The outcome of my holiday complaint

I have accepted £100 from the booking agents, I have been trying to get my money refunded for nearly 4 months now and I have to accept that I have reached stalemate.

ABTA have been no help at all.

I looked into the small claims court, but it is too much to pay out to start proceedings, I am already a couple of hundred pounds down and I can't afford to pay out anymore.

Somewhere2Stay are still refusing to comment on, or even acknowledge, the month it took them to tell me that the Maritim had refused the booking.

As well as the difference in price between the hotels and the cost of eating out even though I had paid for an evening meal, there was the cost of a taxi to the airport from Calella, this cost €120.  I had booked a return transfer and I received confirmation of the time of the return trip and pick up location.

For whatever reason, the time of the pick up was changed, the transfer company contacted all the hotels where pick ups had been arranged so that they could put signs up in the reception area noticeboard to notify the traveller.  Unfortunately, as I had been moved, I did not receive any notification.

After waiting at the pick up point for an hour, I tried ringing the contact number on the booking confirmation, but there was no answer.  I walked down to the train station and took a taxi.

I have calculated what the holiday cost me.

I expected to pay £510

I could have paid £420 had I booked the Santa Monica myself, choosing B&B and eating meals out.

I ended up paying £685.

(I laid all of this out in an excel spreadsheet but I couldn't post it to my blog!)

So lesson learnt, make sure the company you are ultimately booking with is reputable.

My holiday complaint.

You may have read previously on my blog about the holiday where I was downgraded to a cheaper hotel.

I put a complaint into Alpharooms, primarily to get the difference in price back, after all, I could have chosen to book the Santa Monica and saved nearly £200 on the price I paid for the Maritim, but as I was complaining about the overpayment I thought I might as well add in everything else that I found lacking.

According to ABTA rules, the company needs to acknowledge my complaint within 14 days and respond within 28.  A day or so after posting my letter, I received an email asking for more information to back up my complaint. Errr, excuse me, you can see from your own website that there is a HUGE difference in price. Common sense would tell anyone that the difference should be refunded.

I did not receive a response within the 28 days so sent a follow up email.

A week later still no response, so I registered my complaint with ABTA and forwarded all the requested documentation and correspondence.

A couple of days after registering with ABTA I received an email from Alpharooms, their agents had responded to my complaint saying that although it was not their fault that I was moved, they were willing to offer me £50 as a goodwill gesture.

Now, hold on a minute.

• It wasn't my fault either so why should I take the loss?

• I am pretty sure that the travel company - Alpharooms, Somewhere2Stay, Cosmos, whichever - were not charged the same for the Santa Monica (MedPlaya) as they would have been for the Maritim (GHT Hotels).  So why should I be charged the same?  As I have said above, I could have booked the Santa Monica myself and saved a fortune.

• If the travel agents ARE charged the same for all the hotels, why is there such a difference in price to the customer?

It would be interesting to find out when the booking was made with the hotel.  When I booked back in April?  When I paid the balance in May?  The day before travel?  

The hotel was fully booked at least 4 weeks before my travel date.  I know this as a friend who actually lives in Calella always books the Maritim for her Mum when she visits but couldn't get her in, she knew I was travelling over the same week as her Mum and so contacted me to ask where I was staying, I told her the Maritim as at this time I still was under the assumption that I was in the Maritim.  

So why would the hotel wait until the day before to reject my booking? And surely it should have been bookings made AFTER mine that were cancelled?  Unless, of course, it was the day before travel that my booking was sent to the Maritim.

It would also be interesting to find out when the travel agents pay for the accommodation too, is it before or after travel.  I am guessing that it is after if you think back to when all the travel companies were going bust and people were having to pay the hotel bills themselves despite already paying the agents.  

Had the £50 been an goodwill gesture ON TOP of the refund I would have been more than happy to accept, but this was INSTEAD of a refund.

The offer has been forwarded onto ABTA to be added to my file.

They are due to respond to me within the next 2 weeks.

Why I no longer automatically go to Quidco.

I joined Quidco back in 2007 and thought it was great.  Getting money back for just doing what I do.

I received cashback for signing up to things, for free trials, you name it, you could probably get cashback for it.

Since signing up I have received over £1600, but how much of this is actually savings?

When I was booking my June holiday back in April, I decided to treat myself to a coach transfer to the hotel instead of getting the train.  I googled transfer companies and obtained quotes, all four companies were within pence of each other, so I opted for one that I had used before.

