www.sunmastr.com, freedomdirect.co.uk, otbeach.com

[M,K,R&R]

You know what? I just spent 15 minutes writing my final response detailing the importance of custmer sevice etc and how it's judged by how you fix things when they go wrong etc etc but I realised I am wasting more of my own time on this subject, which has taken up so much of my time already this year, so I don't think i'll bother, I should be concentrating on going on holiday next week, and that's what I'm off to do. Have a great holiday everyone, wherever and whenever you go away.

[fd.co.uk]

To Kazl,

We note your comments, and hope that one day we could welcome you as a customer and deliver a high level of service to you.

Excuses are cheap if they are not supported by a great deal of work and effort by a lot of very hard working staff. Excuses are also cheap if they do not have the financial resource and backing to make sure that improvement is recognisable.

To address your comment of having time to reply to a post, we believe that we have a right to express our views as much as the next person.

[kazl]

I didn't mean to imply that you did not have a right to reply and I know my posting looked aggressive but it wasn't meant to be. I am just amazed that people are having these problems in the first place. I used to work in Customer Services and know that it is a difficult job to give out 100% satisfaction. But come on...not phoning back , letters going unanswered, emails not being answered.....Why???? Seems to me that somebody is not doing their job right somewhere in your company. Customer service looks to be very poor just from some of the posts on here.
Whilst I will agree that I am sure you have lots of people who travel with you and have no problems it doesn't really excuse this does it?

I don't think you are alone in having these problems , I recently had a problem with Sky Travel. I would never use them again as they messed up my booking twice then totally denied it. They were too busy defending themselves to see the mistakes that they made. Luckily for me I had the proof ...it was only after me faxing this to them that they bothered to do anything. Though they still insisted it wasn't their mistake....LOL !!!!

All customers want is the holiday that they paid for...it's not really rocket science

[fd.co.uk]

Kazl,

Thank you for your reply.

We note and appreciate all comments you make.

While unfortunately somethings do go wrong on holidays, with both arrangements and acomodation what cannot be accepted is poor customer service.

As we posted yesterday a great deal of time and effort is going to toward ensuring a significant improvement in the levels of service given to all.

[IainW]

What is your definition of reputable?

Having a certificate like ABTA, does that make a company reputable? possibly not!

My definition of reputable, in any business, NOT just travel related is:
1. Delivering your product as you sell it.
2. Managing your customer complaints should they arise.
3. Great before sales and after sales care
4. All sales documented viewable online for customers to refer too.

I was instrumantal in helping the IT company years ago that i worked for obtain the BS5750 certificate, it did not make our company reputable even though we were multi-national, customers percieved that we were a quality company because we had the KITE mark.

Example
If i went to work late, did not answer your telephone calls or reply to your emails then had a long lunch break BUT had a customer complaints manual to work from i could achieve a BS5750 certificate, this made a company reputable because you had guidelines - but it did not make your company a well run company or a reputable company that had many satisfied customers. There's a big difference.

Are Thomson, Airtours and the likes reputable? do they give you great service? NO not really but as they are a household names we all tend to trust them even though if the holiday went wrong we would get little back from them and we all complain at how low the compensation is but we still consider them reputable.

Scams are easy to identify in my opinion if you take time to delve deeper and check them out. SCAMMERS don't waste too much time on developing a solid business structure, they want to sat up cheaply take your money and run, this is noticeable when you land on their home page, email them, ring them and test them.

It suprises me that the general public book a holiday and then ask on a forum has anyone booked with so and so company... WHY do this AFTER you have booked....i would email the company before booking with them to see the response, i would also call the company to see how they answer the phone, ask questions to see how knowledgeable the call advisers were and so on, try and get a feel of the company, ringing back a good few times even makes the difference.

And lastly always pay by credit card whatever you feel about the company this can make the differnce to you later on.

[sands]

to fd.co.uk........
How can you justify your company when i have spoken to them on the phone and they know nothing of you answering questions on this page??Ihave a direct line with Heidi Colledge at Freedom Direct, i dont have a problem getting through now,but the sad thing is,we are still going to have to fight for compensation even though i have proof of bookings.

[sands]

to M.K.R&R
i've been given a direct line to Freedom Direct,woman dealing with complaints is Heidi Colledge 01912165508,hope it saves you waiting time with the cost of the calls, we were always phoning them up BEFORE we went to make sure on quite a few things as we had 3 families with illnesses and their response BEFORE was really reasuring but what a difference when we got there.

[M,K,R&R]

Thanks Sands, much appreciated. I'll make a note of those details.
I wonder if the person answering the forum on this page is officially representing FD.uk. I have my doubts that a reputable company would engage in what could only be described as tit-for-tat exchanges. I have working in customer service for 25 years with a number of reputable companies, and I cant think of any of them that would hold a public debate on a forum with a customer that they had let down and failed time and time again. Most would provide the details and contact number of the right person to speak to and invite direct contact to resolve the issue. My link on this thread was ended 26 June, and was probably all but forgotten. By opening it up again they have engaged several other subscribers, (some of whom also have a grievance), and some competitors too no doubt. Great idea!
Their replies on this forum I feel have done nothing to address the problems I had. I agree, whilst they have he right to respond in whatever format or forum they want, I am of the opinion that their time would be better spent dealing with any other outstanding customer issues they might have, if as their first post suggests, they taking on extra staff, extended hours etc to deal with the backlog. That is of course only MY opinion!

[scottygirl]

I have just returned from my holiday booked by Freedom Direct and we didn't get what we booked and paid for either. We booked the holiday in January and despite my constant phone calls, emails and finally my recorded delivery letter to them they made no attempt to resolve my problem prior to my departure. Having returned I am now preparing a further letter to Freedom Direct and a letter to ABTA.

I think it's a disgrace that they are posting on this forum trying to make out that they are making improvements to the company. They should be spending the time doing their jobs properly and not reading the reviews on this site !!

I would advise to stay well clear of this company. We could have booked all 3 elements of our holiday ourselves and at least then we would have known exactly what we were getting instead of trusting them to book it for us.

[M,K,R&R]

Nightmare! Sorry to hear that. We travel tomorrow. Watch this space. Will update link on return, (hopefully all will be good news) by 5th Aug.