Well I don't know if it is due to the merge with Thomsons but I have never found their customer service so shoddy.
We booked back in January our July 2009 holiday to Holiday Villiage in Egypt. We paid our low deposit and our top up deposit in February, luckily on our credit card. We also received our booking confirmation (after phoning them up to request it).
Then we received this email on March 5th
Further to your recent holiday booking, our records show that the remainder of your holiday deposit is now overdue.
At the time of booking, you took advantage of our low deposit offer, the terms and conditions of which required you to pay the top up 8 weeks after your booking date.
Please contact as soon as possible to make the necessary payment, on the following contact details:
Call our payment team on 0871 200 7799 (selecting the payment option for Summer 09). This service is available: -
Mon to Fri - 09:00 to 20:00
Sat - 09:00 to 19:00
Sun - 09:00 to 17:30
Calls cost up to 10p per min plus a 6p set up fee from a BT landline. Mobile and other providers' charges may vary.
If we do not receive payment from you within 72 hours, we will have no alternative than to cancel your holiday. Please note that you will lose the low deposit you have already paid, and will remain liable for the balance of the full deposit due.
If you have made a payment recently, please do accept our apologies and disregard this email.
Of course fuming that I had paid it. I called the number and waited over 25 minutes for an answer. When I did eventually get through, I was told it was the ticketing office problem, that it had been firing off these emails to everybody who paid round the same sort of time as we did, to ignore it and rest assured us our holiday was safe. I even offered to pay the complete balance as I do not want to lose this holiday. He said don't worry and again re confirmation of payment received was sent out to us.
Anyway tonight my partner got a message on his mobile from a Dieter from FC, saying we need to phone at our earliest convinince regarding our booking reference number.
Again quite annoyed (but slightly concerened, probably would not be as worried if we had not received the email before), I phoned and waited over half an hour before hanging up. Ridiculous the idiot did not even leave us his extention number to contact him back!
It just seemed to me like there was either nobody there or they have a seroius lot of complaints to handle.
So now we are in limbo. What was the call (trying to flog us holiday insurance, currency or even worst canel it)?
Surely if it was anything major to do with your holiday, It would be in writing (by Law), not a phone call
What ever the reason, the fact that you can' t actually contact them back, because they won't answer their damn phones is disgusting. I actually agree with the other thread that the premium rate number is a rip off and a waste of time.
Is anybody else receiving emails or calls like this from First Choice lately?
Thanks
Called them tonight, First I actually got a message saying lines are very busy can you please try later (Could they not have done that in the first place?).
Anyway then I redialled through to payments, to check my balance due (as she made it clear this was only for payments). Then she said you need a top up balance of a further £50 per person, which I checked is this coming off our current balance not an extra. No we need to top up as we have not paid enough, even though our deposit is £540.00 and balance paid before 19th May. No where at all on any statements, policy, receipt did it mention a low deposit, followed by another deposit, followed by another deposit! If it did it would have been paid (unless they have raised the deposit limits now, but all they needed to do was email, or send a request to people. I'm not bothered, the holiday has to be paid at some point, but I do feel they need to get their act together.
You can always go to say no to 0870 numbers online. I use this all the time.
It said something like 'as you only paid the low deposit you have now missed the payment date for the remainder of the deposit! Please pay it within 7 days or risk losing your holiday! It also said I'd been sent two reminder emails but I hadn't.
Anyway the new ballance of the whole holiday was £2.98 more than my original quote. Now I know it's only a couple of quid but that isn't the point. Infact I probably spent that arguing with them on the phone as it's 5p a minute and leave you on hold for ages.
Anyway in the end she got it to the proper price and I paid the lot! (which in my case was only £700)
But I think lots of people will be in the same boat!
This is charged as a local call.
I can understand low deposit and top up to normal deposit level, but what is the third one all about ?
What this holiday booked in one of the first choice shops or via the internet
It was booked on FC website , But FC shopsps refuse to deal with FC website bookings? It's not a bargain basement is it? I hardly call £2,500 holiday , 6years running booking with FC cutsomer, somebody they want to lose?
I had a similar problem with my holiday last year, i booked this holiday at the new travel shop based in the holiday village in turkey and was told by staff there that you can go into any uk shop and they will be able to assist you if any problems issue's etc, this was not the case my local F/C shop manager was very good trying to resolve any issues for me etc, but i had to ring the 0870 number, on all bookings now i go via my F/C shop who always matches the internet price.
