ps- The holiday isnt until the 3rd july this year.

their brochure should explain admin charges, looks like 30 pounds per person + the difference between the old accomodation and the new. any change made within 8 weeks of departure is classed as a cancellation and cancellation charges occur. 56 days or more before is loss of deposit, 55-29 days before is 50% or deposit whichever is greater etc etc. i am quoting from the brochure i have. i suggest they get in touch with first choice sooner rather than later. accomodation change should not be too bad to resolve as they already have the plane seats. good luck to them.
ali

I agree with Ali. Your sister may have to pay the amendment fee per person and of course the increase in accommodation cost but better for her to do this and feel secure in her accommodation.

Let us know how she gets on.

Hello, and thanks for the advice given. My sister phoned today, and having explained the situation, was told the marina suites were avaliable and that it wasnt a problem. They were charged £20pp for admin and were happy to pay this. Right now my sister and her partner are at our local first choice paying the difference which totalled £128.oo including the admin, and are going out on the same flights and dates. So everybody is happy! On informing first choice the reason for wanting to change, the lady did not question it at all, and wasnt really interested at all to know just what these negative reviews stated, maybe if she has asked then first choice could have has a inside view to THEIR customers opion of the Blue star hotel.

In future my sister is going to use this website and others like this as a guide, and will not be booking with first choice again. Thanks

Glad to hear it's sorted Mainy.

I approved a report today for accommodation in Puerto Rico which I had stayed in at Christmas/Millenium 2000. On return I took on First Choice as the accommodation was awful. Judging by the review today it's still the same.

fantastic result! it shows travel agents can be helpful sometimes. its a small price to pay for peace of mind. she can stop worrying now and look forward to her hard earned holiday.

Mainy, glad its sorted out for your sister.

Just a little bit of info from the travel agents point of view, they can not possibly know what every hotel is like and to be fair would not check a review for every customer that comes through the door. You have to remember they are paid to sell holidays and they have targets to reach, and if they don't reach those said targets then their work life becomes pretty awful. Yes its wrong I know. These targets are set by Head Office so the poor travel agent is stuck right in the middle, having to achieve targets and dealing with any unhappy customers!!! So if a customer comes into the shop and wants to book X hotel and you know X hotel is not good, what do you do?? Do you tell them or do you not? Fortunately I have not been in that position.

Also to be honest if customers come in the shop to advise a hotel has bad reviews, the actual agent cannot do alot about it except perhaps feed it to somebody in Head Office, after all they deal with the complaints and review/selection of hotels. Wonder though what reaction some of these senior people have to these complaints etc.

I totally agree, it is much better to do your own research, just to ensure everything is going to be OK. Yes I am a travel agent (although not for long as I am leaving very soon) However before I became a TA I fully researched any hotel I have planned to stay at with excellent sites like this and also a general google search. Now I would not dream of booking a hotel without some research first.!!

why shouldnt your sister book with first choice again ?they have provided the same customer service that any reputable travel agent would provide.try the same with thompsons etc. and you would get the same charges,probably more knowing them (no offence).to be honest we have travelled fist choice/eclipse/direct since 2003 and never had cause to complain,but then again after a couple of holidays in the late eighties that were bordering on disaster, i have devoured the info on this site and made good decisions based on that info.anyway i have a list of good properties that i would like to go to in the future,and marina suites are one of them so well done for choosing a decent property,they will have a great time and hopefully put the potential disaster down to experience.

ps i meant late 90's ,not late 8 0's

wow so many replys, i am truly flatterd for your interest into this incident with my sister, my original post was seeking advice as to what happens in this type of situation in this case changing details of your holiday and with so many members i knew someone would be able to tell me, if only the rough guidelines. My sister and her partner are now obviously happy with the outcome, and yes its a shame that travel agents have to meet targets and can be forced to forget the 'middle man' thats us the customer. This is the first time my sister has used first choice and previously always used another well known travel operater as they had provided excellant customer service, and great hotels, but she thought she would try having a change and the price was a good deal. In research done after she booked she found some interesting posts on another website that holds thousands of reviews and in quite a few regarding this hotel The Blue Star, previous customers who also happend to have booked with first choice, stated that on complaining of the problems they had been informed by first choice main department, and by their actual holiday rep that they were going to be removing this hotel from their brochure, 9 months down the line and they have not actually done this. Thats even with the same negative feedback time after time about the same issues that has a good 3 year history.... correct me if i am wrong but anyone who is selling a product whether it be a holiday or not should actually know what they are promoting, be confident in a product they are providing, and want people to actually come back. !! First choice didnt take an interest and havent for the last 3 years it seems and when my sister dealt with first choice on the phone, they werent the least bit interested or suprised at hearing the name Blue star......

