BEWARE OF HOLIDAY GEMS - Negligent!!

I stupidly did not do any research on travel company Holiday Gems before booking a holiday with them. As per all the other users I had a very bad experience with them - they ruined the holiday before we had even got to the airport.

We experienced endless problems booking a simple holiday to Gran Canaria through Holiday Gems. They offered prices that they could meet. Our flight costs increased by over £100 each (for a couple) from the original booking because they took to long to actually book the flight with the airline. On top of that they forgot to book any baggage allowance so it cost us £80 at the airport for one item of luggage of 15 kgs.

The customer services is never available either via phone or email. When they do phone you they only let the phone ring once or twice and then hang up so that you have to phone them back on a premium line. When you do call back they say that they are going to transfer you to a different department and then put you on hold for 15 plus minutes (I had to hang up). This is obviously very costly when you are calling the premium number from abroad.

After 6 days of trying to contact them (they do not work on weekends or bank holidays for customer queries - only for sales) they promised me that they had booked an item of luggage with the airline for our return trip. However this was not done again so we had to leave the luggage behind in Gran Canaria with a friend to avoid the exorbitant penalties which couls easily have been avoided if Holiday Gems had done as promised and completed simple booking online. So all in all our week holiday for a couple cost over £360 (before telephone costs) more than it should have because of Holiday Gems negligence and inefficiency.

I would hate to think what will happen if customers have a problem on holiday as it is impossible to even speak to Holiday Gems let alone get them to resolve any queries / problems etc.

BEWARE of the company.
I do not say this lightly as I have continued to be lied to even by Name Removed who I was told is a manager.

My story is that I booked on line to go to hotel Troya 4* in Tenerife flying from Doncaster with Thomson. Prior to booking I spoke with Name Removed over a number of questions regarding taking a baby with 3 adults and my initial thoughts he was very good by supplying sufficient info. As such, this company had ALL my requirement prior to booking on line via the conversation I had with Name Removed. Hence I booked my holiday and was aware that as suggested by Name Removed that I would need to pay extra for luggage which he suggested I book direct with the airline (Thomson). The on line holiday cost was £1678.56 excluding luggage, insurance and parking and hence I received email confirmation.

I then received a call from Name Removed stating that I would need to send/text a photo of my debit card and to cover the card number since despite that they had done their checks, holidays that are booked late require further checks. He told me to cover the card numbers and just show my name and the bank, which is what I did despite finding this an unusual request.

Within days I received a call from Name Removed saying that my flights had increased in price and I would need to pay a further £200. From which I requested a call from the manager since in my mind offer and acceptance had already occurred having provided proof of my debit card. Prior to the call from Name Removed (the so called manager) I checked with Thomson airline to see if the prices had increased. Yes, they had increased by a mere £10 per person and not the £200 that Name Removed had suggested.

When I got a call from Name Removed I expressed that I was lied to of which she gave explanation that they purchase flights via brokers. I also mentioned that this could be deemed false advertising (the lure) since Holiday Gems were still adverting the holiday deal at £1678.56 despite them saying the flights had increased in price which they had known for a couple of days, apparently. Name Removed said she would look into the list of cancelled flights she had received that day and would call me back in the afternoon of which I then received a courtesy call from Name Removed stating that they were stilling looking into it.

I have since received an email from Name Removed saying that the room we booked is not sufficient for our party and is giving fire regulations as the excuse saying that there is no room for a cot. Baring in mind that I had already spoke with him at length prior to booking of my party requirement. The email states that my room cost alone will be £1520, a total of £2089.00 which is £410 more than the advertised cost/order.
I have since looked at the accommodation types at this hotel and ALL the rooms are showing as capable to have a cot, yet another lie from this company.

They have not taken payment and I have requested a confirmation email to say that they will not take payment.
As such, I have continuously been lied to re the flight costs and the hotel costs, the whole package deal. And this company is still advertising the price package on their website which leads me to believe they are false advertising (the lure) where they will then come back on the unsuspecting consumer to profiteer and gain further funds/money.

I hope this is helpful to those that are contemplating booking with Holiday Gems since I would strongly recommend that you go with your trusted holiday company and give these a miss.

I read this complaint on TA yesterday where it was removed because of posting names of employee.

As you read the terms and conditions before offering to buy, you would have known that prices aren't confirmed until you actually receive confirmation, and that you would be contacted if any of the elements weren't available, or at the prices shown online.

And this company is still advertising the price package on their website which leads me to believe they are false advertising (the lure) where they will then come back on the unsuspecting consumer to profiteer and gain further funds/money.

