How I wish I had found this site before I booked with holiday Gems. Like many others my flight had increased in price after booking on the internet, an increase of £40 per person. A week before I was due to travel I was then contacted to see if I wanted to include any hold luggage at £48 per 20kg. I fly several times per year usually on a flight only basis and am used to having to include luggage at the end of the booking and the total price is then recalculated, at no point in the booking process was I allowed to add luggage so presumed as it was a package it must be included. When I tried to discuss this with the person who had phoned me she spoke to me as though I was an idiot with no idea of the booking process. As I say, this was now 1 week prior to our holiday and after checking the flight was now fully booked so I had no choice but to pay the extra for the baggage.
All went smoothly until we departed the airport only to find we had no transfer either!
Having already got the gist of this holiday company I was not suprised and had already checked that transfers were easy enough to arrange on the spot.
We had a great time but from booking the holiday on line to going we had to spend another £216 plus transfer fee. With hind sight could have got it cheaper elsewhere.
Will never use again.

I am due to fly out with my wife to Dalaman on the 18/09/2011, so my tickets should be here this week. I am not holding out much hope as Holiday Gems seem to never contact you when they say they will. I have had no contact about baggage yet, I even asked about this at the time of booking and was told it would be added to my final payment, which it wasn't. My wife has usually packed at least a month before the holiday but she hasn't even concidered packing as she is of the opinion that we wont even get on holiday as Holiday Gems are incompitant !!!!

Just returned from cyprus 5th sep, got quite a shock at manchester airport when monarch [out bound] informed me that i had not payed for 2 hold luggage , no for a fact that i payed the hold luggage when booked the holiday , so that was £100 extra on the holiday , at the airport i phoned holiday gems to be told that i had not payed the hold but the manager would phone me .[ they never did], so on return i phoned again and got a break down of the total price they told me they rang me to say of a £20 increase per person [4 in party] got no such call at all about this £20 flight increase , would advise all holiday gems customers to double check there paperwork to avoid this happening to them.

Well I have actually had someone from Holiday Gems who was very very Helpfull and did exactly what she said she would. So there are staff there who are GOOD AT THEIR JOB. Shame we didn't catch her name but she was brill. Got our tickets now so things are looking up, Just hope the hotel and transfers are booked.

we will never book through holiday gems again, we paid the final balance they asked for when the letter arrived, then they sent another letter saying we still owed several hundred pounds, asked them how they came to this, they said it must be for the hold luggage, emailed them, as ringing them was a joke, kept me on hold for at least 15-20 minutes, each time i rang. had the amount reduced when i questioned it. when tickets arrived it said no hold baggage booked, so rang them again, they said it would show at airport that hold luggage had been paid, but i insisted they sent me an email saying all hold luggage had been paid. we were a party of 6 adults, 4 children and one infant, but the booking had not been linked together and didnt all get to sit together on the plane, with the 14 year old sitting totally on her own, but one of the adults changed places with her. when booking in at hotel in cyprus we were all scattered around complex. the three younger children wanted to go to the kids club, which was the reason i chose this hotel, because it ran a good childrens club, but when i went to register them, i was told we would have to pay for them to attend it as we were not with thomas cook, which cost us at least 15 euros a day, more if the wanted the special parties they ran in the early evenings, in all we spent over 200 euros on kids club fees, something we had not bargained on, or budgeted for. i emailed holiday gems on our return, asking "where did it state that if you had not booked with thomas cook there were fees to pay if children wanted to go to kids club, the reply was,, we did know about it, but didnt think they enforced it, i think they should have warned us, there was nothing in the paper work they sent us mentioning this. will definately never ever book with holiday gems again, not worth the hastle.

Was waiting for a questioniere from holiday gems on return via email ,think they be to ashamed to go this route.

Booked a holiday this year with HolidayGems and will never do so again. BEWARE .... if anything goes wrong, they can take up to 12 weeks to sort it out.

We booked a holiday to Menorca in August 2011 and booked both flights and accommodation with HolidayGems. When we arrived at our hotel (Sol Menorca) my daughter and I were refused to accommodation as it was an adult only hotel and they didn't take children. We arrived at 10:00 pm and were told that even though a room had been booked for us, we could not stay just one night and find alternative accommodation in the morning. The HolidayGems helpline was no use at all. Luckily, one staff member at the Sol Menorca managed to find us one night's accommodation in a different hotel but as HolidayGems or their supplier would take responsibility I had to pay 166 euros to stay one night in this hotel. I text my ex-husband back in the UK to see if he could take the matter up with HolidayGems and find us alternative accommodation - they failed to do so. My ex-husband managed to secure accommodation for us in an Apartment in the same resort, but again we had to pay for this. On my return to the UK I raised the complaint with HolidayGems on 27 August, again on 02 September(recorded deliver) and again on 12 September 2011 (recorded delivery). The latter of the letters was also sent to Consumer Direct and The Global Travel Group. Finally I have received correspondence from HolidayGems dated 15 September 2011 which they advise the enquiry could take up to 10-12 weeks to sort out. In the meantime I have paid over £1100 pounds to HolidayGems, plus the costs of additional accommodation and no refund in sight. It's quite simple I paid for accommodation that was not provided - surely I should have a refund in less that 12 weeks???? This was my first holiday as a single parent and it's cost me a fortune that I cannot afford. Can anyone offer further advice or are there any solicitors out there that can help get my money back quicker than 12 weeks????

I have never heard of the company in question but I'm assuming that they're an agent that you have booked through. I am struggling to understand how an agent can be held at fault because you chose to book an unsuitable hotel through them? It was obviously a mistake but I don't understand how it is their mistake and not yours.

The accomodation was provided as the hotel did have a room for you so I guess this is certainly not going to be a straight forward matter hence why they have said that they need to investigate.

Surely if one makes a booking which clearly states that accommodation is required for one adult and one child that you are not booked into an adult only hotel. And it a mistake has been made by whomever, a refund is due, as the accommodation booked was unsuitable???

Welcome tas0299 ... I'm not sure that I would share Stardust's view. Did you approach Holiday Gems with a view to booking that specific hotel, or is it one which they suggested to you ? Whether or not you researched the hotel before or after booking to ascertain that it was suitable, I would have thought there was an onus on Holiday Gems to notify you that it was an adults only hotel, and to decline any booking which included children. Presumably they were aware of your daughter's age from the flight booking ?

With regard to a solicitor, you will find contact details for Simpson Millar on this page, if you would like to seek some advice from them:
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=149252

You can also read previous customer experiences of Holiday Gems in this topic:
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=123804

David

Well no I doubt a refund would be readily available if you instructed them to book that specific hotel for you, as both parties must have missed the bit where it states that the hotel is adults only so it's a case of who is going to accept the liability for doing that.

I know you don't like what I am saying to you but I simply do not think it's as solid of a complaint as you think it is. It appears to be a bit of a minefield and I would suggest that you contact the travel solicitors for exact clarification. I have done a search for info and although the hotel states adults only I have read that this is for over fifteens, it also states not recommended for children so the hotel themselves appear to be unable to exactly clarify the situation.

I also looked on the HolidayGems site and can't find that hotel on the dropdown so was unable to read what they have it advertised as on the actual site itself.

All in all it sounds like a non straight forward nightmare and again I would suggest you get help from a solicitor.

Oh and David, as the agent has sold a flight and accomodation on behalf of a third party it will very rarely be classed as a package or treat as one in the eyes of the law. Yes we all know that the flights and accomodation are for the same people but it's not bonded that way so of course they can try to wriggle out of accepting liability. That's the point I was making, it's certainly not going to be a straight forward complaint.

Yes, but leaving bonding aside, I was just wondering about the overall booking process and whether the child's age was discussed.

David

Hi David
Yes my daughters age was discussed and the details taken for the flight. The confirmation clearly states, child aged 11.

And it may not be relevant, but is this a hotel which you personally chose and then approached them to book, or is it one which they suggested or recommended to you and that's what led you to book ?

David

It was a hotel known to us as we've been to Menorca, Santo Tomas many times but always stayed in villas and never a hotel. I did try and book the holiday on line however, I had trouble with my internet connection so I booked via the telephone and therefore was able to discuss the hotel with the HolidayGems agent and my daughters age. He said he would check as they had several contracts with this hotel to makesure it was OK. He came back to me by telephone to confirm it was OK and then sent me Accommodation Confirmation showing the room had been booked for 1 adult and 1 child.

Thanks tas0299 ... that makes the whole situation much clearer. I think you should perhaps give Simpson Millar a ring in the morning and see what advice they give.

David

tas0299 ... I have now found the Sol Menorca on the Holiday Gems website and just to add to the confusion, it says the hotel is Adults Only and will not accept bookings of minors aged 17 years or younger unless they are travelling with someone aged 18 years or over. That would not be my understanding of the definition of an Adults Only hotel. And so even if you had checked the hotel description and booked online with Holiday Gems, there might be no reason for you to consider any problem, but you would probably have encountered the same difficulty on arrival:
http://www.holidaygems.co.uk/moreinfo.php?h=KPMBW1P7R1DP9L6EMKLR191RA7&t=ResDirect&n=Sol%20Menorca%20Hotel&s=4

David

Surly you did look at the hotel description, before you booked the hotel.
It clearly says on the holidaygems hotel description Adults only hotel (from 15 years old).

Think you wont have any redress on this.