Low Cost Holidays

RacKenny

Hey,

Has anyone used lowcostholidays.ie recently to book flights? I used them last week and booked flights and they confirmed the price I was to pay etc. before I proceeded. A few hours after I had booked they rang to say that the price of the flights had gone up and I was going to be charged the difference. I argued that it wasn't my problem the flight price had changed as I had my booking confirmed.

The first day I rang to complain I was told that a supervisor would ring me within an hour. A full day had passed and still no call so I rang them again and I was told the same thing. The strange thing this time was that I was told the name of the supervisor was the same person who I had rang the day before who told me a supervisor would ring me back. So it seems I had been talking to the supervisor but he didn't want to deal with the complaint. Anyway no supervisor rang me back again. The third day I got through to a team leader who didn't want to know about my complaint and just hung up the phone.

Very poor customer service and in my mind they have done something that is like a <SNIP>. Their price was about €50 cheaper than any of the other websites but once I booked it jumped to the same price as the other websites, surely not just an amazing coincidence. It appears to me that they dragged me in with the lower price and then just charged the difference anyway.

I've contacted the ITAA about it and will post their response on here.

Baby4

This post has been deleted.

endofrainbow

RacKenny wrote: »

Hey,


I've contacted the ITAA about it and will post their response on here.

As advised on another website to which you posted the same query, LCH are not members of the ITAA - just affiliate members so don't hold your breath waiting for a reply.

RacKenny

Yes it seems a lot of people are using lowcostholidays.ie as they appear to offer the lowest price but the low price is only available until you book it and then it increases and they ask for more money.

I don't know how they can get away with making it seem like you have made your booking at a certain price only to charge you more at the last minute, surely illegal regardless of whether it is in the small print. Having small print doesn't mean a company is allowed get away with whatever they have included in it. If that was the case they could say "we are entitled to charge our customers a €200 tip" and because it's in the small print they can do that.

Too many companies use the "it's in our t&c's" too often. When something like this is hidden away there you know they are trying to hide it and trick customers in to booking at a low price only to increase it at the last minute in the hope that you stick with them and not be bothered starting your search again, which the majority of people probably do.

I'd be interested to see how many people this has happened to.

I see the price of the flights is back the lower price again now on their website. Amazing that the price has gone down again. I'd be 100% sure that if anybody went to book at that price now you would get a phone call within a few hours to say the price has mysteriously increased again. Then you would see the lower price advertised again and so on.....

What they are doing is a <SNIP>

RacKenny

endofrainbow wrote: »

As advised on another website to which you posted the same query, LCH are not members of the ITAA - just affiliate members so don't hold your breath waiting for a reply.

Got a reply and they are going to investigate the matter further.

Never let a big company push you around!!

kooga

i used them for the last two years to book our family holidays i had no issues with them.

dudara

I have booked with LCH before, and never experienced this issue. I pulled up their T&Cs to try to understand this.

They say

2.3
On receipt of your payment, we will process your booking.

I suspect that they quote you a price, you agree and pay. Once they have that payment, then they proceed to book. If there have been any price increases on the Ryanair (or other) website since the your payment, then they come looking for it.

Their T&Cs do state that they are merely facilitating the bookings, and that the contracts are between you and the supplier.

Paddyo

RacKenny wrote: »

Too many companies use the "it's in our t&c's" too often.

Surely this is the reason they have T&Cs.

Paddyo

PeteK*

How can you book and confirm it without paying right away?
Or had you already paid and they said they need more? :S

Time

dudara wrote: »

Their T&Cs do state that they are merely facilitating the bookings, and that the contracts are between you and the supplier.

They can say that all they want but if you pay them then they're responsible. Their T&Cs don't override the consumers rights

alwald

The same thing happened to me about a month ago or so, they were the cheapest of all the travel agencies that I tried, in fact, the flight price was cheaper than the airline's website. I booked the flight and the hotel with LCH and the following morning I received an email requesting an extra payment as the flight price has increased and thus their price wasn't competitive anymore but rather more expensive than the other travel agencies.

I cancelled everything and received a refund, my advice is that you book the flight from the airline's website and that you shop around for the hotel in internet.

Best of luck.

tall chapy

Tonight I decided to search online for the words "lowcostholidays & <SNIP>" after my recent dealings with them. After visiting a posting on Tripadvisor similar to this one I landed here.

I went online to book a holiday with them. The holiday was €150 cheaper than their nearest rival. Got to the payment page, pressed buy and I got an error about one of the ages.. I rang their customer service he had no explanation, went through the whole booking procedure. The price was dearer. So decided to give it another this time I did the booking on Internet explorer in case there was a cookie issue or something. Got to the end the price was the same, pressed the buy button and another error came up. This time it said blah, blah, do not rebook, contact the customer service. I started to smell a rat at this stage, but thought it was just me....

Checked my bank online no money taken or pending.called their customer service explained the situation, he went through the whole booking procedure similar to the last guy. I cannot remember him giving me an explanation as to why my online booking did not process. Low and behold it was €50 dearer, I thought still €100 cheaper than the rival, I'll see how it goes...

He went onto passports ???. One of the passports expires a few months after we return. he said that the airline will not let them book the flights after this. (Started to get a stronger smell of rat). He said he would have to call me back. At this stage I mentioned to my wife that something 'dodgy' is going on. The same booking fails twice, a high price once you are 'forced' on to the phone. During period I decided to rebook it online and see if it was still there for the original price, during the process he called back and said that the airline wants an extra € 90, he remained vague as to if it was due to the 'passports' or just a price increase. (Smelled more rat...) I completed the booking online while talking and low and behold it is the same as the original price. I confronted him on this and he said that the website was not updated with the 'new' price. I said I would have speak to the other half first. He said he would have to start again from the beginning. I said I will think about it. So in the end it was

same price as the other websites, surely not just an amazing coincidence. It appears to me that they dragged me in with the lower price and then just charged the difference anyway.

Totally agree with you RacKenny..

tall chapy

Time
Also agree with you on this and did not want get bogged down in law and contracts

Alwald
You just reminded me of a similar story where someone I know had booked via a travel agent.
They used this well known travel agent for years.
They booked flights and hotel for France via the travel agent. They arrived at the hotel, hotel reception said that a room was to be reserved for but they had not received payment. The people I know had to call the travel agent and they called back and said that 'lowcostholidays had not processed the payment. The people I know had to pay the hotel directly to get a room and it took something like 4 days for lowcostholidays to pay the hotel. I believe they got some compensation from the travel agent, but will not book with them again after this.

Oceangirl09

I also recently booked a holiday with low cost holiday, have used them in the past & have had no trouble. However when I booked with them this time I was never asked for passport details, is this normal? Payment has gone through, have received confirmation etc etc. It's a holiday to the algarve, got a very good deal and after reading this thread I'm getting worried!

dudara

@Oceangirl09 - You should receive an email from the airline asking you to add passport details to your reservation. If you have the booking reference and details for the flight, you can do it through the airlines website. Personally, I would prefer to add the details myself, rather than passing them through a third party.

@tall chapy - the comment about the passport being out of date is very valid. Some countries do not allow entry if a passport is expiring within the next 6 months or so.

tall chapy

Dudara, this correct, but not for my destination. I have to supply API.
Some countries (possibly USA, Oz or NZ) do require you passport to have at least 6 months at time of travel or return, not sure which. For my destination it does not apply as it is within the EU.

tall chapy

Oceangirl09, you should be fine, once you are fully paid up and have received your documentation. For Portugal to the best of knowledge you do not need to provide API.