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Edited by
MarkJ
2010-03-09 20:37:54
To remove name of staff member
Hi and welcome to HT 
Sounds like a nightmare to me. Did you write a letter of complaint? Did you complete a complaint form in the resort?
Are you wishing to proceed further?
Mark
Sounds like a nightmare to me. Did you write a letter of complaint? Did you complete a complaint form in the resort?
Are you wishing to proceed further?
Mark
May I agree with A1 Travel about the emails - but not for the reason they say. They are so easy to ignore or say they were not received.
Here on HT we always advise that letters of complaint should be sent by post recorded delivery/signed for service. That enables you to track them online and stops them saying they did not receive it.
Reading your post I agree that it was not a satisfactory state of affairs and the Non Service you had from A1.
If you would like some advice from our members then we will be happy to assist.
fwh
Here on HT we always advise that letters of complaint should be sent by post recorded delivery/signed for service. That enables you to track them online and stops them saying they did not receive it.
Reading your post I agree that it was not a satisfactory state of affairs and the Non Service you had from A1.
If you would like some advice from our members then we will be happy to assist.
fwh
I wrote a letter of complaint to A1 TRAVEL as soon as i returned from holiday and sent it recorded delivery, they acknowledged reciept of the letter but seem to think as HOTELS4U were the accomodation suppliers they are at fault. My complaint has never been against HOTELS4U, yes they supplied the accomodation but A1 TRAVEL took the booking for accomodation that was already sold out!!. It is A1 TRAVEL that is at fault. No i did not complete a claim form in the resort as we had no rep, i did as instructed in A1 TRAVEL terms and conditions and phoned the emergency number,( for what good it did me) . I have been in contact with ABTA and done everything they have instructed me to. ABTA contacted A1 TRAVEL and were told that it was HOTELS4U who were at fault as A1 TRAVEL were only the agents . ABTA contacted me and told me this , i informed them that i had no complaint against HOTELS4U and that it was A1 TRAVEL my complaint was against. I am still waiting a reply from ABTA. .( Can i make a correction to my first post , we were booked into Halley apartments 25th september not august) 1 day before arrival
This sounds very similar to what happend to me at New Year 
I've posted a separate thread. This trick seems to be getting very common indeed. I for one will always phone the hotel in future to check we are booked in prior to flying, or I may even cut the agents out altogether and sort flights and accommodation direct..
Grrr greedy agents!
Hope you get this sorted
I've posted a separate thread. This trick seems to be getting very common indeed. I for one will always phone the hotel in future to check we are booked in prior to flying, or I may even cut the agents out altogether and sort flights and accommodation direct..
Grrr greedy agents!
Hope you get this sorted
Finally got a reply from A1 TRAVEL. They have sent a cheque from Hotels4u for £120 for the accomodation change, which was very much appreciated. I also got an apology from A1 TRAVEL for the accomodation change, but the apology can not compensate for the appauling customer service we recieved from A1 TRAVEL. They said they hoped they could be of service to us in the future!!! I dont think so!!!
I have used A1 many times and i am using them this year, I have sent quite a few emails over the weeks and they got back to me straight away
All travel companies are fine UNTIL you have a problem, its a different story then.!!!!!!!
junec, I have used A1 Travel a couple of times and they have been fine, but last year I booked to go to Turkey(not with A1 travel) and found on arrival that our accomodation had been over booked and we were moved not only to another hotel but another resort.....and the company at fault was Hotels4U, who then blamed the Turkish agent, I have vowed never to use Hotels4U ever again.
A1 Travel are a joke.I booked a flight to tenerife for my son.When booking i gave only my sons first and middle name(my fault).Upon receipt of written confirmation of the booking i noticed the mistake. I immediately contacted A1 travel to advise them of the error.They e-mailed me back to say the carrier(Thomsons) required a fee of £75.00 to amend the booking.I contacted Thomsons who advised that they had not requested an amendment fee of £75.00.They made the amendment free of charge.So why were A1 Travel saying that the carrier required a fee of £75.00 when they had not.I e-mailed A1 Travel to say i had sorted it with Thomsons (this was in January)but i did not receive a reply or explanation as to why they said Thomsons required an amendment fee of £75.00 when they did not.I e-mailed the Sunday Times travel section "Readers Rants" who pursued the matter on my behalf.Needless to say they could not get an answer from A1 Travel regarding the so called amendment fee but did indicate that readers could read between the lines as to what was going on(that is sharp practice bordering on fraud)A1 Travel confirmed that Thomsons were not charging a fee.I already new that.How does this travel agency think that they can get away with this.
hmm £75 does seem slightly steep ! - I can understand an agency charging a small fee for booking amendements. Someone has to cover the cost of the time / reprinting of documents / phone calls made and so on.
I so wish i had of checked out A1 travel company before i booked with them. They seem to have totally ruined your holiday.... I don't know what to do next, my stomach is in bits as so many of the things complained about are very similar to what i am going through now and my holiday is not until June!
Booked a holiday for 4 in Febuary. 3 flying from Belfast to Fengurola staying in the veramar appartments (£620 for 3) and 1 flying from Cork (£311.00) -2 appartments and all baggage and transferes included.
