any TRAVEL AGENTS out there? help! am doing battle with CRYSTAL HOLIDAYS!

[noonar]

Hi

i posted elsewhere that we were going to have to cancel ourskiing hol due to financial difficulties. tiredemma kindly suggested that we might be able to transfer our deposit to a new holiday later in the season.

to cut a long story short, after hours of searching their website, we found the perfect easter hol at a total of £1359. great!....except...crystal will only sell US that holiday for £1884. they say that we are only entitled to buy this holiday at the price it was on sale for when we originally booked, back in april, and not at the current price. this price difference wipes out our £480 deposit! (iyswim)

iunderstand that we have to pay an admin fee, and won;t get the internet discount, but this still makes the holiday alot more exp than anyone else would pay for it!

have spent 1.5hr on the phone arguing, holding etc etc. they wont budge. can they do this???

our deadline for paying the balance is today [angry}

[tiredemma]

contact abta TODAY

[noonar]

emma, are they not allowed to do this, then??

[tiredemma]

I have just read their T&C's and it dosent mention this if you changed your holiday. Phone Abta now for advice. it doesnt sound right at all.

[noonar]

phoned abta. they were sympathetic but can't help...

[tiredemma]

shit. sorry- what did crystal say???

[noonar]

just what i said in my Op- that they would charge me the price that it was in april- whether higher or lower than today's price. in this case, its worked against me, but it may have meant that i got a cheaPER HOL THAN IS BEING offered toady yeah, right...

[noonar]

they do say in their T and C's that they may treat changes to a lower priced hol as a cancellation...but then why accept the change and charge the ammendment fee?

[tiredemma]

and there is nothing cheaper on there for you now??- cant they look for something for you. They dont sound very helpful.

[noonar]

they are not. it would seem that i can search their website for availability, find a great deal, then ring them up- only so they can quote me a totally new, inflated price.

[noonar]

i am too exhausted to speak to them again. my deadline will pass. i will send a letter of complaint, requesteing a refund on the grounds that they have obstructed my search for an alternative by making it impossible for me to search myself for accurate pricing info on any new holiday.

[yarooo]

god, sorry, but this is how they work

it's all complicated stuff about volumes and demand - works this was for most products within the travel industry - plane tickets, hotel rooms, etc

prices go up and down according to demand

so the holiday you are "selling back" is worth less now than it was a few months ago (due in part to the current economic climate i imagine)

sorry

[yarooo]

works this way

[noonar]

but yaroo, they are still selling my holiday that i'm supposed to be going on- but for MORE money, NOT LESS!!

[noonar]

THEY ACTUALLY SAID THAT IT'D BE CHEAPER TO CANCEL AND RE BOOK.ie- my deposit is worthless!

[noonar]

sorry about caps

[noonar]

..and, yaroo, if the whole argument is that prices industry -wide fluctuate, surely that's a reason to sell the hol at the CURRENT price, not the old one. just don't get it

[hunkamunka]

Could you find a Crystal Easter holiday that has gone up in price since April and book that? (at the original lower April price).

I feel really sorry for you..it is horrid to be in this type of situation with a large organisation. Maybe you could email them a link to this thread on Mumsnet and they will see what bad publicity they are getting, and maybe make a concession!!

Have you travelled with Crystal many times before..maybe you could send something in writing reminding them of what a loyal customer you have been (list previous hols) and asking if they can reconsider.

Good luck.

[noonar]

hunka, thanks

we are only on our second crystal hol. i did say , in a rather tongue in cheek way, on the phone to crystal, that i clearly am barking up the wrong tree in looking for a cheap holiday, and that what i should be doing is trying to find a more exp one, as you suggest. strangely, they didnt take up the challenge of trying to help me find one!

[noonar]

hah! feeling better. have written a stonker of a letter of complaint.

[noonar]

am gonna ring trading standards later

and yep, i admit it, am getting a bit obssessive about this.

[LIZS]

madness Hope you get somewhere . Where is this bargainous easter break btw?

[noonar]

liz- hi! i have just done some more research, dug out my old brochures and discovered a shocking fact....

THE £1359 PRICE TAG IS THE SAME AS IT WAS BACK IN APRIL. THE HOLIDAY HASNT BEEN REDUCED AT ALL!! it's simply that crystal have a 2 tier pricing system- the £1880 price is from the FAMILY brochure- the other is from the MAIN ski brochure. they want to charge me the higher FAMILY BROCHURE price and wont let me buy from the main brochure.

this is inspite of the fact that i was told i could even swap to a summer lakes and mountainsa holiday if i liked

they SO cant do this, surely??

[LIZS]

so theri argument falls on its face , surely ?

[MrsGhoulofGhostbourne]

may be best just to cut your losses and pick up another holiday elsewhere - according to this hols are selling up to sixth of the price - becasue many people are cancelling their hols...

[MrLSG]

Just cancel.

Tell them you are going to book a holiday through a different, more flexible operator. They may change their mind - but equally they may call your bluff.