So really, it would perhaps be better if the original poster provided us with the name of the Hotel where they should have been staying who overbooked their accommodation by selling the TR room on to other guests.

Basically, as has been outlined - it was the hotel's error and not Travel Republic's fault.

I agree with you totally Cyprus, as the thread title is very misleading. The very great majority of us are long time happy customers of Travel Republic who also consider their Customer Service second to none. I for one have been very challenging in my requests over the years and they have always risen to the occasion. As has been pointed out, it is sad that they are being blamed for the hotel's decisions. Jenny x

I don't think the title thread is mis-leading , the OP received an email less than 48 hours before they were due to go on holiday , the initial response from TR was to accept a lower standard accommodation or pay more money for another accommodation , hopefully the rep from TR ( Sophie) managed to rectify the problem eventually , perhaps if this was done first of all before the OP let off some steam on a public forum then they would have less reason to be angry/upset and make their feeling known publicly .
As far as I can see the OP has made a booking with TR the supplier she has paid them in full and they have then told her she can't stay at that hotel 2 days before departure , I think it's fair to describe this as a fiasco or problem ??? Ok it might not actually be TR s fault perhaps the hotel did overbook but what's that got to do with the customer ? They have paid the supplier and expect to get what they have paid for , not told that you can stay in a cheaper accommodation or pay more money to receive the same standard and this is the first response the OP got from TR when contacted by email . It's all very nice of Sophie to try and then sort out the problem , but shouldn't this be done in the first instance , rather than as a response from one of their customers having to complain on a public forum ?
Who's to blame is fairly irrevelant to the customer they just want what they have paid for , even if the hotel is 100% responsible in this case they won't be bothered to have upset this customer because it's probably unlikely that they would get repeat business , but because the agent TR has not effectively dealt with this problem adequately from the first instance ( which they haven't, because the OP wouldn't have complained on here) they have lost any chance of repeat business from the OP

I understand that there are many on here that rate TR and that's good but it doesn't mean someone might have a problem when using them , the OP believes that TR has let her down as one of their customers and all she's being told is that it's not TRs fault but the hotel, as far as she is concerned the facts are that TR is her supplier who she has paid , she is their customer and they have contacted her and told her of their problem with the hotel , it's up to them to resolve the issue to the customers satisfaction not pass the buck and ask for more money or a downgrade . If I found myself in the OPs situation I don't think I would be as restrained as she is !! And she certainly has my sympathy .

Not at all, it's the Agents responsibility to pass the option on to the Customer once they receive a notification. If the Customer then chooses not to accept what has been offered by the Supplier (the Hotel) then and only then, should they make inroads on the Customers' instruction regarding alternatives.

By all accounts - that seems to have happened.

But - it doesn't alter the fact that it was the Supplier (the Hotel) who overbooked the Customer and not Travel Republic.

But does the OP think that TR is the supplier of the holiday ? This is who they have paid, so the agent can book and confirm and take your money and then say ooh sorry you can't have that the supplier has let us down , I'll see what I can do to sort it out .
What is the exact point of using an agent ? And if you had a problem like the OP did would you go back and give them more money and let them book another holiday for you ?
Many on here are delighted TR customers and that's because they have received good customer service by the agent , but the OP is not delighted with TRs customer service and regards them as poor , if other people on here suffered the same problem would they just say , it's not TRs fault the hotel let them down and I would definetly book with them again despite having that nagging feeling that the confirmed hotel booking doesn't really mean that . Why does TR have a business relationship with a hotel that can seriously undermine its customers satisfaction and future repeat business?

I'd be surprised if TR booked direct with the hotel. They are only acting as an agent and would usually book through one of their suppliers. If you book a hotel through a high street agent they do exactly the same. If TR booked direct with the hotel their prices would be more expensive.
What is the point of using an agent? None, apart from their prices are usually cheaper than booking direct, but you are also more likely to get bumped for exactly that reason.

andy66 wrote:

But does the OP think that TR is the supplier of the holiday ? This is who they have paid, so the agent can book and confirm and take your money and then say ooh sorry you can't have that the supplier has let us down , I'll see what I can do to sort it out .

