Sorry Marion but I am finding it a little difficult to understand your post.

I can make out that you thought you were booking a hotel on the sea front (name of hotel and resort please). When your paperwork came through it's a different hotel miles from anywhere (name of new hotel and resort please).

The telephone conversations you've had are confusing to me regarding them saying the holiday wasn't available

marion t wrote:

the last time i rung a woman said the holiday we wanted wasnt avaliable so she gave us this one but she didnt tell me

Then it is available

marion t wrote:

i have phoned to see if holiday i wanted is avaliable and of course it is but to change its going to cost me £100 for changing holiday and another £100 for going to that hotel.

like Glynis I'm struggling to follow the complaint. As well as actual hotel names what is the departure date - what deadline are we up against?

I find it very odd that a telesales company doesn't record all it's calls - not even for "for training purposes"?

When you were on the website did you pick the holiday from the "Late Deals of the Week" page by clicking on the little, orange Select icon?

This is what I gather from it, might be wrong:

OP looked on website and then either phoned or they phoned her, she had a particular hotel in mind to accommodate her and hubbys walking needs, but the advisor seemed to be speaking that fast that she did not fully understand what was being booked and possibly became confused and the booking was made over the phone.

The paperwork was sent and it was a different Hotel to what she wanted so she phoned again and was told the hotel she wanted Original one was not available, and the price for some reason was cheaper but still being charged the full price.

But then I get lost as the OP phones again and is told it's £100 to change to original Hotel (but I thought this was not available), unless it's a different date

Out of curiousity I went to the website to look at what is available for Lanzarote (where I live ) IMO the pages for Lanzarote are a disgrace, so no wonder the OP (and probably the telesales girl too) are confused, if this example is anything to go by

Lanzarote shows the same description on their front pages for a huge number of their "hotels", they have the same photos over again for different hotels, they have hotels listed that are not where they say they are, and where they do have a description correct further information about location etc are totally incorrect

Obviously we have no idea where the OP has chosed to book yet, but on the basis of what I have looked at, which is only one destination on this site, I dread to think what it would be like trying to choose a hotel in an area I knew nothing about at all!!

you're thinking along the same lines as me but let's wait to see what she says she did - we don't need to be working on the wrong problem.

sorry to confuse you all !firstly holiday is in majorca ,we booked it wednesday night 24 aug for 7th sept, on fri morning 26th we got paper work through downloaded it and thats when we saw it wrong foned up customer services straight away and they said we had agreed to the hoiday booked after several phone calls telling them we wanted it changed i was told they could see which holiday i wanted booked but it wasnt avaliable and she gave me another one but i paid the price for the hotel wanted and been put in a much cheaper one i said she hadnt told me and she said she didnt have to i listened to recording and she spoke fast i could hear cala something but didnt think it would be another hotel as we had been talking about hotel we had requested online so i said i wanted to change to another hotel nearer to beach explained why and she said it would cost me another £100 for admin fees i was then put through to booking desk and i asked if holiday for cala park was available and she said loads of room so they had lied if i wanted now to change it would cost £272 extra including admin fees but she would give me discount of £72 i said i cant afford it and that is it so far i hope its clearer sorry

just to add it wasnt a late deal,a lot of lies and fobbing off they said at first couldnt hear recording as some was missing i asked to listen but they couldnt let me, but 2 days on after all complaining i was offered to listen to it without asking ,i want to add it has cost us £ in phoning as they take ages to answer not to say what all this upset has done to us we dont want to go on holiday and they dont care as long as they have their money !!

keep adding bits the hotel we wanted was calas park on seafront the one we have now is hostas eurocalas aparthotel both in cala de mallojca.its 8 to 10mins away from town and beach,bye the way thanku for help

I'm getting really confused, partly through the way you write, but mostly because their website is a dogs dinner.

From an independent guide site I have found the Calas Park listed as appartments (but it's being sold with AI) where "the other one" is classed as a hotel. I say "the other one" because it seems to appear on the Global Late Deals site under three different names, and is being sold at different prices with different room descriptions depending on which name you click - how does anyone know what they've really booked!! The independent site does say you'll be 400metres further from a beach and 900metres further from the centre - but both beaches seem to have steep access. They suggest the town is best for young families. There is a town map here http://www.caladorscene.com/calasdemallorca/calasdemallorcamap.html
and if you click the Homepage link at the bottom right it will take you to more info. There is a line about a tourist road train that shuttles around town linking the hotels and main beach so that might help you out.

The Global Late Deals web site is appalling and I have no confidence that it works correctly. I have forced it to quote for the Calas Park and it does seem to be slightly dearer than the other one, as you say about £100 per week for a couple. With hindsight, when it confirmed the prices showing flights, transfer, hotel name and quote reference number you should have printed that page off for later reference - but that's easy to say now.