Thank you once again

I don't blame the travel agent I blame the tour operator. Our rep in Puerto Rico in 2000 said, on seeing our apartment, 'I have never seen anything like it' The manager was rude and didn't even move from behind his desk when the rep asked him to come and look at the room.

When the rep asked him if we could have another room allocated to another T/O as First Choice apparantly didn't have any allocatated rooms left, the manager said 'No, as First Choice will not pay'.

On my return FC initially offered me £50 compensation After 4 months of wrangling I eventually settled for £750 which was 50% of the total cost of the holiday.

When I read yesterday of similar complaints being made then I wondered why FC still have these apartments on their books. The management, at the time of my complaint, certainly had no respect for the FC rep. who, by the way, did her best to rectify the situation in resort.

I wasn't quite as impressed however with FC when I logged my complaint on return. We had photo's to back up our claim regarding health and safety issue's and yet they allowed the issue to drag on for as long as possible, gradually increasing the compensation over many months and many letters going back and forth. Probably hoping I'd get fed up and go away.

I agree with Glynis. That holiday could have been sold by First Choice, Thomsons, Thomas Cook etc. That is why there is no way a travel agent can know every single holiday accommodation they sell. For example I have sold holidays from Thomsons, First Choice, JMC, Airtours, Superbreaks, Hayes & Jarvis, Shearings, Citalia, Airways, Crystal, Inghams, Balkan, Classic Collections, Butlins, Haven.... sorry but these are to name but I few I can think of from the top of my head. It is impossible to know the standard of accommodation in every single holiday. As for First Choice not taking an interest, I think its more of a fact that the TA you were dealing with it can not do alot about it. Decisions are out of their hands. Just like when you complain to your bank teller about the ridiculous charges. What's the point, they cannot do anything about it except maybe pass your comments on to their Manager.

Its a bit like a car salesman, or a house seller, you can pay all that money and end up with a heap of trouble!!! Its just a sad reflection of todays age where everything is based around one thing.. profit!

correct me if i am wrong but anyone who is selling a product whether it be a holiday or not should actually know what they are promoting, be confident in a product they are providing, and want people to actually come back. !! First choice didnt take an interest and havent for the last 3 years it seems and when my sister dealt with first choice on the phone, they werent the least bit interested or suprised at hearing the name Blue star......

Mainy, your view expressed above is reasonable and your anger should be directed towards the Tour Operator.

Under the terms laid out in the 1992 Package Tour Regulations it's made very clear that the Tour Operator is responsible for the proper performance of all their suppliers - ie. the hotel. The travel agent isn't responsible for the poor service or accommodation but should, I feel, assist you in making a complaint to the Tour Operator. This is one reason why it's perhaps better to use an independant Travel Agent rather than one of the T.O.'s own agencies. Failing that, book direct with the T.O., save on agent's fees and be prepared to take on the T.O. yourself in the event you are dissatisfied with the package.

However, in this case the T.O. has agreed to your sister's requests and everyone is happy. So well done F.C. for sorting that.

Mike

Well thanks for your post, no one here is angry least of all me, as it is my sisters booking not mine! They wont be complaining to anyone, and today first choice was back on the phone demanding more money even though they went to our local first choice and on the directions of 2 people that currently work for first choice changed their booking and travel details. They returned home last night happy with their new booking details, and having been sat in first choice for a good 45 minuets were happy for it to be settled and today theres a new phone call demanding more money for change of apartment. That is on top of the fee's already paid. So with first choice they have experienced booking a cockroach infested hotel, informing of change and reasons without any one actually being botherd as to why they felt the need, being assured by 2 different teams that it was all payed and changed for them when clearly someone has not got the sufficent training as now its changed again. Thats the reasons why she will not be using them again, and why on earth not, after all who needs the hassle???

