MagicMum.com

That is fair shite. How could it take so long to notice this mistake. I would go mental. I hope you get the holiday you want. Cant see how they would or could ask you to pay the difference. If they do name and shame.

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DS Born Oct 08
DD Born Aug 10

just thinking Morphy as the owner rang you already and told you it was double booked could you ring him back and ask who was booked in first by them ? At least you would know then

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You cant scare me, I have children

could you see if the owner knows of any other complexs nearby which may have availability? then you could take the refund and book somewhere else yourself.

what part of Corfu is it?

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DS - January 2007
DD - November 2009

I getcha! We've been to Ipsos a few times. I have family living in Corfu - my cousin is married to a local and her parents moved out there a good few years ago too. We used to stay in Ipsos on package holidays but the last couple of times we've either stayed with my aunt & uncle or in apartments near them (in Acharavi/Roda)

Are you stuck to a particular time or could you get that complex on another week instead (though I'm guessing when you booked so long ago you want the dates that you originally booked)

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DS - January 2007
DD - November 2009

Ah that really is a bummer

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DS - January 2007
DD - November 2009

If it's just you and your dh going why do you need a two-bed apartment? If you could manage in a one-bed you might have more flexability.

It's really annoying when this happens but the travel agents always manages to cover themselves with their terms and conditions.

As a good will gesture they should offer you any accomodation that you choose as at this late stage there is reduced availability.

Hope you find something

I believe they have to offer to something at least the equivalent or better. In practice this should translate 'to better' because something being seen as equivalent can be argued...

i.e. You booked hotel A now can't go. They offer hotel B which they state is equivalent but you can argue: it's further from beach, it doesn't get as good ratings, it's location is too far/too close to town/airport/road etc. It has less facilities s etc etc etc. Basically you'll always find something or can find something you could argue you perceive as 'worse' about hotel B versus your original A

So to get around this the practice should be to offer you better (so if you booked 3 star they now offer 4 star) so there is no argument.

I'm offering this vague advice based on a friend who worked in the hotel industry many moons ago, it always used to be the case for double bookings - it basically lead to upgraded hotel/resort/accom. We've tested it (as has she many times) and it's always worked for us.

I'd go choose a better hotel and ask for that, stating not that it's better but that you see this hotel as equivalent to what you had. If they offer you anything else just find things you see as less good in that one versus what you had.

It used to be that if a tour op had to canx your booking by overbooking which does happen alot id say, then they had to offer you options:
1: a full refund
2: alternative holiday of the same standard /equivalent or higher at no extra cost.

compensation is always discrectionary!!!!

so by offering you 1 x 2bd for 1 wk and 2 x 1b for 1wk would not come under option 2.

If i was you I would go through the availablilty again of everything that you might have considered before obviously with same tour operator and tell them this is of the same standard but as its no longer an early booking the price increase whatever it may be should be offered to you as a gesture of goodwill.

Most of the time they would just like to get you sorted so might be up for negogiating.

If complex has only 4 x 2bed wouldnt take the chance on booking direct as tour ops have 1st hold over apartments.

I definatley wouldn,t just accept it and to be honest neither to they , they are expecting some sort of battle with you.

hope you get it sorted.

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I believe in Aloe Vera Products.

Oh no Morphy, what a balls. That's so disappointing for you all. Keep on at them until you get something you are happy with.

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The Boy Wonder - Nov 2002
The Bruiser - July 2005
Missy Moo - April 2009

Oh Morphy, that is terrible.

In relation to only paying the deposit, surely someone can clarify that it means you had an offer and acceptance, which basically meant that you had a contract for THAT holiday in THAT location for THAT time. If the travel company want to break the contract then the post that seaflower made would and should come into effect.

I'd contact the National Consumer Agency about it and get their informed advice on where you stand and what is available to you at this stage.

Morphy I would so so upset... Are they apologetic at all? you would assume in this climate that they would be bending over backwards to accomodate you.

Big difference in the prices from the cheapest there to the dearest!

Hope you get something sorted soon. Personally, unless they can give you what you want, I'd be taking the deposit back and booking my holiday with someone else. I'd really be reluctant to book with them again.

Total PITA though!

