The Consumer Forums

Stayed at this complex in October 2007.
What can i say, it was brill'
There are some review sites around that dont rate this place, but our fortnight at the complex was good.
Rooms are clean ( maid visited several times ), Thompson reps on site throughout,
on site restaurant and bar, ( which includes kiddies club ), and the pool was great.
it's actually a nice complex and you can only book it if you have children.

Some advice for anyone who maybe thinking of travel for the football final or in the future.
Airlines;
Most of the Majors travel there including;
Lufthansa via Munich or Frankfurt
Swiss airlines via Zurich
Air France via Paris
KLM via Amsterdam
SAS via copenhagen
Air Italia via Milan
Czech airlines via Prague
and BA

Average flights from the North of England cost around £260-£300.Online search engines give good sites.Swiss Air and Klm offer the best deals usually.

Moscow has 2 main airports Shermetievo and Domodedovo.
Both are around 1 hour from the city.
A taxi from the airport costs between £30 and £50 but is best booked with one of the agents used for your visa/hotel.

Domodedovo has a direct express train that goes from the station and takes only 40 minutes cost is only 300 roubles (£6.00)

To enter Russia you need a visa-there are lots of internet sites who will arrange this for you. Typical price for a single trip tourist visa is around £70
The process takes around 7-10 days but you can pay more for express service.

If staying in Russia more than 3 business days the visa has to be registered
this can be done for a small charge...if you are staying at a hotel they will do this for you. Faliure to register the visa will incur problems when leaving and could delay exit.Before arriving in Russia you are given a 2 part migration card...one part is filled in and taken at passport control on entry.
The other part you keep and have stamped by the hotel.You must show this at exit from Russia this acts as your exit paper so dont lose it.
For stays shorter than 3 business days..no registration of the visa is required.Weekends do not count within the 3 days.

Hotels are plentigul in Moscow many offer a number of options with choices of renovated rooms single twin and double.You must specify if you want a double bed...otherwise you will be given 2x singles.
Russian hotels on the whol;e do not offer tea and coffee making facilities in the rooms so its advisable to take a travel kettle and some tea and coffee.

Standards are generally good a 3 star hotel averages £60 a night sfoodfaut there are budget hotels from £40 per night.

Passports...Russian Police can demand to see passports and visas in the street its advisable to have copies of these and leave originals in the hotel safe.There are fines if you do not show papers when requested.

Moscow has lots of attractions and despite its title as the worlds most expensive city...everyday items are quite cheap.A bottle of beer costs only 40p and 20 cigarettes around 50p.Western fast food shop prices are roughly the same as at home.You can buy russian dishes for around £5.00
There are lots of kiosks in the streets selling food.

One of the best things about Moscow is the MTS the Moscow metro...it services the whole of Moscow is efficient and a very cheap and fast way to get around...in fact its probably the most efficient transport system anywhere in the world.Trains are every 2 minutes and never late !!

Moscow is a great cultural experience...whilst there is a myth that its always snowing its not true.Of my 13 trips there I have seen snow only twice.Although the temp can drop to -5 it still remains bearable because it does not have the damp air that we have in the UK when its cold.

Anyone who wants further info can pm me or email me at my yahoo addy
The address is in my sig.

Whilst recovering from work related stress, myself & partner went on Holiday to Majorca, whilst there we was stung by a holiday scam disguised as a scratch card. We were put under pressure for 8 hours and laid out large amount of money for a product which is not there!

Scratch cards are illegal and if the police catch these peopel they can face exportation. they don't care if you have a family, are a pensioner they just target anyone they feel is fit prey...The island has many parts to it with such exhihition centres in them which say you will experience 1st class holidays, YOU DON'T...

Steer clear of anyone touting, I cost my family dearly!!!!!

The place though is beautiful...especially Andrax...

