yeah i agree. i think that was my suggestion i another one wasnt it?

Speak to BBC Watchdog. because they publicise it dont they?

*Edit to add 2nd post to this one - Glynis*

I think the worst thing for me(apart from losing my choice of hotel), is the lies. Its quite obvious whats been going on. If they've messed up, then they need to be honest. Its my money, my holiday and I want answers, and not the company rubbish they spout. Do these companies monitor websites such as this???

yes sunseeker t'was your suggestion

Thanks for the wedding info.

On the playa forum read another post on my personal mail from a guy who has emailed Airtours several times and guess what.............. to date no reply.

Your welcome futurebride, did it help you at all?

Morning guys!!!
I'm really fed up again this morning. I received a letter from Airtours/MyTravel demanding the balance of our holiday!!! Nothing wrong in that I hear you say....
But this is the balance of a holiday I didn't want.
When I amended the booking last week, the cusomer services lady said "don't worry about rushing the extra balance to us, you've paid most of the holiday already, send it when you can".
And I still haven't had any replies from my letters re the original problems. They are so quick to write to you for a few extra quid but when you need explanation letters from them, no chance!!! If I thought it would help, i'd call them and have a go but i'm not going to waste a phone call on them. I know this is petty when other people are having way worse hassles than me. Just another chapter in the Airtours rubbish cutomer services book.
Sorry to moan.

Sorry didnt mean to sound a bit smug! We have had some dodgy accomodation in our time but as it was a 'cheap' holiday we did not expect much. It must be really awful to have to go through some of the bad experiences some holidaymakers have had and the total frustration of not getting anywhere with either reps or the companies must drive some mad. I would think the worst thing must be ill health abroad and if you do not get any help from the reps then that must be awful. I agree that if you wait all year for your hols (like we do) but it can be disappointing when it is not as expected. But dirty and unclean facilities are no excuse and should be dealt with efficiently by the companies and holiday makers are customers who have paid good money for these facilities. My friend was a rep for Kosmar and I know she went far and beyond what would normally be expected for a rep to do. She looked after her clients very well, visiting them in hospital if needed and even kept in touch after their holidays and always checked on the accommodation before hand. Air Tours must be "too big for their boots" if they cant even reply to customers emails and letters of complaints. We had one holiday with Airtours to Fuerterventura, we hired a car from the airport to the accommodation, never saw a rep the whole time we were there, and if I remember rightly there was a problem with my meal. They would not give me one as I had moved to another seat directly in the row behind my husband for leg room (half the plane was empy) - seems to be a bit sad to be upset over sausage and mash!

I accepted a £90 voucher from Airtours a couple of years ago in compensation but had great difficulty in 'spending' it. They wouldn't take it off any late deals and you had to book direct with them not via a travel agent although the terms and conditions on the back didn't say so. It was valid for 3 years I think so we booked a week in Spain just before it ran out and they promised to refund against our booking on receipt, so I kept a copy and sent it off (got proof of posting), guess what? it never arrived and they refused our refund. I then sent a copy to their head office threatening the small claims court if we didn't get the money and they did eventually send a cheque. You shouldn't have to jump through hoops like this but I believe its done so the majority give up and it saves them money.

Like a fool I gave them another chance long haul (never had a problem with their European holidays) it was another disaster and Roz is dealing with a claim on behalf of us and 3 other families.

Lynn

Just to keep you all posted as to what is happening - I have today received a letter from Airtours (in response I think to my 7 emails -1 a day for 7 days- asking for a reply to my letters dated 8th. April and 13th. May) - Airtours inform me that they have not received these letters!!! and could I send copies - It seems odd that two separately posted letters can go astray.
I seriously think that they have finally realised that I do not intend to go away and have thrown in a smokescreen to save face. (Wishful thinking perhaps on my part) - They could also perhaps be monitoring this forum.
I have also received an email from a TV researcher (Granada Television) looking for Travel disaster stories to feature in a programme that will go out on air live in the Summer.
I would hope that Airtours will take top billing.
Keep the stories coming as I think that it will take a lot of adverse publicity to get Airtours to change tack

Hi sueb2.
I've been on some lovely holidays with airtours. Never a problem. Booked it, received tickets, off we went, came back with a tan. Great stuff. And I have to say that some of the reps i've met over the years deserve medals in service to their country!!! They really work so hard and put up with so much. I toyed with the idea of being a rep a few years ago but my patience wouldn't last long enough after having to deal with some of the things i've seen happen!!
This is my first experience at being let down by a holiday company. I guess i've been very lucky up till now.
As i've said recently, its not till something bad happens, that you suddenly sit up and take notice of whats happening to others as well. I think something dodgy is happening to Airtours now. Maybe they are slowly going under or as you say, they've got way too big for their boots or maybe their management are just a bunch of incompetent people. I'm not sure.
But what we all want is a company who will deal with problems honestly and quickly. Ignoring peoples complaints won't work in the long term. The problem will just simply grow and grow, as seems to be happening at the moment.
And please don't get me wrong, up till recently, i've been a "fan" of this company. Used them a lot as I mentioned before. I'm genuinely sad to see whats happening to them. But, they will not get away with treating so many people, so badly.

