Holiday Disaster - what can I do next?

L

Lyndan

Registered User
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Hi All

Looking for some advice and assistance with a issue I am dealing with at the moment. My parents recently took a holiday with friends - they booked through a travel agent and have sent a letter of complaint along with photographs to the agent. They received a response that basically repeated each complaint in a separate paragraph while saying apologies and mentioning that this has never happened before. In other words we are sorry but we aren’t going to do anything for you. To summarise - arrived at 5am and were woken at 7am with load bar music that didn’t stop even after they complained. In the morning the breakfast area had no hot water, the staff were in filthy clothes - they witness someone dry off a plate in his trousers. The pool was filthy - shower by the pool was broken, full of leaves that were never cleaned out. Toilet paper was holding up the shower curtain in one of the rooms and the rooms had not been cleaned. They contacted their rep who said they would have to pay to move and would be moved to a hotel in a different town - they viewed the hotel but it looked no better and they were requesting that my parents pay extra for it. They eventually found their own accommodation and paid 40euro prpn incl brekkie.

They quoted the comments on the travel website and questioned when they last time this hotel was checked by staff as the comment is totally false and misleading - A lovely, friendly and comfortable property in a great location, ***** Hotel is a marvellous choice for beach lovers and is the perfect spot for a relaxing and enjoyable holiday.

I am wondering now what I should do after I received the reply from the travel agent - they are not going to offer any compensation - which I think is highly unfair - they spent 2 days of a 7 day holiday dealing with this and then had to pay extra to get an acceptable room.

Anyone have any experience with this kind of claim - is it something for the small claims court? Do they even take these kind of complaints? Advice appreciated!

Cheers
 
Yes this can be dealt with by the Small Claims Court. Same happened to my parents sometime ago and we got a successful outcome as they made a settlement before it went to the court.
 
Thanks Lou. Do you know what the best way to handle this is then? Do I reply to the travel company or should I just go straight to small claims court? How long did the process take you?
 
Follow this link and you can download an application form [broken link removed]

complete as fully as you can and send the fee (I don't think its very expensive). Send it then photocopy everything and enclose with a cover letter to the travel company advising them you have commenced proceedings. Usually the fact that you have bothered to do this will prompt them to action - if not the whole thing normally takes about 12 weeks I think. good luck
 
Would you consider saying where they went & the hotel - just to warn others (everything looks great on the web of course!)
Thanks in advance
 
TLC, all you have to do is Google "Hotel is a marvellous choice for beach lovers and is the perfect spot for a relaxing and enjoyable holiday".

OP, good luck to your parents, I hope they get it sorted quickly.
 
Sounds like a holiday from hell.

I am wondering Lyndan, did your parents take any pictures of these terrible conditions? If so, include these to strengthen your case.

I hope it all works out for ya,
 
Was the holiday arranged by a tour operator ? That is, does it appear in a tour operators brochure/website and did your parents sign the tour operators booking form ?
In this case the argument is with the tour operator, not the travel agent (unless the travel agent is owned by the tour operator ,as with Budget Travel)

Usually the travel agent just passes on the complaint to the tour operator, but good travel agents -if they think the client is right -should help the client, and not defend the operator. (i have often written letters on behalf of clients and argued that they should be compensated because of the crap conditions;I've even helped clients go to court against tour operaors, even though it doesn't help me to fight with suppliers -but right is right. Sometimes I have kept out of it because I thought the clients were exaggerating).

If the actual travel agent arranged a holiday directly with the hotel then,of course, your case is with the travel agent, but I assume from the mention of the word "rep" that you are dealing with a tour operator.

Tour operators are like insurance companies -they will fight and fight to deny any responsibility and hope you'll go away.
Keep at it but don't write too much in your complaints. Judges and lawyers get turned off. Be brief,firm and to the point.
 

Post your report on TripAdvisor, and see if others have had similar problems.
 
I second naming the hotel it would stop other people from walking into that nightmare
 
Just a few questions here

1. What was the name of the Accommodation and Resort Booked?

2. How much did it cost? Was it a 'Late Special?'

3. Swimming Pool full of leaves - How full?

4. Were there other showers by the swimming pool?

5. The person who wiped the plate with his trousers - Was this once off?

6. What argument (if any) did the Holiday Rep give?

7. Was the holiday booked through an Irish Travel Agent?
 
funny how that particular hotel is now unavailable to view from the tour operators website but can be seen including the op's comment in google's cached version of the page !!
 
OP - if you want to get any sort of compensation from that particular tour operator I suggest your parents move very very quickly.
 
I stayed there about 15 years ago. I cut my toe open on something sharp in the pool. Nobody wanted to know, hotel management or Irish tour op reps.
 
Apologies for not responding, thanks for all your comments.

The holiday was booked with Budget Travel but they are telling me to deal with Sunworld Holidays directly which is whom I addressed the letter to and whom I got a response from.

Leper in response to your questions - Safir Hotel in Bitez, it was booked late but I dont think it was a special, full of leaves like all over the top of the pool and they were not removed, no other showers, plate wiping as far as they were concerned was a once off because they left the resort to stay somewhere else, holiday rep said he would move them but wanted them to go to another area - i believe he apologized and sympathized. Yes booked through an Irish agent but they are saying its not them we should be complaining to its Sunworld.

I will need to check the booking form and see who the company name is on the booking form - whether its budget or sunworld.

I have started the process of the small claims court I am just waiting for exact confirmation on how much was paid for the replacement hotel.

I wondered when it comes to claiming...I mean they still had a holiday so there is no point asking for a full refund but how to I calculate the 2 days of inconvenience they had to put up with, do i request a monetary compensation for that or what would you all suggest?

Thanks again for all your help
 
Yep, I know the Safir Hotel in Bitez. It is surrounded by trees therefore the propensity of fallen leaves. I sympathise of your situation and forgive me if I sound a bit of a Devil's Advocate (just comes naturally to Lepers).

And yes we used to deal with Sunworld only, year after year and then they screwed us bigtime. Adios Sunworld as a result and they waved goodbye to a good customer who used to book in the first three days of January every year.
 
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