They are so looking forward to their holiday and cannot wait to go to the marina suites in july, people seem to have misunderstood what i have actually been saying here. No one wants to complain to a higher level, or get into a dispute about their choice not to use first choice again, and they arent looking to blame anyone, they dont need to look anywhere for that its already obvious. They just expected a better level of customer service/care from first choice, and why shouldnt they.

I shant be posting on here anymore as the matter has been resolved, and its pretty timeless to be posting back and forth for a something that doesnt actually affect me . Thanks

some please advoce us

Mainy, the above quote is from your first post, Advice was sought and provided in good faith by a number of posters on this site who take the time and trouble to help where possible.

I shant be posting on here anymore as the matter has been resolved, and its pretty timeless to be posting back and forth for a something that doesnt actually affect me

Mainy, the bove quote is from your last post.

I don't wish to be rude, but when you seek advice and it's offered don't throw that back in our face with a comment such as your last. I'm sure I speak for most polite posters on this site - I don't consider MY time spent in here to be time-wasted {"timeless" [sic]}.

This is the first time my sister has used first choice and previously always used another well known travel operater as they had provided excellent customer service, and great hotels, but she thought she would try having a change and the price was a good deal.

Your quote above probably says it all. Your sister has previously used another well know T.O. who provided excellent service....but she thought she'd change to a T.O. she's never used before.....perhaps because

the price was a good deal

I shant be posting on here anymore

You shall not be missed.

Mike

Mike

Your thoughts echo mine too!!

I too thought the last comment by Mainy was quite rude in that she said its pretty pointless posting here when it doesn't affect her!!! Well it was herself who raised the topic in the first instance even though it didn't affect her???

I think what I and others had tried to point out to her was that it is not necessarily the TA who is at fault here. I think this was done in a positive and constructive way.

In fact I am quite shocked at her last post!!

I shant be posting on here anymore as the matter has been resolved, and its pretty timeless to be posting back and forth for a something that doesnt actually affect me

Being a bit flippant here.

I assume then that if the holiday should prove to be a disaster, that nobody will be asking for help from the members of HT regarding compenation etc.

Or perhaps not be put out if nobody offers help.

fwh

Well i didnt want to have to add another post but here i am. People why do you allow yourself to become so irate and a tad too sensitive?? I didnt mean that i would not be posting on this board ever again just to this particular post as it has been resolved and i needed no more ADVICE to pass on to my sister from all the very well informed people that use this board, and that includes the selected few that have posted on this thread started by myself

My original post was to ask about what happens if you wish to change booking details after you have paid, that was all. That was my question and also i included about what had happend and my sister's thoughts. Next even with the matter resolved there is post upon post about who i should and should not be blameing, who to complain too on a higher level, why wouldnt we use first choice again, people then agreeing or not agreeing with what the other had posted......... ALL AFTER IT HAD BEEN RESOLVED....... to me that did not affect me anymore as everyone was happy and the matter closed, that is what made me say that i would not be posting on this matter anymore as it did not affect me, how could it do so when it was resolved. Yes it did 'affect' me when i chose to post a help post on here and was asking members for advice, but it does not now.

I have already failed to explain to you the original purpose of my post even though you can read it for yourself, so i was being frank, straightforward, trying to ge the message through that people it doesnt matter, it has been dealt with and we are all happy so please there is no real need to post anymore

But now you claim i am rude and you are shocked by my last post. If i have shocked anybody i am truly sorry and would recommend sweet tea to help you with that. Remember please i was asking advice on behalf of another person so it really does not affect me

I do appreciate the HELPFUL post that i got back, and i do appreciate this board and all the advice i have been given from it, BUT at the end of the day i think you are being a tad mellow dramatic and if a internet post does this to you on a holiday forum, how on earth do you cope in the real world???? Harsh i know but i think its a fair point.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH- LOL BYE!!![/u]