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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be cross about this holiday booking?

151 replies

Divette · 07/08/2018 12:31

Aaargh I’m at the end of my tether here! We decided last minute (Friday last week) to book a holiday to our favourite resort for this Friday. It’s privately owned self catering apartments and we book the flights separately. We looked at flights and prices and knew we could (just about) justify it having bought a house this year too.

I got in touch with several owners and management companies to enquire about apartments. Nothing was quite what we were looking for (we specifically need to be in a certain place on resort so we can always be near the children when they’re in the pool etc. We know the resort well and so know which apartments work for us and which don’t).

One man (management company) got back to me eventually yesterday and said he had availability for our dates but we’d have to move apartments halfway through due to availability. We understood and were about to go ahead and book when he replied to say someone had agreed a booking on the apartment for the first part of our stay and this first one now wasn’t available after all but the second still was.

He then phoned me to say he had somewhere else for the second part of the stay but couldn’t tell me any details or price. This was 5ish yesterday and having checked the flights again we realised they had gone up in price by £250 (aaargh!) but that if we stayed longer, we could pay the original flight price so decided to extend our stay in the second apartment which he said was free and would be no problem.

We told him we would have to book our flights for fear of them going up again (they had already increased in price by £150 the day before). He said he definitely had somewhere in the correct location and with the 2 bathrooms so go ahead and book our flights. So we did.

Today he emailed to say he should have somewhere for me by 9am. He gave me a price which was high but we had to go with it by this point. I thanked him and explained again we were quite specific about location on resort and that if whatever he had found didn’t suit, we’d be happy to use it for the first week, then move into his second apartment as agreed yesterday. He then said he had an apartment for the whole of our stay that his friend could offer us, but that he couldn’t remember any details about it (not the location on resort or if it had 2 bathrooms like we wanted). He told me at this point to email his friend instead (not a company just an owner who lives on the resort). I reiterated that we’d need to know the details of location etc before we booked. He said he didn’t have any details and it was very short notice for me to be asking for them.

I said again we’d need to know info so we knew our boys would be close by in the pool etc and that we’d need to go with the original plan of moving apartments if the first wasn’t suitable. He said we could no longer do that as he’d just taken a booking on the second apartment and the only one now available was this one through a third party in the resort which he had no details about!

I called him at this point and he told me to speak to this other man for details. I said I was booking through him (it’s him he had asked me to pay), so although he was really not happy he said he’d try to find out some details. He said he had been told details this morning but it was very early so he couldn’t remember and he had 3 children to look after Confused

He called me back and said this man wanted to speak to me and tried to give me his number to call him in the resort. He said he had tried 3 times to give the man my number but couldn’t (something to do with a landline). I was cross by now and asked him to email the man my number as I didn’t want to pay to call internationally when I was trying to book through him. He put the phone down on me!

Now we’re left with nowhere to stay potentially or having to stay somewhere unsuitable and some really expensive flights booked! Shock

Am I wrong to expect more?!

OP posts:
MsOliphant · 07/08/2018 13:19

Yes, but at this point you hadn't secured your booking. He can say what he wants- until money changes hands he owes you nothing! If you wanted the apartment he was offering you should have booked it there and then!

adaline · 07/08/2018 13:20

But OP, you're booking a holiday right at the last minute - so you can't expect to get everything you want. It was your choice to book flights without secure accommodation - that's nobody else's fault.

If you want specific rooms, then you need to book way in advance to guarantee that. You were offered a room in the resort and turned it down - that was your choice and now you might not get anywhere. Why not just take the room you were given and go and sit on loungers by the pool like everybody else does?

RedSkyLastNight · 07/08/2018 13:20

Neglectful parenting style

Hopefully this is not you, but we spent most of a week's holiday looking after a 3 year old whose parents were "supervising" from their pool terrace. It was lovely and relaxing for them leaving others to look after their child, I can see pool terraces are so popular.

Floralnomad · 07/08/2018 13:20

You’ve got the flights just have a look for some different accommodation , you may find something better , really not worth stressing about .

Glumglowworm · 07/08/2018 13:21

YABU

If you have such particular requirements then booking at the last minute isn’t a good idea.

Just go to the pool to supervise your kids surely?

BluBambu · 07/08/2018 13:27

I actually disagree with most posters here. The guy sounds a nightmare. He told you he had accommodation available and to book flights but then sold it to someone else. He also can't describe a place he wants to rent to you at all to you which seems dodgy to me.
However I do think you should make the international phone call or go with someone else. Have you paid this "manager" anything yet?

speakout · 07/08/2018 13:29

The guy sounds a nightmare.