What happens now
This is part of the original email we received after we booked low deposit (In December actually not Januaray). But when we paid our top up amount in January, we were only told to make it up to the £540 which is norma,l before you pay your balance mid May. Why did they not just take it then?
I admit we have never booked with a low deposit before, as you never usd to get that option online.
I don't know, but I am still waiting for confirmation of payment.
Is Egypt classed as longhaul? I thought it was European.
Well I am happy to say that I recieved my (extra) top up deposit confirmation yesterday. One snag was that they want the full balance paid by 5th May 2009. Okay, so why do your last 2 statements say balance due by 19th May Think I best pay the end of April, after all it might take me a week to get through to 'Payments'.
One snag was that they want the full balance paid by 5th May 2009. Okay, so why do your last 2 statements say balance due by 19th May
Thomsons did that to me last year. I was withdrawing the final balance from a savings account that I had to give notice for, the funds would have been available in time if they hadn't moved the goal post.
Although your invoice is supposed to form a contract its not worth the paper its written on if they can just cancel the holiday you've been looking forward to even though its them that's in breach of it by changing the final payment date.
I am fed up. FC tickets usually send at least 3 weeks in advance. Despite 3 phone calls and being fobbed off, that they will be here within the next couple of days (for the last week!).
Today they told me if I don't recieve them by one week before departure, they will have them printed at the airport!! I don't want that. I am informing them now, in plenty of advance that they have not arrived. I do not want my holiday to turn out like something you watch on TV 'Airport' etc. Mind you we did only book it last in December
Every step of this holiday has been a nightmare this year.
I prey they turn up by end of this week as we leave on 14th
The worse thing is we are travelling from Coventry to Gatwick, so why should we then have to worry about going and getting our documents printed, before we even check in? Do you think giving Ros a call at this stage might be an idea, though I doubt she can help at this point, until they are not sent at all?
I'm really starting to panic. Any suggestions please
Sounds like a bit of a nightmare !
We had a similar problem - couldn't make any payments online, couldn't get through on the 0870 number.
We went up to our local "Holiday Hypermarket". Staff on the desks were "not a lot" of use (you've booked online- we don't get involved) till we spoke to a manager who advised them that their systems had recently been upgraded (his words) so that they could take payment/book extras/etc for internet bookings.
Might be worth speaking to someone senior in store...
Usually there is a charge for Ticket on Departure for holidays booked last minute when it would be too late for TO to post them, however this is not the case with you and you wouldn't have to pay. I have collected tickets at airport a number of times and it has been pretty straightforward procedure , you just need to allow yourself a bit of extra time. The tickets and everything are all there waiting for you at the FC desk and you just need to take your booking documentation with you.
I know it's hard to relax when you just want to have the documents in hand and hopefully they will come through this week. I'm going away on Monday and we just received our tickets yesterday (not travelling with FC) so there's still plenty of time before 14th for them to arrive. Hope you enjoy your holiday.
I would not worry as there is still plenty of time. It is easy to complain that the TO has given a date and nothing seems to happen. The person you speak with has been given information by someone else who never has to talk to the customer. The postal service also has problems so things just get even more fraught.
TOD is no problem and in cases such as tours is free of charge.
I was worried last year when all we had was a scrap of paper with a number on (Cosmos) but I just gave the number at check in both here and in Malaga and had no problems.
fwh
Anyway on a good note, my tickets to see Oasis in concert next Tuesday have arrived, so thats one thing sorted
Same thing happened last year with Mytravel, despite booking over a year in advance, had to pick them up at the airport. It wasn't a problem but I do like actually having them and checking beforehand.
i have also had similar problems this year with FC, booked online but could never pay online(cos of the merger) blah blah and now with just over 2 weeks to go not yet recieved tickets, rang them tues to be told that they have been issued and should be with me in 1-2 days so thurs ring them again to be told they were issued at the weekend but probably not posted till tues or weds but they ARE on the way to me and if i havent recieved them within 5 days to go to ring them and arrange tickets on departure, im not panicking about it...yet! but also not really happy about it either as normally get tickets 3-4 weeks before we go,
so fingers crossed they will be here soon for all of us waiting
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