On The Beach.com

[peadereader]

BE WARNED - I booked a holiday to Mexico 5 days ago. I accepted the quote and entered my card details and then received a pop up saying that the wanted an extra �132 for meals and luggage allowance.

I tried to cancel the transaction but the website will not allow this and kept saying that if I do not choose these options I will not be allowed to amend my booking at a later stage so I had no option to choose them.

They then sent me an e-mail receipt saying that transfers are also not included so i have to make my own arrangements for these.

I have now been trying to get through to this company since 10 minutes after booking. I held for 90 minutes on Saturday hoping that someone in customer services would pick up the phone, but was unsuccessful. I have also had no response to be e-mails and along with the �75 fee for paying by credit card am now looking at over �3000 for a holiday that I was quoted �2668.

I have now contacted Consumer Direct and they are looking into this company and I have also logged a complaint with ABTA and I don't want anyone to make the same mistakes I have made by using this company.

Please be aware that the prices are false and the service is really poor if you have a problem, so use someone more reputable.

[vix2903]

I booked a holiday with this company in Feb and have had nothing but hassle since. On booking the holiday we got a phone call about 2hrs later saying that the flight had went up �10. After that we then got a Major flight change over 12hrs difference. We accepted this change which meant our hotel had to be changed and all transfers amended. I then received a mail saying that the price of the flights have went up �20 each due to fuel surcharge. I paid this the day i received it but about 2 weeks later i received a mail from the company saying that if i didnt pay this they would cancel my flights. I have now been trying to get through to their finance dept for nearly a week and all my mails have been ignored. I managed to get through to their ops dept to only be told that i had ANOTHER major flight change, which was flying out a day later. I asked for a refund but was told i couldnt as the original flight i booked (before the first major flight change) was not 12 hours apart. I also booked 8 nights at my hotel only to be told that I hadnt, even though i have it in writing that i did. My transfers will need to be amended also. I will never ever use this company again and i would advise other people to stay clear. Maybe ive just been unfortunate, but can one person be that unlucky !!!!!

[kinglouie]

I recently booked a holiday with otbeach to attend a diving course in Turkey. I had been comparing prices and otbeach were slightly the cheaper so I continued with the booking and selected BOOK with the price at �256.24. After being committed to the booking I was advised there would be an additional charge of �15 for baggage, I wasn't happy but it was only �15 and I was given no other option so I agreed.

I was waiting for an email to confirm a total price of �271.24, plus the 1.1% DC fee, and sure enough got an email advising me the cost of the holiday was confirmed at �272.64; I didn't notice at the time but the email stated that this price did not include extras like baggage and meals. A short time later I received another email telling me the booking was confirmed, my non-refundable deposit had been taken and the total price of the holiday was �333.30, not even a phone call to ask if I would pay the extra or what it was for.

I have tried contacting otbeach but they just keep sending me copies of their terms and conditions; even though I have told them trading standards have been informed and that they are in breach of consumer protection. I have also copied all my emails to BBC Watchdog; these guys must be prime candidates for a visit. On reporting the matter to my bank they asked me to complete a fraud report so that they could start recovery proceedings.

Reading the experiences on this and other sites I can only imagine that otbeach make more money from fraud than they do from selling holidays. Their T&C deny any responsibility for complaints directing customers to the relevant airline or hotel chain. The problem for them is that these clowns are by definition TRAVEL AGENTS i.e. they buy services from the travel industry and package them for customers. The law states that as soon as they put a flight and hotel together for a customer they are responsible to that customer for any complaints about the product; just as when you buy a toaster from a shop, it's the shop and not the manufacturer that is responsible for dealing with any complaints from the customer.

Can I encourage anyone who has a complaint about this company to email watchdog@bbc.co.uk ? The problem with price misrepresentation appears to be a common occurrence with this lot and that is usually down to deliberate practice, they are breaking the law and the authorities must deal with them.

[gemmar26]

i was just about to book a holiday to majorca with onthebeach.com. the total price (excluding transfers) was �1277 for 5 adults, 3 children. i decided to ring them before i confirmed my booking just to ask them about transfers and ask them about the town i was staying in. i was asked the details of the holiday online, she checked and then told me the actual total cost of the holiday including transfers would be �1750. i said nearly �500 for transfers is ridiculous so i would not be needing them and she said there is a �300 charge for bringing 8 suitcases (1 per person) onto the plane. i thought she was joking and told her you cant be charged to bring luggage on holiday (unless you go over the weight limit). she said i had to pay so i then asked where on the booking page on the internet does it say this? she said basically i pay for my holiday and then after i have paid, the next page will have my luggage prices on which i will then have to pay for.
is this true and if so, is that allowed? i thought everything you have to pay should be there on your holiday booking page? i am confused now and dont know what to do. and advice is much appreciated. thanks

[kinglouie]

to gemmar26

What the agent described is exactly how OT Beach suck people in. When you get to the part where you have already paid and commited yourself to the holiday they bring up another page telling you that the cost does not include baggage or tranfers. (OT Beach state in their T&C that some flights charge extra for baggage. They do not say which flights and how much; this is deliberately misleading and, in my opinion, quite literally makes all their contracts unenforcible).

