I'm hoping one of you could help me.
We booked a holiday in April 2008 to go in September 2009. We got free insurance when we booked as an incentive.
Last September (2008) I found out via HT that the place we were going to was now going to have another hotel next to it and this hotel was able to use our facilities. I phoned First Choice and asked them and they denied any knowledge.
Last weekend, I found this new hotel in a brochure pictured with our facilities so I rang FC again and they confirmed that the Beach Club could now be used by this other hotel too. We were never notified of this and when we booked it stated in the brochure that the Beach Club was 'exclusive' to the Holiday Village.
FC said that 'exclusive' means fun and that they weren't at fault. Since when has exclusive meant fun???
We requested to change our holiday as we feel we having another hotel will make it too busy. We were told we could change for a fee of £50 per person. There are 9 of us going. I told them I wasn't paying as they were the ones who have breached their contract without advising us. They did feel the need to notify us that there would be no trampolines available though, as was stated in the brochure!!! They didn't think this was that important.
We managed to get the cost of changing down to £50 per family so we changed holiday and was told we would be refunded the difference which was £305 after the £100 was taken off.
My sister received a phone call from FC today saying that we were only getting £123 refunded as they were charging us £182 for 'free' insurance. Can they do this?
Incidentally, as the new holiday is classed as a late booking, they have also charged us £10 each for 20kg of luggage even though this was on the original booking as standard.
We are absolutely fuming with FC and want to take this as far as we can. All we want is FC to admit they were wrong and give us our proper refund back.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Emma
The insurance should just transfer over to the new holiday. no charge.
stand your ground. i used to work for them. they will back down eventually. the insurance is to do with the agent, not the operator themselves.
stand your ground. i used to work for them. they will back down eventually. the insurance is to do with the agent, not the operator themselves.
That is really poor, but as with all these things with these big holiday companys they will make you fight for your money back which is appalling.
Its all bad, but the cheek of saying its a 'late' booking is just ridiculous when the original booking was April 2008 to go in September 2009, 17 months in advance.
I would be tempted to give Ros a ring on this, I'm sure they cant change the terms and conditions of a holiday to this extent and they cant force you to have 'free insurance' that isn't free.
Are they saying that the Insurance was free when you booked in April 2008 and at the time of change it no longer is, so they are now putting it on your bill ? Seems like very sharp practice to me.
Its all bad, but the cheek of saying its a 'late' booking is just ridiculous when the original booking was April 2008 to go in September 2009, 17 months in advance.
I would be tempted to give Ros a ring on this, I'm sure they cant change the terms and conditions of a holiday to this extent and they cant force you to have 'free insurance' that isn't free.
Are they saying that the Insurance was free when you booked in April 2008 and at the time of change it no longer is, so they are now putting it on your bill ? Seems like very sharp practice to me.
For free advice from Ros/Pam
The direct number to Ros's PA Pam is 01922 705134
Or try the switchboard number 01922 633214 and ask for Travel Dept.
The direct number to Ros's PA Pam is 01922 705134
Or try the switchboard number 01922 633214 and ask for Travel Dept.
When we booked in April 08 they gave us free insurance as an incentive to book straight away. FC are saying that the insurance has been active since we booked in case we needed to cancel the holiday.
They are also saying that as they have already discounted the new holiday by £1700 they couldn't possibly give us the free insurance which was given originally, so we said fine we don't want it and we will get our own but they said we have to have it and even if we cancelled it we will be charged £182 for it. I really don't understand this.
Going back to them saying they have discounted the new holiday baffles me even more.....The original booking was £6100 and the new holiday comes in at £5358. So even paying for the change means it should be no more than £5458 so a refund of £642 is due.
I'm not after a free holiday, just an admission that they were wrong not to inform us of the change and my correct refund back.
To top it off, the refund will apparently take 6-8 weeks to go back into our account!!!!! We have told them we will not accept the £123 refund as that would say we are happy with it and we certainly are not.
I'm going to ring Ros on Tuesday when the office is open again. In the meantime I'm going to get in touch with ABTA and ATOL.
We're all so annoyed with FC that none of us now actually want to go away. We're all dreading it and just waiting for something else to happen.
