That's how they book everything. The initial process is only to give them authorisation to book if the elements are available at the advertised price. It can take a couple of days before you get actual confirmation that the booking has gone through. If anything has changed, availability, costing etc they get back to you. At that point you can choose to cancel the affected element, but if the flight cost has changed, or no availability you can't cancel the accommodation, and visa versa (presuming you've booked both).
It's all explained in their terms and conditions. Lot's of OTAs 'book' in the same way.

Probably why I don't bother with OTA's. I think a lot of people are clueless as to how it works as most don't read the terms and conditions, hence all the problems, most seem to think they have booked a standard package holiday. I'm getting to the stage where I can't be bothered to answer the posts anymore tbh.

It does seem that the majority of complaints in this section are related to people booking "Dynamic Packages" and as you say

I think a lot of people are clueless as to how it works as most don't read the terms and conditions, hence all the problems,

There is also a complaint re OwnersDirect/HomeAway in this section and if anyone bothers to read the T&Cs they will see it stated quite clearly that they are only a facilitator and your problems when they arise are nothing to do with them.

I also am getting fed up of answering the same questions time after time.I did stop for awhile but have been drawn back as over the years HT has been of help to me and I like to repay people for the advice/help given, I do however wonder if we actually achieve anything with all the work we put in answering questions. Very rare that anyone takes the time to say thanks and more often blame us for their ills.
No we don't work for any of the companies often named. We are some of their biggest critics.Why don't we have the same problems? Simple we don't get carried away in the excitement of booking a holiday, we take the time to read the small print before we book.
It might not be fashionable these days to quote this


Caveat Emptor
[Latin, Let the buyer beware.]

but when booking a holiday it certainly applies.

fwh

FWH - please keep posting. When you stopped doing so for a while, as you know, I sent you a message asking where you were, as your contributions were missed by me and I am sure, many others.

Why don't we have the same problems? Simple we don't get carried away in the excitement of booking a holiday, we take the time to read the small print before we book.
It might not be fashionable these days to quote this

That, together with the fact we don't just look at the price,(well I don't) and take other factors into account. If a price looks too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true!

Isn't the reason that most t&c are now so long, small print and with legal terms that a fair few people cannot understand . I personally feel this is done on purpose to get the result they are achieving, they tick the box because they do not understand the gobble degook and want a holiday. Unfortunately with wrong results occasonally

I find myself sympathetically agreeing with FWH statement of Caveat Emptor , buyer beware , and I tend to think that way naturally I know I am a little bit cynical , I find myself not trusting sellers , i tend to believe if it looks to good to be true then it probably is , but it really shouldn't be that way, just because something is cheaper or great value it shouldn't mean it's of poor quality , but from some of the complaints often made it seems that customers expectations are not being met , are today's customers expecting too much ? We have more consumers rights these days so in reality " buyer beware " should not exist but it feels as if it needed more than ever , perhaps it is the way we are being sold to , as shrimper points out some of the T&Cs are unbelievably long and complicated and we ( as in the general public ) probably feel that the law is on our side " we " have consumer rights and the T&Cs are just crossing the T 's and dotting the I 's. might be what people think ?
I feel that some companies and businesses are conducting their business with their feet just over the line of what is legal , what customers want is a clear , open and honest way of doing business .

I know it can be boring and a bit tedious answering or discussing what seems to be the same old problems over and over again , but not talking or discussing will not make the problems go away , the more that is said will help if only bit by bit , I've learnt things I didn't know , they might not all directly affect me but could easily come up in conversations with friends etc in everyday life , and while people might not offer written contributions on here , there might be many more who just read .

shrimper wrote:

Isn't the reason that most t&c are now so long, small print and with legal terms that a fair few people cannot understand . I personally feel this is done on purpose to get the result they are achieving, they tick the box because they do not understand the gobble degook and want a holiday. Unfortunately with wrong results occasonally

Much as I would never use TR, their terms and conditions are in big print, and easy to understand.

are today's customers expecting too much ? We have more consumers rights these days so in reality " buyer beware " should not exist but it feels as if it needed more than ever

Probably the reason some T&Cs are so long is not for the customer protection so much as the "supplier" having to cover every possible eventuality.

Might be a different product but the principal is just the same. As a former warranty manager I was often confronted by customers claiming "their rights". I spent many hours pouring over documentation to ensure that when I said yes or no to a claim that I had got it right. Say no and I could find my decision subjected to questions and abuse. Say yes and find that the claim was subsequently rejected and the customer was not interested in repaying the money we had spent so I do have some sympathy with the TAs/TOs at times.

The T&Cs no matter what some might say do actually protect the customer if people bother to read them - no matter what they may say. Yes some of the clauses may be unfair but if you read them then you do know before you book - the complaints we get almost always are after the event and the OP has finally got round to reading them then surprise, surprise they find they could have avoided the problem - if only...

Has anyone ever noticed that when we read a complaint the OP has always done everything right and the TA/TO has always done wrong. But then the OPs always tell the truth - don't they???

fwh

We booked a holiday through Travel Republic, flights and airport transfer, about £1,600 for a week in Corfu, in a cheap apartment for two adults and two children.
First the site kept hiking the price of the flight.
They took payment form our credit card twice and then took their sweet time to refund us (the money came back after a couple of weeks).
The flight wasn’t cheap at all even though it was Ryan Air.
The worst was the airport transfer.
They charged us £190 pounds for the return airport transfer.
We found when we arrived that it would have been cheaper to take a taxi from the taxi stand.
Later we found out that if we had booked the airport transfer form Ryan Air the return price would have been £60.
When we complained they said sorry but didn’t address the fact that we had been over charged and refused to refund even one penny.
Their “Cheapest Price Guarantee” is worthless.
Their service is dreadful and if you make a complaint they patronise you.
We got off light, lots of people seem to have had much worse negative experiences of Travel Republic.

