First Choice

[Limana68]

Hi there
Just wondered if anyone could advice if we have got a case or not!?
In Jan We went in our local First Choice to get some brochures for a holiday for next Feb 08 and see what we could get. We spoke to the asst and told her we were just looking as we were also going on holiday the following mth and couldnt afford to pay a deposit on the one in Feb.
She then told us about the low deposit scheme in which you pay £40 each for deposit.
She said that the balance of the deposit was due in march but when I told her that we couldnt pay it by then as we had another holiday to pay for she stated that she would get it put back till May. So on that basis we booked a 2 wk holiday to Gran Canaria in Feb 08 each paying the £40 deposit( £10 pp). She told us to call her end of Feb to remind her to get the date put back for the deposit which we did, however she left us a mesg saying she could only get the deposit due date put back for 2 wks instead of May she had told us about.
We rang her and complained that we would not have booked the holiday if we had known the deposit had to be paid in March and not May like she said.
Now First Choce and asking for £480 deposit! We have sent a letter to complain but they have just ignored it and have sent us a letter berore action for the money!
Anything I can do?
Thanks for any replies
L

[heidi1]

Hi there, a tricky one...

Firstly did you get anything in writing regarding the deposit due date for May?? I assume not, in which case there isn't very much you can do about it.

The problem is that FC as an agency will have to pay the tour operator the full deposit amount at the time of booking, unless they have a special arrangement with them.

Have you had an invoice from your tour operator yet? And if so, what does it say in the amount paid section? If it says £40.00 (your low deposit) you could get the agent to negotiate with the Tour operator to extend the due date. They may have only been negotiating with their own head office or management. If the tour operator is happy to wait a while, then the agent cannot do anything more than to accept this.

I will forewarn you though that there aren't that many that are flexible and willing to put extentions in place, but its worth a go.

Just out of interest, which tour operator are you travelling with, assuming you have booked a standard package holiday?? I will see if I can shed any light on the matter.

Kindest regards

Heidi