Made so many phone calls to them, 7 on the day of booking, they couldnt wait to get my money. I paid the £620.00 on my credit card and the lady had spoken to my friend in Cork taking all her credit card details as she was paying for her own. Sounds simple enough. First problem was when the itenery came through and no transferes were booked and my friend from Cork was the only one that had a bag booked on the plane!! I rang and rang the direct number and kept being told Catherine is not working until tonight - no shes off until Sunday - no sorry shes on holidays - no she was on all week!!
So then sent an email to A1 admin and got a simple email back saying transferes were not booked with this holiday.... Tried to contact them numerous times again.. THEN THE REAL SHOCKER....Got my credit card statement in and 3 transactions totalling about £1240.00 were on it. The only thing i gave authorisation for is my origional £620.00.... My friend contacted me from Cork telling me they never took anything off her card!! So my friend is now transfering her £311.00 (PRICE OF HER HOLIDAY) to me leaving a balance of £309 A1 owed to me!!.. I contacted a woman called Sandy who seemed really helpful, told me all phone calls are recorded. Thank god i said. She rang me back 2 hours later and told me she would ring me after the weekend as theres so much to listen to - that was 2 and a half weeks ago... On the phone she told me there was ' a credit here of £200 to be credited to my account'! and the rest i said!!! This is surely illegal - my credit card was used without my authorisation..... They never rang but did credit £150.00!!
Googling complaints about A1 is my last resort as i have just sat on the phone for another 30 mins and you are either in a Q or it just keeps ringing. The calls i have made to them alone are costing me so much. HAS ANYONE ANY SUGGESTIONS. I never thought i could feel so upset because i cannot get any responce or get this resolved. It has totally tarnished the holiday for me.. Is my solicitor my next bet?
Booked a holiday for 4 in Febuary. 3 flying from Belfast to Fengurola staying in the veramar appartments (£620 for 3) and 1 flying from Cork (£311.00) -2 appartments and all baggage and transferes included.
Made so many phone calls to them, 7 on the day of booking, they couldnt wait to get my money. I paid the £620.00 on my credit card and the lady had spoken to my friend in Cork taking all her credit card details as she was paying for her own. Sounds simple enough. First problem was when the itenery came through and no transferes were booked and my friend from Cork was the only one that had a bag booked on the plane!! I rang and rang the direct number and kept being told Catherine is not working until tonight - no shes off until Sunday - no sorry shes on holidays - no she was on all week!!
So then sent an email to A1 admin and got a simple email back saying transferes were not booked with this holiday.... Tried to contact them numerous times again.. THEN THE REAL SHOCKER....Got my credit card statement in and 3 transactions totalling about £1240.00 were on it. The only thing i gave authorisation for is my origional £620.00.... My friend contacted me from Cork telling me they never took anything off her card!! So my friend is now transfering her £311.00 (PRICE OF HER HOLIDAY) to me leaving a balance of £309 A1 owed to me!!.. I contacted a woman called Sandy who seemed really helpful, told me all phone calls are recorded. Thank god i said. She rang me back 2 hours later and told me she would ring me after the weekend as theres so much to listen to - that was 2 and a half weeks ago... On the phone she told me there was ' a credit here of £200 to be credited to my account'! and the rest i said!!! This is surely illegal - my credit card was used without my authorisation..... They never rang but did credit £150.00!!
Googling complaints about A1 is my last resort as i have just sat on the phone for another 30 mins and you are either in a Q or it just keeps ringing. The calls i have made to them alone are costing me so much. HAS ANYONE ANY SUGGESTIONS. I never thought i could feel so upset because i cannot get any responce or get this resolved. It has totally tarnished the holiday for me.. Is my solicitor my next bet?
tommytiger.you seem to be missing the point.A1 travel in their covering letter enclosing the booking confimation state"we cannot accept responsibilityfor any costs incurred,or for subsequent problems encountered,due to errors not reported to us upon receipt of your confirmation".I immediately contacted A1 travel by phone and email when i received the confirmation letter. As previosly stated they emailed me to say said the carrier(thomsons)required a fee of £75.00 to make the change.When they said this thomsons were not even aware of the mistake.No documents had been printed etc.Even A1 travel conditions state"For any amendment or cancellation A1 travel are permitted to make an additional charge of £25.00 per person over and above that of the travel provide's cost."So the question remains ,the travel provider had not made a charge so who was getting the £75.00? As the person from the Sunday Times said"readers can read between the lines."
mspauline have you tried contacting your credit card company?
A1 travel in their covering letter enclosing the booking confimation state"we cannot accept responsibilityfor any costs incurred,or for subsequent problems encountered,due to errors not reported to us upon receipt of your confirmation".
Yes, £75 is a bit steep for changing just one name but the above clause usually refers to errors made by them. In other words if you don't notice that they've made a mistake and tell them about it then it's not their responsibility if you are refused boarding etc. You acknowledge that this was your mistake not theirs and, yes, they do have you over a barrel but I don't see that there is much that you can do about this - you booked it through them and not direct with Thomson. You're contract is with AI travel and they are within their legal rights to charge you for wanting to amend that contract. Whether the charge is justified or not is a different matter - but I would suggest that it is not worth the effort of trying to challenge it on legal grounds and you would be best advised to try and appeal to their goodwill. However, having escalated this complaint via the press I doubt that there is much goodwill on their part now and you are unlikely to get much joy out of them now.