I remain as ever confused about why anybody would book a Ryanair flight through a 3rd party? And also not check whether it would be cheaper to book direct with any airline before booking with any of the on-line agencies?

As fwh has said, it really is a case of 'Buyer Beware' with anything you purchase on-line these days and in my experience 'price guarantees' are so hedged with ifs and buts that they are rarely worth anything. Even John Lewis's much vaunted 'Never knowingly undersold' one is undermined by the fact that with many of their goods you will never find it cheaper elsewhere because they are the sole UK supplier and have a monopoly on that particular item. I'm a big fan of John Lewis and they have honoured their price guarantee for me but only because the same item in EXACTLY every respect was slightly cheaper elsewhere. And the big get out for any TO/TA is that what they offer nearly always differs in some slight respect from what others are offering.

SM

Harry Windsor,

welcome to the boards but to be fair, £190 is alot of money for a transfer. Where in corfu were you going to by the way.
Most online agencies for web bookings do not mark up on the transfer so i can only assume that this was the price being fed to them by the transfer supplier.

I would look at your paperwork, see who the transfer company was and then have a look on their website to see how much they are charging.
Example, in zante, a few supplier are charging like £50 for a return shuttle to Kalamaki which is like 5/10 mins from the airport. You can get a cab for about EUR8-12 each way.
Not the agents fault but merely the price being fed to them from the supplier.

Before booking and i saw that price i would have seriously questioned it, but you were happy with your price at the time and the service has been used so i wouldn't expect anything back from this really, more of a case of ... i know now for next time to check.

.is £190 expensive for a private transfer to one of the far out resorts?
certainly dear for a shuttle but perhaps not for a private return transfer for 4 @ £42.50 each.

A second thought on above post, T R 's on line booking is fairly clear on what costs are for flights, luggage. accomadation and transfers befor you commit to buy.

I'm still trying to work out why or how TR sell ryanair flights when it is against their T&Cs for flights to be sold via a third party ?? Simply TR should not be doing this .
Also finding this thread a little bizarre in that its about TRs shortcomings in respect to what people have paid for and the customer service they have received and their price guarantee is being compared to a business who operates with excellent high standards , that behaves ethically and is completely honest in how it treats its staff and customers , they are chalk and cheese , how the two companies can be mentioned in the same breath is beyond me .

travel republic do not sell Ryanair flights.
travel republic do not sell any flights, nor do they sell any hotel or transfer.
They are simply an agent between those that do sell these products and the customer.
i.e. the show you Ryanair flights and you purchase from Ryanair, TR simply exchange your details and collect the money etc and pass it onto Ryanair.

If you prefer you can book direct with Ryanair and then search for a hotel supplier and book accomodation with them , finally search and find transfer suppliers and book with them.
All TR do is put these options in one place
Or at least thats how I see it..

My point Andy is that even John Lewis's price guarantee is not what it seems and catches many people out because they don't realise that it will never pay out because they will never be able to claim against it.. The result is that they too have unhappy customers who think that because they later discover that they could have bought what they think is the same product at a cheaper price that they can claim when the reality is that John Lewis have negotiated a minor modification with the manufacturer to mean that their version is then unique to them and hence not covered by their price guarantee. The most usual way they and other companies do it is to include slightly different terms for the warranty. Not the same product so not covered by the price guarantee. So if even reputable stores like John Lewis do that, why do people place any store by the price guarantees of companies that are cutting things to the bone in the first place?

SM

They are simply an agent between those that do sell these products and the customer.
i.e. the show you Ryanair flights and you purchase from Ryanair, TR simply exchange your details and collect the money etc and pass it onto Ryanair.

All TR do is book on Ryanair's website, pretending to be a private customer, and then charge the customer a fee for doing it. The problem is TR have breached Ryanair's website terms of use by screen scraping to get the information onto their website in the first place. This is what is strictly forbidden.

Sorry this is but I want to make clear that I find the comparison unfair .

I agree that their price difference guarantee is usually not paid out because of slight differences , for example a 2,year warranty with their goods compared to a rivals cheaper price with only a 1 year guarantee , but they clearly do highlight the terms of their price difference policy .
You quoted their " Never knowingly undersold " slogan which they have used for around 85 years , this not only covers the price but the quality and service and applies to them all . Their pillars of success have always been
Quality , Value , Service and Honesty , that is how they conduct their business , they pay suppliers on time , they treat people fairly , so I do find it bizarre and unwarranted that when Harry Wjndsor , ( we assume not the real one ) stated that TRs cheapest price guarantee is worthless you quote John Lewis' never knowingly undersold as being pretty much the same . As I said earlier I agree the technicalities of the price difference can make the slogan seem ineffective , but Never Knowingly Undersold is a bold statement that underlines the way the whole business operates . From what I've read TR does hold Value as important , but Quality , Service and Honesty seem to be a problem in some customers eyes and that is why I disagree with the comparison you are making .