I'm a bit confused by this - when exactly are you going? I ask because even if the original date of the 24th had been correct then it was always going to be tight booking something on Wednesday 9th July and having to pay the balance off a fortnight later. This sort of deadline was never going to give you much time for transferring funds and ensuring that the balance had cleared even for the 24th July.

OK we actually travel on the 18th September. I checked with the building society that the money would definitely be in my account on or before the 23rd of July. When I did a dummy booking on Thomsons website and realised it was giving me the wrong room I phoned them, which is when I was told not to worry that it wouldnt let me book an over occupancy and that my confirmation invoice would show the correct accommodation, I also pointed out to them that I was waiting for funds to pay the balance and asked what would happen if it was a day or two late. I was told not to worry, as long as I let them know and paid everything but the £500 I'm waiting for, it would be OK. When the confirmation e-mail arrived the accommodation was still incorrect so I phoned them again and ended up having to pay an extra £168 for the correct rooms. Then I got the letters moving the payment date forward.

There should just about be sufficient funds (with my overdraft) to meet this payment but then I would face bank charges for bounced direct debits etc and end up in a whole financial mess with my bills and I don't see why I should have to face that stress for their error (and a possible black mark on my credit rating)

Obviously I'm not stupid enough to book a holiday I can't afford, as FWH says, why should I be penalised for their mistake (thanks Frank) and their second one at that.

While, legally my contract with them says payment is due on the 24th if I push it till then and they do cancel I will lose everything I've paid already and probably have to pay legal fees to fight them so they have me all ways round it seems.
Anyway I finally got through to them late this afternoon and their system was down so it wasn't possible to make a payment anyway. I've got the name of the person I spoke to if they try to deny it and intend to phone again in the morning to negotiate some kind of arrangement. I also intend to contact trading standards over their shoddy business practices. It's about time we started fighting back and not letting them get away with causing us this kind of stress and worry.

Many thanks you to all for your kindness and support.

Just to let you all know that the holiday is now paid for thank goodness, although it took 4 phone calls to do so due to either their systems being down or getting cut off. but it appears we are still booked into a double/twin room despite having charged me more for the family room the day after I booked and the fact that we would be over occupied. I'm now trying to get hold of the person who booked the correct room and sent me a confirmation e-mail for my records which clearly states I've paid for a family room with a second bedroom.

I'm slowly losing the will to live with this shower and if I don't die of shock when I get my phone bill I'm really going to be ready for this holiday when it gets here.

Lynn would it be worth having a word with Ros about this?

Does sound a bit of a mess and whilst you have been charged there is no guarantee that when you get there it will be right.

Some legal advice on what to do in the event might be worthwhile.

fwh

Good that it's sorted albeit the long way round.
You do really need confirmation BEFORE you travel, demand what you have paid for.

Good look and enjoy your hols, if you ever get there.

Robby

Hopefully its now sorted but until I receive the confirmation I won't know for sure. The girl I spoke to today has assured me that it will say we are getting a family room.

I do have a confirmation e-mail that I have paid the extra and that's its for a family room, we do have time to argue if the final confirmation isn't correct.

I don't think I've ever had a more stressful booking experience so I'm going to chill until I get the mail, hopefully they've got it right this time.

Many thanks for everything, it does help to rant in public.

I've had a similar problem with Thomson/Portland.
I cancelled a holiday in Mch, loosing my £200 deposit. I confirmed twice with them that it was cancelled.
I received my final balance payment form, I once again rang Portland who confirmed it was cancelled. I then received a letter to say my holiday was being cancelled as I hadn't paid!
1 week later, I get a phonecall from the finance section, saying that if I didn't pay the £1500 odd cancellation fee, they would be passing my debt to a collection company!! I explained the situation and they told me I needed to sort it out or it would be passed to the collection agency within 7 days!
I've rung Thomson, who assure me that the holiday is now "properly" cancelled but have yet to receive any confirmation.
This has been quite stressful, so half waiting now to have a strike against my credit rating!!