I booked a holiday through holidaygems back in January this year. Originally I booked a holiday in Spain for the budget that we could afford, I later that day received a call from a gentleman called Paul Warrington telling me that the flights were no longer available and that I would need to choose a different destination. I wanted to come off the phone and have a look to see what was available, however, he was very pushy and made my book there and then as he said we would lose the money we had already paid had I not book over the phone. Whilst on the phone I checked to see if the flights were still being sold and they were, I challenged Paul with this and he said yes but you will need to pay a further £500 for them?? I asked why they were cancelled in the first place then, and he was very stuttering and couldn’t give a good enough reason. Months after the flights they were still available to book on their website for the price I had originally booked them for, so I was surprised we had to cancel the holiday in the first place. I was also made to pay the cancellation charge.

I also wasn't aware until last week that our luggage hasn't been included either which I'm shocked about as he said it was and I asked for 3 bags. Had I not realised this I would have gotten to the airport and wouldn’t have had any luggage booked. So on top, I now have to pay over £250 for this.
Just after my booking I noticed something odd and to be honest I wasn’t too happy about it, and contacted Paul Warrington, I was going through some paperwork to which I came across the list of when I was looking to book a holiday in the beginning before I booked the holiday that got cancelled. It had written on the paperwork the holiday quote for the (Spain) holiday I had previously booked, It also had the hotel which Paul pressured me into swapped over to in (Tenerife) which I had also priced up before booking the one in Spain. The quote I had written down was £2700 for the Tenerife holiday, the price he gave me for the Lambranda hotel and flights was £2995. That's £295 more than what I had found it for direct on your site. Much to my surprise, I could see that on the website it was available for £2700, and it still is to this day. My emails were pretty much ignored and unresolved. I asked why I had been charged more and I wasn’t given a good enough answer.

When he cancelled my Spain holiday I did say over and over again that I wanted a refund, and that I would look again and re-book myself, he was very pushy and keen to book an alternative over the phone. Had I have booked myself through the website I would have gotten it £295 cheaper. I have also discovered that the £* Hotel I booked and paid for (and was hugely overcharged for) has been downgraded to a 2* this is not what I paid for. I have been contacting Paul since February this year and this is still unresolved, I have also contacted Christopher Paul, Admin, and customer liaison, I never get a reply and If I do then it’s not anything to help the situation. I have asked to change hotels as I paid for a 3* and would never book a 2* holiday, Chris finally came back to me after over a week and quoted me £500 more to stay in the blue sea costa Jardin hotel, I rang the office and didn’t mention my name and, a lady called Jayne quoted me £1856, this was about £500 cheaper then what Christopher quoted, I sent the below to him, and of course I haven’ had a reply, I copied in Admin, Paul & the liaison department also, and not one of them have been in touch, this was Monday.
I have just spoken with Jayne from Holiday gems and she gave me a price for a superior room at the Kardin hotel for £1856, she was even able to go to the next stage to book it so it was definitely available. Again I feel you're trying to rip me off!! How can you give me one price over £500 more then what Jayne gave me? Her number is 01244 957896, if you don’t believe me check with her. Please, can you explain your difference in your quotes as I’m very interested?

Had I not paid £1003 off early I would have just cancelled and booked a hotel through a loyal company. Me and my husband have worked very hard and saved very hard to be able to go on holiday with our son, It’s very important to us that we get 2 weeks a year to spend some quality family time and all I feel is anger and that I have been ripped off since the start, and that I don’t matter to them at all. The customer service team are shocking. I just feel very let down and sad about the whole situation. I have contacted my bank and logged a dispute, so I’m praying they will recover the £1003 I paid so I can book elsewhere, it’s a loss for the company which is silly really as had they changed my hotel at the honest decent price they would not have have lost a sale. They have also lost a customer and I will tell anyone I know to avoid holidaygems, I will also write honest reviews wherever I can on the internet as I would hate for someone to experience what I have, to be fair though looking at some of the reviews on google I am not the only one to go through this. I just don’t know how they are getting away with treating people like this.