Tour op mistake. Hol paid off!! but not really????

barnsie

2006-03-04 20:20:13

Hi

My mate at work is really worried, she book a holiday for 5.200 with a large well know tour operator and started paying off dosh.

Paid cash £1.000 at another same tour op but different location, didn't get confirmation, so rang where she booked from they then recieved confirmation that week... BUT then a week later she received another letter saying she'd paid another £1.000!!!

She then went the following month to pay another £600 off, it showed on the screen that she had paid 2 amounts of £1.000!!???.

Thats not the end of it! she thought fingers crossed that she could maybe get away with £1.000. But now......

she received a letter stating she had paid another payment of £1.000. And the outstanding balance is £0.00. The only thing is, now the statements states the holdiay costs £.401.25 in total, which is incorrect!
She has paid about £2.600 off this holiday.

I told her about this site and she doesn't know wether to wait til May when her final deadline is and wait for reminder of what!! I don't want to give her the wrong advice. What do I say.

Sorry, hope this makes some sort of sense

Barnsie

barnsie

2006-03-04 20:25:07

Whoops!

I mean the letter stated that the holiday Totol cost was 3.401.25
total cost to customer (2.386.25)
Previously paid 3.386.25
debit advice received 1.000.00
now outstanding 0.00

Loulou

2006-03-04 23:54:45

I think in that situation i would come clean because i would be too worried that something went wrong and they found out, i could not live with the stress of being on edge. Obviously the original price that your friend was quoted was a good one or she would not have booked the holiday. Honesty is not always the best policy but IMO in this case it is.

Loulou

barnsie

2006-03-05 10:03:03

Hi Loulou

I too said she should, the first time they paid an extra £1.000 for her and it all showed on the system in the T.agents and she also was sent out a receipt stating she's paid the £1.000. I thought that was very lucky

But the fact that the price of holiday changed on the next letter, then I was worried for her. I told her to carry on saving the dosh as she would have done, then wait for the final payment letter. which I understand is about may time.

Thanks for advice Loulou, just don't want to say the wrong thing to her and get any blame, not that she could of course.

She will have the full amount ready and waiting for the deadline, We'll have to see what they send out soon.

Oh Yeh! she did say when she booked the holiday, they were flapping in the office as they'de given somebody $900 too much with their holiday dosh! Sound a bit thick don't they?!?

Thanks again, I will tell her what you said.

Sandy

robbyw

2006-03-05 10:35:25

"Carry On Travel Agents" :twisted:

I personally would just save the amount up until May and see what happens.
Also she needs to keep all receipts, as no doubt this could get complicated later on, and indeed after her holidays.
Errors like this do happen, and some people are fortunate, but at the worst she will have to pay the full amount, with maybe a few headaches and stress along the way.

I wish her the best of luck, and would be grateful of this agents address. :lol:

Robby

marie35p

2006-03-05 17:04:28

The one thing that would play on my mind about this is if the travel agent employee somehow copped for this mistake. I would not be able to live with my conscience :oops:

barnsie

2006-03-05 18:50:26

Hi all

Rang up my mate from work tonight and asked exactly what she had paid and all that for herself and family

Holiday total cost: 5.180.00
Paid : 2.350.00
Yet to pay: 2.830.00

But she has just heard that her husband is to be out of a job within 50days.

she's well upset, so maybe somebody is looking down on her. She said she can just get the last bit together before he loses his job. Poor thing.

So I've told her to stick to original plan of getting dosh together and then if need be, no problem paying last of holiday off!

thanks

Sandy

fwh

2006-03-05 21:29:16

From a legal point of view she has entered into a contract. If, as in your explanation, there has been a book keeping error, and money has been credited to the account by mistake, this does not absolve her from paying.

She should write to the Head Office FAO Company secretary and explain her concerns.

It is not sensible to wait until the final payment is due. If a payment by another person has been credited to her account in error then it will come to light. Should her payments have disappeared into a black hole she would soon scream foul.