OT Beach then offer these as options; baggage as an option going on holiday, as my daughter would say LOL. What is more the price they give you is for one way, this is not made clear either, after you pay you realise they are taking double what you have agreed. In my case they increased the cost of the room as well, without telling me, even though they must give you the option to pay or cancel without penalty if there is any price change compared to that which you have agreed. (Be aware that you also have the option to cancel if fuel or any other surcharges exceed 10% of the total holiday price).

My advice is not to use this lot, if you do have a complaint they will refuse to discuss the matter by phone and refuse to deal with a complaint by email; they will require you to write, using paper, envelope and stamp. I reported the matter to trading standards who have confirmed that they are in breach of contract, my bank will be recovering the deposit I have made and are aware that OT beach have been told not to take further funds from my account; it states in their T&C that the remainder of the fee will be taken from your account automatically, now that I have told them not to, it would be theft for them to do so.

Another thing I do is print every page I go through when booking on line, creating a paper trail. Rather than print to paper download Cute PDF Writer, it's free, and install it. It sets itself up as a printer and creates a PDF file on your computer when you print to it. Now you have proof if needed.

Finally I recommend you report your experience to BBC Watchdog at "watchdog@bbc.co.uk" if they get enough complaints they will investigate and everyone should be made aware of these rogue traders.

[stunicola]

I would be reluctant to use OTB for any future holiday bookings.
They passed on the wrong name to �You Travel' who were booking our accommodation at the hotel. I spotted this error about 3 weeks before we were due to arrive at hotel but after around 20 e mails to OTB and You Travel who just kept on blaming each other and saying that it was up to the other company to sort out the problem. The wrong name was also given in relation to our so called free transfer - when we arrived at Sharm Airport we were not on the transfer list - when we arrived at the Hotel we were booked under the wrong name which caused a delay in booking in and some frustration and embarrassment trying to sort matters out.
The party we were travelling with were told by OTB on a number of occasions that free transfers were not included in their deal - even although the booking receipt stated free transfers. Due to being told that transfers were not included they went ahead and organised their own transfers via the internet about 2 weeks before the holiday. Around 10 days before the holiday OTB sent a free transfer voucher - too late and no refund available on the one they had already booked. When phoning OTB re a problem you are given their admin number and advised to call this............ after trying for over 1 hour I gave up as it just rings out.
OTB only act as a middleman - in future I will deal directly with companies such as First Choice/ Thomson Fly to book my flight and Hotels4U etc to book accommodation. Will probably work out cheaper and less hassle free when faced with any problems.
I will certainly not be using the services of OTB in the future. I travel abroad around 4/5 times a year and this company have been the least helpful when a problem occurs..........as outlined above.
The couple we were travelling with booked online and got a message saying the booking was sucessful..............only to get a phone call 5 minutes later saying it would cost an additional �80!!!

[hangup]

We booked a holiday in good faith with On the Beach, paid it in full, were told the day before departure that there was a change of Hotel (to a lower grade one) On insisting that we were given comparable accommodation, we arrived at our destination only to find that we were not booked in any Hotel at all by OTB and had to contact their hotel providers, as we were told that OTB were not responsible. (When the going gets tough, the tough hang-up on you)
As if that wasn't enough when you call them, there is the usual spiel and you are told that once the �sale� has been made there is no point in hanging on as they can't deal with your enquiry. If anyone out there is thinking of using OTB �don't� use their hotel providers instead, i.e. Low Cost Beds or Low Cost Travel Group..They helped us in the end. On the Beach only want the commission, they take your bookings without checking whether the hotel is available, and then abdicate all responsibility when it all goes wrong.

[eh1]

my son has had major hassles with this company ,he is presently on holiday with them and the've already changed his accomadation . they can only be contacted by email , the booking and admin depts dont talkto each other and if you do get a phone number they wont put you through . he has had flight changes too . we also booked with rthem this year and had our flights changed by 11 hours would not reccomend .

[pdm1@pdm1.fsworld.co.uk]

Hi folks.

In case you hadn't realised, there is another link to on the beach on the main front page of this site, it has many more replies than this thread, take a look.

Don't forget; don't use on the beach .CON

[pdm1@pdm1.fsworld.co.uk]

Hi folks.

In case you didn't realise; there are two other links on this site to on the beach, they have many more listings than this thread.

Best wishes.

Don't use on the beach .CON