We booked a holiday with Travel Republic to go to Crete to a 4*plus hotel ,we made our down payment 2-1-08.and when we recieved the invoices we were suprised to see only the hotel had a deposit, the flights and transfers had been paid in full .
When we came to pay the ballance 6-3-08 we were told they had made a mistake and said we had to go to another hotel, the hotel they offered had terrible reviews and was a 3*, we refused this offer and demanded the hotel we had booked, they said we could have our deposit returned or could pay substantialy more and have the original hotel or 10% off any other hotel, they say they priced the hotel wrongly, the price of the hotel was questioned when booking they said it was this price and as the season went on the price would increase, they accept the mistake was theirs and also agree about the seasonal price increase, but are not prepaired to make a full refund . advice and comments welcome

Garden girl

Recently in Spain, I hired a car from Hertz at the Airport. It was a brand new car - only 25km on the clock. I returned the car 6 days later (about 450 km on the clock), and I verified that there was absolutely no damage to the car. Sadly for me, the Hertz lady on duty at the Return Desk was rather unpleasant, did not want to be polite or pleasant to customers, and did not want to speak English. She was also dealing with other customers at the time, and I did not get a chance to ask her how to return the keys. So, I dropped the keys and documents into a box which was marked for that purpose, and went off to check in for my flight.

Surprise, surprise, I was amazed to find on my return to the UK, a charge for €350 on my invoice. I was told, upon querying this charge that I had 'crashed' the car.

It seems that Hertz can inspect a returned vehicle, decide it's been damaged, and levy a charge on you for this damage. There seems to be no onus of proof on them, it's almost as if they get to define 'damage', and the appropriate cost.

In my case, the vehicle was actually kept overnight in a locked Hotel Garage, and it was never left in a place where it could be damaged by other motorists or passes-by. Certainly, there was no 'crash'. I inspected the car when I dropped it back to the airport, and I took photos. There was no damage whatsoever to the car - the only marks on the paintwork were rain marks, which even if I were liable, would not cost €350 to clean. This fact was also verifed by a second person who inspected the car with me

I think this is shoddy practice by a disreputable company. I am writing to Hertz to complain, and to ask for my money back. If they resist, I will ask for evidence that the car was damaged - we'll see if their photos tally with mine, I want a written estimate for any alleged damage (the car was dropped back Saturday morning, the charge was levied Monday morning). Nice to see that Spanish Repair shops can move so fast. I am pretty confident that a Small Claims Court will rule in my favour, as my evidence that the car was not in the least bit damaged is quite conclusive

Like I say, it seems that Hertz get to define 'damage', and they seem quite liberal with this definition. To their advantage, not surprisingly. Something about the Hertz rep's demeanour when I picked the car up made me wary. I had been asked if I wanted to take out additional insurance (costing over £70) to cover me for accidental damage, etc. I declined, and then was warned that any damage would incur an 'excess'. This is why I was so careful to check the car every day for damage, and to ensure that it was safe at all times.

Please be aware of this scam, and I would urge you to avoid Hertz like the plague. Their service is bad anyway, the staff are very slow, and not at all friendly or polite. The headline Rental Charges are not really what they want to you pay, once they get hold of your Credit Card details, they try to stiff you for as much as possible, even if this extends to inventing damage for which they can charge you.

Please let me know if you have had similar experiences with car rental, and how you got on. I'll keep posting details of my dealings with Hertz until I am successful in reclaiming all of my money, plus interest and expenses if they want to fight it out in court.

I would like to warn potential renters about Engel & Volkers outrageous attempt at theft from a deposit on a villa rental in Ibiza. After a week where a group of six of us stayed in the villa for a week and left it in a near spotless condition and no damage whatsoever was caused, I received the following demand for payment from them.

Extra house cleaning: euro 144,- (12 hours x euro 12)
Extra pool cleaning: euro 25,52 (euro 22,- + 16% IVA)
Lime cleaning inside and outside floor: euro 185,60 (5 hours x euro 18,- = euro 90,- + euro 40,- material + euro 30,- transfer + euro 25,60 IVA)
Kitchen drawer, transfer and installation: euro 139,20 (euro 120,- + IVA)
Curtain drawstring, transfer and installation: euro 104,40 (euro 90,- + IVA)

Clearly potential renters should bear in mind that Engel Volkers will attempt to extort money for unnecessary cleaning charges on top of that which should be included in the hefty rental price, and invent damage that will be billed.