Keeping quiet and hoping nobody notices is not an option. She would then be guilty of f r a u d.

The penalty for that is far more than the money she might make from this mistake.

fwh

craigb

2006-03-06 09:19:56

5 grand+ for a holiday? Crikey how the other half live!!! :shock:

Chivas69

2006-03-06 19:40:21

I'd double check everybodys name is def on the booking!

puddleduck2

2006-03-08 11:37:25

I personally would come clean.

A similar thing happened to us last time we bought a new car. I'd set up a direct debit but noticed on my first bank statement after we'd got the car that the monthly amount hadn't be taken. I rang up and was told as we'd bought towards the end of the month it had probably missed the processing date but they'd take 2 payments the following month. Next month comes and they don't take any money. When I rang them, they said that their records showed it had been paid on time by DD but I knew it hadn't so I called my bank who confimed that the DD was set up but they hadn't applied for a payment yet. Turned out they'd miskeyed the account number somewhere along the line and attached our payment to someone else's bank account number and taken £400 from their account in error :shock:

Yes I could have left the money in my account, they would have found out eventually but I had to tell them as I know I wouldn't have been too chuffed had it been the other way around.

ray388

2006-03-08 12:31:08

Holiday total cost: 5.180.00
Paid : 2.350.00
Yet to pay: 2.830.00

I'm glad half, off holiday truths members were invited :twisted:

barnsie

2006-03-08 21:07:07

Hi everyone

Thank you so much for your posts, we have been on the web at work and discussed what to do!

Yes, me old mucka at work has decided that she may not be able to handle the pressure and ring the travel agents before the deadline, she's too much of a whimp!!

The £1.000 extra at first was pretty neat, as they struggled to sort cash payment at another travel agents (same Tour operator though), thats where the first mistake happened! she even received 2 checks stating that 2 payments of £1.000 were paid! and then an update of the holiday details!

Thank you so much for your advice. We have read the replies and discussed it at work with 5 women, all giving different views, but I suppose the final decision will be the lass who has booked.

Thanks

Barnsie
(fusspot)

fwh

2006-03-08 21:19:44

I suppose she is aware that it may come to light elsewhere in the TOs accounts. She could lose the holiday if they find she has not payed what is due. Then she really would be out of pocket.
From a legal point she knows that they have made a mistake. Should it not come to light until later and she has not told them. She could face a criminal court with all the consequences.

fwh

puddleduck2

2006-03-13 12:32:24

What did she decide Barnsie?

annied

2006-03-14 14:19:05

I wouldn't say anything, and wait to see what the TO invoice asks for 8 weeks before travel. Obviously, if you refuse to pay what they are asking, they can cancel the booking. I presume your pal would pay up (if they asked), so what's the worry? Keep the cash aside and play the waiting game, that's my advice....

I doubt whether the TO would rush you off to Court, considering it is their error (unless you refused to pay, and they would simply cancel your booking and keep your deposit, so big profit to them anyway).

Errors happen all the time, it's whether they've got the systems in place to trace them. If they do find out that they've made an error, they can't just take it upon themselves to cancel your booking/take you to court, without making contact first. That would just be crazy (and unreasonable).

I'd keep shtoom. What's your pal got to lose??? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

robbyw

2006-03-15 03:21:16

DITTO

Robby :wink:

bellybally

2006-03-15 09:56:55

That is exactly what I would do. Their mistake, their problem :wink:

craigb

2006-03-15 10:39:11

You might as well go into the Travel agents and steal the money straight out of the till...Honestly what is the world coming to, you want the holiday, pay for it.....Or get it on finance then declare yourself bankrupt after you have spent loads of other peoples money, and can't be bothered to pay it back :roll:

Pippa

2006-03-15 10:59:24

I really think honesty is the best policy - not just in this case but as a general rule.
You can be certain it will all come to light in the end anyway so why not just be honest in the first place? It always pays off in the long run.
I have to say that I am rather disapointed in some of the replies here - but then perhaps that is why our country is in the state it is in.

Pippa

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