I agree- I think the OP has had a lucky break.

adaline · 07/08/2018 13:29

. The guy sounds a nightmare. He told you he had accommodation available and to book flights but then sold it to someone else.

That was OP's fault for booking flights before she'd secured accommodation. I would never take a strangers' word as gospel!

HolyPieter · 07/08/2018 13:34
Biscuit

Enjoy the flights.

mrsm43s · 07/08/2018 13:41

The OP didn't book the accommodation, and so therefore it was still available to be let - and someone else got there first. Why would the OP think that unbooked accommodation would be in any way reserved? I don't think any resort would hold unbooked rooms while someone dithers around and decides whether or not to book them!

OP, why didn't you book (and, of course pay for) the suitable accommodation when it was offered to you?

cheesefield · 07/08/2018 13:43

.

Divette · 07/08/2018 13:44

OP, why didn't you book (and, of course pay for) the suitable accommodation when it was offered to you?

Suitable accommodation was never offered. He offered something yesterday, we agreed to go ahead and he said it was no longer available.

OP posts:
Divette · 07/08/2018 13:45

And we weren’t ditherng around at all. We were waiting for him to give us information about the accommodation he had-not too much to ask.

OP posts:
MsOliphant · 07/08/2018 13:46

But you did book the flights without securing it.

reeldoop · 07/08/2018 13:47

I really don't see how you can expect perfect levels of customer srrvices when you are booking a week before!! We are a family of 5 and often do this and you just have to take what is available and be flexible on location.

Silvercatowner · 07/08/2018 13:48

We were waiting for him to give us information about the accommodation he had-not too much to ask

No, except that clearly someone else leapt in and booked it while you were asking for more info. If you are booking this last minute you clearly don't have the leisure to take your time.

sonjadog · 07/08/2018 13:48

I can understand why you are annoyed, but really, there is no point wasting time and energy on it now.

Doyoumind · 07/08/2018 13:49

Have you done anything about sorting this out yet though or are you waiting for accommodation to magically build itself poolside ready for you? Find somewhere else to stay or call the guy back and get the number for the man with an apartment.

reeldoop · 07/08/2018 13:51

We also always secure the accommodation first before booking flights as you can usually cancel or change the accommodation much more easily than the flights. I think you're being a bit naive and maybe, dare I say it, MN entitled. You can't expect choice location when booking the week before.

Lunde · 07/08/2018 13:53

The problem is - while you are going backwards and forwards getting information about your precise requirements - other people are actually booking and paying their money. So the apartment has now been booked by someone else. You can't expect accommodation to be reserved before you pay.

If you have very specific requirements - you need to book early. It is daft to take a chance on last minute bookings and then complain that your specifications cannot be met in a fully booked resort in high season.

nocoolnamesleft · 07/08/2018 13:54

He told you what was available at that time. You demanded more info. Whilst you were doing so, someone else decided to book a last minute holiday, and had the sense to realise they had to snap up the accommodation. Which was not yet yours. And the agent has done his job: filled the vacancy.

PrimalLass · 07/08/2018 13:55

I really don't see how you can expect perfect levels of customer srrvices when you are booking a week before!! We are a family of 5 and often do this and you just have to take what is available and be flexible on location.

You should get good customer service whenever you book. The point is she hasn't as the man told her she could have what she wanted then changed his mind.

The Op isn't being unreasonable apart from the phonecall thing.

SisterNotCisTerf · 07/08/2018 13:55

He told you he had accommodation available and to book flights but then sold it to someone else.

Yes, the next day, less than a week before they were needed he had sold them. Of course he had. OP hadn’t booked them. He needed them filled. How long do you expect him to wait before offering them to someone who can actually confirm and pay for them?

Divette · 07/08/2018 13:55

Just to clarify again, I didn’t expect anything. I actually expected there not to be anything suitable so we wouldn’t have booked. We were then told there was suitable accommodation and took this man’s word. That’s the only mistake I made and I will certainly learn from it. I’m moaning that he didn’t keep to his word and wasn’t professional in his dealings with me. I really don’t know what I did wrong here. I did not expect anything at all.

I’m still looking for accommodation and am sure we’ll find something. It might not be ideal but we’ll enjoy it anyway I’m sure. Thanks all. Smile

OP posts:
CoperCabana · 07/08/2018 13:57

Not to derail, but can someone explain the deleting cookies whilst searching for flights thingy Blush