Best online holidays NOT

LeticiaK

I am having an awful experience with this company who were promoted via Travel Zoo . There seems to be a lot of negative reviews which didn't see before booking . Has anyone else had issues? 

Westin

Are you reporting a bargain or special offer?

heatherw_01

I have requested this be moved to the main board.

This is purely for posting holiday deals.

Truescot23

I booked a 3 night break to Malta with this company and I’ve complained to them after Keith their manager asked us if we wanted to upgrade our rooms to a luxury sea view room each.  He charged us £200 and I phoned the Santana hotel in Malta to check he had done this.  The first thing the receptionist said was we don’t have sea views,  I found out the hotel only charges £5 for an upgrade per night and we only had a standard room no luxury rooms. He lied and ripped us off.  I’m in the complaints process but I checked with ATOL as they advertise as being registered with them but when I searched on the website they come up as non member. Any advice would be appreciated. 

Alan_Bowen

They are an ATOL holder, 12016 to be precise, the company behind Best on Line Holidays is Chemm Business Ltd run by Mr and Mrs Patel. If they were members of ABTA you could make a formal complaint, but they are not so that isn't an option. The 'upgrade story' I am afraid,  is a regular rouse by some online agencies who offer prices that make no profit and then incentivise the staff to phone and offer 'deals' to make money. It is a very small business, its latest accounts suggest that apart from the 2 directors there is only one other member of staff, but they may well be using an outside call centre, best of luck with the complaint, do let us know how it ends.

Max005

Best online holidays, 
Terrible company with a London address but connected to an Indian call centre.  Following a travelzoo promotion.  The call centre salesman knew nothing about the offer.  Instead going into asking when wanted to go, and before you know it a break is booked at three times the price of the offer in a budget hotel.  From there if you require any changes a fee is charged. 
I would advise that you never contact best online holidays. 

Worried_Grandma

Not sure if this is the correct place to put this, if not can you please advise.

We booked a 3 night trip to Iceland with this company, we were told we would be staying in the Viking Hotel.  We were going in about 6 weeks time so paid the whole amount then. When we finally got the confirmation email it was a completely different hotel, two hours away from Reykjavik. We phoned up to cancel to be told we would lose everything.  Rather than that, they changed the hotel to one we were assured was on the outskirts of Reykjavik.  It was a transfer hotel in Keflavik.  Two bus rides and over two hours to get to Reykjavik.  We had booked excursions but couldn't do as we could not get there or back in time.  We found the Viking Hotel (it’s not in Reykjavik either) and popped in for a look.  Chatting to the staff we said we were supposed to be here but you were full. They weren’t.  We took photos etc as proof we went there.  We have tried to tell B O H that we would like to be reimbursed for the excursions we missed and the hotel.  They offered £25 holiday vouchers each.  This was increased to £35 each after my last email.

Would anyone have any suggestions please.

eskbanker

Worried_Grandma said:

Not sure if this is the correct place to put this, if not can you please advise.

We booked a 3 night trip to Iceland with this company, we were told we would be staying in the Viking Hotel.  We were going in about 6 weeks time so paid the whole amount then. When we finally got the confirmation email it was a completely different hotel, two hours away from Reykjavik. We phoned up to cancel to be told we would lose everything.  Rather than that, they changed the hotel to one we were assured was on the outskirts of Reykjavik.  It was a transfer hotel in Keflavik.  Two bus rides and over two hours to get to Reykjavik.  We had booked excursions but couldn't do as we could not get there or back in time.  We found the Viking Hotel (it’s not in Reykjavik either) and popped in for a look.  Chatting to the staff we said we were supposed to be here but you were full. They weren’t.  We took photos etc as proof we went there.  We have tried to tell B O H that we would like to be reimbursed for the excursions we missed and the hotel.  They offered £25 holiday vouchers each.  This was increased to £35 each after my last email.

Would anyone have any suggestions please.

Sounds like it was a package trip, which would fall within the provisions of the Package Travel Regulations - these do allow providers to change accommodation to something of the same standard in the same resort (or equivalent), so if you were told in advance that you were being moved to a different location then that would have entitled you to a full refund, or you could have pushed them to get you something in the same location (researching it yourself if necessary).

Having now taken the holiday, that opportunity no longer applies, but it's unclear whether you're actually due any recompense after the event - were the excursions you missed part of the package, i.e. bought with the flights and accommodation?

No1Bowler

This has to be the worst booking experience I've had. They can't offer the holiday at the price advertised, but offer an alternative at higher price.
Not given chance to reserve plane seats/baggage at time of booking, when trying to confirm seats at a later date excessive 'Card and transaction fees' added increasing costs by unbelievable amounts. Easyjet cost on App is 4 x £6.49, Total £27.00, BOH charging £55.00.
Attention to detail on booking information is lacking, had to ask twice for documents to have correct airline shown on ATOL Certificate.

The booking agents don't seem to understand what they are doing, other than how to charge inflated prices.

DO NOT USE THESE PEOPLE