Online travel agents attracting customers with too good to be true budget deals have been found guilty of inflating prices and demanding further additional payments, calling customers after they have made bookings demanding more money under the threat of canceling their bookings just hours after they have been made.
The most common sales tactic used by these companies include the sale of unnecessary add-ons. A company named Gotogate is one of the worst offenders according to the recent findings, with a list of 11 “extras”. Two of which are their platinum support package costing £19.90, guarantying customers will have their queries responded to quickly, and a bag tracking service through a company called Blue Ribbon costing £9, however, this can be purchased directly from Blue Ribbon for just a mere £3.80.
Gotogate openly promotes their add-ons claiming “Our business is based on offering our customers the cheapest available airfare. We offer several add-on products, so they can customise their trip.”
These add-ons consist of offering to arrange your ESTA US visa for a fee of £39, should you do this yourself direct the visa will cost just £11.
Please be warned that the suspect tactics don’t just apply to extras. One holidaymaker named John Clow used Gotogate to book a flight to India which was almost £200 cheaper than any other company he had looked at.
Upon his arrival at the airport, the airline, Thomas Cook informed Mr. Clow that his ticket was invalid informing him that they had notified Gotogate that there was a problem with the ticket at the time of booking.
To Mr. Clow’s horror upon contacting Gotogate they initially refused to accept any responsibility, nor did they offer to help him find an alternative flight. However, Mr. Clow stood his ground with Gotogate and demanded a refund, which eventually he was offered, unbelievably the company paid back Mr. Clow his monies, minus £17 which they claimed was the “refund fee”. Mr. Clow was not accepting this and made a further claim to which the company did eventually accept liability, stating that it had made a mistake “due to human error“. The company refunded the cost of the second flight and issued compensation of just over £300.
When Gotogate where asked to comment they replied, “We have many customers and, of course, make mistakes now and then. When that happens, we try to correct the mistake as soon as possible and compensate if necessary.”
Another consumer who booked an urgent flight to Canada through the Checknfly, meanwhile, was sent a message the following day asking her to call and confirm her flight. When Mrs. Hughes did so, she was told that if she didn’t pay a further £79, her flight would be canceled. The client was in absolute shock and dismay and refused to pay the required amount. When the client questioned this, the company said that the price had increased by £160 whilst making the booking. The company responded to the consumer saying “We were ready to bear half the loss and that you pay the other £79 in order to secure the flights. When you refused we had no alternative but to process a full refund back onto the card you paid from.”
We advise all travelers to research companies thoroughly before parting with any money and always opt for well-established reputable companies, prices that seem too good to be true often are!!
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk