john glad you still had a great holiday and this small hickup did not ruin it for you and your guests
sometimes it pays to book with schedual airline like ba or turkish airlines and pay just a little more just to protect yourself and your guests

Are you at liberty to tell us which airline you didn't want to fly with and why?

Johnw your saying your Cc company cant help when you did not Authorize a £400 payment? Write to them complaining about this in a recorded delivery letter, And go seek advice from a solicitor or the Citizens advice, Without you authorizing that £400 the Agent you used hasent got a leg to stand on.

Question - You say that you were booked with Thos Cook - did they sub contract the flight? It does happen.

fwh

didnt want to fly with flyjet, some friends had very bad problem fromdalaman,bad reputation with delays and cancelations.i did authorise payment originally as deposit for tc (i thought ) flights and apt.agent booked us on flyjet and did not involve thomas cook at all.i booked thomas cook flights myself. it is my word against his re phone conversation and he is not saying anything in writing, so not enough in law at moment.thanks for your replies john

Can I just say, we have flown with Flyjet for the last two years, and both times, took off early and perfect flights.

You have a very valid point, you specifically asked for them not to book with a certain airline and they did - if it had been through TC subcontracting to Flyjet it would have said so on your confirmation as the contract would have been with TC.

I'm glad it didn't ruin things for you.

I flew with Flyjet this year Manchester to Dalaman and they were just fine. You don't even have to pay for inflight meal with them.

thanks for your replies,i realise that you can have problems with any airline but i have been told the main problem with flyjet is that they have a very small fleet of planes so that any delays create a major problem as they have no flexibilty.with the apartment and gulet booked and seven other people to consider i decided not to fly with them.the agent for whatever reason simply did not book the flights that i was told.apart from wanting to sound off a little (been bugging me for 12 months) i really wanted to warn people about telephone confirmation ,it simply is no use if a problem arises.unless you can get the agent to admit in writing you have a problem.because you have authorised use of your card. thanks john. ps it is interesting to hear what people think,someone has suggested that the flights may not have even been booked at the time i received confimation (next morning).but maybe thats a very cynical view.

A lot would depend how the agent made the booking. He could well have booked with a flight only operator showing a Thomas Cook flight. That operator as they are entitled to do could have switched carriers for any number of reasons. Even if you booked direct with Thomons/Mytravel or anybody else this does not mean you will be flying on their aircraft, they all contract additional capacity for the Summer from other airlines.

Your agent could have been sly but it could also have been a geniune reason for the switch. Are you saying you then booked a different carrier directly yourself ? Surely your agent would have been then stuck with the Flyjet seats hence charging you £400.00 or did he booke them and charge you the difference which again could easily be £400 if it was for 7/8 of you.

Only thing is you wont have to worry about Flyjet anymore as they will cease to be by the end of October.

Kind Regards
Stewart

i have just found out from someone else that flyjet are finished.the agent has at no time tried to say he booked with thomas cook or that the flights were changed by a third party.the owner is a turkish national with an office in stockport he is very aggressive on difficult to deal with. i booked the flights myself (the original date and time i had been told i had by the agent) a couple of days later.he simply booked me 8 seats with an airline that i had specified not to.

Here on HT we can only express our personal opinions.

In your own opinion there was one particular airline with whom you did not wish to travel.

You say that you told the agent this when requesting him to arrange flights.

For whatever reason you agreed payment when told that he had arranged the flights, you then gave him the authority to charge your Credit Card, you subsequently found the flights were with the airline you did not wish to travel with.

I assume that when you gave him your details you were under the impression that the flights were with Thos Cook

At that point you decided to book alternative flights and not use the flights booked

As far as the CC supplier is concerned it is nothing to do with them. You say your instructions were not followed and the agent I assume says that they were.

We may express our sympathy with your situation but those do not resolve your problem.

If you wish to attempt to recover your money you need to consult with a solicitor who will be able to advise you exactly where you stand in law. Not just give a personal opinion.

You could perhaps contact - Ros Fernihough, Travel Law Solicitor, who has assisted many members of HT - Tel :- 01922 621114 although this is not really a problem with the holiday.

Have you spoken with Trading Standards? - They should be able to give you an idea of how you stand. It is possible that they have had previous complaints about this agent

fwh

thanks fwh . as you have posted that is what happened.i have spoken with several people over this and without any written evidence they reckon my chances would be less than 50/50 in the small claims court.the agent did reply to me in writing but simply explained his reasons for making an admin charge . he conveniently ignored the circumstances as to why i declined the flights.so those of you who read this make sure of your booking details(even with an email)are correct before you issue card details. thanks john

Going to the small claims court is very cheap and just going there might make the agent refund some of the money. It will give you a chance to put your side of the story to a judge who will weigh everything up and come to a decision.

You can apply online at the court services. I would give it a try, I think it will cost less than £50 and if you loss you won't have to pay anything else.

Of course the owner is aggressive and difficult to deal with. He's ripped you off and wants to intimidate you so you don't take any action. Make a stand and take him on in the County Courts. Chances are he'll back down when he sees that you mean business

A package was booked flights and accommodation. I dont know any tour operator that will guarantee which airline you are flying with. Terms and conditions normally allow for substitute aircraft and change of flight times.

Without knowing what they are I am not sure your case is that strong here, unless you can prove he lied about who he booked with first off.

Kind Regards
Stewart

Stewartwilkie

I think what is in dispute is the £400 admin charge. If it was the cost of the flights that were cancelled fair enough. I am not sure what the £400 admin was for and we seem to be, being drip fed the information.

It would be helpful if we knew what was put in the letter from agent detailing the admin fee and what every cost was for.

hi,thanks for your interest in this. i didnt want to write a long description as i am sure your would have been bored by the finer details.the letter explaining the admin charge was simply in the form of an invoice and he simply refuses to to give details and answers in writing. when i deal on the phone he is very aggressive .i know you feel i am drip feeding information but i am trying to answer the questions people are asking.i feel that if i make a specific request then that is fair.the flights he booked with flyjet were made on the same afternoon i had asked them not to,i was quoted the flight dates and times of thomas cook flight on the phone when i made payment and i have not had an explanation as to why this was changed. i am a reasonable person,i have my own business and when problems arise i am honest and keep people informed,the vast majority of people are understanding .they had my phone numbers and could have contacted me at any time that afternoon if they felt there was a problem.like i have said i managed to book the exact flights with thomas cook afew days later so they did exist and were available.one of the main reasons for my posting was to warn people over payment,the 400 quid didnt bust my holiday but to some familys this could have been a much bigger problem. thanks john

I suggest you take him to the small claims court, if what happened to you is true I think you have a very good case. Why would you book different flights a few days later and if booked the other flights this will be on his system. It will not cost much, and if your chances are 50/50 it might go your way. I believe once this guy receives a summons he will back down. He is trying bullying tatic to stop you from taking action to recover your money. I certainly wouldn't let him get away with it.

If you knew the Thomas Cook flights were available why did you not just book them yourself. What reason did you ask the agent to do it for you? Were they cheaper through him, you are obviously comfortable booking direct.

Kind Regards
Stewart