My sister and I were due to go on holiday this Friday, 4th November, which we booked with a company called Flexibreaks Promotions back in May this year. The holiday we booked was for 3 nights accommodation at the 3* Roosevelt hotel in New York and flights would be with BA, Virgin or American airlines.
They have today informed us that they can only offer us a 1* hostel for accommodation and non-direct flights or a full refund. Neither of these offers are acceptable for us as we have been planning this holiday since May.
We received a letter, confirming the booking back in May. It affirms the accommodation is being reserved, that our flight will depart 4th November 2005 from Heathrow and that our airline tickets and hotel voucher will be sent 7-10 days prior to departure.
When we didn't receive our tickets we tried to call the company, who would not provide us with any explanation. After numerous telephone calls we surmised that neither the flights nor hotel were booked. They told us that we were due to fly with United, departing at 13.25, although when I checked the flight schedules online, there was no such flight listed. They also said that the Roosevelt hotel had double booked. After personally checking with both United airlines and the Roosevelt hotel we found we were not booked with either, and further to this the Roosevelt has plenty of rooms left.
Furthermore, the company has changed their name to First Call Promotions, registered address: 4th Floor, Orchard House, Mutton Lane, Potters Bar, HERTS EN6 3AX. NO ONE BOOK WITH FIRST CALL, THEY ARE CON ARTISTS.
How can this company get away with blatently lying to us that they booked it in the first place? It seems to me they take our money then try to get a last minute deal for this price and obviously they've failed to achieve this.
Will we be able to claim any kind of compensation to cover the cost of us booking an equivalent holiday? As well as loss of the holiday, we are losing earnings due to time booked off work, as well as the loss of interest earnt on our money. I hope someone can help us!
Very much of 'Join the Queue' - Have a look at this link. Would seem that there are a lot of people out there who have similar tales to tell.
fwh
http://www.blagger.com/db4/company_id/2334/companyname/Flexibreaks+Promotions.html
fwh
http://www.blagger.com/db4/company_id/2334/companyname/Flexibreaks+Promotions.html
Good link fwh.
Shell, did you pay by credit card? If so, contact your credit card company immed. and ask them to 'freeze' the payment. You're covered under section 75. Then, demand of your credit card company why they allow this company to continue to permit payment by the credit card. If the CC company refused to continue dealing with Flexibreaks their business would likely fold.
Have you sought rates for the room directly with the hotel as they have availability and how about booking your own flights. New York's easy for transfers into Manhattan from both JFK and Newark - there's lots of info. here on HT about transfers into Manhattan - look at the America Forum.
Hope this helps, Mike
Shell, did you pay by credit card? If so, contact your credit card company immed. and ask them to 'freeze' the payment. You're covered under section 75. Then, demand of your credit card company why they allow this company to continue to permit payment by the credit card. If the CC company refused to continue dealing with Flexibreaks their business would likely fold.
Have you sought rates for the room directly with the hotel as they have availability and how about booking your own flights. New York's easy for transfers into Manhattan from both JFK and Newark - there's lots of info. here on HT about transfers into Manhattan - look at the America Forum.
Hope this helps, Mike
Hi ....
Sorry to hear about your holiday ....
I used key2holidays.co.uk ... they are a New York specialist ... I would recommednd them ... used them in March of this year ... cheaper than Expedia.
Mark
Sorry to hear about your holiday ....
I used key2holidays.co.uk ... they are a New York specialist ... I would recommednd them ... used them in March of this year ... cheaper than Expedia.
Mark
This happened to me and my husband in relation to flexibreaks or first call travel - whatever they are calling themselves now. We booked a six night trip to New York and became suspicious when the tickets never arrived. We then checked with the flight company directly and hotel and were advised that we were never booked in. Flexibreaks kept insisting right up to two days before our expected departure date that they had the flights and hotel, eventually admitting that they would not be able to get the flights but had the hotel available. They offered us to cancel which we did and we booked our own holiday via expedia (cheaper might I add). Flexibreaks assured us that we would receive our refund in full within seven days. We telephoned while in new york and again they advised that the refund was being made. We also checked with the hotel and they confirmed that they did not have our booking. When we returned we fought with Flexibreaks for one month trying to get our refund. Eventually we talked to our credit card company (as we had paid half by credit card and half by bank account). The credit card has refunded the f ull amount under Section 75 but this company are a bunch of ** and do not book the holiday, yes I agree they try to book at the last minute with the cheapest deal and cannot manage it. extremely unhelpful. The credit card company advised me that you should always book part of the cost of a holiday with your credit card (even if its just the deposit) because if the supplier fails to provide you can get your full money back via Section 75 with the credit card company being liable for the full amount.
*Admin edit to remove libelous comment -Glynis*
*Admin edit to remove libelous comment -Glynis*
Kelly, just to add to the great advice you gave in your last post - the amount you pay on the credit card MUST be greater than £100 - oh, and less than £30,000. You are correct about deposits or partial payments covering you for the full amount - given as above, you do pay more than £100 on the card.
The card must be a British registered card (most are) and, I believe, foreign purchases are also covered - do check that last aspect though as a court case is either pending/just occured.
There's a complication when paying by credit card and a travel agent's involved who is passing payment on to a tour operator. It's a complex situation and I don't fully understand the details - but beware when this situation arises - check you are covered before paying.
Mike
The card must be a British registered card (most are) and, I believe, foreign purchases are also covered - do check that last aspect though as a court case is either pending/just occured.
There's a complication when paying by credit card and a travel agent's involved who is passing payment on to a tour operator. It's a complex situation and I don't fully understand the details - but beware when this situation arises - check you are covered before paying.
Mike
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