Thanks,
Emma
They are also saying that as they have already discounted the new holiday by £1700 they couldn't possibly give us the free insurance which was given originally, so we said fine we don't want it and we will get our own but they said we have to have it and even if we cancelled it we will be charged £182 for it. I really don't understand this.
Going back to them saying they have discounted the new holiday baffles me even more.....The original booking was £6100 and the new holiday comes in at £5358. So even paying for the change means it should be no more than £5458 so a refund of £642 is due.
I'm not after a free holiday, just an admission that they were wrong not to inform us of the change and my correct refund back.
To top it off, the refund will apparently take 6-8 weeks to go back into our account!!!!! We have told them we will not accept the £123 refund as that would say we are happy with it and we certainly are not.
I'm going to ring Ros on Tuesday when the office is open again. In the meantime I'm going to get in touch with ABTA and ATOL.
We're all so annoyed with FC that none of us now actually want to go away. We're all dreading it and just waiting for something else to happen.
Thanks,
Emma
Did you book direct with first choice, or through a first choice travel agency?
I'm pretty sure they have to honour the free insurance, becuase they offered it in the first place.
Stand your ground, they are trying to get away with it becuase it will save them some profit.
I'm pretty sure they have to honour the free insurance, becuase they offered it in the first place.
Stand your ground, they are trying to get away with it becuase it will save them some profit.
Hi Stemma
I am a travel agent and although not for First Choice, im sure all agents have similar t&c's with regards to the insurance.
When you purchase the insurance with your holiday, you are given a 14 day "cooling off" period, which basically means that if within 14 days of the insurance being issued, you are not happy with the policy and change your mind then you are within your rights to cancel and receive a full refund.
Now i cant comment on the " free insurance" offered by First Choice and their t&c's on this as its not something that we as an agent ever offer.
We do however, offer discounted insurance sometimes and if after the 14 days "cooling off" period, our custmer comes back to us and says they dont want the insurance for whatever reason and wish to cancel the policy then they are liable to pay us back the discounted amount.
eg: Full price policy £30
we discount £10 therefore customer pays £20
after 14 days customer wishes to cancel, they then pay us £10 originally discounted.
All of our t&c's clearly state that if the policy is cancelled within the 14days then they will receive a full refund, if outside the 14 days then they will lose monies paid and stand to pay us for any discounted amounts. This is always made aware to the customer and they need to sign an agrrement.
It looks like First Choice have similar t&c's regarding the above, but they are just asking you to pay back the full amount on the insurance policy as it was offered as free insurance at the time of booking
which is the £182
I hope you manage to get some sort of resolve on this
Kind regards
Stacey
I am a travel agent and although not for First Choice, im sure all agents have similar t&c's with regards to the insurance.
When you purchase the insurance with your holiday, you are given a 14 day "cooling off" period, which basically means that if within 14 days of the insurance being issued, you are not happy with the policy and change your mind then you are within your rights to cancel and receive a full refund.
Now i cant comment on the " free insurance" offered by First Choice and their t&c's on this as its not something that we as an agent ever offer.
We do however, offer discounted insurance sometimes and if after the 14 days "cooling off" period, our custmer comes back to us and says they dont want the insurance for whatever reason and wish to cancel the policy then they are liable to pay us back the discounted amount.
eg: Full price policy £30
we discount £10 therefore customer pays £20
after 14 days customer wishes to cancel, they then pay us £10 originally discounted.
All of our t&c's clearly state that if the policy is cancelled within the 14days then they will receive a full refund, if outside the 14 days then they will lose monies paid and stand to pay us for any discounted amounts. This is always made aware to the customer and they need to sign an agrrement.
It looks like First Choice have similar t&c's regarding the above, but they are just asking you to pay back the full amount on the insurance policy as it was offered as free insurance at the time of booking
which is the £182I hope you manage to get some sort of resolve on this
Kind regards
Stacey
No such thing as free insurance - they have added insurance onto the booking and added a discount to the same value of the insurance (which seems to be £182 in this case..)
You cannot cancel this insurance now as you have passed the 14 day cooling off period, hence why you are still having to take it.
