Hi shamus ... while you wait for feedback here, if you use Search with keyword hotels4u (no spaces), you will find them mentioned in lots of posts across the forums.

David

I booked my apartment with them in Turkey in May, they were very good, had no problems at all with them, I travelled alone so was slightly weary but needn't have worried, they are part of Thomas Cook as well and much better than some companies I have used before.

I've used them once to book a city break and had no problems at all.

I have used them twice and find them very competitive on price, as a previous poster says part of the Thomas Cook group.
Will book again with them shortly.

Iv used them too- no problems at all.

belly

I booked with Hotels4U last August. We stayed at The Majesty Tuana in Fethiye, Turkey. The whole booking proccess was simple & I have to admit they have a great website, but that is the only positive thing to say about this company. I never received the room type I had paid for. I had to fight to eventually receive the correct room. HOTELS4U put this down as "human error". More importantly, my 3 year old suffered Salmonella poisoning. I have a copy of her test results & doctors notes. HOTELS4U sent me a letter "apologising for the inconvenience & hope my daughter is feeling better now!!!!!" Diabolical behaviour!!! Very insincere & basically couldn't give 2 hoots!!! As usual, quick to take my money bit not so quick to investigate my allegations! As for being part of Thomas Cook, I've phoned them twice & they couldn't give a toss either. It's now over 20 weeks since I made my complaint & still nothing......Be very careful before you give them your hard earned cash as if you have any problems you'll be on your own!!!! It may cost you a little more money, but I'd strongly advise you go for a package holiday everytime. You really are on your own when you book a "DIY holiday" Trust me!!!! I learnt the hard way!!!! Fortunately after weeks of illness my 3 year old made a full recovery, but somebody else may not be so lucky!!! I have a HUGE amount of fight in me & I will never give up!!!
......Also beware of Medhotels and holidayhotels.com....they are the same company as Hotels4U. They just trade under different names.....to confuse us......You have been warned!!!!

Welcome jojol13 ... are you referring to the Majesty Club Tuana ? If so, then you may want to give Simpson Millar Solicitors a ring as I believe they were investigating reports of illness at this hotel during the summer period. You will find contact details on this page:
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=149252

David

Hey David,
Many thanks for your message. I have already spoken to a very helpful gentleman at Simpson Millar. Unfortunately he is unable to assist me as I booked through Hotels4U & not a package holiday! This is my frustration!! Strangely enough, Hotels4U have never actually pointed this out to me. They just say that they need more time to investigate my claims. It's been over 20 weeks now, but apparently they need more time??? The guy at Simpson Millar confirmed that he was dealing with cases at The Majesty Club Tuana at the same time although Hotels4U have advised me that I am the only guest to have reported illness during the whole of the summer season??!! HaHa!!!! I really was born yesterday wasn't I??! My 9 year old nephew was hospitalised in Turkey for very similar symptoms. Funny that the hospital couldn't pinpoint a diagnosis for him, but yet prescribed him with some super duper antibiotics - very harsh for a young child!!!!
I feel very strongly that us consumers should know the risks of booking a "DIY" holiday & not a package. Naturally, hotel booking companies are not going to spell this out for us, but will just "refer us to their terms & conditions" & then provide us with minimal paperwork outlining this!!! Something has to change & I'm really hoping I can be the one to change it!!!!
Thanks for your time.
Jo

Interesting that you say you didn't get the room you had paid for.

I know someone who made a booking made on their site for B&B as it was the same price as room only. The confirmation came back stating room only and despite several emails to the company pointing out the error they refused to change it as it was booked as a non-refundable rate. They weren't asking for a refund, just for the board basis that was booked.

Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired and they are probably a company to be avoided if they cannot correct an error in their booking system. There are plenty alternatives.

luci

Hi Jo,

I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. I'd like to take a look into what has happened but in order for me to do that I will need your booking reference. Please can you send these to me via PM or to pr@hotels4u.com and I will look into this further.

