Issue with Low Cost Holidays

picturehangup

I booked what I thought was flight and accommodation with LCH, as flight and hotel tabs were highlighted.
Paid for in full. However, when I looked at voucher, only hotels were paid for, no flights. Rang them and irritating assistant informed me that I had not put flights in basket. Nothing about fiights came up, and I paid, thinking it was for everything,as per the tab. I then tried to cancel, Assistant told me that there would be a cancellation charge and that they would get back as they were looking into it with IT team. Where do I stand on this, does anyone know? I paid in full by visa debit. Thanks!

irishgirl19

picturehangup wrote:

I booked what I thought was flight and accommodation with LCH, as flight and hotel tabs were highlighted. Paid for in full. However, when I looked at voucher, only hotels were paid for, no flights. Rang them and irritating assistant informed me that I had not put flights in basket. Nothing about fiights came up, and I paid, thinking it was for everything,as per the tab. I then tried to cancel, Assistant told me that there would be a cancellation charge and that they would get back as they were looking into it with IT team. Where do I stand on this, does anyone know? I paid in full by visa debit. Thanks!

I used these twice - no hassle.
Used them again last year and a nightmare. Paid for flights and hotel to Portugal in full. They wouldn't release flight's.
Got in touch they said the flights had gone up a couple of hundred in the space of me selecting it and paying. Said I couldn't get a refund and had to pay difference.
I priced flights myself and they were there still at the price I selected.
Had to threaten legal in the end to get it sorted.
You could perhaps try chargeback with the bank.
They are quick to reply on Facebook

picturehangup

irishgirl19 wrote: »

I used these twice - no hassle.
Used them again last year and a nightmare. Paid for flights and hotel to Portugal in full. They wouldn't release flight's.
Got in touch they said the flights had gone up a couple of hundred in the space of me selecting it and paying. Said I couldn't get a refund and had to pay difference.
I priced flights myself and they were there still at the price I selected.
Had to threaten legal in the end to get it sorted.
You could perhaps try chargeback with the bank.
They are quick to reply on Facebook

Hi irishgirl,
Would never book with this company again.
I did notice that they say on their site that there may be an increase with flights, from what was booked originally with them. Don\t understand how they can raise these prices, as when you book direct with the airline, there is NEVER an additional charge. Surely, this can't be legal?
Better to do everything yourself, and cut out middle man.
In my case, they told me I would be down the accommodation money if I did not go, so rather than being down the money, I actually got reasonably priced flights with Ryanair! So, we are going to Portugal after all!!
We went to Barcelona with Click and Go a few weeks ago, and had no trouble at all with them. But, I think, book flights and hotel your/ourselves in future.
In addition, my phone conversations with LCH were highly unpleasant, and unhelpful.

ssmith6287

picturehangup wrote: »

Hi irishgirl,
Would never book with this company again.
I did notice that they say on their site that there may be an increase with flights, from what was booked originally with them. Don\t understand how they can raise these prices, as when you book direct with the airline, there is NEVER an additional charge. Surely, this can't be legal?
Better to do everything yourself, and cut out middle man.
In my case, they told me I would be down the accommodation money if I did not go, so rather than being down the money, I actually got reasonably priced flights with Ryanair! So, we are going to Portugal after all!!
We went to Barcelona with Click and Go a few weeks ago, and had no trouble at all with them. But, I think, book flights and hotel your/ourselves in future.
In addition, my phone conversations with LCH were highly unpleasant, and unhelpful.

A lot of travel agents forecast flight prices to increase their profits. eg you book in December and they reckon flights will be cheaper in January, they will hold off until January to confirm flights. Its morally wrong though, your contract is with them based on the date of purchase, their contract is with the airline, you shouldnt be effected by their contract

lasno

This might be of interest...

http://www.travelextra.ie/low-cost-goes-administration/

picturehangup

Thanks, Iaso,

I have booked flights myself with Ryanair, don't want to lose my accommodation money, almost one thousand euro.
Let's just hope we won't be turned away from the hotel when we get there

lasno

You should read this also from the Commission for Aviation Regulation.....

http://www.aviationreg.ie/news/lowcostbeds-trading-announcement.740.html

Tippex

picturehangup wrote: »

Thanks, Iaso,

I have booked flights myself with Ryanair, don't want to lose my accommodation money, almost one thousand euro.
Let's just hope we won't be turned away from the hotel when we get there

I would recommend contacting the hotel and your bank to do a charge back. When are u due to travel? Essentially rule of thumb is that the hotel will charge you as they will not have been paid by lowcost

Tippex

lasno wrote: »

You should read this also from the Commission for Aviation Regulation.....

http://www.aviationreg.ie/news/lowcostbeds-trading-announcement.740.html

Just as a pointer the bonding only applies to packages and does not apply to flight only or room only bookings.

