normally if you want to change your hotel, because like in this case you just don't fancy it, you would normally have to pay an amendment fee plus the difference in price between the cost of the new hotel at todays rate, and what you paid for the original hotel.
what hotel is it, and resort, that your friend no longer wishes to go to.

A couple of years ago my friend booked a holiday with Thomas Cook and when she got to the hotel it was terrible.
She asked the rep to move her which they did at a cost of £188 but when she returned Thomas Cook refunded her the extra money she had paid.
I would get your friend to print off the bad reviews and show Thomas Cook and tell them they are not happy about going to a place with such bad reviews.
Hopefully they may be able to move hotels when they get to the resort,rather than lose their money by not going.

Thanks for the replies, I told her she whould be able to change hotels at £35 each person plus difference in price which is not much but TC told her she isnt allowed because it was sold as a cancellation

It is the Soviva in PEK, Tunisia

When is she going?

All depends on our old friends "T&Cs". Depends what the price paid is I guess. If it was an ultra cheapy then I can understand it. Just shows how important it is to check reviews before you book.

fwh

Ive just come back from the Riu Green Park in PEK which was fabulous and there were people checking in that had been moved from another hotel.Not sure which hotel it was but I would phone Thomas Cook direct and ask them to confirm that they cant change hotels.
I cant think how it could be a cancellation as people who were due to go cancelled when the revolution was taking place.
There have been lots of excellent offers with both Thomas Cook and Thomson since the flights started on March 13th
Did they book with Thomas Cook in the Bridges?I find the staff in there very helpful as I once booked a holiday before I read the reviews and asked them if I could change hotels.
They said to wait until I got to resort so I wouldnt incur the £35 charge.
The hotel I booked turned out to be fine so didnt need to change.

It wasn't an ultra cheapy fwh as it was about £320 each which is about the same as if booked online.
3rd July sunaddict and it was booked at TC in the MetroCentre Jay.
I think they are just going to go and see what it's like, as you say they can always ask to be moved of necessary.

Thanks for all the help guys

I really can't see any reason why it can't be changed. As far as I know there is no such thing as a cancellation holiday any longer. Any cancelled bookings just go straight back on to the booking system, to be sold in the normal way.
Certain bookings done within 14 weeks of departure are classed as 'late bookings' but if it was one of those she should have been told before booking, together with the additional terms and conditions that apply.

well it is within 14 weeks of departure but I spcifically asked if they were sold it as a "late" or a "cancellation" and she said they told her it was a cancellation and was cheap because the flight and hotel were "already booked"
Like I said they are just going to go and see what its like.

Thanks for help

Pauline

Me thinks someone has been given some sales 'patter'!

Hope it works out ok for them.

That's what I told her but in a different way haha.

Unfortunately it's the girls grandparents who are paying for the holiday and her grandfather will not argue with the TO.
If it was me I would be armed with some ammunition to get it changed!

Pauline

Someone over on the Trip Advisor forum also booked this hotel and then read the reviews.
They went back to the travel agent and have been given 72 hours to change their hotel to another one.
I think they the travel agent your friend booked with are not telling the truth as I found travel agents only tell you what they want you to hear!
Thomson told us that Newcastle airport had cancelled our Thomson flight to Tunisia last month,which was a blatant lie.

Yes I agree Jaytrip, they tell people what they want sometimes and hope they don't know any better.

Thomas Cook cancelled our Wednesday flight to tunisia, but then I think they have cancelled quite a few Wed flights from various airports. They tried to tell me it was fine and was still live when I got a hint that it may happen.
A few days later............hey presto!! An email informing me of the cancelled flights haha.

I think part of the problem, when it comes to travel agents, is they don't really have the information. Rather than saying so, or trying to find out, they just come out with platitudes.

Agents are not like they used to be. These days it's sales training and very little product training, so they lack product knowledge. When I did all my Abta/Abtoc courses (a few years ago lol) we we always taught that the art of being a good travel agent was not to know everything, because that is impossible, but know where to find everything! I think part of the problem is that nowadays younger people just can't be bothered. How many times do we get asked questions that a quick look on a website would answer?

How many times do we get asked questions that a quick look on a website would answer?

- very true. As I always say, if you can't found your way round the internet how the hell do you expect to find your way round the world!!

But back to the orignal question, Tripadvisor does have a bit of a reputation for not being 100% accurate so keep an open mind. I mean the reviews, "Great Holiday cant wait to go back" and "HOLIDAY FROM HELL" were posted on the same day in January! The HT reviews are listed under "Soviva Club", TA's say "Soviva Resort". The Google map doesn't show the Club but does show a "Golden Soviva". Perhaps the best advice was on TA on January 13th - "Get what you pay for."

But who is at fault here - the agent or the customer? I respect the various points of view put forward but the phrase "Duty of Care" or lack of, so often used when blaming the agent for sending someone to a holiday from hell cuts both ways. The customer should do their homework beforehand. Agents are there to offer you a range of holidays. It is up to you to decide if you want it .Agents do not spend hours trawling the net for bad reviews. Even if they had the time what would you have them do? Reviews anyway are subjective. What someone thinks is rubbish another thinks is great. Those who post reviews anyway are a very tiny percentage of those who have visited the hotel/resort so can we believe them?

fwh

When I worked for a UK tour op before I left UK to live in Cyprus 7yrs ago, the Soviva was one of our hotels in Port El Kantoui and had a bad reputation with our customer service department. Guests used to get on transfer coaches cheering that they were going home and had lived to tell the tale of "I survived the Soviva".

I went on holiday to PEK with my husband a few times whilst still working for my employer and did visit the unit. To be honest, it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be. Yes, it was a little tired and needed bringing up to date but it was in a fantastic location, the rooms were a decent size, it had an indoor pool and one of the best entertainment programmes in relation to the other hotels nearby. The food looked okay and choice of menu was good. Sadly, the cleanliness of the floor below the baine maries left a lot to be desired and it was obvious the food serving areas had never been "bottomed" for a long time.

Would I book to go for a holiday at the hotel? I don't think I would have done at the time but after seeing it a couple of times afterwards, I think I would probably give it a go. Tunisia is cheap enough to get out and about and there are plenty of places to eat around the harbour.

Sometimes a hotel gets a reputation that just follows on year after year as people read crappy reviews and go in the wrong frame of mind and just look for problems. Sometimes I think it's better to not know and make up your own mind when you get there. The alternative of course, is to read the reviews before booking but in this instance I gather that wasn't possible. Had your friend been more au fait with sites such as this, she could have asked the agent to check the office gazeteer which may have thrown up some doubts regarding the choice of accommodation.

If she is within the cancellation charges period, she may find it's better to just stick with it but go with an open mind. She may be pleasantly surprised.

Shell
Limassol, Cyprus

Yes she would have done but she is not used to using sites like this one. I think it was partly my fault that she was put off the hotel as I always check everything out as much as possible before I booked. So when she said where she was staying I had already read all the reviews on the Soviva.

She is resigned to going now so I hope it is ok for them. She will go with an open mind and probably thoroughly enjoy it.

fwh, I wasn't trying to blame the agent for the booking I was simply suggesting they could have been more helpful in changing the booking to a different hotel....................I thought that was usually an easy procedure? It has certainly been so for me when I have needed to.

Unfortunately it's the girls grandparents who are paying for the holiday and her grandfather will not argue with the TO.
If it was me I would be armed with some ammunition to get it changed!

Are they just paying for the holiday or are they actually going with her? I ask this because if they are only paying for the holiday then if she is lead name she can alter the booking.