Hello..I thought I was the only one to have a problem with first choice, and the rubblish way they treat their customers. They create so much stress and do not respond to your complaints.. I have sent 3 letters and have not recieved any reply...I would never book another holiday with them
Why is their customer service so BAD

Hi droopydraws and welcome.

Have you seen the post re the free impartial legal advice that Ros Fernihough offers to HT members?

As you're obviously having problems with your complaint to FC (to send 3 letters with no response sounds like pretty poor customer service to me), it might be a good idea if you start your own thread with details of your complaint and maybe somebody can offer you advice.

Regards

Hi droopydraws. As I have said many times, FC are coming down to Thomsons level, in my opinion. How long is it since you wrote your first letter? They only have 28 days in which to reply. If it's over that period I would report them to Abta.

Hello, The trouble started when I booked holiday in July 2008 paid the low deposit...and waited for confirmation of the holiday details and when the balance of the holiday due. I contacted FC via email in January 2009 with the ref given with the booking.This ref was not the right one, and issued with correct one informed that a confirmation letter would be sent with all details of the holiday.Did not recieve anything.
Contacted FC in Feburary 2009 again requesting the details of the holiday and outstanding balance....Again didnot recieve any such details. The holiday is on the 7th May, so on the 13th March and I decided to visit my local first choice shop, the help I recieved was brilliant but it took the assistant manager 5 HOURS, to get the company to promise to send out a confirmation of the holiday. Which I did recieve the following morning, and went to the FC shop and payed the outstanding balance.
Then it gets BAD as I recieve a further FIVE confirmation letters staing that I OWE the outstanding balance, I sent the 1st letter of complaint on the 13th March and the other two after..I HAVE NOT recieved any response and I can't bear to listen to the BLOODY song again. however not that they listen to anyones complaints
.....So I wait and I have contacted ABTA and await their response... First Choice do not put their customers needs first...
Thank you for letting me get that out and thanks for the welcome to the site :

Hi...Rang First Choice complaints department and was informed that due to booking my holiday on the internet..my complaint can only be dealt with the customer service department via emails!!!!! Could anyone tell me if this the case...Thank you

droopydraws,

I would be very surprised if that is the case. If you have a complaint, you have the right to contact them by any means available, ie phone, email, post. Depending on the nature of your complaint, you might need to complete and send in a complaints form. Personally, I would never send a complaint via email as they are too easily ignored (deleted). The post is much better in that respect. You'll find contact details on First Choice's website.

Darren

It has been established in law that emails are a legitimate and binding form of communication. Companies (although apparently only non political!) are liable for the contents of employee's emails etc, which is one of the reasons there are often massive disclaimers at the bottom of the email and massive witchhunts over joke emails. Similarly you are legally responsible for your own email contents.

I have dealt with all my FC complaints via email, even sending scans of documents etc.
I have set my email to request delivery and read acknowledgements and I often point this out in the emails. Many of the companies send an automatic response email acknowledging receipt anyway, but it is surprising the number of times I receive a message several months later stating that the email has been deleted without being read. This is a fault with their systems as they can read and deal with the email, particularly short ones, using a preview pane but this sometimes does not change the read status, hence long after the problem has been put to bed, housekeeping deletes the email and the auto acknowledgement is sent..
Not every system gives a delivery or read receipt but most users don't know whether theirs does or not so it is easy to bluff.

So when dealing by email, set your system to request all receipts and then start quoting them, ie my email timed at xxx, acknowledged by your system at xxx and read at xxxx.

One problem with using email is that you do have to have the correct email address to get action so if you are unsure you do have to keep following it up until someone acknowledges that a human has read it, whereas a recorded delivery mail package will have a delivery procedure which ensures it goes to the right department from the post room.

Thank you so much for your valuable help... I recieved my holiday tickets from first choice this morning so at least holiday is happening. As for the other problems with how they handled the booking, I will continue with the complaints via email/letter and with the help of ABTA.
I am completely shocked at the way certain travel companies treat their customers, and hopefully First choice realise that if they ignore us "WE" the customers will not go away.
The experience of booking this holiday has highlighted the negative side of the travel industry, and how dirty some companies can be.
Its great to know there is support/advice and information within this brilliant site , and I will advise others to use the site if they experience problems with any travel companies
Thanks again and I'll let you know if I obtain any reply from First Choice