ScouseMouse

The uk news websites are saying that flights are paid straight away, so any flights anyone has booked should be ok.

Hotel bookings however, will have to be paid for on the day as payment may not get through to them. If this is the case, you need to claim back from your credit card company. (If you used one)

https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/news/lowcosttravelgroup-issues-advice-for-customers--5852

Rackstar

Booked a hotel with these €2400, on the credit card thankfully.

Is there any chance the hotel will honour the booking?

lasno

Information from the Low cost group...

http://www.lowcosttravelgroup.com/

Tippex

Rackstar wrote: »

Booked a hotel with these €2400, on the credit card thankfully.

Is there any chance the hotel will honour the booking?

Only way would be to contact the hotel and send them a copy of your confirmation with low cost and they may honour the price but no guarantee on that.

Rackstar

Tippex wrote: »

Only way would be to contact the hotel and send them a copy of your confirmation with low cost and they may honour the price but no guarantee on that.

Called the hotel, they say they have been paid in full but to call back tomorrow for full confirmation. Not sure where I stand now.

Lackey

Theres a thread on travel forum someone else is worried about heir holiday due to company being in trouble

Tippex

Rackstar wrote: »

Called the hotel, they say they have been paid in full but to call back tomorrow for full confirmation. Not sure where I stand now.

You can only take them at their word on that.
They are going to be scrambling at the moment to figure out who is affected and if all payments have been received (not a position I'd like to be in). Depending on the relationship with low cost they could have had a pre pay agreement which should mean it's paid for.

When you call them tomorrow make sure to get a copy of the confirmation from the hotel that the room has been paid for by low cost and that your booking is safe.

Hit me up by PM if you need any advice and I will help in any way I can

uck51js9zml2yt

due to travel next weekend.
I called the hotel who say they havent been paid and if i want my booking i'll have to pay again. I'll need to call reservations in the morning as the receptionist didn't know the cost.
I lost 740 euro:(

Is there a form to fill in with LCH in order to lodge a claim?

Tippex

Galilea Purring Specialist wrote: »

due to travel next weekend.
I called the hotel who say they havent been paid and if i want my booking i'll have to pay again. I'll need to call reservations in the morning as the receptionist didn't know the cost.
I lost 740 euro:(

Is there a form to fill in with LCH in order to lodge a claim?

If you paid by credit card get on to your bank and do a charge back. If it was a package you may be covered by the bond.

picturehangup

Tatranska,
Same boat here. Lost 997 euro for a two bed apartment.
There is another thread on the travel forum. Some very helpful people out there, worth a peep.

Tippex

picturehangup wrote: »

Tatranska,
Same boat here. Lost 997 euro for a two bed apartment.
There is another thread on the travel forum. Some very helpful people out there, worth a peep.

Keep an eye on here http://www.aviationreg.ie/news/lowcostbeds-trading-announcement.740.html the regulator is gonna br trying to figure out whats going on. The only bookings that will be covered by their bond will be package bookings (flight and hotel).

uck51js9zml2yt

Tippex wrote: »

If you paid by credit card get on to your bank and do a charge back. If it was a package you may be covered by the bond.

Apartment only. Will contact the cc company in the morning.

picturehangup

I paid with Visa Debit. Where do I stand with that, does anyone know?

Atlantic Dawn

picturehangup wrote: »

I paid with Visa Debit. Where do I stand with that, does anyone know?