As it's clearly explained there should be no confusion over the fact the website prices aren't live so that is why they were still showing the same prices. They're not coming back to profiteer. They're doing exactly what you agreed to let them do when you offered to buy.

I have since received an email from Name Removed saying that the room we booked is not sufficient for our party and is giving fire regulations as the excuse saying that there is no room for a cot. I have since looked at the accommodation types at this hotel and ALL the rooms are showing as capable to have a cot, yet another lie from this company.

Most rooms in hotels are capable of taking a cot, but that is dependent on the occupancy level. They all have a maximum occupancy. Not all will accommodate 3 adults and a cot. How did you check that ALL rooms are capable of of taking a cot with your level of occupancy?

How did you check Thomsons flight price increase?

As you say, they haven't taken payment, which again is as described in their terms and conditions.

From what you posted I really believe that you hadn't read the terms and conditions of what you were offering to buy because the majority of your complaint is purely down to that.

They trade in exactly the same way as most OTAs and the majority of complaints about those are generally down to people not reading the terms and conditions before clicking to accept them.

What was the difference in price between booking directly through Thomsons and using Holiday Gems?
I can't find the advert for your holiday on HG- have you got a link? I can't even get them to give me a price anywhere at all for 3 adults and one infant in one room.
On the Thomsons site it gives a min/max for each room type and only the Family rooms take up to 4. The rest say a maximum of 3. Did you book that room type?

Did you read Holiday Gems terms and conditions ?

Their Business Model will be that customers enquire about a holiday and then they source the product (s) from their suppliers, trying to get the best price for what you want.

The email confirmation is not confirmation of a firm booking, it is confirmation that they have received the enquiry about what you want to book, presumably that's why they haven't taken any monies at this point.

It isn't false advertising as it is all explained in their T&C's.

As said by Sunaddict they trade in the same way as most OTA's.

If it is important to you to be 100% sure on price at the outset, book with a company that offers package holidays like Thomson,Thomas Cook, Cosmos and steer clear of anyone who keeps talking about 'their suppliers' in the small print.

I understand there can be no confusion over prices as they are not live , but at some point they must do an update to reflect the increased price , so if they are still advertising a price a couple of days later after telling the purchaser that the advertised price has increased is it not misleading .
At the best any price they advertise is not actually correct , but their T&CS cover this , so they could always draw people in on a low price and then just reply back with increased price , quite a remarkable business model .
I suppose when someone asks you to text/send a photo of your bank card you got to realise they ain't all that .
I would imagine best to avoid , but then with a 91% feedback on their excellent service they must be pleasing someone out there

How can they do an update on prices they aren't holders of room allocations with hotels ? They will only contact the supplier once the customer has told them what component parts they want to make up their holiday.

It's not really a remarkable business model, on-line-travel agents use it and have done so for at least the last ten years, quite successfully. They get a lot if repeat business we only see the odd complaint, same as we do with lots of other companies.

As far as I can see it's just like any other 'invitation to treat' in contract law, something that has been around for years.

Personally the moment I see the world 'suppliers' in the terms and conditions I would run a mile, but that's just me, as normally with a tour operator or DIY booking direct with an airline and the accommodation.

They state prices are regularly updated from suppliers , airlines etc , how else do they get a price ? Just make it up ? I find it a remarkable business model in the fact that no price they advertise can be completely true , it might be , it might not be .
Be very interesting to hear if anyone of the satisfied 91% paid less than the advertised price as they say prices do fluctuate from hour to hour and airlines and hotels do have sales or reduce their prices from time to time , I assume updates are very frequent to encourage would be purchasers to snap up the bargains .

There is nothing unusual in finding the guide prices advertised aren't available, it's been talked about enough over the years.

For a start third parties are unlikely to have live prices for flights.

Common sense should say that between making an initial enquiry and a member of the OTA staff trying to source flights, even if only 20 minutes has elapsed, many flights could have been sold and with the way the airlines business models work, the less seats the higher the price to the consumer, so the flight price will have gone up.

The OP is stating that the OTA is profiteering, but as far as I can see all the OTA is doing is passing on the cost of the product, flight or accommodation, to the customer.

If people will insist on using these kinds of company's they should try and understand how they work.