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream...."
C.S. Lewis

Is there a huge price dif between what they are offering u & what u booked?
Seems to be a good dif between cheapest & dearest they are offering

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'Never frown, even when you are sad,
because you never know who is
falling in love with your smile. '
EDD 10/12/08 became an angel 21.4.08
EDD 8/5/09 became an angel 29.9.08
EDD 29/7/09 became an angel 8.1.09

But they're all totally different locations to where you booked.

That's not good enough, you picked a specific holiday to meet your needs and you should be assured that any replacement holiday meets those requirements exactly.

I'd be afraid they just looked around and saw where had 2 bed apartments available and sent you the list.

I stayed in the Lomo Blanco in Lanzarote, now it was probably nearly 10 years ago, but I wouldn't be rushing back. It is quite a small complex and was fine but basic. I was there around Nov/Dec and it was quiet enough because if the time of year.

Can they give you two x one bedroom apartments side by side in the same complex for the same price.. Not ideal but would give you some space.

Well to be honest it's your holiday and when you work hard all year and look forward to your break you have a right to be picky about it. I'm the same and would rather go back to the same place and know I'd have a good time rather than chance somewhere new (not very adventurous me )

That place looks lovely and there is no way the Lomo Blanco would come close to it from what I remember.

Really hope you get something sorted.

Morphy that's awful. You seem to have a good relationship with the complex owner. Can they recommend another complex similar to theirs in the area? Perhaps somewhere they use if they need to accommodate extra people etc? Sometimes local knowledge is best? I think I'd ask and if you trust their judgement then tell the holiday operator where you've found and let them work out the rest? I think I'd do that rather than be forced to book somewhere else. If it is in the same general area you will still hit the ground running when you arrive and know the restaurants, area etc.

Flight only prices through agents are always really high as they want you to book the whole package. I'm guessing that's a direct flight to Corfu? Would you consider doing a stopover in the UK? I know with three kids that might not be ideal, but if you wanted to look into it I can ask Mam which airlines she usually books with (my parents go over there at least once a year and often go via Belfast or England as it works out cheaper than booking one of the direct charter flights)

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DS - January 2007
DD - November 2009

Jesus I would be really pissed off with them at this stage

I dont know what you should do for the best at this stage but I certainly would never give them a penny of my money ever again

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You cant scare me, I have children

Oh God Morphy - I would be completely cracking up if that happened to us.

I dont know much about the other properties but I looked at the Hi Bouganvilla in Majorca for our holidays. It gets reasonably OK reviews on Trip Advisor but it is a completely different holiday than the one you had booked in Corfu. It seems to be a much more full on, entertainment focused, large complex. If you want kids clubs, all inclusive, evening entertainment on a large scale, this seems to be fine. But equally it seems to be the opposite to where you had booked.

Would you consider accepting the refund (if they don't come up with the goods) and booking a 2-bed privately on Owners Direct or something? There would still be decent availability and you could chose your destination based on where the flights (Ryanair perhaps?) are cheapest?

I really do hope the travel company look after you, but its no harm to have a look at your own alternatives in the meantime.

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That is a p!ss take - God I would be after someones blood!!

Are you absolutely committed to Corfu or would you look at say Portugal or somewhere?

Equally would you consider flying out of Shannon or Cork if you made a decent saving on flights? We are driving to Shannon (we live 20 minutes from Dublin Airport ) this year as we saved over €700 on the flights!

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That is just awful customer service Morphy. Really sorry to hear the way they have landed this on you.

I think the suggestion of taking the refund and booking somewhere else using holidaylettings.co.uk or ownersdirect is the best one at this stage. As Scorpio said, you could check out the flight prices first and then take it from there based on where is decent value to fly to. Hopefully you should still find somewhere that comes in on budget.

So it's a small complex with a 2 bed apt sleeping 5 you are after? Does it need to be near a beach? Restaurants?

Just had a quick look there. You could get flights to Faro on 11th Aug returning on 25th August for 1261e for the five of you. That leaves 1639e for accomodation-you should find something for 800e per week. I think there are apartments in say Lagos or Alvor for example that would come in around that (try holidaylettings.co.uk) .

I would be going absolutely spare if this happened to us. Like someone else said, you work hard all year and look forward to your holiday at the end of it. Also, as you mention, the fact that they have known about this issue for two months minimum is almost the worst of it. Have they a Facebook page you could "highlight" the issue on? Would you consider renting an apartment and booking flights separately? (to any destination).

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DS is 7
DD is 5