If the OP thinks that TR is the supplier of her holiday rather than an agent acting on her instructions then it can only because she ticked that she'd accepted TR's terms and conditions without reading them. I am one of TR's happy customers but have always booked with them knowing that they are an agent only and the hotel room etc is supplied by a 3rd party. I've always been willing to accept that risk because the price has always been so good but it is a risk nevertheless - if you're not prepared to accept that risk then it's best to stick with booking a package and not use an agent like TR.

SM

So if you actually" get what you pay for "then everything's hunky dory , but if you get bumped 2 days before your holiday and you don't know 100% who is to blame , then you have a problem , perhaps even a bit of a fiasco trying to sort it out at such short notice , and I suppose if it's all gone "Pete tong" then you have "got what you pay for ". A good cheap price but no real guarantee .
I think SMa post spells out the situation clearly .

If the OP thinks that TR is the supplier of her holiday rather than an agent acting on her instructions then it can only because she ticked that she'd accepted TR's terms and conditions without reading them. I am one of TR's happy customers but have always booked with them knowing that they are an agent only and the hotel room etc is supplied by a 3rd party. I've always been willing to accept that risk because the price has always been so good but it is a risk nevertheless - if you're not prepared to accept that risk then it's best to stick with booking a package and not use an agent like TR.

SM

andy66 wrote:

but if you get bumped 2 days before your holiday and you don't know 100% who is to blame , then you have a problem

With any booking I have ever made with TR it has always been very clear who is the supplier in the various confirmation emails sent by TR that I received and hence who is responsible for providing what I have paid for. I've used TR most for booking hotels in southern Spain and the supplier has usually been listed as Jumbo Tours. In the event of things going pearshaped with the hotel booking they would be the people who would have had to sort it out. I would expect TR to try and assist me in dealing with Jumbo Tours but they would have done want they said they'd do - make the booking with Jumbo Tours.

I think that this is why others have suggested that the thread title is mis-leading - if other members are to possibly avoid having the same happen to them then they need to know who was the original supplier listed on the OP's booking confirmation and in the further paperwork sent by TR once the supplier had confirmed to TR that the booking had been accepted by the supplier. A dodgy supplier and/or hotel is a dodgy supplier/hotel and both are no doubt used by other agents and not just TR. But anybody reading this thread has no idea of who the villains of the piece are because the OP hasn't named and shamed them and hence have no idea which bedbooker or hotel can't be relied on to honour a booking place in good faith by TR as agent.

And this is going a bit I know but as someone who has to at times deal with irate customers/service users I wonder whether the OP has spoken to TR staff in the same tone she has adopted here? Continually blaming someone for something that they are not at fault over is not going to get them on your side. I did have a similar problem with another agent and they went the extra yard to help me sort it out just like the staff member at Expedia did for Fiona. Yes, I was very upset, yes, I got very angy and tearful but, yes, I did also accept that the person I was actually talking to on the phone wasn't personally responsible and neither was the company she worked for. And calming down and saying this to the staff member who had taken the brunt of my anger just because she was the unfortunate person picking up the phone when I rang resulted in a noticeable change of attitude on her part towards me. Adopting the approach that we were both the victims of someone's else incompetence/bad practice meant that we could both focus on sorting out a solution rather than engaging ina fruitless confrontation between the two of us. Yes, I think that frontline staff are often undervalued by their managers but I think that sometimes us customers often over-estimate just how much leeway they have within company policy to get something sorted and also over-estimate their capacity to put up with angry, shouty people.

And it would still be good to know who the supplier was, which hotel was involved and whether the OP has reached a resolution with TR that she is satisfied with.

SM

SMa - it would be very good indeed to get an update from the original poster but as we're all to familiar with the scenario...

Many new posters are often very affronted and/or unclear on their first post and then we either never get to the bottom of it or they are never seen again.

I do tend to find that very frustrating.

