have i any comeback

spatchco

booked holiday with travel agent end of August,,app €700 the day we were supposed to fly out went on line to check if any change to departure and lo and behold no flight details,so rang travel agent and asked why ,we were told flight was changed and we should have been informed which we were not,according to them sorry,,, so we had the money to book flight with Ryanair for next day at €500,yes 500 so do i have any come back at all any advice would be appricated

EKRIUQ

What did you book?

What happened?

What has this got to do with Ryanair?

Might be better to take it to consumer issues!

gandalf

Part of the reason you book with a travel agent is that they are supposed to come back to you if there are changes. You should persue them but based on experience trying to get money back from travel agents good luck. Did you have holiday insurance maybe they will cover the difference?

spatchco

Gandalf,well i though that so late in the season that well maby i am naive to expect a registered letter or at least a phone call,to say that the flight had been changed, and yes i have indeed holiday insurance and i rang them before we departed but they were no help,,i will write to the company to see if they would meet me with the expense,but as you pointed it would be like getting blood from a stone,you learn something new everyday.

P. Breathnach

spatchco, the answer to your question is "it depends". It depends on what you signed up to. It might be, for example, that you were supposed to check flight times the day before departure.

But, in general, there is a lot of protection for consumers of package holidays.

Have a look at http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Learning_Zone/Consumer_Booklets/ and http://www.eccireland.ie/topics/97.html . Then dig out whatever documents you got from the travel agent and/or the tour operator and read the terms and conditions.

Bear in mind that it was the travel agent you gave your money to, so it is the responsibility of the travel agent to remedy the situation.

I hope you don't mind if I suggest some ideas about how to handle things:
1. decide what you want (I suggest the amount you paid to Ryanair plus one day's worth of the overall holiday price for the day you lost);
2. don't expect anybody to want to give you money, but don't take an inital refusal as the end of the line;
3. don't get angry (or, at least, don't let it show) because it makes a discussion into a confrontation;
4. make it clear that you have checked your rights, and don't want to be fobbed off;
5. say that, if necessary, you are prepared to bring the matter to the Small Claims Court and/or lodge a complaint with the National Consumer Agency.

Think of yourself as a hero. You will be doing this not only for yourself, but also for all other people who are let town by travel agents or tour companies, because you will be teaching them that letting people down costs them money.

Go for it, and good luck!

spatchco

P. thanks for the advice,yes i have a draft of a letter i intend sending,detailing everything,it was straight foreword holiday booking same as we have done time and time again,i will not be looking for anything other than the cost of the ryanair flight and the cost of the taxi from Faro to the apartement,have looked through all my booking forms and advice booklet and no mention about checking the day before departure ,i dont expect the tour operator to come to me with an open wallet but i have nothing to loose ,thanks again

Our man in Havana

Your post makes for disturbing reading. I despise travel agents even more now. In future do everything yourself. You feel you have achieved something and you will save money too.

spatchco

we seem to forget that when things work out well we forget to let others know,but in my case my problum has a very satisfactory ending,origanialy it was to do with not being informed by the travel agency of change to flight times , and i having to fork out €500 for an extra flight ,so when i came back i put pen to paper,and lo and behold with in a week i have had an apology and my €500 refunded,so there happy ending.