I popped onto Quidco to see if they were listed, and if so, how much cashback was offered.

They were listed, so I clicked on the link to make my booking.  After entering my dates and locations a price was given, but it was more than I had been quoted when I had gone directly through the company's website.

The difference in price was exactly the amount that I would have got back as cashback.  So whilst I wouldn't have lost out (ignoring the 3 month wait for the payout), I wasn't actually saving anything.

I closed the link and went back to the original quote and paid the cheaper price.

And it got me thinking, how many more times had that happened over the previous 7 years?

How many times have I thought I was getting a great deal but have simply ended up paying more than I would going direct just to get the difference back.

Recently, too, I seem to have had a lot more claims declined.  One of the latest was cashback from Proskins for leggings I had bought, the reason for the declination was that Proskins could find no record of the transaction which was funny as I just happened to be wearing the leggings at the time I received the message.

I wouldn't say don't use Quidco as there are still deals to be had, but make sure you do your homework, are you really getting as good a deal as you think?

Where I am with my depression.

Recently I stated in a post that I never had a problem walking into a restaurant or pub and asking for a table for one when I used to be able to leave the house, still don't when I am out of the county or country which sounded a bit of a contradiction, after all to go out of the country, even the county, I have to leave the house so let me explain.

Unlike many people, my depression does not prevent me from working.  I've always had to work, and apart from the periods immediately following two redundancies I always have worked.  It is what was drummed into me as I was growing up.

It was when I started struggling to go to work that I finally sought help from my doctor, up until then I had just dealt with it.  After all, a social life is not important, work is.

And that is what my depression took from me, my social life.

I struggle to leave the house for any other reason than to go to work.

And I mean really struggle.  Not physically, mentally.  

I accept invitations knowing full well that I will not turn up.

I have spent so much money on concert and theatre tickets purchased when I have had a good day, but come the day of the event I cannot get myself out of the house.

Weekends away too, I have booked hotels and not used them, because I can't leave the house.  

Every year I make sure that I have a holiday in Spain, even this is a struggle.  I get very excited about booking but the closer the day gets the more unsure I become.

I leave packing to the last minute, then just throw random things into the suitcase.

I lay in bed the day of departure trying to convince myself to get up.

I have to tell myself not to ignore the taxi when it arrives.

I want to run away from the airport after I have checked in.

The strange thing is, the further from home and the city I get, the better I feel so once I arrive in Spain I feel like a different person.

I spend the holiday feeling great then I have to come home and the black fog descends again.

I have my medication review next month, I look forward to seeing what the GP says.

How we used to fly.

Back in the 70s and early 80s when I first started taking notice of such things, we used to be served on aeroplanes with proper meals, with proper METAL cutlery - can you imagine such things in this day and age.

The food arrived on an individual tray and depending on the time of day, would generally include a hot dish of actually recognisable food, a small batch with butter and a pudding.  There would also be a glass of orange juice and a cup for either tea or coffee.

A lot of the trays and most of the cutlery seemed to find its way into my Granddad's hand luggage, in fact I have only just recently thrown out the last of the cutlery (although it was metal, it was only really child sized).  Mum still has at least one of the trays as I used one earlier today!

At this time, food was included in the cost of the holiday unlike now when it is an optional extra.

Because hold luggage was included in the price of the holiday as well, there was never any issue with overhead locker space.  Also, people only tended to take one piece of carry-on luggage when there was really no limit, unlike these days when it is specified that only ONE piece of hand luggage can be carried on but people seem to think that anything between 1 and 5 pieces count as 1.

A lot of travel companies gave you a free carry on bag when you booked your holiday.  You don't see that these days.

If you travelled to Spain back in the day, you generally had to walk between two lines of armed, yes armed, police on the way from the plane to the terminal, which was probably no more than a large hangar, that could be quite daunting.

There would be a meet and greet session on the first afternoon in resort, there would be orange juice or sparkling wine and you would get to know your rep and find out all about what the resort had to offer, remember there was no TripAdvisor back then.

You had to dress for dinner every evening, and if you didn't dress to the standard required you were not allowed access to the dining room, breakfast and lunch were slightly more casual, although shorts or swimwear were NOT allowed.

There were no kids clubs either, parents and grandparents had to look after and entertain their own offspring although there was family entertainment in the evenings, usually a local singer and/or a flamenco show.

I miss those days.

