Another point is that more and more the TOs are pushing All Inclusive holidays. This obviously suits some people but I have no interest in staying around the hotel complex eating and drinking, no matter how good it is. I much prefer to get out and about the area independently, eating in local places and contributing to the local economy.

Aslemma, again we are of the same mind.

SM

Not sure where anyone has accused users of dynamic packages as being cheapskates???

There are enormous amounts of misunderstandings about what a dynamic package actually is - and some online TAs don't really offer much explanation to educate the masses - And these tend to be the "one off" posters we see on the forum.
fwh wrote a very good item back in July this year - should be required reading for all holidaymakers!!

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/forum/understanding-your-holiday-booking-t158718.html

What the OTAs sell tend to be dynamic bundles. A true dynamic package is actually a package under the package regs, and some companies invest money in software to enable them to package dynamically online. Independent high street agents will often tailor make a true dynamic package for customers. Florida dynamic packages constitited the majority of what we sold when I worked for an independent. At the end of the day they are no different than a tailor made holiday.

Hi, I have been unlucky trying to sort out our disaster holiday to Leda hotel without taking legal action. I am putting together claim now as there was not a penny in compensation offered for ruined holiday, where the owner of the hotel basically called us liars etc... And that was the response of the supplier as well as agent. I have tried contacting lowcostbeds- (who are not ABTA! protected)I would never buy from someone who is not, hey ho, but Sunshine are saying:
Sunshine.co.uk act as Disclosed Retail Agent for the individual suppliers/elements of your holiday which may include flights, accommodation and transfers. When making a booking using our website, customers must first agree to the Terms & Conditions for sunshine.co.uk which also covers the individual suppliers, before proceeding to finalise the booking and we would respectfully draw your attention to our Terms and Conditions which all customers must accept at the time of booking and these state our position as Disclosed Retail Agent for the suppliers on our website.
But Lowcostbed replied:
To provide a little more information which may help to clarify this further for you, Lowcostbeds is a bedbank that provides travel agents with hotel accommodation to fulfil their customers bookings. As your booking contract is direct with Sunshine and they are your travel agent, you will need to liaise with them regarding any detail to do with your booking.

Who is the defender here? I am trying to make sure I don't make a mistake here, as it is going to cost us money taking this to court.

As Sunshine are only agents, not tour operators, your contract is with Lowcostbeds. Sunshine are only a middleman, like any other agent. It would be like trying to take a high street agent eg Thomsons, TC to court for a hotel booking they'd made through another company. Sunshine should be assisting you though, but they can only act as a go between by forwarding correspondence and phoning Lowcost.

As Sunaddict says your contract is not with Sunshine. With a "Dynamic Package" you have a contract with either LowCostBeds or perhaps the hotel. LowCost do not deal with the public only the trade and in turn imply act as facilitating agents or the hotels. Confusing I know.

In the case of Sunshine withing their T&Cs they do state

In the case of those components/services deviating from what has been agreed due to the supplier(s') inability to honour the contract, then sunshine.co.uk will open a communication dialogue between the relevant supplier(s) and the customer

Sounds good but again as has been said they simply pass on the mail and do not take any responsibility.

The question is who is your contract with and who is the supplier? Is it LowCost or the hotel? As I have said Confusing.

If you are to sue LowCost then be aware you would need to do so in Switzerland which is where their registered office is.

Maria-Stader-Weg 4

8590 Romanshorn

Switzerland

If the hotel then whichever country they are situated in and in both cases your action would be subject to the law applicable in those countries. Either way it is going to be very, very expensive.

It has been stated elsewhere on HT that there are many people who use Dynamic Packages for their holidays without any problems and I do not doubt that is the truth, it is only when things go wrong that the downsides come to light.

fwh

Hi Lowcostbeds are part of lowcostholidays which is registered in England no 4371920.

Thank you for all your reply you have no idea how much this stresses me out. I have definitely learned from the mistake of not looking into package holiday rules this time. Never had a problem before but after this experience never doing it again What upsets me the most is that others who complained to different companies about this hotel received apologies, refunds etc... Not us, we were called liars

LowCost Beds registered address is in Switzerland, as fwh posted. LowCostHolidays are part of the same group, but they trade as separate companies.

You need to be clear which company/organisation you are dealing with if you wish to take legal action. You can only sue a company in the UK if they are based here.

lowcostbeds are based in Switzerland so any action would need to be taken there.

In the case of lowcostholidays then they do have both an office and trade here in the UK.
The internet may be great for finding bargains but by its very nature a business can operate from anywhere in the world and accordingly create problems for the customer if things go wrong.

As I have already said it is easy to get confused.

lowcostholidays.com is our consumer-facing travel brand, which offers accommodation and dynamically packaged holidays via its website and call centres. lowcostholidays.com is based in Palma de Mallorca, Spain and live in twelve countries worldwide, including the UK, Germany, Austria, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Norway, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, USA and Australia.

lowcostbeds.com is a Swiss based, global, independent, trade only bed bank, live in over 45 countries and 13 languages

lowcosttravelgroup
UK Head Office
Spectrum House
Beehive Ring Road
Gatwick
RH6 0LG

lowcostbeds Head Office Switzerland
lowcostbeds.com Limited Romanshorn Branch,
Maria-Stader-Weg 4
8590 Romanshorn,
Switzerland

lowcostholidays Head Office Palma de Mallorca
C./Ada Byron
s/n. Local 3D
Parc Bit
07121 Palma de Mallorca
Spain

Thank you very much for that, Unfortunately it wasn't a bargain It was simply one of the few last minutes left for the dates we had free
This information is wrong then? kompany.co.uk/p/uk/05663370