I booked a last minute deal on 30th June going to Malaga on 2nd July to 9th July sorted flights and a nice apartment Just the car to sort out.

I booked a car on the internet with (30th June) with Malaga Airport Guide turns out to be a company called Car Trawler, I needed a 7 seat car they sent me a conformation e-mail saying they were checking with suppliers (they are a broker) anyway they sent me an e-mail on 1st of July cancelling the order saying they could not get a 7 seat car would I like two smaller cars I replied saying no and thought that would be the end of it.

Oh No

When I got back from holiday they had sent two e-mails under a different contract number, one on the 2nd of July @ 10.35 saying I could pick up my 7 seat car that day and (on a plane at this time) another 3rd July 12.35 saying I could pick up the car that day (in a bar having lunch at this time)

What I did not realise was they had charged my credit card £57.77 booking fee. Now they say they wont refund as my cancellation was within a 24hr period (terms and conditions) although I pointed out to them that they in-fact cancelled the contract and I merely informed them that I would find it difficult to drive two cars they are still insisting on keeping the money.

I have informed my credit card company who are sending me a form to complete to try and get the money back.

And this is only the start of it.

As still needed a car I booked one via Car Jet 1st July (used them before no problems) got an e-mail back same day saying they could not provide a 7 seat car. Went back on the net booked a car via Economy car they sent an e-mail saying they could not provide a 7 seat car.

Finally I went to a company direct (one I had used before) Helle Hollis they sorted the order over the phone with payment due by credit card when I arrived.

My credit card only has a limit of £1,000 don’t like credit cards as I have got into debt with them before. Any way when I arrived to pick up my car the nice lady put my card in the machine and it was declined. I telephoned the card company who informed me that I had outstanding approval of.

Car Trawler £57.77
Car Jet £268.00
Economy Car £264.00
Total £589.77

So I had insufficient credit to pay for this hire I pointed out to the card company that I was only ever going to hire one car and the other transactions would be cancelled, the card company agreed that would be the case and my limit would be back in credit with these items within the next seven days Oh and told me off for not telling them I was going to Spain.

Thankfully the nice lady at Helle Hollis who could see my frustration agreed to accept a debit card this went through no problem after a little joke from the lady saying it was declined.

Anyway I hope this helps if you are booking car rental in Spain be aware.

After a year of claiming and helping others, kids doing fantastically well in school and me being struck down with a muscle condition the OH decided to take the family away to the Domincan Republic. It began with scouring the internet as everyone we spoke to said you will get the best price from there. We got a price online of £2600 for 2 weeks all inclusive for 4 adults (kids are 14 and 16) not be or so we thought.

Then I watched Dont get Done get Dom. He made it look so easy at haggling but he has never met anyone like me If you were desperate for a glass of water in a desert, and I had one for sale, I would be left with the glass of water and had paid for you to fly first class to the oasis 100 miles away!

Anyhow I thought lets give it a try. OH was as supportive as reclaiming money...you wont get it! We went to First Choice (FC) with our printout. The girls in there were so helpful and with a little bargaining we got it down to £2450. Then we went to Thomas Cook (TC) and told them what FC could do it for. It was a TC hotel we wanted to stay in and so the girl called the mamager and we began the fight. She reduced the cost to £2250. We then said thanks but FC said they would beat any price TC gave us. So the manager (excellent customer service and a credit to her company) asked what would it take for us to take the holiday with them. OH suggested for it to be free and after all the laughter, she then, (not on the record) reduced it to £2150. Ok we said, but we had promised to go back to FC and give them the chance to compete.

Off we went back to FC, who met us with a cup of coffee and biscuits. But couldnt beat the price no matter what she used. She even gave her 10% discount but was unable to let the holiday go for any less than £2150. We thanked her and left (after drinking the coffee of course)

Back to TC. We told the mangeress that FC had reduced it but we would not tell her by how much (yes i know a little lie but it is our money ) She then offered seats together (saving £80), and we got the holiday for £2100. With a total saving of £580.

