Future bride, did try and get the link, but it didn't work for me. (Completely rubbish at anything like that!!!), but the post is about a third way down the holiday complaints under : HELP PLEASE, WITH HOLIDAY i BOOKED. Hope this helps, and you mange to find it.

All the best
BBB.

Here you go: http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=47528

Kath HT Admin

Thank you for that. Her case is a lot stronger than mine. When I was miss sold the wedding package I should have cancelled the holiday along with the wedding. At least then I would have a clear case to complain to trading standards.

I wont wish for the company to go bust because that leaves a lot of perhaps nice people out of a job.

I do feel though we should stick together -its far to easy to walk away but it will be more painfull in the long term if we let a company get away with this sort of treatment.

RESULT!! Well, sort of.....

When I got home yesterday, I had a letter waiting for me from Airtours. This time it DID contain a cheque, but only for £25 of the £45 I wanted. Being persistent works!! I sent them proof off the Terra Mitica site that the tickets cost £45!! The letter stated that they were 'at a loss' why I had not received this £20 cheque and will be looking into their accounts department and she will get back to me.
I know they have to look into things, but they have had 28 days. Just cancel the other cheque and send me the one I didnt get!!!!

BUT the letter with the cheque looks very different to the one without. The one without is longer, and the one with has the cheque stuck to the bottom, so if needed I can photocopy the letters to show the difference, and they can call my bank!!!!

They also didnt read my letter properly, as I told them if this wasnt resolved in a satisfactory manner I would be forced to write to ABTA. She said she was sorry I felt I had to ask them for ABTA's address (?) but would give it to me anyway.

So 1/2 a result but will keep you posted as to the 'Disappearing Cheque'

Keep at it Pinklady. No matter what has happened to a customer, we should bring it to the attention of these companies. They can not be given the chance to get their acts together otherwise.

Have recieved a letter and voucher from Airtours re our complaints about our holiday to Cancun in August.

The voucher is for a very small amount and has been sent back along with a covering letter but they have admitted responsibility for our nightmare holiday.

My main problem with all this letter writing and complaining is that the replies you get never specifically answer your questions. I have asked several questions in each of my letters and have not yet had a direct response to any of them. Yes, the main thing about all this is that I want compensation for what they put us through but answers to my questions would also be useful.

Anyway, the main point of this post is to let everyone in the same position as me to keep at it. Don't get fed up and go away, as we can never get the travel industry to sort itself out otherwise.

can anyone give advice?
travelled with my travel august 05 and had upgraded to premiar on the plane which cost 800 pound for 4 of us. we never got even half the things advertised in their brochure you are supposed to get. i.e. no choice of food, no kids meals, no overnight packs....... complained and first got an appology which took more than the 28 days that abta set. i complained again and got 100 voucher, i returned that and was then offered 100 cheque, i also returned that but they now say they won't offer anymore. they don't answer within the time scale although they tell me they only have to reply to your first letter within this time( which they didn't). they don't answer my questions i.e. they told me that you have to book your own meal 8 days in advance, i asked where in the brochure does it state that but they ignored my question. i have read the brochure cover to cover and no-where does it state that premiar passengers need to book meals in advance. is it worth persuing it anymore as its already taken nearly 6 months to get this far due to their slow responses or do i give up and accept the pitiful 100 pounds?. thats about 12% of what i paid them. have e-mailed holidaytravelwatch twice but get no response from them either. thanks in advance everyone

ali781 -

Sounds like the £100 offer is what My Travel place as the value of not supplying the kid's pack and overnight pack plus some compensation for not providing you with your first choice of meal. I think limited value would be placed on the first two items (although of course does not excuse them from not providing an expected/advertised service).

1. Were they "special meals" that you had hoped for? (i.e. vegetarian, kosher?) - in which case some degree of advance request of the meal would be required. I think also that most airlines look for you to request kid's meals if these are preferred over standard meals.

2. How much do you feel is a reasonable refund? Have you put this amount to My Travel as a possible suggested compromise?

3. Much of the additional cost of upgrading to the premium cabin on a charter is weighed against the additional space/seat pitch over the standard cabin rather than the small give-aways/extras.

ali781
We have also had problems with the Premiair Upgrade package. We travelled last August and we didn't get the veggie meals that had been specially booked at the time of booking, the night comfort pack and the priority luggage collection. Most people would probably think that moaning about this sort of thing is a tad picky but if its advertised as part of the upgrade, then surely it should be provided. Upgrading isn't cheap!!!
And being without a decent meal for 10 hours out and back wasn't much fun either.

I've complained in the usual manner to this company and been fobbed off much like yourselves. I'm unsure about the "28 day rule" but the company have been sticking to this time limit on all their replies to my letters so far.

And yes, that does mean these things can drag on a long time. But I think it comes down to what you personally feel is reasonable when it comes to refunding or compensating you for the lack of advertised facilities with this upgrade. I can't tell you whats reasonable, only you can make that decision.

We've had so many upsets with this company and the problems with our upgrades are literally the tip of the iceberg for us. Because of this, we will keep fighting for compensation. Have a think and sit down and work out what you paid out for, what you did get and what you didn't and how much not getting those items affected your flight and then write back to the company letting them know exactly what you expect from them.