Many thanks,
Jen

PR Representative
Hotels4u

Hi Jen,

I have private messaged you my booking ref. I have spoken with SW - Customer Services Team Leader who seemed to be helpful at first, but has now shown through her lack of correspondence that she really couldn't care less! I also had the pleasure of a phone call from a Mr FM who I believe to be a manager of some kind. He showed zero compassion towards my 3 year old & to be perfectly honest I don't know what the purpose of his call was. As when I asked if I could have his telephone number I was told that I needed to phone the call centre "as any of his colleagues could help me" Very, very poor customer service in my opinion!!!!!!
Thanks for taking the time to contact me, However, I won't hold my breath that any good will come of it......

Hi jojol13, given that you have now been contacted by someone from their PR department, my advice would be to leave off venting your frustration and naming other people here on a public forum until Jen has been given a chance to try and resolve your problem to your satisfaction. What has happened to you does sound awful - I'm not excusing that - but you have now attracted their attention and there is no point in putting up the back of someone who might be able to help you before they've even had a chance to investigate your complaint. You want Jen to be on your side so it's not in your interests at this stage to give her any reason for not acting as your advocate with her colleagues at this point. From the sound of it she's the first person from Hotels4 u to take your complaint seriously and to offer to look into what has happened so try and keep it that way.

Let us know what further response you do get from her but wait until the process has been taken as far as it can with her before doing so - badmouthing her colleagues off in a public forum like this will make it harder for her to get them to acknowledge that you might have case and to bring them round to agreeing a solution with you that satisfies all parties.

I've edited out the personal names as we don't allow them on the forum.

Good luck Jo.

Hi Sma, I can see that I am coming across as a very angry individual. However, this is after being given the constant runaround by this company. I have been treated very disrespectfully & to be honest I am blatantly fed up!!! It is not my intention to "badmouth" anybody! I am simply outlining what has happened to date. Which is nothing!!! They've had my letter for over 20 weeks & yet we're nowhere close to resolving this issue. Jen is my no means the first person I have spoken to at Hotels4U, but whether or not my complaint is taken seriously remains to be seen..... You are right & yes, she deserves the right to respond. I apologise if I have offended you or anybody else that may read this forum. It was not my intention. After months of being ignored I feel like I have a platform & I'm just getting carried away.....I'm not an aggressive person. I am a very protective mother of 3 who feels very let down by a company who dispite me providing medical evidence of Salmonella poisoning is STILL being fobbed off. I will most certainly update you with any progress, but I reiterate that after speaking to the manger of the company & getting nowhere, I have little faith....
Thanks for taking the time to message me though. It's interesting to know how others feel.

I apologise if I have offended you or anybody else that may read this forum. It was not my intention.

Jojol13, you didn't offend me at all and I can fully understand why you are so angry. It's just that I know from working in an area where we at times do have to deal with very angry people and the staff members who often take the brunt of it are not the ones who were responsible for the actions/decisions that have caused the complainant to be so angry. But once they have felt the full force of that anger they then sometimes resent having to deal any further with the person concerned and aren't necessarily then as helpful as they could be - like putting you in touch with the person who can take the necessary actions. So my post was simply offered in the spirit of trying of trying to help you maximise the assistance of the PR Dept in getting your complaint dealt with.

SM

Note to any students who are might be reading this - the admin person who returned your assignment to you had no hand whatsoever in the actual marking of it and they didn't give it the grade that has so upset you. I, or one of the other tutors did, and you should take it up with us. We probably won't change the grade but we can explain where you went wrong and help you get better grades in future. Likewise, to any applicants for a place at University, the admin staff member who can track your application for you isn't the person who decided that you shouldn't be offered a place. I, or another admissions tutor, decided that you weren't suitable or that there were better qualified candidates. You need to get to speak to us about this so we can discuss your application with you but you probably never will if you make the clerical staff member who picked up the phone and you did speak to in the first instance so angry and upset that they hung up on you rather than forwarding your call to right person. Apologies for going but I know how valuable it can be to keep people feeling positive towards you if you want a complaint dealt with in the most sympathetic way.