For any amendment or cancellation A1 travel are permitted to make an additional charge of £25.00 per person over and above that of the travel provide's cost
Is it just a coincidence that the charge is 3 times the standard one or was the booking for three people in total by any chance? If it was then even though Thomson made no charge, the above clause appears to entitle them to still charge £25 per person. It's pretty clear that they will levy a charge over and above any charge the provider makes.
I think that your experience highlights how important it is to get things right first time when making a booking - the travel trade doesn't think it owes us any favours when we make mistakes and need to rectify them afterwards.
SM
SMa,am i missing something.Under A1 Travels terma and conditions they may charge a fee of £25.00.SDo why did they say,the carrier was charging a £75.00 fee,not them.Does no one read posts properly.A1 travel were within there rights to charge £25.00 but they told me the carrier ,not them required £75.00.Its called sharp practice.At the end of the day if you had read my posts Thomsons, had'nt charged a fee,so A1 had'nt a leg to stand on,so surprise surprise there is no amendment fee.
this was one amendment .Yes i read the terms and conditions and i appreciate that they could have levied a fee of £25.00.So why tell me the Thomsons required £75.00 when they did not.I would have paid the £25.00.End of the day its sorted A1 Travel are not getting the so called "carriers fee" and my son is going to Tenerife in July.Leaves a bad taste in the mouth given the fact i have booked with them for the last 5 years.
this was one amendment .Yes i read the terms and conditions and i appreciate that they could have levied a fee of £25.00.So why tell me the Thomsons required £75.00 when they did not.I would have paid the £25.00.End of the day its sorted A1 Travel are not getting the so called "carriers fee" and my son is going to Tenerife in July.Leaves a bad taste in the mouth given the fact i have booked with them for the last 5 years.
timj, I don't know why they said that Thomson were charging £75 but whether Thomson's were or weren't charging anything is not the point. As I said in my post, your contract is with A1, not Thomson and, yes, by all means challenge them on why they are charging £75 and not the £25 mentioned in their conditions but they are entitled to charge for the amendment in the conditions that you presumably signed and agreed to?
Personally, I would tread warily with regards to refusing to pay this charge unless I actually had the tickets in my hand - I wouldn't want to run the risk of them cancelling his flight booking because you haven't. Given that it was A1 that booked this ticket on his behalf I'm a little surprised that Thomson made the name change on the basis of a phone call from you like that. It opens up the possibility that such changes could be made maliciously by others. Have you actually received the ticket or a confirmation of the flight booking from Thomson yet?
And please, there is no need to be rude - tommytiger and I did read your messages - it's just that we have a different opinion than you about the situation you find yourself in and we are quite entitled to express that opinion. Whatever the Sunday Times opinions about AI's business practices are they probably hold no more legal weight than ours do and if you want to pursue this then you really would be well advised to consult a specialist travel law solicitor like Ros on where you stand if you continue to refuse to pay this charge.
SM
Personally, I would tread warily with regards to refusing to pay this charge unless I actually had the tickets in my hand - I wouldn't want to run the risk of them cancelling his flight booking because you haven't. Given that it was A1 that booked this ticket on his behalf I'm a little surprised that Thomson made the name change on the basis of a phone call from you like that. It opens up the possibility that such changes could be made maliciously by others. Have you actually received the ticket or a confirmation of the flight booking from Thomson yet?
And please, there is no need to be rude - tommytiger and I did read your messages - it's just that we have a different opinion than you about the situation you find yourself in and we are quite entitled to express that opinion. Whatever the Sunday Times opinions about AI's business practices are they probably hold no more legal weight than ours do and if you want to pursue this then you really would be well advised to consult a specialist travel law solicitor like Ros on where you stand if you continue to refuse to pay this charge.
SM
SMa again you havent seem to have read my last message.Its not being rude.I said in my last post if they had abided by there terms and conditions this would not be a problem.Do you not think Thomsons are entitled to know what is being said about them charging a fee of £75.00 ,by the way they only charge £25.00 for an amendment.You keep saying A1 were entitled to charge a fee.If you had read my posts you would see i am not disputing that.But they cannot charge ,or say Thomsons required, an amendment fee of £75.00.I repeat sharp practice.If i had just paid the £75.00 who would have benifitted.Question? do you work for A1 travel because you seem to keep missing the point.A1 Travel said Thomsons required a fee of £75.00.Not them.So if they were entitled to the amendment fee,which ,they were,they held themselves out as not charging it and it was Thomsons.(by the way i am a solicitor )Ita allacademic now as the Sunday Times confirmed no fee is being charged.
Well if you are a solicitor why are you wasted your time on this site?
You don't need our advice if you are a solicitor do you?
Sue them!
PS I thought your reply to SMa was rather rude.
You don't need our advice if you are a solicitor do you?
Sue them!
PS I thought your reply to SMa was rather rude.
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