AlphaRooms Discruntled Customer

syngindub

Hi Folks,
Looking for some advise...

I basically purchased a Family trip with AlphaRoooms thursday for a sizeable amount. The Money was taken out of my account and we did not receive an email of confirmation or Itinerary Info. I could not reach the number and the online chat person more or less said "you should hear back 24-48 Hours about what the situation is"..What the absolute F. I got a reference number for the case and apparently this happens 1 in a 100 bookings. this is madness. Have any of you experienced this or advise what i should do here. The money is gone out of my account and i dont know where i lie presently with a holiday..It's like saying, i go into buy a car.. i decide on the car, hand over the money and the company say ""..ehh, actually yes you can have the car, we will take your money..but ehh no we need to decide if you can have that or not..Looking for some clear advise here.

coylemj

They only claim to be a website, not a travel agent. Which means you have zero protection if they fail to deliver. What research did you do before giving them your money?

ger664

Have used Alpharooms 5-6 times for Holidays in the last 8 years. Never head an issue
Did you pay by Credit card or Debit Card ?

syngindub

have also used them several times in the past few years without hiccup.
Debit card used

ger664

syngindub wrote: »

have also used them several times in the past few years without hiccup.
Debit card used

Hopefully they resolve it.

Debit Card sucks I always use Credit Card for these types of transactions at least you have the claw back for non provision

syngindub

yep hopefully resolved tomorrow. Will keep ye posted

endofrainbow

probably takes a few days to confirm with the actual providers

TheQuietBeatle

endofrainbow wrote: »

probably takes a few days to confirm with the actual providers

Try not to worry, I'm sure it'll be fine. The bank can probably reverse the charge if they don't come back to you.

syngindub

we finally got this sorted. I was looking for a refund after they wanted an extra 500 for flights !! A manger seemed to intervene at this stage and this 500 was no longer required. It didnt help we had accidently used the kids email during the order..didnt cop this till later on..hopefully no more blunders !! An emotional day to say the least but a happy house in the end

syngindub

maybe a stupid question, but how does a credit card work differently than a debit card in terms of protection and better chances of refunds etc..never really understood it
If you could put it in lay mans terms, im no finance guru

ted1

syngindub wrote: »

maybe a stupid question, but how does a credit card work differently than a debit card in terms of protection and better chances of refunds etc..never really understood it
If you could put it in lay mans terms, im no finance guru

Banks make 23% interest off credit cards, they also make a higher commission from the seller as such they offer better protection.

syngindub

ted1 wrote: »

Banks make 23% interest off credit cards, they also make a higher commission from the seller as such they offer better protection.

so there is just more bells and whistles / warranty with a credit card. they are both outputting the same information though to the seller. there isn't another layer involved?

ted1

syngindub wrote: »

so there is just more bells and whistles / warranty with a credit card. they are both outputting the same information though to the seller. there isn't another layer involved?

There’s a whole back office security team. Debit transactions go straight to your account. Credit cards go through the security office and acts as a loan.

syngindub

ted1 wrote: »

There’s a whole back office security team. Debit transactions go straight to your account. Credit cards go through the security office and acts as a loan.

ok ****, didnt realise that

Car99

syngindub wrote: »

maybe a stupid question, but how does a credit card work differently than a debit card in terms of protection and better chances of refunds etc..never really understood it
If you could put it in lay mans terms, im no finance guru

Look at it this way , credit card youre spending their money so they look after it, debit card youre spending your money theyre not so worried.

nsa0bupkd3948x

In Ireland you have same protection for debit and credit cards.

The difference is for debit cards you spend your money and have to be refunded. For credit it's your credit limit that's spent and the refunded.

dartboardio

Alpharooms are sometimes delayed in sending your booking confirmation, thats essentially what happened. Glad it got sorted

Similar happened me, i paid 200 off my booking they took the money but never deducted it from the booking balance.

Never worry when you know you've paid and have the facts, it will be sorted.