I'm glad you got your Atol receipt, but just because they have Atol on their website doesn't mean everything they sell is protected. Scheduled and lcc's aren't Atol protected unless they are sold as part of an Atol protected package. The vast majority of what Holidays Gems sell aren't packages, just components added together. Check what is actually protected. It may only be your flight and not the complete holiday.

I'm happy to say we have arrived in sharm el sheik at are hotel and on first impresions everything seems to be in order so despite all the twoing and frowing from HG we have a holiday. However this does not make it a gratifying experience on the booking side of the holiday.
HG need to improve and be more transparent in their booking process.

We booked and paid for a holiday yesterday evening with holidaygems.co.uk to depart in one weeks time only to receive a phone call from them today asking if we would like to book a suitcase in at the extra cost of £55.00, failure to do so we would need to pay £120.00 on check-in, this was so un-clear upon the booking via there website, I have been in touch with the local trading standards to which informed me that Holidaygems.co.uk are well known to them, we then called them back only to find that we were being charged 10p per minute and then held in a queuing system and then the call went dead after several minute, this happened on several occasions this evening so hence NOT HAPPY SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BEWARE OF THIS DISPICABLE COMPANY,
I am certainly taking this as far as I need to; I think the whole thing stinks

Hi Ray,

Welcome to HT. Unfortunately like most others that come here to post about Holidaygems are normally lured in by their cheaper prices and their underhand tactics to get a sale.
There are a few agents out there that operate like this with pricing data only updated as and when but gives a very bad name to other online agents that try and be decent and honest.

I work in a similar environment where i am constantly being asked to match prices that have been given by some websites that we know full well are not correct.

Until companies like this are taken out and people start to listen to the "honest ones" who give a fair price and even explaining to them how they operate, this will carry on.

Take them to the cleaners ray, the sooner these rogues are taken out the better.

Just out of interest ray, which airline are you flying with. Be interested to know how much extra they are charging you for a bag.

For any others out there - their website shows prices that are virtually nett rate. If they sold at the online price they would make a few pounds at best - that is not sustainable hence soo many people get called back the next day.

Also section 6 of their terms does state about baggage etc but how many people do read these terms. A bit underhand as it is very easy to show baggage prices on a website at the time of booking. Most IT people would be able to show this however they dont, probably to tempt you thinking you have a deal when infact section 6 shows otherwise.

6. IMPORTANT FLIGHT INFORMATION

Please note that most airlines do not include hold baggage within the cost of their flights. Where this is the case extra charges will apply. Please check at the time of booking that hold baggage is included within your booking. It is your responsibility to ensure you have sufficient baggage allowance. Please be aware that hold baggage weight restrictions may also vary between airlines. Unfortunately, it is also not uncommon for restrictions regarding purchase of luggage being on a "none or all" basis on the flights we sell.

Currently, all hand luggage is FREE (ranging from 5kg's to unlimited per person) for all orders placed on this site however and as mentioned, in line with the majority of UK airlines, hold luggage charges vary from £20-£30 each way per suitcase and weight allowance per suitcase will also vary between 15kg's and 22 kg's. It should be noted that some airlines also place compulsory "admin fees" or "check-in charges" relating to luggage charges. Once an order has been processed and confirmed, a member of our on-line team will endeavour to call you in order to add any optional extras you may require. For the avoidance of doubt, it should also be noted that it does not necessarily follow that a direct airlines price or policy of charging for luggage will be reciprocated by Holiday Gems Ltd as we purchase flights in a variety of ways and as a tour operator in this respect we reserve the right to do so. Luggage charges may be considerably more when paying at check-in and our advice is to pre-book any hold luggage you require prior to departure. Should you decline luggage at the time of booking and subsequently call to add this at a later date, your booking will be subject to an administration charge which will be levied at that time.

When your booking it states about extras in bold letters, on two pages before you enter your card details. I never ceased to be amazed how people just click the 'read and accepted terms and conditions' without even glancing at them. I'm not saying some agencies don't leave a bit to be desired, but if people just read the conditions, there wouldn't be anywhere near the number of complaints.

Hi
Flying with Thompson, which state on there website baggage is included, I am just so so p _ _ _ _ _ d of with this holidaygems, when I speak to them they just dont want to speak to me
Kind regards

If they have bought the flights from Thomsons and not a package then your lauggage is not automatically added just like booking a flight only deal direct through Thomson or First Choice websites.

Graeme

Hi Graeme
Sorry but not quite sure what you mean by this, could you please advise
Kind regards
Ray

What Graeme is saying is that if you were to book a whole package and the tour operator is Thomsons then a baggage allowance of 15-20kgs (i believe) is included.

Holidaygems mainly sell Dynamic Packages where seperate elements are bought in to create the package. Your flights will be with Thomson but your accommodation supplier is probably different company.
As they are purely buying a flight only from Thomson, baggage is not automatically included, just like if you were to book it yourself with thomsonfly.com.