The bottom line is that we are running out of time and it's their word against yours. You are out of your depth and they no doubt have a lot of practice of stalling disgruntled customers so phoning them isn't going to get anywhere. You could write to them and formally cancel on the grounds that they are in breach of contract for not booking what you agreed - but they will deny it and you'll have to argue in court to try to get your money back (with no guarantee).

I think the best option now is to go and try it - even if you don't get far from the pool it's got to be better than the weather we've got!

Thanks Steve for you information !i found the map really good,there is a train right by the hotel! and we will enjoy it, its a shame sunmaster can get away with conning people ,i see on another website they are getting people to complain with any trouble they have had with sunmaster so they can send complaints into watchdog for them to investigate!! and one thing is for sure i will never book with them again!!! and i will make sure when i next book a holiday i check on every single word said by any travel agent once bitten twice shy !!!!!!

when will people learn that Watchdog is a TV programme not a regulatory body! There are dozens of companies just as bad and thousands of people with problems, the chances of getting them to do one item are small and the chances of that making much difference to Sunmasters' trade is even less.

I'm glad you've mentioned Sunmasters for the benefit of others who might be searching on Google for info about Global Late Deals. That's a marketing name of Sunmasters (who are in Halifax). The website mentions Global Travel Group (of Chester), this is a facilties company who provide access to IT systems, training and ATOL bonding to independent travel agents who take out a franchise - but they don't own any of the agents and aren't liable for what what they do. The name Stella Travel was also given, they own GTG and I believe come from New Zealand. We've had complaints about a few GTG franchise companies but there are dozens of them out there so some of them might be OK.

As for you, maybe it would be an idea to start studying the holiday trade on here before venturing into the market again. What you have booked is almost certainly NOT a legally protected package holiday, it's an area of the market that you really need to be careful with if you aren't experienced. You'd probably be better off sticking to proper packages - you don't always have to pay the full price from the brochure!

Marion, that's good advice from Steve. Also, as you've booked and paid with little chance of recovering your money, I think the best thing you can do is to go away with an optimistic view and make the best of it. Hopefully, you'll have a good time regardless. After all a holiday is often what you make it. Chalk this one up to experience and be a little more careful in the future

Thankyou all very much for all advice we are very grateful,and as you say a holiday is what you make it and i am sure we will have a great time.will keep reading holiday truths for advice ect !!!!!!!!! and i hope others do as well

A couple of years ago I booked with these people - a holiday for 2 couples, sep apartments . When paperwork came through it was a 1 bedroom apt for 4 adults and not at all where we asked for. When I queried it they categorically denied I had asked for 2 apartments and where. I asked for a transcript of recorded order and 'unfortunately, it was unavailable'. As I could not receive any satisfactory answers I went to local Court who advised me what to do and at no extra cost at all to myself was rewarded with full cost of holiday plus additional costs of phone calls etc and if they didn't pay by time stipulated by court extra costs. When they realised I meant business and not to be fobbed off, they paid in full immediately.
xx

Interesting, do you mean they went to court and were found against or they caved in to avoid going to court when they realised you were serious?

I think in the case we had here we were up against the clock and it might have been too stressful to go down the court route but it's always useful to have details like this latest news. The moral appears to be avaoid any bookings over the phone with them - or make you own recording!

Can I just point out that Calas Park and Eurocalas hotel are really not that far from each other. The resort is tiny (I mean really tiny). The beach is not near Calas Park infact it is not near any hotel other than Hotel America or Samoa. The cliff walk (which is lovely) connects the hotels to the beach. The beach is accessed via cliff steps and is surrounded by cliffs.

The Small Claims Court gave the company 7 days to reply they ignored it and actually laughed at me when I informed them what I had done. The court ruled in my favour and I was awarded full claim plus all expenses - court costs etc. Company paid up immediately as were threatened with bailiffs! I know it's not everyone's route choice and at the time it was very trying but I was determined to get a holiday we were all happy with and deserved.

That is interesting, not just that you won but that they were stupid enough to ignore the court papers and not reply. When someone works an elaborate scheme to get money out of people it does at least show they have some degree of wit so might do something right on a good day - but people who ignore court papers really can't be relied on even if they are honest!

We'll have to bear this in mind for future enquiries.

i have read with intrest your remarks,i must point out firstly we didnt want calas park for the beach it was because it was on sea front ,i have emphysema and cant walk very far and also my hubby has v bad back so we decided this was perfect because we could sit at the pool and be in front of the sea without moving far,believe you me now we have got over the shock of being cheated we will when we return kick up one heck of a stink,very intrested what hrh wrote ,we are going away on wednesday! but we will start to fight this ,might not get anywhere and we may be oap's but we are no pushovers and the sooner people start to fight these so called holiday people it might just help,i am shocked by how many sites have complaints about SUNMASTER GLOBAL LATEDEALS ! AND FIRMS ASSOCIATED with them from yrs back and still they are up to the same old thing over and over again. how are they be allowed to still trade.???