Simpson Travel - www.simpsontravel.com
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Simpson Travel - www.simpsontravel.com
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User Reviews
Still Waiting For A Response From Simpsons After 3 Weeks
After a very poor holiday to casa Theodora in Corsica and speaking with Simpsons travel, I am still waiting for a response from the customer services department. I spoke to them the first week I returned to the UK and some 3 weeks later still zero response after I was informed that the matter would be discussed with the customer services Director.
I would not recommend this travel company to friends or associates, they have demonstrated a very poor attitude to a customer with a genuine complaint after over selling a property which fell far short from the description.
Simpsons travel have not demonstarted to me in anyway that they have taken my complaint seriousely, the very least I would have expected is an update.
They have much learn about customer service.
Not Interested In Holiday Feedback
I can only agree with the comments from the other low starred reviewers. we had a problem on holiday re a strong, unidentified chemical smell in the annexe bedroom building of the villa. we spoke to the rep at length and as the source of the smell remained unclear, we would not use the room. we were not willing to take any health risks, espec as my daughter suffers from eczema and has anaphalaxysis, so highly sensitive. A report was written to the boss by the rep regarding the situation. on our return we were not contacted for feedback, just received am automated holiday questionnaire. then we initiated e mail correspondence with Simpsons who were dismissive and disinterested in our opinion or point of view on the issue . having read the report there are areas of it we disagree with entirely. we felt we were not given any interest or credence. would never use again. very insulted to be offered a hamper when we requested a portion of the accommodation price back to cover the cost of a bedroom that was unusable in our opinion.
Great Company
I would like to thank Simpsons Travel for both a very good holiday and also for helping out so much with my lost luggage (laptop).
The villa and the holiday rep were of the highest standard and everything ran like clockwork.
On travelling back I managed to leave my laptop on the boat and Simpson's dealt with everything and it was returned within 1 week. The communicated through and called me daily with an update. This service was more than expected and as such I would use Simpson's travel again.
Not Worth £5500.00
We book last minute with simpson executive travel angi estate jasmine villa in corfu. Looked great in the photos. When we got there we where meet by the simpson agent who pointed us in the direction of the simpson car rentals and told me to phone her when we reached the villa, so she could tell the cleaner to open the gates. Our rental car was terrible and the central locking didn't work. When we arrived at the villa we received a welcome pack, which was great. On seeing the villa I was disappointed how small it was only a two seater sofa to sit on. The pool area was lovely and the view amazing. The tv in the living area had only one channel working and the two tvs in the bedroom didn't work .. I text the rep. And told her she replied . "Have you checked as I had them fixed I rang the estate manger who confirms they are working " ... They weren't ! I told her we could only get sky news and the other tvs didn't work .. I had no further reply from her and never seen her the whole week... This was a disappointing villa for the amount of money we paid ... Not impressed with service
Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback in reference to your recent holiday at The Agni Estate Jasmine in Corfu. Please accept my sincerest apologies for your experience as it is clear that on this occasion we have failed to meet the standards we set ourselves as a company.
At Simpson Travel we pride ourselves on the use of quality, reputable car hire agents. I am sorry that your vehicle did not reflect these standards. This is something that I personally will be looking into with our supplier on the island.
Furthermore, I would like to apologise for the issues you encountered with the TV in the property. We will ensure that this matter is not repeated and that all technical appliances within the property are fully functioning.
If you would like to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact me. Once again, thank you for your feedback and I hope we have the opportunity to restore your faith in Simpson Travel in the near future.
Sean Carroll
Customer Service Manager
Simpson Travel
Thank you I think I will .. Our hire car was useless the central locking didn't work and their rep may as well not been there , she made us feel that we couldntsay how we felt and was no help .. Not a great first experience with Simpson travel , other agents where more helpful.. We paid a lot of money !
We booked with them on 2 occasions, to Corsica and Turkey. Once the rental car was filthy and we asked them to change it, which they did at the airport. I think that if I were not happy with the villa and paid what you paid, I would have insisted on them offering me alternative accommodation. Our experiences with Simpsons Travel has been very accommodating agents. I would ask to speak to the boss about your experience now you are back!
Beautiful Corsican Holiday
Simpson Travel were excellent in organising my holiday to Corsica. The flight from Heathrow with BA is at a good time in the morning and very convenient. We were met at the airport by the very friendly and helpful representatives, who directed us to the car hire desk where we picked up our car for the short drive to our villa. The villa was amazing, in a beautiful rural setting with the sound of the birds and braying donkeys to keep you company and the neighbouring villas were far enough away to give a sense of privacy. The villa had everything you could have needed, fantastic pool with views over the countryside and was very modern with all the comforts of home. We chose to eat in several nights using the BBQ, as well as venturing out to the local restaurants for delicious Corsican meals. The beaches in the south west corner of Corsica were more than we could have imagined, we travelled out of the main summer season so they were very quiet, but we were lucky with the weather and it was warm enough to lie on the beach and swim in the sea. I would suggest visiting the towns of Bonifacio and Porto Vechio which have so much to see and the location of Bonifacio on the cliff edge will have you gazing in amazement. It was our first visit to Corsica and I would definitely return.
