Reader Offers Ltd Reviews
Latest Reviews
★☆☆☆☆
“Dont believe their adverts”
Written on: 05/04/2013 by cascboss (1 review written)
We booked a cruise to Antarctica with ROL 18 months before the trip, we told them them that we would NOT book if flights to Argentina were with Iberia( had previous bad experiences with Iberia). Were told' that's OK flights will be direct with BA or via Paris with Air France' After paying in full we got our itinery, flying with Iberia, rang ROL, told they can't alter flights, if we want to change flights we have to pay again! Reluctantly accepted that was going to be the only way of getting... (read more)
★★★★☆
“An Antarctic adventure”
Written on: 05/03/2013
In June 2011 through ROL we booked a cruise on Celebrity Infinity with a 2 night pre-cruise stay in Beunos Aires, departing UK 31st January 2013. We had plenty of contact with ROL in the intervening months (re flights, excursions in Buenos Aires, and arrival arrangements) so we were confident when we set out. ROL were let down by their agents Condor in Buenos Aires. When we arrived the Condor reps were not conspicuous (wrong colour clothes to that sdvised did not help), excursions were late... (read more)
★★★★★
“KEVIN”
Written on: 13/11/2012
kEVIN WAS MOST HELPFUL. hE LISTENED TO MY QUERIES AND RESPONDED APPROPRIATELY. THE PRODUCT APPEARS GOOD VALUE.I CHECKED ABOUT UNLIMITED DRINKS AND STAR RATING OF THE HOTEL. I HOPE i WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. (read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“stole my money now have changed their name ”
Written on: 20/08/2012 by JohnMay2 (1 review written)
One of the worst companies I have ever dealt with they have the most unreasonable terms and conditions but of course like most I did not find this out until too late. They charged me £3000 Deposit 6 months before sailing my wife was diagnosed with cancer and her only hope was chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy. There was now no way we would be able to take our anniversary cruise. The last thing I expected was hassle from ROL who I have used before but on calling there attitude soon... (read more)
Readeroffers's Response to JohnMay2's Review
Written on: 24/08/2012
Dear Mr May
We are really concerned to read your comments and as the UK's Leading Independent Cruise Retailer we are taking these very seriously indeed. A great deal of effort goes into planning our holidays and we pride ourselves in providing a first class service to our clients at all times therefore having an unhappy client is most unusual.
Our staff are experts in both cruise holidays and providing excellent customer service but it's impossible to comment or help any further without your booking details. We'd really like the opportunity to discuss this further, so please email us at clientservices@readeroffers.travel with your holiday reference number.
Kind regards
The Reader Offers Client Services Team
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Paullesmill's reply to Readeroffers's Comment
Written on: 03/11/2012
I can absolutely believe this about telling your wife to f**k off and die, one of their members of staff called me 'a f**cking paki' because I needed to cancel!! Dispicable company!!
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Lmc75's Response to JohnMay2's Review
Written on: 13/03/2013
Once bitten twice shy with this outfit, Never ever book with them - they take a huge deposit and then you are on your own. A horrible company.
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★☆☆☆☆
“Crooks ROL”
Written on: 24/06/2012 by Lmcb
We lost about £6000 by foolishly booking with ROL - they tell you at very last minute about the 25% deposit scam. Eventually, after suggesting they use an unfar contract they said we could use the deposit at a later date. A year later we tried to use it. Guess what? We couldnt. They are crooks. we now book either direct with cruise line, giving a deposit of around £125 - or with another broker, again taking a sensible amount as deposit. DO NOT FALL FOR the 'last available... (read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“Racist organisation”
Written on: 13/05/2012 by Paulles
I booked a cruise with ROL on a seaborne cruise going to Canada. They took a large deposit 25% over £5000! I thought this was a steep Deposit but they assured me that unless I Booked the cabin would go to someone else and 25% was the standard amount. 2 days later I realised we would not be able to go as it coincided with my daughters wedding. I called ROL and they told me it was full loss of deposit 25% however when I called seaborne they said that they would have only taken a 10% deposit!... (read more)
Guest's Response to Paulles's Review
Written on: 18/05/2012
the canada cruise I booked with ROL was a package they had put together with flights & hotels therefore more than just seabourns deposit was needed. Different obviously if you were arranging your own flights etc
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★☆☆☆☆
“ROL refuse to fix their mistake”
Written on: 13/03/2012