So a few tips to be remembered:

1. Always talk to the person selling the holiday by their first name (more personal and they feel like they know you)
2. Never take just one quote. Shop around it is worth it.
3. Tell them you only have a budget of £500 less than you really have.
4. Ask for a discount, you will be pleasantly surprised by what they can do. Our branch of TC used a local Football team and if you supported them you got a little discount!
5. Dont be scared to tell them you are going between agents, the staff loved the game as much as we did.
6. Get the most recent print out available, its amazing how much it can change over a few weeks. Oh and maybe it was just me but the prices online were always a little cheaper on a Tuesday and Wednesday.

Lots of appreciation to Thomas Cook and First Choice as they were fantastic, really knew how to look after customers and very friendly. I would recommend using them any time.

Monarch`s record for Long Haul Flights is not good of late, infact their USA (Sanford) route is very quickley becoming a joke amongst the industry.
Be prepared for `Replacement` Aircraft to be used, usually a Monarch `Shorthaul` Aircraft if flying from Gatwick/Manchester, and quite often a completley different Airline on return journeys.
The thing to remember on a Shorthaul Aircraft is that it was designed to be up in the air for no longer than 2-3 hours, so its capacity for storage of Meals/Drinks/Duty Free & more importantly FUEL is very limited, so expect at least 1 stop on your journey to the States.
Plan you trips to the toilet carefully, best time is in the middle of any film that`s showing, and defianately don`t wait for a film to finish (You`ll queue for ages).
Legroom on Shorthaul Aircraft is Very Poor, so be prepared for regular walks around the plane to keep the circulation going in your legs, and if you`ve booked Premium Cabin, forget it, they don`t have Premium Cabin on those little planes.
Expect Long Delays on your return journey, they happen nearly every journey out of Sanford and whilst Sanford Airport is Ok, it is not somwhere to spend 7 or 8 hours (there is not much to do), if you find yourself stuck there, book yourself into the only lounge they have, it will make the wait more comfortable, and at only $25 per Adult it`s worth the expense.

Overall, Monarch are an OK Airline if you want to go to Spain, but any further and you are dealing with an Airline who are Way out of their depth.
I would expect Monarch to drop their Longhaul service soon, and see them focus on European destinaions only, it`s either that, or they will be out of business like ZOOM.

One to Avoid!

Corrida and Flamenco, or sun, sea and sand. Spend holiday in Spain, you can be enjoyable at any time of year. There’s a dream holiday for everyone there, from the ideal family beach holiday on the mallorca, to the exciting of the Thorpe feast in Andalucia, and the cultural highlights of costa del sol car hire, Seville, and Granada – you will find the real Spain!

Booked a last minute holiday at Chrousso Village, Paliouri, Halkidiki, all inclusive. Resort was described as 3+ star.

Accomodation was more than adequate, but that's about the only positive thing I can say.

The resort itself is a twenty minute coach ride from anywhere other than the beach, which was knee deep in sun beds at an extortionate price. The only form of entertainment at the resort was the pool, only open from 10 til 5, or the bars where there were no where near enough seats to accomodate all the residents.

The food was 1* at best. Absolutely everything was swimming in grease, even the salad, every single meal was a serve yourself buffet, and the only way you could get anything hot was to use the serve yourself microwave to heat it up. It was not a restaurant, it was no better than a really grotty transport cafe and even that may be unfair to transport cafes.

We wanted to see a bit of the country as we'd never been to Greece before so booked up some trips. We specifically asked about distance as I have difficulty sitting in the same position for any length of time (I always have the aisle seat on the plane so that I can move about without disturbing everyone) and were assured that it was two hours maximum on the coach. I turned out to be four and a half hours, without a rest stop, on the way there and four hours on the way back, again with no stop.

We were also assured that the coach would be air conditioned and that there would be plenty of opportunity to buy drinks etc as necessary, so only took a small bottle of water each. The air conditioning wasn't working and in fact there was nowhere to buy anything other than the usual gift shop selling guide books etc, and the lunch provided by the resort didn't include a drink. One stop was at a vineyard, but the majority of the party went straight for the water bottles and ignored the wine on offer!

After that experience, we cancelled the rest of the trips and did get our money back, though we didn't expect to.

We won't be travelling with First Choice again.