Hi!

Thats exactly what I was saying but my short reply was due to me running out the door. Lol i did go to reply there explaining the package and seperate booking situation but my Tablet crashed as I was submitting my reply...gutted. haha. I dont know anything about Holiday gem but I think they have just simply got you accomodation and flights and luggage is extra. I dont think its something you will get anything back for if you do complain but I wish you luck if you do. It is somethng that should be added as you do the booking process or clearly explained on a main page...not terms and conditions...that you will get a call to add luggage.

Graeme

As you booked a Thomson flight only, the information on the flights part of the website applies. No checked luggage is included, you have to pay to add it.

Phew was just thinking how cheap they were but was concerned about the luggage thing and then lucky for me I see a thread from my old friend Holiday Truth - eek what a bunch. So will stick with booking with EasyJet Hols as we did last year might pay the price but at least you get the service with Easyjet and reputable Tour Ops!

Hi Everybody,
We got back this morning, everything in the resort went smoothly and we had a good 10 day holiday,
We had a good Rep in Sharm ,Victor a very nice chap, nothing was to much trouble for him. I was a bit concerned because he worked for Low Cost Holidays and you usually get what you pay for but in this case it was great.
The only sour note was the 4 hour flight delay due to Sharm Air Traffic Control going on strike at short notice, at least we got home, 2 Thomson flights were cancelled untill today.

So although we got off to a bad start with HG's and after paying up for their Bagage sc-m all was well.
But I have learned a valuable lesson.
I will not and anybody reading this should not book a holiday with this devious company.
I hope that somebody with more time and deeper pockets than myself will teach them a lesson.

I saw the advert for a 7 day all inclusive holiday at Auramar Beach Resort on the Algerve Booking through Holiday Gems it was advertised in the Daily Mail which gave me the confidence to book it. Yes it was a good price but the whole booking was handled very badly from start to finish.
I booked it over the phone and when the form came through for me to check and add our Passport and Insurance details. noticed they had spelled one off our party's Christian incorrectly. I changed the name on the paperwork and phoned the customer help desk as requested expecting them to just change it. To my surprise they said the booking agent that I had spoken to would ring me back and sort it out. Of course she did not. So more phone calls and e-mails I spoke to her eventually and she agreed she had made a mistake and would sort it out. Then my husband noticed that they had us flying out 2012 and returning 2011. Clearly another mistake. Which we also informed them about. To be fair they did put this right. The boarding passes did not arrive till 7 days before we were due to fly. Would you believe my friends name was still spelled incorrectly? So again more phone calls and even more stress. I eventually received a letter to take to the Airport explaining their mistake so they would let my friend travel.
Then to top it all when we got to the Hotel we had only 6 nights accommodation not seven as stated on the Booking Confirmation. Note only did we not have a room for the last night. Our status as all inclusive changed from 12 o'clock the previous day. Unfortunately the last meal we had was breakfast on that day as lunch was not served till 12 o'clock and by then we had to book out. The ladies on the desk at the Hotel were kindness itself and at our own expense we was able to book a room between us which was not ideal. When we got home I emailed customer service and the booking agent who handled our original booking. A week later no reply. Am I surprised? No. I would never book with this company again and to say our experience spoiled what should have been a lovely holiday is an understatement

i just booked with holiday gems never again. after i booked the holiday advertised on there web site they asked me to change from 10 nights to 9 night I agreed but not happy. then AFTER i agreed on the change they changed my flight times from 3 25 pm to 7 50 pm meaning i did not get to resort till next day. if they had told me they were changing my out flight i would not have booked and thats why i was not told

I WAS BEING put on a bad flight, when i rang them to complain no one was interested in helping me just kept saying we cannot change it and operator slammed phone down on me had to ring back and ask to talk to manager but he was no help.

they got my money so now did not care i will never use them again in my oppinion they are very unhelpful and rude. they have ruined my holiday before ive even got there. KEEP AWAY.

Travel Gems are a company that people should avoid dealing with at all costs. They are very misleading and very unhelpful. Expect to receive rubbish customer service and a pack of lies.

Do not use this company!!!

I too booked a holiday to Alcudia last night costing £1353. inc a £16.00 debit card charge!! only to receieve a phone call today saying that our flights had gone up an extra £50 something each! therefor total holiday cost without transfers had gone upto approx £1530 When i said that i would re search and I already had another company in mind I was assured that I would NOT find the holiday with anyone else cheaper as the price inflation had affected everyone! and that if i didnt take it now, by the time I had re searched the holiday would have gone up even more. I dont like being put on the spot so simply told her to leave it with me. Within half an hour I had re booked with Jet 2 for £1402 inc baggage and transfers! with no debit card charge!!

This is my first experience with Holiday Gems and reading through some of the complaints it will be my last! I dont appreciate being lied to or pressurised, and I am disgusted at the fact that they are STILL advertising the same flights?? (false advertising)??