Holiday booking

[vegas888]

I went to a well know high street travel agents Saturday to book a holiday. I looked through some brochures and selected a hotel. The sales girl said she’d look for the best possible deal. She spent some time on her computer and phone and came back with a price. I paid the deposit and left.
When I got home I was googling the hotel and saw an online travel company also does the same hotel and the cost was nearly £1500 cheaper.
The travel agent I booked it through said they can book it cheaper for me but I’d lose the £400 deposit. Why didn’t they just book the cheaper one to start with if they were genuinely looking for the best deal.
I asked if I could transfer the deposit to the new booking and they said no.
So I said ok I will go ahead with the new quote and another deposit.
The lady then said oh the price has just gone up by another £500.
I said I’ve just paid the deposit how can you do that, she said it’s live prices and they change all the time.
I thought booking a holiday was supposed to be a pleasurable experience 😤
I’m so annoyed with them for what they’ve done and annoyed with myself for not checking the prices first.

Haven't bothered with the High Street shops for years and years. We book it all ourselves on line or use a specialist firm for some specific types of holiday.

I can’t believe people still use travel agents.

I think you've been extremely naive here OP. How could you possibly think that a travel agent who has to be paid a wage, have overheads for having an open store etc. Would find you the best deal? Of course that's what they're going to say to you but in reality, they cannot match the internet pricing.

I worked for TC in their head office for over 10 years, I would never book via a travel agent. At best, I would book through an agent that works from home but only if they offered the best price (which was the case for my last holiday).

Always do your homework upfront. You don't have grounds for complaint but if it's still going to save you money, lose the deposit and book online.

I would be wary that it may not be like for like, accommodation for example is often allocated in blocks to specific agents so you may not get same configuration, level or view. It is a risk you took but if you can really get the same £1500 it is worth forfeiting the deposit and seeing if you can complain and have it transferred or refunded.

Why didn't you check online reviews before you booked. I wouldn't dream of going into a high street travel agent, unless I had done hours of research beforehand and I'm using them for a particular reasons.

DH and I do something quite niche and we do use an Agent for it but they get fantastic discounts and perks and I never contact them until I've done my homework first.

OP is there a reason you used them in the first place? I know you can get cover etc, but I often book hotels direct, or through something like booking.com whilst having a strong insurance policy should something go wrong.

I won't use travel agents any more. They physically can't get better deals for you by the time they cover their own overhead costs, and it's so easy now to book online and compare holidays I really don't understand why I would need someone to do that for me.

No idea why people use travel agents. They have to pay themselves, you can almost always find better deals online. Have good insurance and book it all separately.

It's not always exactly the same package and prices can vary from minute to minute,live pricing is just that. I book myself and whilst I've done well over the years, delaying by an hour (for my dh to come out of a meeting to confirm something ) cost us £120 before Christmas

I use a travel agent because I can’t stand the hassle of booking tickets, hotel, transfers, baggage costs etc etc myself BUT I do check on line first so that I have an idea of the price I am prepared to pay.

We’ve had very good service from our local travel agent but it is a small independent chain which probably helps.

To everyone saying about travel agents not securing a good deal - the majority of holiday companies have commission marked into the price that you are paying for your holiday. If you go to a high street independent travel agent they are more interested in securing your custom than charging higher rates

Twitter is your friend here OP....get on there and write a shaming tweet!

I also think you've been naive. The much cheaper holiday was, I assume, through a completely different company? Agents have an obligation to promote and sell holidays from specific tour operators (including their own) -
On the internet there is a very wide range of providers selling much cheaper alternatives, although in many cases the actual operator might be different. They can't be expected to sell/promote these as they would get zero commission. They might not even be allowed to.

That said it is rubbish if they confirmed a price and 5 minutes later said it had gone up £500. If an agent could confirm a price I'd expect them to confirm a price. I'd expect them to be able to "hold" a price in the way you and I can't. If that's no longer the case I don't see why anyone would bother with them anymore

Go on social media. I find a tweet gets a speedy response.

They cant quote you a price then stick it up after you paid a (fresh) deposit. Kick up a fuss. Go in and demand a refund or they honour your original agreement. Then book the first hotel you wanted online.

This is a separate issue to the rip off first holiday they found you.

I had an issue with Thomas cook booked a holiday with them then wanted to change it through them to a different location (lots of genuine good reasons why) they said because it was a different brand I.e signature to adults only or something like that, it was booking a whole new holiday and I'd lose my deposit. I said no way I'm still booking another holiday with Thomas cook theres no way you can do that. I complained through the shop from agent to boss to area manager and up from there. Eventually they agreed and I kept my deposit and transferred it to another holiday still through Thomas cook. Just keep fighting OP.

Have to say I've used thomson in store service twice since then and even had to cancel a holiday with them and they've been brilliant. I'd never use Thomas cook every again.

Thomas Cook can never beat online deals. I found a Thomas Cook hotel last year but gave my local travel agent the opportunity to beat the price. Their best price was double what I was paying.

Complain through social media op. See if they listen when things are more public

Two issues here. 1 they lied to you about booking the cheapest holiday. 2 they took your deposit then raised the price of the holiday afterwards. Both unacceptable. Complain very loudly and repeatedly through every possible channel. You want the first deposit refunded and the second holiday provided at the quoted price. Or a full refund and you walk away.

Hello captain obvious!

If you want a shop experience, it costs more than doing the leg work yourself and booking online.

Sushi troll
Yes I understand that and am happy to pay a little extra for that service but not £1,500 extra 😕

As some of the others have said. This is two separate issues.

The first issue I would say is the misjudgement in your trust of them. They’re never going to be the cheapest on the market, and you accepted the price they presented you. If you were unhappy with this price (which clearly you were as you went away and googled it) why did you pay the deposit for it?
It may or may not have been the cheapest deal she could find at the time, it would be difficult for your or her to prove differently, but either way, you still accepted the price and paid the deposit.

The second issue is the price hike post paying the (second) deposit. Would I suspect is very illegal.

Legally they would not be able to hike the price up after you've committed.

Why won't you name them? 🤔

Tweet the hell out of them.

Thomas Cook