

Thanks for the advice.

Yes it does feel like I should drop it but I’m going to keep contacting them twice per week until they either give in or block my email address. It’s not costing me anything other than a couple of minutes a week to send the same email.

Good tip about the reviews etc. 

We booked the holiday and paid it off and it was a lot to lose if we cancelled, especially as Spain was removed from non-essential travel a week before we went! 

suejb2

I find using Twitter to contact a company gets quicker results.