The new booking is of a significantly lower value, therefore less commission is paid to the agent, hence why they are trying to reclaim some of the discount because they are no longer getting as high an ammount of profit as your booking before.
When you change your holiday (whether it be a swap, or you have cancelled your old booking and made a completely new one), it is treated as a new booking, and as the new booking is travelling within a few weeks, you are being charged for the luggage etc, like everybody else booking for the same time would.
You cannot cancel this insurance now as you have passed the 14 day cooling off period, hence why you are still having to take it.
The new booking is of a significantly lower value, therefore less commission is paid to the agent, hence why they are trying to reclaim some of the discount because they are no longer getting as high an ammount of profit as your booking before.
When you change your holiday (whether it be a swap, or you have cancelled your old booking and made a completely new one), it is treated as a new booking, and as the new booking is travelling within a few weeks, you are being charged for the luggage etc, like everybody else booking for the same time would.
regardless of comission levels. It is poor customer service to entice someone to book with a "free insurance" offer, then when they have to amend it through no fault of there own, that the agent revokes the free insurance offer just to save a bit extra comission.
If there is 'no such thing' as free insurance. The it is misrepresentation on the part of travel agents to sell it as such.
They should be honest and say 'actually its not free insurance, we are paying the 182 pounds insurance premium and giving you an 182 pound discount on your holiday'.
Then people would know the true.
Do they ? No of course they do not, they let you think you have 'free insurance' until something goes wrong and you need to amend a booking. Only then do they come clean.
It's entrapment in anybodys book.
They certainly dont stand there saying, on by the way would you like to read all the dodgy terms and conditions attached to your 'free insurance', they are too busy lifting your deposit off you.
They should be honest and say 'actually its not free insurance, we are paying the 182 pounds insurance premium and giving you an 182 pound discount on your holiday'.
Then people would know the true.
Do they ? No of course they do not, they let you think you have 'free insurance' until something goes wrong and you need to amend a booking. Only then do they come clean.
It's entrapment in anybodys book.
They certainly dont stand there saying, on by the way would you like to read all the dodgy terms and conditions attached to your 'free insurance', they are too busy lifting your deposit off you.
Of course insurance at a cost of £182 is a snip. Rubbish.
Very much like recommended price - in plain English means what we would like to charge you if you were as gullible as we would like to think.
Our annual policy, including the weighting for age and diabetes is only £144.
fwh
Very much like recommended price - in plain English means what we would like to charge you if you were as gullible as we would like to think.
Our annual policy, including the weighting for age and diabetes is only £144.
fwh
But there is 9 people travelling.
9 people travelling???? and..............................
Last year we had insurance through the Post Office for £30 for 5 people and £24 for 4 people. So in my opinion £182 is a disgrace, especially as we don't want it.
Incidentally, for us as a family of 5 we are already insured for worldwide travel through the police federation.
Last year we had insurance through the Post Office for £30 for 5 people and £24 for 4 people. So in my opinion £182 is a disgrace, especially as we don't want it.
Incidentally, for us as a family of 5 we are already insured for worldwide travel through the police federation.
I know it doesn't help you at all, but at least you might have alerted quite a few people who can now find out what happens to their "free insurance" if they have to cancel after 14 days. To be honest, I didnt have any idea of this. Have to say though that we have an annual policy anyway.
Last year we went on a tour with Cosmos. They told us that we had FREE INSURANCE. Great but sorry, not much use to me I said. I have an annual policy.
Question - did you tell them? If so then my approach would be that as I already had insurance in place, and I told you you can go whistle.
fwh
Question - did you tell them? If so then my approach would be that as I already had insurance in place, and I told you you can go whistle.
fwh
Post a Reply
Please sign in or register an account to reply to this post.
Similar Topics
-
Would love some advise re Easter hols please
Posted by Kaznmike in General Holiday Enquiries, Hints and Tips
-
not informed
Posted by kiojazz in Holiday Complaints
-
Thomsons informed us of a downgrade of accomodation!!
Posted by jesscummins85 in Holiday Complaints
-
Wasn't informed of detour - Where do I stand ?
Posted by Alex uk in Holiday Complaints
-
Cancellation then delay then delay - not informed of rights!
Posted by radjc in Holiday Complaints