Holiday Hell Help

[MargoLivebetter]

Does anyone have any experience of complaining about a package holiday that was NOT an ABTA registered travel company?

I have been badly let down on a package holiday I took recently. I complained while I was away and have made written formal complaints since my return including requesting compensation. I've adapted letter templates given by Which, to make sure I've included all the right terminology etc.

However, the company are resisting giving compensation. So where do I go next? The internet says ABTA, but this company is not with ABTA, so that is not possible.

Has anyone complained to Trading Standards or gone via Small Claims Court for holiday issues and had success? Thank you.

What was the issue, it is hard to answer if we don’t know what went wrong and what compensation you wish.

If it was not sold as a package you may need to claim against the individual suppliers.

What does badly let down mean?

Charge back on your credit card? I did this for a holiday, though not a package. If they are Uk based then small claims.

What went wrong? It's impossible to answer you with the information currently available.

Thank you for the replies.

just to confirm, it was a package holiday. All parts supplied by one company. Paid for by debit card as they did not accept credit card payments, so no recourse to my credit card company.

The package was mid-sold and not as advertised. Neither the hotel, nor the included additional tours and extras were as described or were completely missing.

The hotel rooms (because I had an insect infestation in the first one) were in really poor condition and not by any stretch of the imagination 5 star. I took plenty of photos and have sent those in.

There was supposed to be a rep available at all times. There wasn’t any rep at all.

Where was the holiday?
What price did you pay?
What have you tried to claim back, were you specific in asking for a figure and can you justify the figure you have asked for?
Did you incur extra costs because the hotel was not as described or is it a case of wanting to claim for disappointment?

5 star often relates to the facilities though and not the condition of the room. A 5 star room can actually be tatty and dated

So five star refers to the facilities not condition, you have a claim for any missing tours, not for a rep not there. I suspect the issue here is whay you’re claiming for.

This is why you should only go through ABTA / ATOL registered suppliers.

Trading Standards might help if they are a UK based company.

There is often small print about facilities and excursions being subject to availability, numbers or conditions. Sounds like hotel addressed your room issue.

I have approached my claim thoroughly. I have gone through the description of the hotel rooms, the facilities, the excursions, the guarantee of a rep etc as outlined by the package holiday company. I have checked all their Ts&Cs carefully to make sure I haven't missed anything. It was a 5 day trip and I have requested compensation of 30% of what I paid, as I do not believe that they fulfilled their obligations under the terms of the Package Travel Regulations 2018, nor the Consumer Rights Act of 2015.

Has anyone had any success claiming against a travel company via trading standards or small claims court?

Well I mean sure many will have, but their cases will be different to yours.

I'm sure, but I'm looking for some experiences that might be helpful.

Where was this holiday? And where is the company based? Is it a UK company? Is there a reason why you did not use an ABTA company?

@AlohaRose uk based and registered holiday company. The holiday was abroad. Didn't appreciate the significance of it not being ABTA registered until I had the complaint. Lesson learnt. Do you have any experience of using small claims court or trading standards for a holiday complaint?

They’ll have covered their arse and you didn’t cover yours. What excursion did they promise without adding that it was subject to availability in their t&cs? That’s possibly the only recourse and almost certainly wouldn’t have affected 30% of the cost to you.

I have years of experience working for a holiday company. I have also helped a friend at court.

Using a 'Which' template was not a good idea.

Requesting 30% of the total you paid means nothing.

You need to justify 'exactly' what your claim is for. Mis-described means nothing in terms of getting money back. You have to quantify your losses. There being no rep is bloody annoying but you have no monetary loss there.

Many people will have been on the same package as you, you found it unacceptable, others may have been satisfied.

Describing the rooms wont make a difference, its what the hotel did to rectify the situation that matters and if you complained correctly at the time.
The facilities- they will probably be covered by small print saying some may not be available.
The excursions- again what does the small print say about them?

You have to justify the amount you are asking for. 30% is a non starter as around half your holiday price is in the air fare and obviously you travelled. Without knowing how much the holiday was and looking a the hotel details its not possible to say what you may be able to claim.

Its fine to say mis-sold but that puts quite a burden of proof on you and also takes expectations into account.

I would imagine that your request has been knocked back simply because you asked for too much and your letter of complaint did not meet the criteria needed to be taken seriously. Unfortunately it may be difficult to now backtrack and send a better complaint. Likewise if you take them to court the onus is on you to prove your 'loss of enjoyment' and reasonable costs. Small claims is fine for recovering provable losses but I would be wary of doing so based on what you have already said.
Would you be willing to name the hotel and holiday company as its hard for anyone to advise on the info already given.

Was the holiday in the Uk or abroad?

@fends the holiday was specifically called "Tours of XXXX". The excursions were pre-booked and organised by the holiday company. The rep was supposed to take us on the tours, but there was no rep! The holiday brochure gives very specific itineraries for where the tours would go, what would be included etc. There were no freak weather conditions, festivals, holy days, bank holidays or anything like that, which could have meant that the places we were due to visit were closed. I've obviously checked since to make sure that they were open during the time of my holiday and they were.

@letmebetheone thank you for your industry insight. In my letters, which were adapted from the Which templates, I went through line by line the details that the company listed in their brochure and precisely where each departure from the description or agreement arose. I also raised the issues whilst I was away from the very first day, in the hope that matters could be redressed whilst I was on the holiday. I travel frequently and I would rather enjoy any holiday I've spent my hard earned money on even if it isn't perfect. However, I paid 5 star prices to stay in something akin to Fawlty Towers - in fact in many ways worse, far worse. I don't want to name the holiday company publicly at this stage. I have so far not posted any negative reviews or commented in any way on their social media platforms.

@Soontobe60 it was abroad.

I'm confused. Did you get the tours or not? If you didn't then you need to be refunded the cost of the tours. Seems unlikely that would be 30% of a 5 day holiday.

Look, the problem with getting compensation is that you got the holiday. You paid for a holiday, you got the holiday. ABTA and Trading Standards and things like that are for flights being cancelled, hotels not existing, travel companies going under resulting in the holiday not happening. You got what you paid for - you might not like it, it might not have been very nice but you did go on holiday. It happened.

Its very difficult for anyone to help without more details. You have just mentioned that you pre booked the excursions through the holiday company which changes the scope of your claim. Did you pay for these trips in advance. Were there others expecting the tours besides yourself? I have a vague idea which company you used.

Have you checked if anyone else has given the company a bad review lately to see if your experience is a shared one?

You could try to make a claim on your debit card. I did it once when I bought an item online and received a fake (item not as described). The process is called chargeback.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/getting-your-money-back-if-you-paid-by-card-or-paypal/

if your experience was really not as described you should have asked for the full amount back on the basis that, had the experience been described accurately, you wouldn’t have bought the package.

If you don’t get any luck with the chargeback, I would issue a court claim on the basis that you were mis-sold. They are likely to settle before they get to court and if they don’t, my experience of courts is that judges are kind towards vulnerable consumers who are ripped off by organisations and would help guide the hearing, ask the right questions even if your arguments aren’t ‘legal’ but factual, etc

So it was a holiday including specific guided tours? You would have a tour guide not a “rep” in that case.

And you got to the pick up point for the first tour and nobody was there? This is bizarre. Claim on your credit card instead and hopefully they will pay out. And please name the company!