Anyone who has been on a cruise is delighted with the service they got from their waiters at mealtimes and the cabin steward with his towel animals etc. Carnival and their little network of other lines (cunard, ocean village to name a couple) decided a couple of years back that instead of giving you an envelope to hand to the little team of people who serve you that they will debit a suggested gratuity from your onboard account on the very first night onboard. This is a crafty little trick and of course makes the whole tip thing very impersonal. Might i suggest that anyone who takes a cruise with them state on embarkation that they prefer to tip their staff in person and not via the card system. I worked for both of the big two over a period of seven years and can also recommend the following if you just fancy a cheap cruise. Book yourself a flight to Miami and turn up on the dockside and offer $100 for the cruise of your choice, tell them you dont mind if you dont cruise as with 3 or 4 hours before sailing there are usually 20 or 30 cabins unused which means a waste of space to them entirely... I have known hundreds of people do this without a problem and when they let you have your cruise but ask you to keep quiet about what you paid tell them that will of course which wine they are going to throw in....

I have crossed the channel to France on quite a few occassions now, and have used Eurostar, P&O, SeaFrance and Norfolk Ferries to name the big ones.

Speed Ferries is by far the cheapest - by a long way in fact.

It also takes 35 mins to Bolougne - similar times to Eurostar.

On one occassion I was late getting back to the Ferry due to a large accident in Paris and just missed the ferry. For 10 quid - admin fee - they will change the ferry time for you.

On P&O, the last time this happened to me, I had to pay for a whole new ticket.

Overall, it's the easyjet of ferries as far as I'm concerned - you get what you pay for.

We Have just returned after 2 weeks at the Hotel Can Picafort Park in Can Picafort Majorca, 2 Weeks was not long enough, this hotel is fantastic we couldnt find fault anywhere.
It is a Thompson Gold Hotel, adult only and is just wonderful, the fact we had no kids runing around the pool or restaurant or bar or anywhere was a very nice change, dont get me wrong we have had many a family holiday at family friendly hotels, but our kids are grown up now and our requirments have changed.
If you fancy a really nice holiday in a wonderful resort then get yourself to the Can Picafort Park you wont regret it.

Brecken xxxxxxxxxxxxx

This company trades on good customer service, but given our experience with them it couldn't be further from the truth. I am dealing with a complaint for a friend. Imagine Ireland have just cancelled a booking made in August 2008 7 days before departure because they double-booked the cottage. They seem to think they have no obligation to find an equivalent alternative without charging an additional price, then cottages shown as available on their website become unavailable when you try to book them. Their staff just won't return calls or make any attempt to remedy the situation - one even laughed when we complained!

It looks as if all you can do is Imagine Ireland if you book through this lot, as they sure won't be taking you....

I had to go to Newcastle to my brothers funeral, and, as I was going by train, I thought I'd stay at the hotel next to the station.

I checked out the website, got a price of £65 per night, room only. This was £20 more expensive than the Travelodge, but as it was more convenient I thought it would be ok.

But when I went to check in they said they only had one room, which was £85 per night. I only had 40 minutes to get to the crematorium so I took it.

Then they told the next person behind me in the queue that they only had one room left- they seemed to be doing it to everyone.

They room was clean but threadbare, the bathroom you couldn't swing a kitten in a crash helmet, but you got a complimentary carton of orange juice, small bottle of water and 2 club biscuits.

So if the convenience is a priority, you pay for it, but if not, go somewhere else!

August is almost here, and no doubt folks will be flocking to Glasgow for the World Pipe Band Championships. One of the handiest hotels to stay to be within walking distance is the Ramada Jarvis in Ingram Street.

But not if you want any sleep. The innocuous looking building on the left is, in fact, a nightclub. And will bang out bass way into the small hours at the weekend.

To the point where, at 2 in the morning, after complaing numerous times to the staff we eventually demanded our money back and left. With a long drive ahead of us to Wales, we thought we could just pop into a Travel Inn or similar on the way. How wrong we were.

So, lesson learned. Book well ahead, check what other establishments are likely to cause problems, and perhaps be prepared to accept that it might be worthwhile sacrificing ease of access for a decent night's kip.