Yes you can request a charge back...

http://www.consumerhelp.ie/chargeback

Jarren

LowCostHolidays ceased trading last night

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3692440/Lowcostholidays-travel-agency-goes-bust-leaving-summer-holidays-110-000-Britons-risk.html

ProfessorChef

I also booked through LCH, I rang my hotel this morning and they said it's still booked and they get payment on the day were leaving from LCH, nothing about it being cancelled? I'm still not so sure

Rackstar

Called my hotel again today, they are now saying they haven't received payment but to call back tomorrow to confirm as its a public holiday today. This is going to be a cluster fcuk

Tippex

ProfessorChef wrote: »

I also booked through LCH, I rang my hotel this morning and they said it's still booked and they get payment on the day were leaving from LCH, nothing about it being cancelled? I'm still not so sure

When are you due to travel ProfessorChef?
If you can have a look at booking.com and see if you can book the same room there with no cancellation fees as a backup

VincePP

ProfessorChef wrote: »

I also booked through LCH, I rang my hotel this morning and they said it's still booked and they get payment on the day were leaving from LCH, nothing about it being cancelled? I'm still not so sure

Considering it only happened at 6pm yes its unlikely that hotel staff would know much.

Tippex

Rackstar wrote: »

Called my hotel again today, they are now saying they haven't received payment but to call back tomorrow to confirm as its a public holiday today. This is going to be a cluster fcuk

see if you can get the same room through booking.com as a backup option.

Everyone affected by this are going to be scrambling for the next week or so.

ProfessorChef

Just received an email from the hotel saying it's booked and that it's prepaid. Am I good?

Tippex

ProfessorChef wrote: »

Just received an email from the hotel saying it's booked and that it's prepaid. Am I good?

it all depends if it was lowcost who prepaid (unlikely) or one of their suppliers. If it was one of their suppliers they are likely to cancel it (the hotel may be willing to tell you who prepaid it)

Rackstar

Tippex wrote: »

see if you can get the same room through booking.com as a backup option.

Everyone affected by this are going to be scrambling for the next week or so.

Had a look there, can book but won't be. They are looking for €8670

Rackstar

Tippex wrote: »

it all depends if it was lowcost who prepaid (unlikely) or one of their suppliers. If it was one of their suppliers they are likely to cancel it (the hotel may be willing to tell you who prepaid it)

Yesterday I was told a supplier had prepaid my room

uck51js9zml2yt

If you paid in full, you would have received a booking reference number for the hotel.
They will have the room booked( in general ) for you.
You just need to call the hotel and check if it's paid. If not you'll need to pay again.
They may need you to email them the reservation number.

Rackstar

Galilea Purring Specialist wrote: »

If you paid in full, you would have received a booking reference number for the hotel.
They will have the room booked( in general ) for you.
You just need to call the hotel and check if it's paid. If not you'll need to pay again.
They may need you to email them the reservation number.

Did this, was told yesterday my room had been paid in full. Today they say it hasn't been paid for but to call back again tomorrow as its a public holiday today.

ProfessorChef

Rackstar wrote: »

Did this, was told yesterday my room had been paid in full. Today they say it hasn't been paid for but to call back again tomorrow as its a public holiday today.

I emailed my hotel asking if a supplier or lowcostholiday prepaid the hotel, they said that they dont know if lowcostholiday did pay an agency or not and to email back the day before I go, so I've booked the same hotel through booking.com just in case and will cancel if need be. Kinda stuck in the middle

Rackstar

ProfessorChef wrote: »

I emailed my hotel asking if a supplier or lowcostholiday prepaid the hotel, they said that they dont know if lowcostholiday did pay an agency or not and to email back the day before I go, so I've booked the same hotel through booking.com just in case and will cancel if need be. Kinda stuck in the middle

Not going for 6/7 weeks. Same hotel is now over 8k on booking. Will wait and see what the hotel says.

Really caught in the middle here. LCH used a supplier who the hotel said yesterday had paid them, today they say they haven't been paid. Really at the mercy of the hotel and the supplier now, who's to say they won't take advantage of the situation? Have been paid already and get me to pay a second time?

ProfessorChef

Rackstar wrote: »

Not going for 6/7 weeks. Same hotel is now over 8k on booking. Will wait and see what the hotel says.

Really caught in the middle here. LCH used a supplier who the hotel said yesterday had paid them, today they say they haven't been paid. Really at the mercy of the hotel and the supplier now, who's to say they won't take advantage of the situation? Have been paid already and get me to pay a second time?

And there's nothing we can do about it, on Monday I will be bringing it up with my bank. They also said to me that it has ben booked and prepaid and that on the day were leaving they will request payment.

bettyl

Website says that hotel reservations will still be there but cost will most likely have to be paid locally. Good job I rang hotel because they told me that travel agent had cancelled my booking. I hope no one automatically thinks hotels are still reserved for them and arrive to find this is not the case.

