Mystery Shopper

Here I am again, this time I want to share the personal experiences which I have had with the ONLINE providers of Package Holidays - Thomsons, Thomas Cook, SAGA, First Choice, etc together with the difficulties with choice of preferred Departure Airports , Couples only, All inclusive and Flights only

I offer suggestions as to why so many organisations are “springing-up” to recount actual customer experiences - TripAdvisor, Holiday Watchdog, Real Holiday Reports, Holiday Truths, Holidays Uncovered, and later I will provide a couple of experiences of holidays which have gone “belly-up“. I also cover a couple of incidents on “Redress and Compensation” which resulted from these situations, and the joy of overcoming my own holiday dilemma with solutions provide by and via the use of a “Personal Holiday Advisor” Finally I suggest how to seek redress for genuine claims against holiday providers from the Specialist claims operation - Irwin Mitchell,

This year all the ONLINE Holiday Providers are now like most others, suffering from the international economic crisis and as such appear to have overlooked the attention and maintenance require for updating , refining and providing a smooth, speedy Online operation. Over the last 3 weeks or so I have been trying unsuccessfully for almost 2 hours a day to choose a holiday (Online) in warmer climes for two adults, in a good quality Hotel, departing from and returning to the East Midlands, and most importantly prior to the Summer School holidays. via the Internet. This year using the computer and the Internet is an ordeal and an almost impossible task.

I began to realise quite early on in the exercise that the “East Midlands” is generally believed to be in the centre of “N0-WHERE !!”, and in the view of the Overseas Holiday Industry, the regular and serious Holiday Makers only live in the South, the West Midlands and the North West.- WHAT A CHEEK!

I now also realise that as a result of this oblique and misplaced attitude, a whole new industry has been created for getting us NO WHERE holiday makers outside of the South, the West Midlands and the North West INTO THE DEPARTURE LOUNGES of the Airports located in London, Birmingham and Manchester.

More to the point as a result it also entails major additional expense, to the price of the quoted standard holiday - with the additional cost for petrol, taxis, off-site or on-site airport car parking charges, and Shuttle Services etc In fact quoted car parking charges alone can range from £60+ < £103+ over and above the cost of the holiday

Long before we all have to organise and finance the “getting to the Airport “, is the actually finding, the deciding and the booking of your holiday break - In future my solution for choosing a holiday will always be via the Personal Holiday Advisor I was very fortunate to stumble upon. My Personal Holiday Advisor/Booker - is a lady, brilliant and efficient in every respect ( when she said a particular time she would telephone back - she actually did).. Not only did she actually save me endless fruitless time, much more importantly she found me a holiday exactly as requested, which I am now really looking forward to. My Personal Holiday Advisor also saved me , many £££££,s - WOW - what a result !! ..

In the past I have had good, bad, and downright horrendous holidays abroad. Three in particular are fixed in my mind

1) During a holiday in Spain both my husband and I sat in chairs which actually collapsed (simultaneously and in unison :-)) - aggravating both of our serious knee problems

2) During a later holiday in Tunisia, both my husband and I contracted severe Food Poisoning

3)Whilst on our last holiday, in Crete, the publicity by the Holiday Provider promised and described certain available facilities. These promises were not fulfilled

These examples and many other experiences by many, many holiday makers are the reason for the increase in “Holiday Experience” Websites specialising in recording the many actual holiday experiences of consumers. However, I can tell you that if my own experiences are anything to go by, I do believe there is widespread distortion of the truth in many of these published reports. “Prevention is better than Cure” so let me recommend your particular solution should always be to establish a relationship with your own reliable Personal Holiday Advisor, an advisor who has visited (or has access to the facts as recorded and known to the industry) many of the Hotels on offer and in question. This is the ONLY way of reducing/limiting your risk of dissatisfaction.

Finally, it is usually quite difficult, for everyday individuals to gain recompense from the Holiday Providers ( incl. damaged/lost luggage). If your case is actually reasonable and quite justified, you should expect a least 4 weeks delay for a reply to each letter you send with your legitimate complaints. You should always retain every piece of substantiating evidence, including photograph where relevant, Eventually you may be offered a small discount on future holidays booked with the same Holiday Provider. However if your complaint against the Provider stands up to close scrutiny and investigation there is a specialist organisation - Irwin Mitchell who may well consider taking up your case on a “No Direct Fee” basis. However, you should be prepared for a period of up to 3 years for the resolution of your case