Deposit Query

shul558127

Am a bit bummed as we stand to loose 180 because we booked an easyjet holiday through a travel agent, we found out had we done it ourselves it would be refunded, we have tried to rebook with them but each time it's says there is no longer availability for the new booking we want, its of a lesser value so there is a 25 charge, we also found out that the deposit is person so we'd loose our daughters deposit entirely if we went somewhere on our own. It feels like we are being screwed over and I want to complain but I dont know who to or even if it's worth it? The original booking was 4k we thought we could just put the deposit towards a city break for a few hundred quid but it seems everything like that is "unavailable", any help or advice, thanks very much xx

Westin

You haven’t been ‘screwed over’.

You probably just need to be more decisive in your travel and holiday plans.

The blame does not sit with EasyJet Holidays or your travel agent.

Caz3121

shul558127 said:

Am a bit bummed as we stand to loose 180 because we booked an easyjet holiday through a travel agent, we found out had we done it ourselves it would be refunded, we have tried to rebook with them but each time it's says there is no longer availability for the new booking we want, its of a lesser value so there is a 25 charge, we also found out that the deposit is person so we'd loose our daughters deposit entirely if we went somewhere on our own. It feels like we are being screwed over and I want to complain but I dont know who to or even if it's worth it? The original booking was 4k we thought we could just put the deposit towards a city break for a few hundred quid but it seems everything like that is "unavailable", any help or advice, thanks very much xx

why would it have been refunded if you booked direct with EasyJet holidays?
Booking direct with EasyJet - Cancellation over 60 days in advance is loss of deposit (£60 per person)
Changes to holiday destination are £40 per person

Don't think having booked with a travel agent has necessarily made you any worse off. 

eskbanker

shul558127 said:

Am a bit bummed as we stand to loose 180 because we booked an easyjet holiday through a travel agent, we found out had we done it ourselves it would be refunded, we have tried to rebook with them but each time it's says there is no longer availability for the new booking we want, its of a lesser value so there is a 25 charge, we also found out that the deposit is person so we'd loose our daughters deposit entirely if we went somewhere on our own. It feels like we are being screwed over and I want to complain but I dont know who to or even if it's worth it? The original booking was 4k we thought we could just put the deposit towards a city break for a few hundred quid but it seems everything like that is "unavailable", any help or advice, thanks very much xx

What's stopped the originally booked holiday from going ahead, i.e. at whose instigation is the change?  This should then lead to what the agent's and/or holiday company's terms will dictate....

bagand96

Caz3121 said:

why would it have been refunded if you booked direct with EasyJet holidays?
Booking direct with EasyJet - Cancellation over 60 days in advance is loss of deposit (£60 per person)
Changes to holiday destination are £40 per person

Don't think having booked with a travel agent has necessarily made you any worse off. 

easyJet Holidays will return your deposit as credit if you cancel upto 60 days before travel.

However if the OP booked via an agent they will also be bound by the agent's T&Cs in addition to easyJet's.  It may be the case that easyJet don't offer the deposit credit option to trade/agent bookings, or it may be the agent's own policy.

Worth noting that generally deposits are non-refundable, the easyJet credit policy is generous.

sheramber

You pay more to buy in Harrods than you do in Tesco but you cannot complain to Harrods that they charge more.

You chose to book through an agent and no doubt agreed to their terms and conditions at the time. 

You need to pay towards the wages of the admin staff and the  agent’s running costs. 

Why did you not investigate booking direct before booking through an agent?

If all the available places on a holiday are sold then  there will be no availability. 

Have you cancelled the agent’s booking and are trying to rebook the same holiday direct with EasyJet?

MyRealNameToo

sheramber said:

You pay more to buy in Harrods than you do in Tesco but you cannot complain to Harrods that they charge more.

Not sure you'd find a big crossover in products sold. 

Harrods is at least better than Liberties. They just pretty much sell everything at its RRP the difference is that their product range starts where most stores end and then go up from there. If you look at others selling the same non-high street brands their prices are often very similar. Liberties on the other hand often sell above the RRP but they make bigger claims about their selection on what to stock which presumably they claim adds value. 

sheramber said:

You chose to book through an agent and no doubt agreed to their terms and conditions at the time. 

You need to pay towards the wages of the admin staff and the  agent’s running costs. 

But then so does EasyJet Holidays, this is part of the fallacy that buying direct is always going to be cheaper. People seem to forget that those running a direct sales are incurring the same staff, systems, advertising, real estate costs etc that a middleman does and with those additional costs comes an expectation of additional profit.  In this scenario EasyJet Holidays is themselves a middleman given they are selling other's hotel rooms. 

For tangible products we seem to get it and expect/accept that Tesco or Amazon are likely to be cheaper than going direct to the manufacturer but for intangible products and services the idea that direct is best tends to linger. 

Pollycat

MyRealNameToo said:

sheramber said:

You chose to book through an agent and no doubt agreed to their terms and conditions at the time. 

You need to pay towards the wages of the admin staff and the  agent’s running costs. 

But then so does EasyJet Holidays, this is part of the fallacy that buying direct is always going to be cheaper. People seem to forget that those running a direct sales are incurring the same staff, systems, advertising, real estate costs etc that a middleman does and with those additional costs comes an expectation of additional profit.  In this scenario EasyJet Holidays is themselves a middleman given they are selling other's hotel rooms. 

For tangible products we seem to get it and expect/accept that Tesco or Amazon are likely to be cheaper than going direct to the manufacturer but for intangible products and services the idea that direct is best tends to linger. 

I've never subscribed to this 'fallacy'.

But before booking anything, I do check what I'm getting from booking direct against what on-line travel agents offer.
For example, I know if I book a TUI or Jet2 holiday, I know that I can cancel and just lose my deposit (obviously quite a while before departure) whereas on-line travel agents will book airline seats with TUI or Jet2 and have to pay for them at the point of booking.
So if I have booked with an on-line travel agent, I'd have to stump up for the flight tickets if I want to cancel.
I'm also aware that if you book via a 3rd party, the main airline/travel agent may not want to deal with me as I'm not their customer.
Meaning that a change that might be free/cheaper if booked direct will probably have a charge from the on-line agent.

This thread is a great example of booking direct instead of being attracted to an on-line agent's headline price:
Save about £400 if book flight via an online travel agent..?? - Page 2 — MoneySavingExpert Forum
Turns out that the £400.00 saving wasn't a saving at all as the OP discovered that there was little difference between booking with the agent (theoretically 'saving' £400) and booking direct.

20122013 said:

Thank you for all your replies - I have bought a ticket direct via the airline for about the same price as the agents.  

People just need to understand what they are booking.

How many people are fooled by headline prices?