Looking for advice on holiday booked through UK agency and following problems.

Hi All,
First time poster so here goes....
I was looking for a family holiday in the early part of the year (partly because we had a terrible Xmas with water and heat cut off etc), wanted to treat the kids. A friend of mine had recently gone to tenerife through a UK agency and had a great experience. I looked up the usual sites and the recommended UK agency came in at similar price so I went with them all inclusive (after all word of mouth is key!).
Paid up front and all is good.....

Fast forward to arrival airport...looking out for our transfer..no show.
I rang the agency and they apologised and told me to get a cab to the hotel and they would refund the money when I got home.

Ok, did that, after all, mistakes can be made...so we arrive at the hotel. Kids are delighted, fantastic place..wonderful......

Walked up to reception and on production of my voucher the receptionist tells me that the hotel is full and they rejected the booking from the agency 6 weeks before. As such they apologised for the inconvenience but goodbye....

Imagine the scene...kids (3 and 7, crying, tired after flight and taxi journey) now hearing that daddy is being told they have nowhere to stay...

Contacted the agency, thankfully it was mid afternoon, heaven knows what would have happend if it was after hours. They proceeded to apologise and eventually found me another (far inferior) hotel. So into the taxi again. 50 quid to go accross the island to a hotel that was far from the standard of where we booked. Looks like we got the last room in the place as it was chronic. All inclusive was ok except for the food, but the room was truly terrible (considering we paid for a 4 star plus).

Fast forward we were ferried accross to another hotel (half board) and finally back for the last 2 nights to our original booking...

Disaster....

So..

The agency has apologised for the screw up, somehow continuing to blame the hotel, but thats irellevent. They have given me as compensation a free week in a hotel on their books.

So I booked the hotel stay for July. They have sent me the confirmation voucher saying all is paid for. However when I contact the hotel they tell me they cant confirm a reservation made by an agency??

This is concerning. I dont want to arrive out and have any problems this time. The agency used hotelbeds as the b2b for the booking. Hotelbeds wont talk to the public and the hotel wont confirm teh booking.

What do I do??

In fairness the agency after their original screw up did get us accomodation (admittedly we paid for it), but I have no faith in any one now unless I get confirmation from the hotel that there are 2 rooms reserved for joey soap.

Again what can I do..

Thanks for the opportunity to rant..

JS

Wow, that sounds terrible. Email the agency, explain that you require confirmation from hotel before you go, given past experience. Ask them to forward this by return. Also email the hotel explaining why you want the confirmation and tell them you have asked for this from the agency. Ask them what policy applies, ie when are rooms finally confirmed by agency, booking platform etc. You are not being overly cautious, just prudent, and given your experience, you have every right to be.

Just curious is there a smiley face in the logo of that company?

Just back from a holiday that I feared was going to go the exact same way, disputes before I went but it worked out when I got there luckily but I was full sure hotel would say there was no booking when I produced my voucher.

I understand that you booked with an agency based in UK ,not an irish licensed and bonded company which you could pop into and- to be blunt-sue more succesfully if there was a problem.

Is this UK agency a general travel agency ? abta member? Or just an accommodation only booking agency?
I'd be very nervous if just the last - if it's a licensed general travel agency then that's much safer -but never as safe as booking with a local irish agency.

Thanks for all the responses.

Hi WBBS, no smiley face with this company. I think I know who you are referring though.

Ondnick, yes in hidsight this was a risky move. The agency are an accomodation only provider based in UK. Dont seem to have any licensing or bonding information. I went with them purely as some friends used them and had nothing but good things to say.

Update on the situation is that the hotel have now come back to me stating they understand my concern and while unable to 'confirm' the reservation, they do state that there my name is in their system for the relevant dates.

So fingers crossed Am heading off in about 3 weeks,

Did they also refund your taxi fares?

Just a quick update.
Arrived in the hotel and everything was fine.
travel agency had indeed booked and paid for the replacement week.
We stayed in a fantastic hotel on a B&B basis at no cost other than flights and transfers.

Fair play, they stepped up and delivered.