I hope you do get the amount you think is fair. Let us know how you get on.

traveller.

we didn't want special meals, just a choice as advertised as i have 1 daughter who only eats chicken and 1 who will not touch an adult meal at all. she spent 10 hours + with no food as i didn't expect to have to take my own!
i told my travel i wanted 50% back knowing i wouldn't get that but hoped they would settle for 25% at least.
i do appreciate what you say about most of your money going on legroom etc. but to be honest i've travelled economy loads of times even to oz and the leg room wasn't much more.
i just think that if they advertise it then you should get it, its part of what you are expecting to get.

dizzy

thanks for reply. sounds like you had a bad deal too. companies should not mislead people into purchasing something that doesn't exist. i don't expect to get more compensation but it needs more people like us to complain if they are ever going to provide what they say they will. its just the principle of it. we met people in gatwick going on the same flight and they couldn't wait to ask us what choice of meals etc. did we have. turns out we had no different to them!

Small Claims Court.

If you think you'll actually get refunds out of a Tour Operator without legal action - let me know what happy pills you've been prescribed.

If they fail to provide you will all the facilities advertised as comprising the upgrade package then they are in breach of contract. So sue them.

I bet they will settle before it gets to court.

You could enlist the assistance of the Trading Standards office and they may well run with the case themselves - but they will be awarded the damages.

DIY - you can even complete all the forms on the net.

It's about time we, the travelling PAYING public started to treat the T.O.'s as harshly as they treat us.

Mike

I agree with Mike on this - BUT please do it. We get constant postings from people complaining about holidays that for whatever reason were not " as sold"

Whilst people post on here asking for advice. I wonder how many actually take it when it is given?

We can only express our opinions. In the case of Mike and a few others they actually research and post specific information to help in a claim.

It is really up to you the person who has sufferred to take it further - we cannot.

fwh

Mike and Fwh and ali781
You are right in what you all say in your postings.
Mike: The legal route is one that we are taking as you say actually getting a fair refund from the company is like getting blood from a stone.
No chance of that happening.
Its important to complain, make a fuss, take action when a company breaks a contract or treats you like an idiot. This is the first time i've come across a company who thinks its fine to do the things its does and they expect to get away with it. I guess i've been lucky so far.

have today posted copies of all correspondance sent to and recieved from airtours to see if they think i should persue the matter. will let everyone know the outcome when i get a reply.
i really do feel like giving up sometimes as some people may think my complaint to be rather silly, but then i think, no, why should they get away with it! its like paying for steak and chips in a restuarant and only getting the steak!!!! would we be happy with that?

Ali,
slightly off-topic here but your analogy about poor food in a restaurant is interesting. You are legally permitted to pay what you feel is an appropriate amount for the meal you were served in a restaurant providing you leave your name and address with the restauranter. They must then pursue you through the court should they wish. Difference is, Airtours got payment in advance whilst the restaurant gets paid in arrears.

Good Luck with your claim, and I agree with you, why should you pay for something you didn't get.
Mike

Can I jUst day a huge thanK you to Dizzy and Mike who have advised and responded to all my comments on this site.

As you are all aware we got our deposit back after a long battle and we are now looking forward to planning a wedding in Ireland for 2007.

With much appreciation

FB
XX

Futurebride, very nice of you to thank us, and let us know the outcome.

It's more fun helping others sort their problems than trying to sort your own. It's also more fun attending other's weddings than your own.

Last one I attended was on a beach in Barbados when two of the passengers on our dinner table of 12 announced they would be married on that Friday. Several of us went along as a surprise and I was nominated as the photographer (God help 'em).

Barbados, Ireland ? Hope you have a lovely day and the weather is fine.

Mike

have recieved a reply today from ABTA. they suggest i write one more time to my travel using a form they sent me called a pre-arbitration notice to see if that gets them to respond better and get them to compensate mutually. ABTA have also written to airtours explaining that they have given me advice on arbitration. they do not have to respond the the ABTA letter but are supposed to respond to my form within 28 days. ABTA can't advise me either way whether or not to procede further, the descission is up to us.arbitration could cost about £80 so we do have to think carefully as it could make us worse off. have filled in the form so i will let you know how we get on in about a month(or maybe 2 knowing my travel) when we recieve a reply.

ali781
The best of luck to you with the claim against Airtours. I hope you receive a fair offer.
And FB, thanks for the nice comments. I'm so pleased everything worked out ok in the end. You deserve a lovely, trouble free wedding after all that you've been through. Well done in getting it sorted.
Just to update everyone on our complaint, Airtours have upped the compensation they are offering us again but I still do not agree with the amount. It does not reflect all the extra expenditure for us because of the poor standard of hotel we were dumped in, the lack of facilities(we paid for 24 hour all inclusive but got 6 hr "all you could stomach" recycled meals), the extreme stress caused by their handling of the situation, lack of advertised facilities on the plane both ways, continuing illness, etc.
And they haven't answered a single question put to them in each letter I send them!!!
This is so frustrating.
The ONLY reasonable thing I can say about Airtours and this whole situation is that they have responded within 28 days each time i've written to them.
And so it goes on. We are off down the legal route now. We have given the company long enough to investigate the complaints and offer a fair amount in compensation. I will let you all know what happens.
Best wishes to all.