And realise that the devil is in the detail

Avoid them at all cost, they are nothing but *** *****

I have booked a family holiday with the company Holiday Gems through their website. The price for our family, 2 adults and 2 kids came to £950 I have given through all the options and ensured all was covered and paid the extra for the transfers and the extra luggage, I received a call 4 days later to tell me they are charging an extra £70 per person total £280 to cover for the holiday, I argued the case and told them that was not what they have quoted me on their website, I asked to them to cancel the booking they said they will charge me a fee for that, I called my bank to stop the payment, my bank said that Holiday Gems took the full funds plus £280 two days before they actually called me first to advise about the unfair and unjustified price increase by almost £300, I asked to speak to a manager, no one called me back, they refunded me however charged me cancellation fee of £46 as they said they have already booked the room for me but when I asked the agent I was told no reservation was made yet! I will never book with them and again and definitely don't advise anyone to, its illegal to quote a price online and then with no authorisation help themselves to take extra money before they actually admitted to, worst experience ever.

You will ticked a box have agreeding to Holiday Gems terms and conditions, in which it's explained that the initial enquiry you make is not a confirmed price. Once you have submitted your enquiry they then contact their suppliers. All OTA's operate this way.

If in the interim the flight or accommodation price has increased this cost will be passed on to you.

If you wish to avoid this kind of senario in future, either book your flight direct with an airline and your accomodation direct, alternatively book a package holiday with either Thomson or Thomas Cook who use live prices.

doe wrote:

You will ticked a box have agreeding to Holiday Gems terms and conditions, in which it's explained that the initial enquiry you make is not a confirmed price. Once you have submitted your enquiry they then contact their suppliers. All OTA's operate this way.

If in the interim the flight or accommodation price has increased this cost will be passed on to you.

If you wish to avoid this kind of senario in future, either book your flight direct with an airline and your accomodation direct, alternatively book a package holiday with either Thomson or Thomas Cook who use live prices.

Absolutely spot on Doe.
So many times you see a holiday at a great prices on an OTA that not many people have heard of (I only became aware of Holiday Gems a couple of months ago)
I always tick with the old adage 'If it seems to good to be true, it usually is'
I would rather pay that bit more with Thomson or Thomas Cook to have peace of mind that the price you see is the price you pay.

I have used holidaygems for over 5 years. Just came back from vegas with them but it cost an extra 200 pounds and no transfer was waiting for us at vegas. Just went to book turkey and when they called me back they wanted an extra 150 so i cancelled but will have to wait for 7 days for money back yet nothing was confirmed. The price will always go up when they confirm but now they are becoming very deceiving when booking holiday. Had good hols with them in the past but enough is enough. Too greedy

I have used holidaygems for over 5 years. Just came back from vegas with them but it cost an extra 200 pounds and no transfer was waiting for us at vegas. Just went to book turkey and when they called me back they wanted an extra 150 so i cancelled but will have to wait for 7 days for money back yet nothing was confirmed. The price will always go up when they confirm but now they are becoming very deceiving when booking holiday. Had good hols with them in the past but enough is enough. Too greedy

I have used holidaygems for over 5 years. Just came back from vegas with them but it cost an extra 200 pounds and no transfer was waiting for us at vegas. Just went to book turkey and when they called me back they wanted an extra 150 so i cancelled but will have to wait for 7 days for money back yet nothing was confirmed. The price will always go up when they confirm but now they are becoming very deceiving when booking holiday. Had good hols with them in the past but enough is enough. Too greedy

Be warned,there are hundreds of problems with Holidaygems recorded. Do not trust your holiday or you finances with this rip off company.
The big big mistake which I made was I did not look up reviews for before booking.
Booked a package holiday to Tenerife with them in May as price seemed
reasonable compared to others, having paid for it and sitting back then
as so many have found I got the telephone call 1 hour later, "sorry
hotel cost has gone up since we last checked, it is now £80 more can we
take it from your debit card now ?
That was the start, arrived at the airport check in to be embarrassed to be told that our booking was
not in order as no luggage had been included by the travel agent (this
was a package holiday). had to stump up a additional £160. Now they say
that they wont refund us as the cases were an optional extra that WE
HAD NOT PREBOOKED . This was a package holiday for ten days, who goes
on holiday for ten days without luggage ? . Significantly there was no
mention at the time of booking that luggage was not included in the
cost. This firm operates on lower up from cost to get your custom and
then hikes the cost afterwards avoid at all cost.

I realise this is an old post but feel the need to warn everyone about these clowns, complete con artists, liars and thieves, under no circumstances should anyone even consider booking with these crooks, and I can’t believe they haven’t been shut down, I’ll soon see to that though

I realise this is an old post but feel the need to warn everyone about these clowns, complete con artists, liars and thieves, under no circumstances should anyone even consider booking with these crooks, and I can’t believe they haven’t been shut down, I’ll soon see to that though