ok to reconfirm

we landed at bourgas.....transfer waiting at sofia....we took taxi from bourgas to our resort..6 hr drive in private taxi....
return journey home same 6hr drive back to bourgas(tour operator booked) .....although our resort was 45mins from sofia!

the tour operator didnt join up the dots correctly and we never noticed..

no i made mistake...its the other way around....
doesnt matter...the point is we were at one airport and our transfer was waiting at a different airport. we landed 6 hrs away from our resort instead of 45mins. we called t/o only to be told to take a private taxi to resort.and at 3 am with 2 sml children
it took 2 days to get things resolved....with another 6 hr drive back to airport!

Well I'm glad you've got it clear in your owm mind!

I'm glad AHV is here, I thought I was going mad!

The bottom line was that the paid for transfer (not the plane) was at the wrong airport so you had to pay for a taxi, which has now been refunded. You can't claim the original transfer AND the taxi cost back because you originally agreed to pay £61.48 for a transfer from Sofia airport to the hotel, even if you didn't realise how far it was, and that's where the taxi refund puts you. Basically, you agreed to pay for a car, on the night two cars were involved, they've paid for the expensive one and you've paid for the cheaper one.

The transfer journey time isn't a point that can be argued since the airport was disclosed at the time of the booking and that's how long it takes, so it's reasonable. Basically you agreed to spend 12 hours in a car when you booked the holiday. If they had taken 6 hours to get from Burgas airport to the hotel it would have been grounds for complaint because that wouldn't be reasonable.

If you pay for a holiday how can they expect you to have a transfer of 6 hours? Sounds like a mess up by the travel company!

No, if you pay for a holiday at Sunny Beach with flights to Sofia then you have to expect 6 hour transfers - Google mapping says 6hr6min by shortest route.

If you'd paid for flight to Burgas and it gets diverted or they transfer you to a different flight later then you'd have a complaint. But this case was always booked to Sofia.

That may be so Steve, but the Travel Agent/Tour Operator still has a duty of care and booking somebody on a flight to Sofia when their holiday hotel is in Sunny Beach is not reasonable, particularly if the customer is not informed of the excessive transfer time. Doubly negligent if the same tour operator also booked the transfer from Burgas Airport to Sunny Beach (I am still not clear who booked the transfer).

Cheers,
Ralph

Thank you jetnoise you hit the nail on the head.
All has been booked by the TO transfer and holiday , just did not linked very well,
in fact did not linked at all.

I've not joined in this thread before now because I'm really confused about some of the crucial that has a bearing on the OPs rights and what they can reasonably expect in this case.

1) Was this a booking for a true package with Lowcost acting as a Tour Operator?

If there was an ATOL number attached to the booking then it was, if there is no ATOL number attached then the odd's are that it was a so-called 'dynamic' package and the duty of care one can expect is a good deal less tha with a 'proper' pacakge.

2) Or was this booked with them acting as a Travel Agent?

The fact that the OP seems to have a full beakdown of costs suggests that this was the case (you wouldn't usually get this with a 'proper' package), therefore, in which case it was a 'dynamic' package and this is little better than going DIY in terms of the duty care that can be expected from the TA. Yes, they were less than helpful in not being more specific about the transfer time but there is no dispute about the OP being clear from the beginning that they were booked to fly into Sofia and not Bourgas and when booking a DIY or a dynamic package I think that there is much more onus on the booker to check these things out for themselves as well.

3) Was the original booked transfer that was waiting at Bourgas, booked by the TA or the OP?

If it was booked by the TA and paid for as part of the total bill, then they have done the decent things by refunding the taxi fare and hence still providing the OP with a transfer at the same original and agreed price in both directions. If it was booked direct and separately by the OP then the onus was on them to ensure that they booked it for the right arrival airport. Either way, I don't think there's much of case for expecting Lowcost to refund both the original transfer cost and the replacement taxi fare. If it was booked by the TA in error then it is reasonable to expect them to pay for any associated expenses eg the cost of phone calls and they seem to have agreed to this on proof of costs which the OP says they can provide.

I think that the case with regards to a refund and/or compensation for missed nights in the hotel is more contentious and less clear cut. If the OP arrived at the hotel before that days check-in time and had immediate access to the room and had continued access to the room after the usual check-out time on their last day, then I don't think that they stand much chance of challenging this. It is not regarded as a 'lost night' by the travel industry. This comes up time and time again with regard to night flights even on full pacakages. There would only be a case if the OP arrived after check-in time on the day after the room was booked for and similarly had to leave it by check-out time on the day before the last booked night.

There is always a world of difference between what we think a TA or TO should feel morally obliged to do and what they are actually required to do by the law. On the basis of the information that we have been given so far, confusing as it has been at times, I suspect that Lowcost have gone a long way towards complying with the law and any further financial recompense is going to largely depend on their good will rather than their legal obligations. If I missed any crucial information that suggests otherwise I'm sure that someone will point it out to me!

SM

This holiday definately sounds like an individual component holiday, as with a package, either standard or dynamic (where lowcost would act as the principal) they would not have a price breakdown. If the OP has an Atol receipt this would be a package (of some description).
The problem is that so many people don't realise that they aren't booking a package of any sort. The onus is on the booker to check carefully all details whenever booking a holiday, but more so when it is a non package, where their contract is with the accommodation provider, flight provider, transfer provider directly.

It does seem strange to book a flight with a six hour transfer in the first place and maybe lowcost need to accept some responsibility for that. They have obviously accepted liability for the transfer. The fact that it was booked from a different airport sounds to me like the flight itself was booked incorrectly in the first place.

I would say the OP had full use of their room as booked, although arriving later than expected. The room was available from eg 2pm the previous day to arrival and should be available until eg 12 noon on the day of departure. Whether they actually make full use of their room for this length of time is irrelevant as far as hotel 'nights' go. I don't think there is a case for compensation for lost holiday time in this instance.

The cost of the taxi fare has been refunded and it is not fair to expect lowcost to refund the original transfer costs has well.

They should refund for phone calls etc (with proof) and it would be nice of them to offer a goodwill gesture because of the hassle involved (in an ideal world!!)

Well , when we have arrived at the hotel, the staff was very surprised as nobody informed them about our delay.
i.

You mean that nobody informed them about your planned arrival time - the delay on top of that wasn't so serious.

It's a good point about the communication involved, if I booked a hotel myself and was expecting to arrive later than 18:00 I 'd let them know so would expect a tour company to do the same. IF the hotel had given up on you and let someone else have the room it would have been evidence in a claim against lowcost - but you can't claim on the grounds that the staff were surprised.