I was a touch confused there for a minute, thought you'd copied something irrelevant to me, but I'm with you now! Point taken. Totally understand where you're coming from.
I think it was the sheer irony that angered me. I'm getting nowhere with Hotels4U. I'm being ignored left, right & centre, nobody wants to know, nobody wants to listen, SO I choose to let off some steam on a public forum & lo & behold someone from that company contacts me??!!
To be honest this has stressed me out for over 5 months & I'm well & truly fed up!!!!
Think I deserve a well earned break........hmmmmm maybe I'll book a holiday

EDIT: jojol13, sorry but your post had to be edited. Please feel free to continue to update this topic with any developments. But that should be done by summarising events in your own words, rather than by reproduction of any personal correspondence from Hotels4u which I am assuming you did not have their permission to do. Hotels4U are also welcome to respond here with a summary of any progress, but of course we would expect them not to reproduce any personal correspondence from you.
Many thanks
David HT Mod

Hi

Jen hasn't actually said the hotel is closed - just that at this time of year some hotels do close.

Tunisia as a rule is generally an all year round resort but it's possible the people they need to check their records with may not be at the hotel at this time as staff/managers tend to work the summer and either the first half or second half of the winter season.

Investigating complaints of illness is time consuming and it's highly possible you may have been the only guest (booked via Hotels4U) who made a complaint. Other people travelling with other companies may have also made complaints but that all takes time to correlate the information and hope that someone on the ground also does some digging with the hotel and asks the right questions.

I worked for 10yrs with one of the biggest three UK tour operators and this was an area I worked in but my role was to recoup compensation paid out to guests back from the supplier/hotels/airline etc if it was deemed they were at fault. The initial complaint in itself will take a number of months to be fully investigated and for a settlement to be reached (if one is forthcoming).

These kind of matters are not treated lightly and they cannot be handled in the same manner as a "normal" holiday complaint such as wrong room type allocated to a customer, some parts of the package deal missing, faulty fixtures and fittings etc...

If you have all the necessary evidence, documentation and any follow up reports from returning to UK - just make sure they have all been passed on to back up your complaint. Remember to keep copies of everything you send in hard copy. As for phone calls or even email - even in this day and age, it's much better to send everything in writing and by Registered Mail.

In the meantime, carry on with your everyday life and don't let this rule you. It will get sorted in the end....

Regards
Shell
Limassol, Cyprus

Apologies David! I am new to all this forum malarkey! Point taken & understood!

To summarise: Hotels4U have confirmed that my complaint is in hand & is being dealt with, but as it is winter the hotel may be closed so can slow down proceedings. They are asking for a little bit more patience as investigations can generally take between 3-6 months.

Shell - thank you for that information. But I have an email from Hotels4U which confirms that The Majesty Club Tuana has in fact closed for the winter period.
Of course I appreciate that these things take time. However, my initial complaint was sent to them on 19th September. I initially received a standard letter acknowledging receipt of it. After that......nothing! It wasn't until I contacted the Thomas Cook press office on 3rd January that on 10th January I actually received a response. A very feeble response at that!! You could be right! My daughter could've been the only confirmed case of Salmonella booked through Hotels4U. In fact I have been told by them that she was the only one. But on the other hand, what sort of company would admit they'd be inundated with claims of food poisoning?!! They're always going to make you believe you're the only one.
I have already waited 5 months so another month should be easy to stomach. The thing I am very passionate in what I believe in. My 3 year old daughter was due to start nursery last September, she'd been looking forward to it for months. But due to her ill health after we returned from Turkey she couldn't start. She suffered 5 weeks of ill health & as a result lost 9lb in weight, which is an awful lot for a young child. Once she was over the illness it was mid September & to be honest she was so frail & pale that I became very overprotective & decided that physically & mentally it wouldn't be the right thing to send her off to nursery. I have been holidaying abroad since I was a child. My family & I absolutely love our holidays & absolutely loved the "all inclusive" concept. However, I am now paranoid as to where we're going to travel to/where we'll be staying etc...it's amazing how something like this can have such an effect on things that you've done all your life. I'll be the first to admit that I am totally obsessed & am finding it very difficult to move on until this episode is well & truly behind me.
I'll be sure to update you on my progress