Getting fobbed off by Goldtrail

[ally76]

Booked a holiday in October for 5 of us going to Turkey though Sunshine.co.uk, Goltrail were the flight operator. Got to the airport were told we were not on the flight manafest so we were not allowed on the plane. I had all my paperwork and flight tickets and we were just left standing there at 11pm and told to phone the helpline when it opened the next day at 10am. I was left in the airport with my husband, a baby, a disabled child and a pensioner with a heart condition and they done nothing to help us. We were refunded for the holiday and they have offered to pay the overnight stay we had in the airport hotel, wow,but I didnt get what I paid for and they offered a £20 ex gratia payment. Abta have said they cant do anything but I can go to arbitration, I have also been onto avaition authority? they said the same. Any ideas? Surely they cant be allowed to do that to people.

[scousegeezer]

Ally76,

You need to put more detail on , so that people will know who is at fault and give better advice. Why not allowed on the plane, was it overbooked. Did sunshine arrange the whole holiday or just the flight. Sunshine are just agents from what I know. When did you book and pay for the holiday, last minute three or four months prior to departure. etc etc.

Cheers - Scousegeezer

[ally76]

Sorry this is all new to me!

 

Booked holiday about 4 or 5 weeks before departure.

Booked online through Sunshine.co.uk, flights accomodation and transfers, paid in full at the time with a debit card and got confirmation email.

Goldtrail were the flight operator for the holiday I purchased and they sent e-tickets to Sunshine who then passed them to me about a week or 2 later.

Went to check in at airport 2.5hrs before take off and were told there were no seats together they said george and sacha , my husband and daughter ,were together then couldnt find anyone else. They asked us to wait at the side and they called Manchester office then said we were not on the flight manifest so we couldnt board the plane. I said but we have tickets, she said that means nothing. A woman from thomas cook tried to help and I even let her log into my sunshine account and she agreed everything was in order and from what she could see I hadnt done anything wrong. We tried calling Goldtrail and were second in the queue for 2hrs. We were told we could buy more seats £135 1 way each, I said how will we get back, they said you should have it sorted out by then. Anyway there were only 2 spare seats (george and sacha's?)thats a bit strange I thought, so we couldnt go as we need 4 seats. With no answer at goldtrail we had to phone sunshine at 10am the next morning. We booked into the airport hotel at our expense and caled the next day. They couldnt explain what had happened and had never heard anything like it. They phoned goldtrail and they didnt know either. 1.5hrs later they offered us a flight on the Sunday, 2 days later. This was no good as we had to be back at work and my daughter didnt have enough medication with her for another 2 days( her meds are liquid and I had a letter to carry an exact amout on board the plane, so I didnt have any spare). They couldnt offer us any other holiday as they were not a sales team, simply adminand didnt want to suggest anything incase it wasnt good, so we got refunded and told to hang on to receipts for any exra expenses we had as a result of this. We then went into the trave agent in the airport and got a flight an hour later to Portugal, we didnt want to go there but my dughter was excited about a holiday and couldnt understand why we didnt go on the plane.

What was more disappointing was that we were going out so see my sister wo lives in turkey and she hadnt seen my baby yet. We also had more friends that has booked 2 days before departure date and they were away on the plane.

It took goldtrail untill 14th of December to answer my complaint and they offered to pay for extra expenses and an ex gratia payment of £20 each totaling £60, I paid for 4 full priced flights, there was no discount for my 9 year olds flight. They said it was unforseeable and couldnt have been avoided and it was there final offer. I went back and said it was an insult and they obviously hadnt read my complaint properly, they just went on about valued customers etc and I said I certainly didnt feel valued and it hadnt restored my faith in them. They then came back another 3 to 4 weeks later and said they would up it to £70 each, £210, I still dont feel thats right. Can anyone suggest what I should do next?

[scousegeezer]

Ally76,

So the problem is with goldtrail and not sunshine. It appears sunshine did their job correctly. If I were you, I would write a letter before action to Goldtrial. You will have to decide what sum you would be satisfied with. Take account of factors such as missing the holiday with your friends - your other friends who live in Turkey as well. The stress that you went through at the airport etc ,etc. If you had booked and paid for yuour accommodation seperately ask for that to be refuded as well. So what I would be looking for is for a total of flight refund, accommodation in Turkey refunded, airport hotel accom refunded, the extra meals required until you flew out refunded and whatever price you put on your original holiday being ruined. DO NOT send the letter unless you intend to follow it through by issuing a County Court Summons if they do not settle your claim. Have a read of the thread Honeymoon?holiday ruined - by sexyfufu. There is very good advice in that thread.

 

Cheers - Scousegeezer

[ally76]

What do you think about abta's arbitration? Do you think its worth a shot?

[scousegeezer]

Ally,

Personally, I would not go to ABTA. In my experience they are a toothless wonder. Write your LBA and then follow through with the issue of proceedings; if they to compensate. GOOD LUCK

 

Cheers - Scousegeezer