I've paid for a holiday on line, now I've recieved a call to say the price has gone up!

[mummyloveslucy]

Hi, I booked a holiday earlier today to florida for 2015. I received a call from them this evening to say it had gone up by £250. They said they act as a travel agent and prices go up and down all the time.
I've just been back on their web site and the same holiday, flights and room are the same price as they were before!
Am I being stitched up? I also got the hotel voucher and it says we have to pay a $3.50 a day resort fee. What on earth is this about?
The holiday is through holidaygems.co.uk.

I'm starting to get a bit worried about all this as it seems dodgy. It is ATOL protected.

Resort fee is just a tax on tourism. That's normal.
Not sure about them changing the price though.
I wouldn't be happy about that.

The price published in the brochure / web etc on line is the price you should pay. As long as you have paid in full and you have your confirmation then I don't believe they can ask you for more money. ( read the T&C however) Check in your accom website if there is a local resort fee to pay. The agent should have advised you on booking but check. This should be payable locally in resort I guess.

No, I wasn't either... I'm glad the tax thing is normal though.

It did say something in the terms and conditions about price changes, but the holiday is still being advertised for that same price. I think it's a bit of a con.

I booked and paid for a holiday with them. Exactly the same thing happened to me. But i was very clearly given a choice of whether to go ahead or not.

I've just noticed now that it doesn't include hold luggage. I can't see us traveling to Florida with just hand luggage! We'll squeeze it all in to one case I think.

You obviously have no idea how good the shopping is there then ?

Ha ha! Maybe I should take 2 then.

its a really common con to lure you in, pretend to try to book tickets then say 'oh no the price has gone up'
sounds like they are trying an online version of the trick

MLL,

There's plenty of online stuff in terms of complaints of a similar nature to what you describe about this company as well.

What do you mean when you state that it does not include any hold luggage?.

cancel on principle

Have they actually booked the tickets and accommodation (ie do you have an airline receipt/booking confirmation) or do they hold the money and buy when most advantageous? You can report them to Consumer Direct and see what they say but agree you may be best cancelling now. The t and c's may allow for further charges later.

I'm not sure if I can cancel. I have e-tickets for flights and hotel. They have invoiced me the extra £360. I guess it was a confirmed booking.

I might phone them and ask about the luggage charges. I wish I'd read the terms and conditions more carefully now.

on what basis have they invoiced the extra ?

Of course you can cancel. They can't hold you to an open-ended cost. That would surely be an unfair contract term.

I would try and cancel it; you're not going until next year anyway. However, in their terms and conditions they are citing a £75 per person cancellation charge.

They are also not a travel agent:- "Except where otherwise specified, we act only as agent in respect of all bookings we take and/or make on your behalf". Holiday Gems Ltd is a franchise member of The Global Travel Group Ltd.

I note as well they are not members of ABTA either.

Your best bet is actually not to use a firm like this but to book directly with the airline and hotel in question.

did you pay by credit card? if so speak to your credit card company about cancelling this. you have to cancel. there will be more charges to come they aren't abta members so they can basically keep coming back for more. get straight on to your local trading standards. please don't continue with this booking. read the t's and c's again and cancel. the price looks too good to be true because it isn't.

good heavens, I have just read their t's and c's. talk about alarm bells ringing!! they do say that the price is just an "offer". they go back to talk to the supplier and if they cannot secure the "offer" then they secure the best possible price available. and that is what you agree to when you sign up. definitely one for trading standards and naming and shaming wherever else you can.

Holiday gems are well known for this. Google.

Oh no!! I'll have to cancel. I'm sure it said if it has been booked then a £199 each person is charged!!

This seems very unfair. I would swifly visit a Citizen's Advice or give trading standards a call.

I've just been on a forum of people talking about this company. Most people have the same experience.

The price on line is not the price you pay. They phone you to say it's gone up. You also need to pay for baggage and transfers.
They aren't very good at answering the phone and some people have been left without a hotel/ flights etc.
They have all said to phone and make sure we are booked onto flights and that hotel has been booked and paid for before traveling.

They charge you £80 each for cancelling + what ever the air line and hotel charge, which could be up to 100% according to their T&C.

Even with the added cost of the hols, the transfers and the baggage, as long as we don't take too much, it's still not a bad price. I don't really want to loose £240 let alone what the air line and hotel might charge.

There are people who have said that they have used them before and had no problems, but the bad stories far out weigh the good.

I'm not letting my DH know if I can possibly help it. This would ruin the holiday for him.