we booked specific cabins on a specific deck on P&O cruise A207 leaving 30th March 2012. Due to an error by ROL, P&O have moved us to different cabins and refused to move us back. ROL have admitted it was their mistake but again refused to help stating "there is nothin we can do". WE have paid £10k for 3 JC grade balcony cabins. My parents are disabled hense the choise of cabins; this could also be their last holiday due to faling health and disabilities. This cruise has taken all their... (read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“Beware huge depositsnwith ROL”
Written on: 17/02/2012 by Lmc75 (1 review written)
We booked a 'cruise of a lifetime' with ROL and were surprised to be asked for a 25% deposit. Being a bit green on cruising matters we foolishly paid it. Some 9 or 10 months before our cruise it became clear that for family personal reasoms we were not going to be able to be away from home for nearly a month. Our cancellation was not covered by insurance. You just try getting a fair response from ROL. we lost nearly £5000! They were extremely intransigent and would not allow us to... (read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“Book directly it could be cheaper”
Written on: 23/01/2012
We saw an advertisement for a cruise in the Daily Mail and decided to book it. When I received the invoice the booking details from cruise company were included. From this I learned that the cruise company wanted a deposit of £300 and full payment 8 weeks prior to sailing. These details had been overwritten by Readers Offers who demanded a £500 deposit and wanted full payment 18 weeks before departure. To see what benefit I was getting for these unfavourable terms I simulated the same... (read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“MSC cruises booked via ROL”
Written on: 29/06/2011 by manolito (1 review written)
We booked a cruise with ROL on MSC ship Opera to Norway.Confirmation that we had a guaranteed balcolny cabin leaving June 12th 2011. ROL rang June 3rd blaming MSC that the bacolny cabin was not available and offering a downgrade cabin!! We have written numerous letters to Jeremy Dickinson (ROL) and Steven Moffett (MSC) no replies forthcoming.ROL refunded our cruise money,MSC have yet to refund excursion money paid for in February. The buck passing between ROL and MSC with neither accepting... (read more)
See next 10 reviews
Showing 1 - 10 of 23 Reviews
★☆☆☆☆
“Be careful when using this company, they are NOT a...”
Written on: 12/03/2011
Be careful when using this company, they are NOT a Tour Operator OR a Travel Agent but are basically a selling organisation who operate satisfactorily when you are able to keep tabs on them and your holiday goes according to plan, but they are not equipped to help when things go wrong. I found their documentation to be incomplete and when I asked for and received the rest for the paperwork, on checking it I found it to be wrong - the attention to detail was a problem. When things go... (read more)
Lmc75's Comment
Written on: 17/02/2012
They are a nightmare when you have a problem, and try getting money out of them. Impossible. Book direct if you can, we found Celebrity X great to deal with and only £125 non-refundable deposit, with balance due just few weeks before sailing.
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★☆☆☆☆
“to supporters of ROL (Reader Offers Ltd) - wait until...”
Written on: 24/09/2010
to supporters of ROL (Reader Offers Ltd) - wait until you get a problem! After hard-sell I did book paying nearly £4000 deposit. Family problems mean we cannot take our cruise, unfortunately. But with 148 days to go they claim they cannot transfer my deposit to another holiday, they claim they cannot refund flights, airport taxes or hotels. And to add insult to injury they cannot even tell me the airline they have allegedly booked. One member of staff tripped up and said it was still... (read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“I have booked a cruise on the Independent of the Seas,...”
Written on: 05/09/2010 by alexanderreed (2 reviews written)
I have booked a cruise on the Independent of the Seas, for 10th December 2010
unfortunately due to a situation out of our control, we need to cancel, my deposit of £568 IS A LOT OF Money to lose. it says in Booking Conditions 1.10
that £150 per person is forfeited, which I accept, I have emailed Readers offers, but my emails are returned, within a day, I have tried two different
email address, and both have failed. I would have booked again, if the service
from Readers Offers was reliable, I...
(read more)
L Mccabe's Response to alexanderreed 's Review
Written on: 29/09/2010
I found this review very helpful because...it echoes our experience!
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★☆☆☆☆
“Further to my last review I would like to report that...”
Written on: 11/08/2010 by lennard23 (1 review written)
Further to my last review I would like to report that I have now received my deposit back but minus £79.92p. No explanation given and so I am now actively trying to get the remainder back as the MD agreed that we should have a full refund. So OAP partial victory - don't let these companies bully you - ask to speak to the MD and rattle the cages of anyone that you can and then you might win!! Good luck.
p.s. I would never deal with this company again.
