1800hotels.ie - what's happening?

sharon kelly

I just rang hotels.com and told them that there was an article on the Irish Times travel supplement regarding a 20% discount. I gave them my booking reference that I had for 1800hotels. I got a 20% discount and got €190 back. I rang the dublin number 01 6569447 and got transferred to Mark the floor supervisor/manager and he gave me the discount. I'm thrilled. I booked on friday 16 july.:p

another native

Gosh that's a handy discount. The old saying "if at first you don't succeed....... comes to mind!

Nicolal

We booked on the 17th June, I spoke with the hotel and they have said we still have the reservation. I called GTA and they have told me that they cannot comment because they are in legal proceedings with 1800hotels.ie. GTA have confirmed the reservation but have told me that they can cancel it any time. We fly out on Saturday morning and still GTA will not tell me what is happening. I have asked them if we still have the reservation will we get charged once we arrive at the hotel and will we be notified when / if it is cancelled and they have told me they can’t comment and I need to contact 1800hotels. We cannot book with another company until we know it’s cancelled so we are so unsure of what to do. Our bank have confirmed that they will give us the money back on our credit card but only once we can prove the cancellation in writing. In 6 emails from GTA all I have received back is "can’t comment" and "contact 1800". They won’t even attempt to help. Is anyone else in the same situation? We were thinking of just booking somewhere else and writing it off, but I think that’s probably what they are expecting us to do.

another native

There may be some clarification tomorrow from the judge, subsequent to the court hearing in Florida.

April08

i booked a hotel in alvor portugal with 1800hotels who booked through youtravel cost 1500e. I checked with the hotel and they told me my booking was not cancelled even though someother customers were. I contacted youtravel who told me that they didnt receive payment from 1800hotels so i have to presume the money is not going to be paid. I rang the hotel in portugal and offered to rebook at the same rate I paid through 1800hotels as I will hopefully be able to claim from my credit card....... However they said that the rate had gone up and I would have to pay 700euro more..... what a rip off..... :mad: needless to say I told them where to stick it......
Just waiting now tomorrow to see if this court case throws any light on the subject.....

smile89

I am in the same position have booked my apts with 1800 by laser and the hotel have the reservation however youtravel say they have not been paid and the will cancel if i dont pay again. I have contacted my bank and filled out a form to try get the money back but have just been told that all aib customers who paid with laser will have no comeback. Only if you paid with credit card :mad:

April08

Youtravel are asking me for more money now to rebook....needless to say I told them where to go...... I will NEVER again book through one of these agents... I will book direct with the hotels myself only.. even if it does cost a bit more..... I think this is a big lesson for everyone.... only book with a credit card too at least you have some comeback.... i think the banks are a disgrace not compensating people for using their laser.... :mad:

check this out http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/0719/1224275016776.html

smile89

Yeah i agree i hope nobody has rebooked with youtravel as they are owed millions so they are oviously not very financially secure!! These companys shouldnt be allowed trade without being bonded - my own stupidity for not checking!!

samtyler

Same with Ulster Bank Laser. Tried to see if I had any comeback but only if you booked with Visa Debit Card.
Course my card isnt due to be replaced til next year ,so I used Laser.
Surely the banks owe some due care to their cardholders?
Never never again will I use one of these charlatan companies!:mad:

Tippex

smile89 wrote: »

Yeah i agree i hope nobody has rebooked with youtravel as they are owed millions so they are oviously not very financially secure!! These companys shouldnt be allowed trade without being bonded - my own stupidity for not checking!!

Smile89 as previously stated being bonded in this case would make 0 difference the bond only applies to package holidays not hotel only bookings.

This is one of the major gripes of Irish travel agents that they legally have to be bonded if they offer package holidays whereas anyone can setup a hotel only website.

lensman

sharon kelly wrote: »

I just rang hotels.com and told them that there was an article on the Irish Times travel supplement regarding a 20% discount. I gave them my booking reference that I had for 1800hotels. I got a 20% discount and got €190 back. I rang the dublin number 01 6569447 and got transferred to Mark the floor supervisor/manager and he gave me the discount. I'm thrilled. I booked on friday 16 july.:p

just to clarify,.. our total booking price with 1800hotels was €1909, are you saying that hotels.com honor that price & give you a further 20% discount ? or is it 20% discount on the hotels.com price ?......the thing is that I've tried the hotels.com site using the exact same dates & room types & their price is almost €3000 before any discount.

smile89

Tippex wrote: »

Smile89 as previously stated being bonded in this case would make 0 difference the bond only applies to package holidays not hotel only bookings.

This is one of the major gripes of Irish travel agents that they legally have to be bonded if they offer package holidays whereas anyone can setup a hotel only website.

Well there should be a law in place to cover customers for the likes of this happening, people have lost hundreds becuase of this and many people wont be getting any of there money back! Something should be done to prevent people from loosing money!!! Compnays should not be allowed trade like 1800 have been doing for the past few months knowing that they are going into liquidation!