Been on tripadvisor and read about another hotel cancellation by Airtours. Also they are not taking bookings for the Tucan in mexico.

So why still advertise this hotel?

I've received two more horror stories re airtours today. Same thing, overbooking, and bumping people to the hotels they've still got rooms available in. How many more unhappy people are there out there??
Are Airtours about to go bust? I read on another website that they've sold off what aircraft they had to Monarch a while ago.
Has anyone out there had any dealings with Thomas Cook? Good or bad?
We've got to book our holiday for next year and need a decent TO to book with.

dizzyb23 - I've been on 3 holidays with Thomas Cook (booked from their budget Sunset brochure). They've all been great and we've had a fantastic time!
We're going first time with Airtours in 3½ weeks (booked through Direct Holidays) and up to now my only complaint is the flight is now 2¾ hours later than when I booked the holiday, although I did book it 14 months in advance and I suppose you can't expect all the details to be accurate so far ahead of the holiday. The thing is, the new flight times bring us home in the early hours of the morning, whereas the original flight times would have had us back in Manchester just before midnight. I bought my travel insurance to cover us for that final day, and now we're not covered for the last couple of hours of our journey.
I phoned the insurance company and they said they would need a copy of the letter from MyTravel stating the change in flight times - but I didn't get a letter about the change in flight times because MyTravel's 'small print' says they don't have to notify you unless the change is greater than 3 hours I only found out about the change when they sent me a new invoice (at my personal request) after I'd paid my final balance. Tickets are due in the next week or so - but I know the flight hasn't changed again since then, because I've been checking it out on Manchester Airport's website.
Not too bothered really, we'll have already left Lanzarote before our insurance runs out and whatever might go wrong on arrival at Manchester (lost/damaged luggage, minor accidents etc) will be simpler to deal with at home than on holiday, but I'm still a bit miffed - more because of our flight out to Lanzarote won't get us to the hotel until just after the bar/shops etc have closed so we won't be able to get anything to eat or drink before bedtime Our original flight would have given us time to grab a snack and a drink and have an hour or so chilling out in the hotel bar.
So, impressions of Airtours up to now? I'm not looking forward to the travelling/arriving/departing bit, but hoping for a good time in between - I'll let you know when we get back

Thanks for all that info Cyberspacekadette. Shame about your flight though. It seems to be a change that maybe Airtours had little control over. I've never worked in the travel industry, so i'm just guessing. And as far as insurance goes, its such a pity that the insurance company couldn't just extend your cover for just a day, even without getting a letter from the TO about the flights.
And I really hope that this is all that happens as far as negative stuff involved with Airtours. I'm happier when reading positive reports of peoples involvement with them.
And as I said before, if anything does happen, we are all here to help and support you. But yes, please let us know how you get on. And have a lovely holiday.

i too had a horrendous holiday with airtours a few years ago and had the same problems getting response from them as everyone else seems to have had, i even contacted abta and told them they werent replying withing the 28 day deadline and they didnt seem interested were very unhelpful a waste of time, i got my travel agent to fax them complaints and like other people even though t agent had proof the fax went through this was airtours excuse for not replying, i also got offered £50 which i found a disgrace considering the truama i went through, we all got gassed, after about 18 mths of getting no where i took them to court and won, they hope a lot of people give up thats why they ignore letters or answer slowly and avoid certain questions etc ,so dont give up thats what they want you to do, if i can be of help to anyone please email me

Dizzy

check you pm box

Hi, I was perusing the trip advisor site when I came across this site in relation to airtours.
We had similar problems with them in Feb/Mar this year. A week prior to us flying out they told us that we should change hotel in Mexico for another due to building works.We were given the options of change or cancel, but with only one week to go and fixed leave we decided to go.
On the original booking we elected for the upgraded seats and paid up front. We were told a few days beforehand, that the aircraft had changed and there were no upgrades.
We arrive at the airport to find there were upgrades, and due to the length of the flight booked at the desk (£200 one way for 2)
The new hotel was fine, and at the reps meeting on the first day we asked him to re book premiar gold for the return. He said that he'd fax the request and tell us the day before we came home.
One that day we were told there was no premiar gold.
Guess what, we get to the airport and there were premiar gold seats available!!!!! but they were all fullbecause they had already been booked by other airtours travellers at different hotels.
I wrote to airtours on a few occasions, one to ask when we were getting our original payment for premiar gold seats back (almost £400), and secondly to complain re the webs of deceipt and lies we had been given both by them and there rep at the resort.
After three letters and several phone calls they eventually paid us the money after six weeks of our return and as Merv stated in his first post, we have been stonewalled after being given some very unsatisfactory answers to our complaints.
Its seems to me that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, and if they wished to lie to us, they could at least get the story straight between themselves.
Hence I will not be travelling with airtours again!!!!

Hi Nico - were you due to stay at the Azteca by any chance? Glad to hear you eventually got a refund on your flight upgrades, but it really should'nt take 3 letters from you should it.

I was supposed to be staying at The Reef Hotel in Playacar.

We ended up at the Copacabana Beach Resort near to Xphu Ha, which was a little remote, but a nice hotel.