Complain about onthebeach

Westin

Jtdoyouloveme said:

The name of the hotel is irrelevant. I stayed there, I know they are false advertising 

Perhaps it is down to your interpretation of  is a “family hotel” or what is classed as “entertainment” or the location of the aqua park. Guess we will never know if you won’t disclose the hotel name.

Jtdoyouloveme

Kor65 said:

We went to Villa in Cyprus, and the photographs that we used on the website  were 11 years old did not resemble the appalling state of the Villa. 

We have reported James Villa to the citizens advice who pass the information to  the trading standards  we have heard  nothing back
we went direct to the company in Cyprus, and they were horrendous

It seems that the consumer rights are non-existent when it comes to holidays like this .

You could try the Credit Card section 75 if applicable

Oh no - sorry to hear that! I hope you hear back soon.

I’m not after a refund, just don’t want another family to be sold a holiday that isn’t actually what they are going to get.

Jtdoyouloveme

@eskbanker I will look into this as I’m not completely sure 

alidai

Jtdoyouloveme said:

Kor65 said:

We went to Villa in Cyprus, and the photographs that we used on the website  were 11 years old did not resemble the appalling state of the Villa. 

We have reported James Villa to the citizens advice who pass the information to  the trading standards  we have heard  nothing back
we went direct to the company in Cyprus, and they were horrendous

It seems that the consumer rights are non-existent when it comes to holidays like this .

You could try the Credit Card section 75 if applicable

Oh no - sorry to hear that! I hope you hear back soon.

I’m not after a refund, just don’t want another family to be sold a holiday that isn’t actually what they are going to get.

Gonna be quite difficult to ensure given you won’t name the hotel

Kor65

This is the response back from the citizens advice?

Thank you for your response and please accept our apologies for the delay in getting back to you.

If the T&Cs state that James Villa Holidays are not responsible for how the property is advertised then this is a legally binding part of the contract. It would be worth double checking the T&Cs to see if the have any liability at all as it may be that your contract is with the owner of the property and so therefore you would need to pursue the owner using the advice that my colleague has emailed to you.

Regards,

Zach

On Mon, 11 Sept 2023 at 19:40, Kevin wrote:

James Villa is saying that the contract is not with them it  is with a third-party. These are on the terms and conditions, small print and they’re not responsible for how they advertised or described the property . The issues were known to James Villa and they are on the reviews on the website. Is this right that they can act in this way in this country?

We are looking at going to the small claims court could you answer this question . Have they got the right to sell something wrongly and have no legal Liability for this. 

At the time of booking, you are not given any information about the third-party they are saying your contract is with (this is hidden in the small print.) you are not given any third-party contract or terms and conditions at the time of booking. We genuinely were not aware that they were operating in this manner. Although it is in the terms and conditions, it’s not made obvious when booking. 

Should I have 

Surely they should make the terms and conditions with this third-party available at the time of booking , so you can have an informed choice to carry on with the booking .we have not received any contract from this company in Cyprus before or after our trip to date.

Advertise a villa that has pictures 11 years old and described it as charming and delightful when it does not represent the actual condition of the Villa 11 years after. 

Kor65

I’m not trying to steal any thunder from the original post just trying to highlight what happens when things go wrong. 

The terms and conditions are absolutely ridiculous I don’t know how they can legally get away with them, but they are
be careful before you book a holiday since Covid they have all changed the terms and conditions. 

Jtdoyouloveme

Kor65 said:

I’m not trying to steal any thunder from the original post just trying to highlight what happens when things go wrong. 

The terms and conditions are absolutely ridiculous I don’t know how they can legally get away with them, but they are
be careful before you book a holiday since Covid they have all changed the terms and conditions. 

Exactly. Such poor service when it’s a holiday we hope to genuinely enjoy 

NoodleDoodleMan

The OP has only two avenues of complaint as I see things, as previously stated, OTB and/or the hotel.

The fact that the former withdrew from ABTA (as did Last Minute) speaks volumes.

Tripadvisor is basically a compilation of opinions from holidaymakers and visitors - they will not get involved.

The reluctance to identify the hotel etc. is not helpful.

Kor65

As somebody that’s going through this at the moment, they will find that OTB Will state they’re not responsible and hotel in a foreign country will just ignore them. 

Effectively, you’ll hit a brick wall. 

How these holiday companies have been allowed to change the terms and conditions that are so blatantly unfair.

At the moment, you’re best off going direct cut out the middleman who has no liability at all

NoodleDoodleMan

"At the moment, you’re best off going direct cut out the middleman who has no liability at all."

In a limited way - going DIY won't allieviate problems with those airlines and/or hotels that want to bodyswerve accountability.

That's why we always book with TUI or Jet2.