Alea

We booked our holiday with 1800 on May 26th for August 15. We paid the bulk by laser, 1000. We can kiss that goodbye.

We then rang the hotel directly and they're doing deals. I think they may have been hit too by 1800 booking all their rooms and now they're left with all these empty bookings. We re booked directly. We will never ever use one of these companies again...

Has anyone heard anything about the court ruling yet

So angry!!!:mad:

another native

Lensman,

To my understanding, Hotels.com are not saying they will match the price you got from 1800hotels. They are offering a 20% discount to 1800Hotels customers who wish to rebook with Hotels.com at Hotel.com rates.

The Euro has fallen against the dollar and US hotels are booked early by many people to get the best rates, although I would think there may be better rates for your hotel on other sites. You could try for another hotel altogether.

The court case in Florida today may offer a glimmer of hope to clients of 1800Hotels. All may not be lost!

sharon kelly

I rang my bank PTSB yesterday and was told they would not give me back my money. They basically said its just like paying cash when you use your laser :mad: Thankfully we did not pay the full price only a deposit. I'm going to ring consumer affairs and see what they have to say. There must be something under the sale of goods act. The 20% discount is off the price hotels.com gave me. They are more expensive than 1800hotels.

unichick

Anyone get money back from Ulster Bank after booking by credit card? Hubby is getting the round around sending documentation to England.

eerwegtweg

unichick wrote: »

Anyone get money back from Ulster Bank after booking by credit card? Hubby is getting the round around sending documentation to England.

No point in even trying to claim back from your credit card company until 1800 is officially declared bankcrupt.

macai

Not entirely true, as I have a letter from the hotel to say room is cancelled along with letter from Hotelbeds Spain also confirming cancellation due to non payment, therefore bank/visa can initiate a charge back on the grounds of failure to provide a service.

ash_18x

jack presley wrote: »

Do you have holiday insurance?

we had holiday insurance, they told us we were not covered for bankruptcy! what a joke!

we lost €1650 (8 of us in total), arrived in Salou last monday to find that it had not been paid even though we had paid for it through a laser card in May. We had to pay on the spot again, we had no other choice but to do that.
came back monday night, rang the insurance company yesterday and her attitude was like 'too bad'! whats the point in insurance!

cant get it back off the laser card either, do we have any other options or is it just tough?

sharon kelly

Same with me I rang my holiday insurance and got the same answer not covered for bankrupcy. I also rang consumer affairs and they said you have no comeback with laser. I rang the hotel in New York and they said I still have a reservation but they received no payment form 1800hotels. I booked last January. Where did the money go please tell me!!

beckysneads

Nice domain name for a hotel but unfortunately, the service is not good.

plumplum

www.1800hotels.com what are they up too?:mad:

lensman

smile89 wrote: »

Well there should be a law in place to cover customers for the likes of this happening, people have lost hundreds becuase of this and many people wont be getting any of there money back! Something should be done to prevent people from loosing money!!! Compnays should not be allowed trade like 1800 have been doing for the past few months knowing that they are going into liquidation!

there are plenty of laws,..problem is they don't look out for the customer but tend to favour the company,...welcome to Ireland!... the land of the corporate chancer

plumplum

probably why they are under chapter 11 in the us, more favourable rules for companies

ash_18x

sharon kelly wrote: »

Same with me I rang my holiday insurance and got the same answer not covered for bankrupcy. I also rang consumer affairs and they said you have no comeback with laser. I rang the hotel in New York and they said I still have a reservation but they received no payment form 1800hotels. I booked last January. Where did the money go please tell me!!

its so frustrating! its like someone just robbing money off you........

another native

The court agreed to hear direct evidence in the case yesterday afternoon and is expected to make a decision shortly.

See article in Irish Times:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/0721/1224275146535.html

samtyler

That article in the IT is all well and good , but at the end of the day people who paid by Laser can just kiss their money goodbye. :mad:
Surely there must be some way of compensating those of us who paid by Laser - after all , we entered into a contract with 1800 , they took our money and did not porvide the specified service.
If you paid cash in a shop and they did the same thing , you can still have access to consumers rights!

lensman

ash_18x wrote: »

its so frustrating! its like someone just robbing money off you........

yes just like robbing, except these guys are wearing expencive suites & are the pride of the celtic tiger so it's allowed.

PPatel

I paid with american express who are aware of the problem, but waiting to see if Mark Travel can resolve this with 1800, before I got to ae for my refund!

I only found out by chance when looking at hotels again, nothing on the BBC News!!!

pyzon

received email from hotel today to say hotel was cancelled by GTA.

Rang the hotel and reconfirmed the booking and said would pay same rates as online so cool there, just need to get refunded.

Spoke to ulster bank about a chargeback they said to goto the website and download a form..??? anyone any ideas...said they are part of ABTA, I rang ABTA they are not a part of ABTA - go back to the Credit Card company.

would not mind so much but it's Paris and with the flipping strikes this week as well guh........!!