Only booked holiday Tuesday evening and they're gone on Friday.

uck51js9zml2yt

I called my hotel in the Algarve last night and again today (twice)

They confirmed my reservation at reception.
When I called reservations today they asked I email them the details and they would get back to me by email to confirm how much I owed them in a few days.

I called reception again this evening to confirm again and advise I would keep the booking.
Its 1100 for 6 night s on their website and I paid 750.

I got onto Avant to do a charge back this morning .

Flying next Sunday.

VincePP

Its quite amazing that the media here have all but ignored this story. A small article in the Irish times, but nothing whatsoever by indo or herald - usually they are screaming blue murder.

Seems indo / herald journalists go home at 5pm Friday and don't work weekends.


Seems lch are bonded here, so those who booked with the Irish website (.ie) will have a lot more protection than those who booked in the UK where no bond was in place.

As the media don't seem to have any interest in thousands of Irish people affected by this, it will be Monday before proper information is available for Irish based customers.

uck51js9zml2yt

VincePP wrote: »

Its quite amazing that the media here have all but ignored this story. A small article in the Irish times, but nothing whatsoever by indo or herald - usually they are screaming blue murder.

Seems indo / herald journalists go home at 5pm Friday and don't work weekends.


Seems lch are bonded here, so those who booked with the Irish website (.ie) will have a lot more protection than those who booked in the UK where no bond was in place.

As the media don't seem to have any interest in thousands of Irish people affected by this, it will be Monday before proper information is available for Irish based customers.

Didint realise they were bonded here. HAve you a link?


MAy I suggest we ask mods to merge this and the travel forum thread so that everyone effected has one place of reference.

VincePP

Galilea Purring Specialist wrote: »

Didint realise they were bonded here. HAve you a link?


MAy I suggest we ask mods to merge this and the travel forum thread so that everyone effected has one place of reference.

http://www.aviationreg.ie/news/lowcostbeds-trading-announcement.740.html.

So people need to ignore a lot of what is said in British media as protection here is an awful lot better.

Just a pity the irish media have ignored the story.

uck51js9zml2yt

VincePP wrote: »

http://www.aviationreg.ie/news/lowcostbeds-trading-announcement.740.html.

So people need to ignore a lot of what is said in British media as protection here is an awful lot better.

Just a pity the irish media have ignored the story.

Will that include accommodation only?

VincePP

Galilea Purring Specialist wrote: »

Will that include accommodation only?

I doubt it, but if you paid by credit or debit card you just do a chargeback.

Tippex

Galilea Purring Specialist wrote: »

Will that include accommodation only?

no accommodation only is not covered by the bond. This is where the credit/debit card chargeback comes into play.

Winterlong

Top story in the Journal this morning.

http://www.thejournal.ie/lowcostholidays-bust-2881414-Jul2016/

Tippex

Winterlong wrote: »

Top story in the Journal this morning.

http://www.thejournal.ie/lowcostholidays-bust-2881414-Jul2016/

Took them an age to report on it unfortunately they have just regurgitated the piece on the lowcost site which is irrelevant to irish clients and don't reference the regulator's site stating they are bonded here and they will outline what to do next week

Just seen they updated to include a paragraph from the CAR's statement

VincePP

On the bright side, everyone here is lucky compared to the 100,000+ in the UK.

If they are lucky, they'll get about £7 compensation as uk didn't insist on being a member of their bond system.

Looking at older news reports, this was flagged in 2013.

Ouch.

whiterebel

VincePP wrote: »

On the bright side, everyone here is lucky compared to the 100,000+ in the UK.

If they are lucky, they'll get about £7 compensation as uk didn't insist on being a member of their bond system.

Looking at older news reports, this was flagged in 2013.

Ouch.

I thought they were bonded in Spain as he moved operations there a few years ago, and people should be covered?

A Dub in Glasgo

This company removed themselves from the UK bonding by moving their operation to Spain.. this should have rang alarm bells with folk who ended up using them. I have only ever used them for airport car parking and would not use them for accommodation which is generally you pay LCH up front and LCH pays the hotel / apartments closer to the time you are due to stay. Presumably they have taken a hit from the sterling fluctuations but they should have known the risk and sounds like they used the Brexit thing as a convenient excuse