Booked Airport minibus transfers from Larnaca airport to Ayia Napa for 9 people and infant with Travel Republic.
Airline change their departure times by 14 hours later.
I Informed the travel company six months beforehand of the changes. Incompetent and Undertrained customer service agent booked my pick up transfer same day 17 hours before my departure time. He did read out the details and me not realising the mistake and not checking my email (Organising son,s wedding lot on my mind). When we arrived at Larnaca airport on 7 May 2013 at 5am no minibus. Rang the minibus company they told us we have to pay €85 as there was a booking error and have to sorted out in the UK. Eventually minibus arrived 2 hours later with 10 unhappy people. When I got back to the UK e mailed and rang few times to complaints department in Travel Republic. Got an email back from three different people including the manager (more than jobs worth)saying I was at fault and refused to refund €85. I know I should have checked the details on the email. But if the agent booked the transfer times and date correctly we wouldn't have had all these problems. Now Travel Republic has lost business of more than 9 people and maybe more by other people reading this review.
So Mr Chairman *** ******** hope you are reading this and sort your staff out !

He did read out the details and me not realising the mistake and not checking my email (Organising son,s wedding lot on my mind).

So Mr Chairman *** ******** hope you are reading this and sort your staff out !

I would politely suggest that you need to take some - say 2/3 - responsibility for the error ... because the staff member DID read out the details, but it was YOU who did not realise the mistake and YOU who did not check your email.

So, Mr Kjkj, I suggest you consider taking your own valuable advice.

It was unfortunate, but due to human error ... I presume you do consider yourself (and the agent) to be human. You got to your hotel, albeit a bit later than you'd intended (and I know you'd been up all night on the flight), and 85 € seems a reasonable add-on for 10 passengers and an out-of-hours hire. You did check your holiday insurance to see if you might have been covered for this delay or change in arrangements didn't you?

Welcome to Holidaytruths.

I'm trying to work out the timings here but am I correct in thinking that the 14 hour change in departure time meant that you were arriving very early in the morning a day later than originally booked? But that whilst the pick-up time for the new flight arrangements was changed that the date wasn't and hence the minibus arrived 24 hrs too early and they assumed that you were a no show?

Further back in this thread you'll find that a TR staff member called Sophie posted an email address that you could try using community@travelrepublic.co.uk and also another member of staff, Steve, is a member here and has been able to resolve problems for others. He can be contacted via steve@travelrepublic.co.uk and he has a good reputation for being helpful to HT members.

However, I know that you are going to think me unsympathetic and, no, I don't work for TR but I don't think that you are going to get anywhere with this because like Aslemma, I think that you have to be prepared to take some of the responsibility for this. You had 2 opportunities to correct this, firstly when he read over the details to you on the phone and you didn't notice the wrong date and secondly when the email was sent to you. Nobody is perfect, staff can make mistakes but that is why it is so important to doublecheck that all the details are correct.

And presumably, applying the same logic that you are applying to TR, none of your friends and family are ever going to allow you to take charge of their travel arrangements in future? Or are they accepting that you made a mistake but that this doesn't make you incompetent and untrustworthy?

SM

Travel Republic is an horrendous site. A few days before we were due to fly they tried to move us to a cheaper hotel miles away from where we were booked. Their customer service was terrible and the only excuse they offered was that the 'hotel was full'. Very strange as they were still selling the same hotel for the same dates on their website. They were simply trying to move us into a cheaper hotel and pocket the difference. Avoid these scam artists at all costs.

Travel Republic don't book direct with the hotel. They use an accommodation supplier. When the hotels overbook (and they do) it isn't TRs fault. When they need to bump people they will go to the accommodation suppliers, who in turn go to the agents that have guests booked through them. These people pay cheaper rates than guests that book direct with the hotel, so they are the unlucky ones that end up finding their hotel has changed. They then invariably blame the agent.

like Aslemma, I think that you have to be prepared to take some of the responsibility for this.

It was actually Alsacienne, not I, who said this originally, but I do indeed agree. We do all need to double check timings etc. on e-mails or tickets we receive to ensure there's been no human or computer errot.

Aslemma wrote:

like Aslemma, I think that you have to be prepared to take some of the responsibility for this.

It was actually Alsacienne, not I, who said this originally, but I do indeed agree. We do all need to double check timings etc. on e-mails or tickets we receive to ensure there's been no human or computer errot.

Or even spelling mistakes

I'd have made the point myself about the correction, but I know that the post with the error in it couldn't be edited. I stand by the point I made ... and note that Kjkj has not commented since.

Sorry Aslemma!

I've no problem with being mistaken for you Alsa, in fact I find it quite flattering.