Term Time Holidays

When I was growing up, if we couldn't afford to go away in the 'Coventry Fortnight' as it was known (this was the two weeks that the factories shut down) we didn't go away.

Taking me out of school was never even considered, admittedly this was partly due to Dad not being able to pick and choose his holidays as back then factory workers took them as dictated by their employers.  Mum worked in a more flexible workplace.

If we didn't go away, then days were spent in the garden, at the park or at the allotment.  We would also go fishing and for picnics.  Before we were in a position to be able to own our own car, Dad would borrow a car and we would drive to the seaside just for the day.

I enjoyed going on holiday but I didn't really miss it when we couldn't afford to go.  We saw, and still see, a holiday as a luxury or a privilege, not as a right or a necessity as it seems to be considered today.

Like I have said before, these days, everything seems to be 'me, me, me' and never mind the rules or the consequences.

Sunday Night Mash Up

I am trying to think if anything has happened this week and nothing springs to mind!

We had a bit of snow on Thursday but not enough to settle even though it was coming down on and off for most of the day.

Friday I had my first ever trip to Aldi,  in this country anyway I tend to shop in Aldis when I go abroad but the stores in Europe seem so much different to those in this country.  I picked up a few bits but I am not convinced that I could do a full shop there not least because it is so far from home.  Maybe i should buy a shopping trolley.

Dad went away for the weekend, much to the dog's disgust.  Mum fed her, brushed her, played with her and talked to her, as she does every day whether Dad is here or not, and I called in to walk her every day.  When Dad got home earlier today, anyone would think that she had been shut in the house all by herself since Friday lunchtime!  She was crying, squeaking, nearly wagging her tail off and trying to climb on Dad's lap.  She is such a drama queen.

ACCA exam results week has FINALLY arrived, they are due out next Saturday, it seems so long since I sat them.

Fingers crossed.

If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It.

As some of you will know, I decided this exam sitting to stay over in Birmingham when I have weekend classes as it would be so much easier than trying to get over on a Sunday.

I asked for some recommendations of places to stay and also consulted Trip Advisor.  I settled on the Lionel Street Hotel, which at the time of booking was a Holiday Inn Express.  I booked the five separate nights that I needed at a total cost of £202.  

I arrived the first weekend after my Saturday course and the hotel felt so welcoming.  The staff were excellent and check in was quick and painless.  The room was clean and well appointed, in fact the mattress on the bed was so thick I could have done with a step ladder.  My only complaint was that the room was too warm. and frankly, that really cannot be counted as complaint as I am used to an unheated bedroom.

Breakfast was a self service buffet, but there was so much choice; fruit, cereals, cooked breakfast, bread for toasting, pastries, rolls, lots of tea, coffee and fruit juice.

I discovered last weekend that the hotel was becoming an Ibis Style hotel, but I really didn't think it would make much difference.

I was wrong.

As soon as I walked through the front door, it just felt wrong and I thought 'I don't want to be here'.  I don't claim to be psychic or have special powers, but I am sensitive to atmospheres, and this just felt 'not right'.

There was a queue for check in, and it was not moving.

There was a man trying to check in a group, it was either a stag weekend or a birthday, and despite him having all the paperwork, they were adamant that he had only booked two rooms, not four.  He was still at the desk when I eventually checked in.

I had made these bookings over a month ago, and they were all fully paid, but for some reason I had to leave a £25 deposit on my credit card in case of damages, this was to be refunded once I had checked out, the room had been assessed and a communication sent to my credit card provider.  In other words, probably just in time for the next weekend I have booked there.

I eventually made it to my room to find that my key card would not work, so back to the queue at reception I went (the man trying to check his party in was STILL there), my card was reset and I tried again.

This time it worked and my room was pretty much a duplicate of the one I had had the previous weekend.

I noticed a door stop on the floor by the television shelf and thought it was a random place to put a door stop.  Then I realised that the room had a connecting door with the next room.  In such a huge hotel, why would you put a single female in a room with a door that connects to a stranger's room?

The breakfast was nearly as good as the Holiday Inn Express offering, but not quite.

But it all just felt wrong, to the point that I was thinking about cancelling the remaining bookings and losing the money.  Still, only three to go.

The walk up cost is £129 per room per night, which is a good £100 more than it should be.  

It is also described as 'all inclusive'.  Now I may be wrong, but I understand all inclusive to mean bed, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and all local drinks, not just bed and breakfast.  

Despite the fact that it is only about two minutes walk from my training provider, I think for next sitting, I will be looking elsewhere.