(read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“I booked a cruise having seen a full page advert for...”
Written on: 15/07/2010
I booked a cruise having seen a full page advert for Reader Offers Ltd in Telegraph which looked like the most perfect cruise but when a friend booked as well she discovered that we were not entitled to at least 2 of the major selling points (Business class flights and door to door chauffeur service)because we, as OAPs had booked the cheapest cabin. This was never discussed/pointed out when they were taking my money and when challenged a few days later they have passed me round from dept to... (read more)
Guest's Comment
Written on: 15/07/2011
clearly if you read the advert properly it states that the added value is applicable to certain grades only, this is your error not the companies I find their service exceptional always
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★☆☆☆☆
“ROL are purely a sales outfit with little or no...”
Written on: 28/05/2010
ROL are purely a sales outfit with little or no service backup. They do not answer letters and keep changing their email address so force customers to rely exclusively on telephone contact, with the usual delays and lack of permanent record.
Examples: They could not tell me the boarding time for the start of our expensive (£10,000+) holiday and I only discovered that the hotels were room only by accident. One agent told me to expect the tickets between 4 and 6 weeks before departure...
(read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“We booked a trip to South America, The Falklands and...”
Written on: 27/02/2010 by Lion TP (1 review written)
We booked a trip to South America, The Falklands and Antarctica with ROL. We received our confirmation which included advice to ring them for visa requirements. We rang and were told to contact the relevant embassy.
When our tickets arrived, 5 days before we were due to travel, the baggage allowance was left blank and there was a note to say that there was a reciprocity flight fee for Argentina. We rang the office again and were told to ring the airline for the baggage allowance and they had...
(read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“I would agree with the overall comments. I am a...”
Written on: 25/02/2010 by nssrac (4 reviews written)
I would agree with the overall comments. I am a disabled passenger and have had little or no support from this company except the usual 'it is out of our hands' once they get your (non refundable) deposit. Tonight I find that a senior booking manager is 'off' sick who was supposed to be dealing with our problem and the last customer service manager who arranged our cabins and disabled problems has 'left the company'. We have had no communications advising us of these factors. The one... (read more)
★★★★★
“Having read some of the comments I cannot believe they...”
Written on: 11/01/2010
Having read some of the comments I cannot believe they are talking about the same Company. I would not deal with anyone else, the service and help has been totally excellent from the first contact we made with ROL. We speak from experience having done the 2008 Aurora Round the World voyage plus three other cruises all superbly arranged through this Company. We have dealt with a number of Consultants who have been all as good as each other, nothing was too much trouble and telephone calls... (read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“SERVICE IS OK FOR BOOKING BUT BEWARE - ONCE YOU HAVE...”
Written on: 07/10/2009
SERVICE IS OK FOR BOOKING BUT BEWARE - ONCE YOU HAVE PAID YOUR NON-RETURNABLE DEPOSIT THATS IT. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUERIES/DISPUTES THEY DO NOT ANSWER YOUR E-MAILS OR LETTERS AND REFUSE TO DEAL WITH THESE ON THEIR BOOKING LINES - CUSTOMER RELATIONS - FORGET IT !! (read more)
See next 10 reviews
Showing 11 - 20 of 23 Reviews
★☆☆☆☆
“these people take your money and do nothing for you...”
Written on: 30/09/2009
these people take your money and do nothing for you once they have it. Make a complaint and you become a nuisance, I will not deal with Reader Offers again (read more)
★★☆☆☆
“ROL did not respond to either my phone calls or emails...”
Written on: 13/01/2009 by chidham37 (1 review written)
ROL did not respond to either my phone calls or emails regarding the booking.They have a recorded message service which allows you to leave a message and they should then call back. They never called back. You can get through to the booking line but these agents will not deal with queries. This makes it very difficult to plan essential matters such as pre or post cruise hotels (read more)
★★★★★
“Contact was through a national number and not an 0870...”
Written on: 13/07/2007 by harryarcos (5 reviews written)
Contact was through a national number and not an 0870 number, I avoid 0870 numbers. (read more)
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Lmc75's Comment
Written on: 13/03/2013
Not at all surprised! This company is only good at taking your money - any problems and they don't want to know. A make sure you know how much deposit you are paying - you can book direct for the same price for around £100.
This merchant ROL want 25%.
Cascboss's Comment
Written on: 05/04/2013
couldn't agree more, just wish we knew before we booked our one and only trip with them