Hello,
First let me start by saying hello to everyone, my name is stu and im glad to have found a site that seems to know whats going on with holiday companys.
My problem started via the volcanic ash situation, we had our holiday cancelled as planes could not safely fly.
Lowcostholidays.com was not an easy company to get hold of, this took me 6 days from 9am to 9pm with no joy, sitting in queues only to be cut off or hung up on after some 2 hour waits at times, the only good point was i was not stranded away from home.
Anyhow, i booked a holiday to lanzarote for 12 days, so via there site booked the flights, accommodation, transfers, airport parking and insurance in what i class as a package.
Once i did manage to make contact i was only offered 80% of my holiday accommodation and transfers (one way only) as a credit note, the flights ive been told will be a full refund but i loose my money on the airport parking that i know they got a credit note for as i have the ref number for it as i advised the company we could not attend, half the transfer cost and 20% of the accommodation.
My question is does this sound right and fair?
Ive contacted ABTA and they advised its a good offer and told me i should accept but i did not think package holidays worked like this.
Best wishes
Stu.
Was your holiday quoted and invoiced at an inclusive price, or was it costed separately? If you were given a breakdown in cost eg cost of flight and cost of hotel this does not constitute a package. It is only a package if you are given a single total price on your confirmation.
I would suggest that the name of the company that you've dealt with would give you the answer to your question.
Yes its was costed per item, but i was under the impression from the ABTA website that any 2+ items booked from one operator was classed as a package.
No it is only a package if it is sold at an inclusive price. If it's all been costed separately your contract will be with the individual suppliers as opposed to a tour operator.
Ive re-booked via another company as i was unsure about how and if i should chase my money from lowcost.
I would be asking for a breakdown of how much refund you are receiving for each part of your holiday. You should have the information about which suppliers provided hotel, transfers etc so you could contact them direct and ask what their policies are on cancellation charges given the unusual circumstances.
I was told the rest was lost and they were doing this as a gesture of good will only and did not have to credit anything but the flight.
Even when i told them the airparks refrence number for the credit back to them i was told it was never given.
If im honest its not the money that bothers me, its the way this company acts, if i run my company like they did im sure i would be shut down within a month.
I would still try to find out the individual companies charges. Are you saying airparks has refunded lowcost? In which case they owe you the money. Can you get something in writing from airparks? Lowcost will probably be charging admin fees as well though.
I honestly think that if you want to book, unless it is a package holiday, it is easier and often cheaper to do it yourself rather than using a travel agent who in turn uses a bedbank for accomm and another company for car parking and transfers.
I go DIY to Lanzarote every year and it's really easy to do.
As you say, it's not the money, but it's better in your pocket than their's.
Whilst many suppliers have played fair there will always be those who will take advantage. If you can get Trading Standards on your side they might just have a rethink.
fwh
Im flying out on saturday for 12 days and will look into the routes to follow once home.
As stated ive contacted ABTA plus watchdog about lowcost, ive also used there facebook page to convay my thoughts in a polite manner, but they do get deleted after a few hours, lol.
I was very very close to making a DIY holiday to Majorca but the wife insisted i used a tour op.
This latest holiday is now on the CC just incase something goes wrong, once again a good lesson learnt.
I went through the booking process twice again. The 3rd time I managed to book but a different date came up. What a mess! I have sent them countless emails since last
Monday and constantly phoning them on an 0871. I would be put on hold for 20minutes then it would go dead. I must have spent a small fortune on phone calls.
I have emailed abta as well. Please, does anyone know if it is worth writing to their head office or is there another number to phone? Thank you
Try these no's 01342 305620 / 01342 305644/ 0800 1116280 I got through to them last week, but can't remember which no I rung.
When I was booking I would click confirm and this failed to send therefore
I went through the booking process twice again.
it may be that you've actually booked THREE holidays rather than they've taken your deposit 3 times.
I'd persevere with the phone calls on the numbers debdon has provided.
Good luck
The person I spoke to was very rude and I could hardly understand him and basically said you may get your deposit refunded. I may have to try at a different
time to see if I can get someone else who I can speak to. In the meantime I will type a letter out to the address on LCH.
Thanks again, much appreciated
do make sure that you haven't booked 3 holidays.
You don't want to be in the position of them asking for 3 lots of balance.
And make sure that the holiday you actually wanted to book on the dates you wanted is the booking that you have with them, not the final one that went through with the wrong dates.
Hi,
we gave them flight / ref number LCH had given they did not exsist. We have been trying to contact them since Febuary and they still have not replied to our emails. They have a 2010 pledge to answer emails within 7 days ! We resend every week.
We have after much frustration, cost of 0871 numbers @ appro 40 minutes a time finally got correct flight number but still can't book anything as we have no ticket numbers. Nightmare................. I have used them for the past 4 yrs for my own holiday without any problems however I am holding off booking with them.
Tzyana
If no luck, look up saynoto0870 on google, there are other no's.
I have just posted a lengthy letter to LCH, east sussex
will let you know how i get on.
We have been trying to contact them since February and they still have not replied to our emails. They have a 2010 pledge to answer emails within 7 days ! We resend every week.
Please, Please, Please will everyone stop relying on emails!
The old fashioned letter sent recorded delivery is the only way. You can prove they have received them and track online. Give them 14 days from receipt to reply. You have the proof they received them. Tell them you will take legal action if they do not give a satisfactory reply and then tale them to court and sue the pants off them.
The number of complaints here on HT about no reply to emails and the cost of calls astonishes me. I wonder if people have money to burn when I hear how much they have spent chasing without any success.
If only everyone did what I suggest they would soon get their act together.
fwh
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