Thats a bugger

yes good idea!!!!!!! Im sure there would be millions of pounds owed to people!!!!

You are unlikely to be able to claim from your credit card provider for a holiday you chose to cancel. They provide legal protection for something you didn't receive or wasn't as it should have been.

If a company is a member of Abta they have to adhere to Abta's Code of Conduct irrespective of what they sold you.

Thankyou very much for your advice!

Hi - sorry to hear things seem to be going from bad to worse for you.

If it has an abta mark on the paperwork then ask the questions :

why is it on there - if not really covered you need to go down the line of trades description and the fact no declaration was made ie they did not specify that this particular holiday was not abta covered so why is it in the paperwork

why did they not disclose the holiday is not abta covered - it should be part of their disclosure statement like the bit about having a six month valid passport etc

after every conversation make notes and if at all possible just list them and email them to Ola Customer Service stating points discussed and what you expect next (they can't delete the emails) and everytime you phone just add to the original email

remind them all their phone calls are ' recorded' and by law you have access to these too - all this should do is remind them they have a record of all you discuss so next time when they claim not to know what you're talking about jolt their memories

ask the question- Do you want to ensure this problem is sorted out without me having to inolve third parties? hopefully pushing the representative to take ownership of the probelm and sort it rather than being the name being blamed when you take it further

Ultimately no company likes to give refunds but stand your ground try to have all the info at hand and keep positive - they are only employees and they have someone to answer to so if they are rude unhelpful or just acting like d**ks then take their name and keep on emailing - jam the system by forwarding forwarding forwarding there is only so much email they can cope with

Hope this helps and I know you may have done this already but don't give up

Cheers

Bev

Abta don't 'cover' holidays. They are an association which has a code of conduct that their members must adhere to. They will give you free advice and take your complaint to arbitration if you want.
Are you perhaps thinking of the The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations.

Sunaddict

Didn't mean 'covered' as in insured etc but as in they must stick to codes of practice - sorry for not being clear

It sounds as if they are being discouraged by OLA from contacting ABTA

Package Tours Regulations may only be applicable if booked as a package ???? will that include this as OLA say they do not book packages but flights and hotels separately. Do you think they could use that arguement?

I would just ring Abta and ask for advice. They are usually very helpful. Ola must abide by Abta's code of conduct and whilst they may not be technically breaching it, they certainly are not acting in the customers' interests and Abta would probably like to know.

If they booked a package the package regs apply. Ola do have an Atol and do book Package regs protected holidays, but I would image the majority of their business is individual component holidays.

I have booked many times with ola holidays and always found their staff to be friendly and very helpful if there were ever problems they were always dealt with quickly and efficiently

annili66 wrote:

I have booked many times with ola holidays and always found their staff to be friendly and very helpful if there were ever problems they were always dealt with quickly and efficiently

Well you would do annili66 seeing as your IP states you work for them

So good to hear annili 66 that you have had such good service and there are good caring people at OLA

As I said I have used them many times without problems until this time - obviously I must have delat with similar people
to those you describe - however now they all have seemd to have vanished!

perhaps you could share their names with us so we could ask for them as I don't seeem to be getting the same person twice even though I ask for them by name

And no I'm not jumping on the bandwagon and I give credit where credit is due and for me OLA are not deserving much credit at the moment

However Glynis - credit where credit is due - NICE ONE!!

Annili66 if you do work for them - Be One Of The Nice Guys (which I'm sure you are)

OLA HOLIDAYS Ltd. This is an ABTA company, I booked a 1 weeks all inclusive in Turkey in May 2010, I paid in Full using Barclaycard visa £721.60. I thought I was fully protected financially if things went wrong. In July 2010 Goldtrail flights went bust, Ola Holidays offered me alternative flights but I would have to pay them an additional £430.00 for these alternative flights, I was offered a full refund of my £721.60 and was told this should take between 60-90 days. I am still waiting for my refund now almost 7 months later, Ola Holidays ignore my communications, I have complained to ABTA that ola holidays are not abiding by the ABTA code of conduct and responding to requests for information within 28 days, ABTA are not interested. I complained to Barclaycard visa and they said Ola Holidays charged me a small fee of £2.50p for ATOL insurance and therefore Barclaycard will not reimburse me my £721.60 that I paid by credit card? (So beware of that when you book holidays using your visa credit card). I have complained to ABTO & ATOL but Ola Holidays reply to ABTA telling them lies and claiming that they have replied to all communications!! When I ask for copies or proof of these replies Ola Holidays ignore these requests and ABTA are not interested. BEWARE OF OLA HOLIDAYS Ltd, even though they are ABTA & ATOL you may not get your Holiday or your Refund same as me. I would recommend using the better companies such as Thomson or similar large company.

Hi All
Is there a problem with this company recently ? their web site seems to be down for a few days now or has it changed

Robert

Hi Robert ... it seems that they are now trading as 'TravelOla' in addition to 'OlaHolidays'. The new web address is http://www.travelola.com or you can ring them on freephone 0800 091 0808, which is still answered as OlaHolidays. I will edit this topic title to include the new name, which seems to have been in effect for a few months now.

David

Thanks for that David. I was still able to connect to ola travel up to about 10 days ago, but they must have fully switched over now. I was just using them for some price checking.

Robert

hi i have just booked a holiday via phone to ola holidays what is the reputation of them? also when should i receive my booking confirmation with details by email?? she did say on the phone but totally forgot? i have never used these before so i dont know what to expect....

i booked a 10 holiday to tenerife through ola in april for august.
i got my confirmation email by the next day...

no problems at the airport (going out or returning)
no problems with the hotel transfers (both ways)
stayed in one of the best hotel/appartments ive ever stayed in

im booking through ola again next year for the same holiday.

also, the price was well within my budget.
i was expecting to pay at least £400 more than i did.

i spoke to a really nice fella at ola called ray who helped me out alot
during my booking.

would without a doubt use again.

Keep well away from Ola Holidays. My wife and I booked a all inclusive 5 star hotel and flight package with them to Turkey. No transfers waiting at the airport and even worse when we found a taxi to take us to the hotel we found it to be a 4 star. After many phone calls to Ola
we were told that's what they rate as 5 star. During our stay it was downgraded to a 3 star. The food was 2 star, the entertainment nil, the rooms 2 star and service 2 star. So many complaints from the guests. We have battled for compensation from Ola and help from abta since our return but have just been fobbed off. KEEP WELL AWAY UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE RIPPED OFF!!!!!

Ihave booked two holidays with ola holidays this year and would like to say to anyone who doubt this company that I have had the best and the cheapest holidays I have ever booked all the years I have been going away.The staff are very helpfull and will find you just what you are looking for in a holiday,and at the cheapest price ever,so go on try them I did and will use them again for my next holiday.