Nice to say something good for a change.
We have used cottages 4 u site twice. It is an easy to use site - booking was easy - accomodation was great and follow up good. Would definitely use again

Jan

I have had to travel to Europe pretty regularly over the last few years or so.
The Eurostar has been a Godsend. I still remember the shocking few months when the Chunnel was closed after a blazing lorry was carried into the tunnel and eventually destroyed itself, other vehicles and seriously damaged the tunnel.
The return to cross-channel air travel came as a bad shock.

Now that the London terminal is to be moved from Waterloo to Kings Cross, for me it gets even better.

However, one thing that I have noticed over a number of years is the deterioration in standards of cleanliness, food and staff attitudes.

Despite a recent change of upholstery the interior of the carriages still generally look tired and over-used and the choice of a plain grey as the new upholstery colour certainly reinforces a certain Sovietique feel about the way the service is run.
The frequency with which I find that the toilets are either broken or are lacking in water, soap, or paper (and some times all three) points to a serious deficiency at management level.
Food is cliched and uninspiring despite some marketing guru's attempt to use lavish descriptive terms to describe, for instance, a relatively simple sandwich: it just doesn't work.

I don't know who came up with the design of their catering provision but Eurostar have definitely got it the wrong way round by supplying English quality food and French quality service because the catering staff are by and large all French - and it shows as serving with a smile and trying to keep down the queuing time does not seem to be one of their priorities. In fact you can see this very French approach to interpersonal relations as soon as you hand your passport to the French armed police at Waterloo station. Gruff or silent and much more interested in talking to their mates - very different from the very friendly outgoing, un-uniformed and un-armed British immigration officials on the other side. (What are the rules of engagement for French armed police on UK soil anyway?)
Why it was beyond the wit of the Eurostar planners to have a little competition amongst their caterers is beyond me. They could even have invited Pret a Manger to tender and we might have had almost perfect sandwiches with friendly outgoing disposition all in one - and they have a ready-made French name as well.
Trop complique!

TIP:- I regularly complain about these problems and quite often get a free travel voucher by way of compensation.

During this holiday season, I have come across a number of vacations and travel deals from all over the Internet. Most of these deals are the usual discount offers. However, I found a very interesting and highly creative travel promotion, which not only gives you a rebate, but can also make your vacation and cruise package FREE if you book with them.

FREE... hmmmmmm not possible......

Yes, I thought so too. How can anybody give free vacation and cruise packages? But when I checked it out, I found it to be one of the most interesting travel promotions that I have ever come across. They say "Your vacation or cruise is FREE, IF there is significant snowfall on President-Elect Obama's Inauguration Day."

I would recommend that everyone check out this travel promotion at http://www.traveloni.com/snObama/

Let's hope it snows on January 20th in Washington D.C.!!!!

Virgin has an abusive policy with regards to their credit card charges when you buy flight tickets on the Virgin website. It can cost you up to £29.95 in credit card processing fees to purchase a Virgin flight on their website.

BA charges a flat fee of £4 per credit card transaction. Air France charges a fee of €1.

When I challenged them on their relatively high transactional fees they simply replied by saying that its not their fault but that of the credit card companies. This is nonsense as most retailers absorb the transaction fees levied by credit card companies as part of the cost of doing business.

I wanted to warn others as their practice masks higher costs to purchase a ticket with Virgin.

Who can I lobby to encourage them to rethink their abusive practices?

The Consumer Forums

Fiesta Tropico Aparthotel

Emirates --Hope that nothing goes wrong when flying emirates

Travelling to Moscow

Majorca - Santa Ponsa

Travel Republic

Hertz Rent-a-Car

Beware renting from ENGEL & VOLKERS

Car Hire Spain be aware

First Choice v Thomas Cook

Flying With Monarch Airlines - Longhaul

Travel to Spain

First Choice - Paliouri, Greece

Carnival Cruise Lines

Speed Ferries

Hotel Can Picafort Park

Imagine Ireland

The Royal Station Hotel, Newcastle

Ramada Glasgow

cottages 4U

Eurostar

During this holiday season, I have come across a number of vacations.....

Credit Card fees for buying Virgin tickets