Holiday From Hell?
Whether you have experienced the ‘holiday from hell’ or want to try and make sure you don’t have one, Warwickshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service have some advice for you.
When booking your holiday, confirm with your travel agent that the brochure price is the price you will pay, and that there are no hidden charges. Check to ensure that all the facilities you are expecting will be available, and ask about the local area (proximity to building work, noisy roads). Finally, read the brochure small print!
If you are offered holiday insurance, remember, you don’t have to take the insurance offered by the tour operator. Shop around, you may find a better deal elsewhere.
Make sure that your travel agent or tour operator is a member of a trade association, such as ABTA. ABTA now has Office of Fair Trading approved code of practice status. This means ABTA members promise that they will treat customers fairly if things go wrong.
Booking a traditional package holiday with a tour operator where flights and hotel accommodation are included means that you will be protected by The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tour Regulations 1992. These state that a tour operator must make sure that your holiday money is protected through bonding, and that arrangements must be made to repatriate you if the operator becomes insolvent while you are away (many operators and travel agents are bonded via their ABTA membership).
Many UK travellers are now putting together their own version of the package holiday by booking their own flights and accommodation, usually via the Internet. However, by doing so they will not be afforded the same level of protection that is provided to traditional package tour holiday makers, and if something goes wrong (e.g. their airline goes bust) they may lose their money or could find themselves stranded abroad.
When you arrive at your holiday destination, if you are not satisfied, complain straight away to your tour operator. Fill out a complaint form, and keep a copy (it’s always worthwhile to take a copy of your brochure with you on holiday to compare facilities).
Gather evidence, (photographs and video), and get the names and addresses of other holidaymakers who are also unhappy.
When you get home, write a letter of complaint, immediately, and if you are not happy with the response, be persistent. Warwickshire Trading Standards has a letter of complaint you can download and use, (see below).
Finally, if you are still unhappy, contact your local Trading Standards Service for advice on more formal steps, such as Small Claims Court action. The telephone number for consumer advice is: 08454 04 05 06.
If you are hiring a car abroad beware of unauthorised payments from your account, hidden extras and opportunistic charges. Some holidaymakers have complained about being charged for extras they didn’t request or had already paid for, of hugely inflated repair bills for superficial scratches or for damage caused by previous drivers and charges for petrol when the vehicle was returned with a full tank.
Consumers are advised to allow plenty of time for inspections, (which should be done in the presence of a member of staff), take comprehensive notes and photos of the vehicle and check their accounts for any unauthorised withdrawals.
For more information visit our website: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/tradingstandards