Unwilling To Accept Genuine Negative Feedback
We had travelled to Crete with Simpson in 2012 and were very impressed with the accommodation, reps, etc and hence didn't think twice about booking with them for a holiday in Corsica in 2013. Sadly our experience on the second trip was not so good.
We stayed in two rental properties. One was beautiful but unfortunately it turned out to lie directly under the flightpath into the airport. As the weekend approached the number of planes increased enormously and on the Friday, Saturday & Sunday there was the constant buzz of planes arriving, some large jets, but mostly small private jets. These were no no more than a couple of hundred feet above our heads. We had a lovely pool but as we had to drive to a beach to find peace we might as well have not had the pool. The other property had clearly seen better days but had been very carefully photographed (or maybe they were very old) to hide a kitchen that was falling apart and a ancient and filthy dralon armchair that no-one in their right mind would want to sit on. The pictures in the brochure of the pool and terrace on that property bore no relation to the reality of an untended, scruffy area in need of maintenance - the furniture shown didn't even exist. Neither property had been properly cleaned and checked - there were still old coffee grounds in the machine (both houses) and in one mould was growing on a colander from old food waste still on it whilst the other had an oven tray that was caked in grease and had clearly not been cleaned in aeons (yuk!). The reps did sort out some issues with missing or broken items, although one of them did so with a pretty poor attitude.
A few days after we arrived home I received an email asking me to complete a questionnaire (this is standard practice with Simpsons). I gave my honest feedback on the good and the bad. A few days later I received another email following up the points I had made and seeking to rebut them. It was quite obvious that they thought we were trying to get compensation for the problems we had experienced - we hadn't even thought of this and had simply chalked it up to experience. What really irritated me was that having asked for our opinions, they weren't really interested. In my view if a business asks for feedback then they have to be prepared for both positive and negative comments and act upon them, otherwise why bother. I was so incensed by the response that I fired off another email. This is the last paragraph from that email:
"I was merely disappointed with our holiday originally but the tone of your response and the casual dismissal of the issues has actually made me angry. I note your offer of a discount, however that would not influence our decision whether to re-book even if the offer had not been so limited in scope. The issue for us is one of trustworthiness, in particular whether the photos and descriptions on your website properly reflect the style & quality of the accommodation on offer. We might have considered another holiday with Simpsons had the response to our reasonable comments been a simple apology or straightforward acknowledgement of the issues. Instead we received a mealy-mouthed defence with a tawdry attempt to blame the customer and to deny or ignore legitimate complaints. The website constantly refers to 'luxury' villas: I am still trying to equate the word 'luxury' with furnishings which included a kitchen on its last legs and a sitting room with a grubby brown dralon armchair (La Vigna Maggiore) and being directly underneath a flightpath (La Vigne). Clearly we have differing takes on the meaning of luxury."
The next email from Simpsons did at least produce a somewhat grudging apology and suggested that in relation to the aircraft noise issue they would amend the property description and ensure that anyone booking was made aware - apparently we should have been told during the booking process but weren't. I cannot comment on whether the issue is now highlighted during booking, but six months later the website description hasn't changed.
The pity is that the mis-handled response to our feedback in the questionnaire they asked us to complete has put us off travelling with Simpson in future. There is no point asking for comments if you only want to hear good things and if you are going to ignore or dismiss the negatives.
That's awful. How hard can it be to answer a simple question? You would like to think that they had a sort of standard-ish pack with variations according to country. It is actually quite appalling that, after having spent a no doubt reasonable sum of money with them, they should just dismiss you. Ultimately all those pesky holidaymakers are paying the wages of these 'customer service' people. I do though know exactly what you mean about being treated as if you had crawled out from under a stone. The email I received from Simpsons following the questionnaire made me feel exactly the same. I really resented (and still do) the strong implication that we were whingers out for compensation - something which genuinely hadn't even occurred to us - because we had the audacity to fill in THEIR questionnaire, which we didn't ask for, honestly. It was that attitude that put me off travelling with Simpsons in future.
The inconsistency is property standards is a real concern. Our first holiday with Simpsons was in a really lovely villa in Crete. We thought it was an excellent holiday, brilliant rep and so we expected similar standards when we went to Corsica. One of the villas did match up to expectations in one sense but was blighted by aircraft noise - if we had been told about this, as apparently we should have been, we would not have chosen to stay there.
The other villa was in need of a refurb. There were so many niggles with that property that indicated maintenance wasn't high on the owner's agenda. We were even told by the rep that the 'cleaner' was an old family retainer/friend and the owner wouldn't use someone else even though there had been complaints before! I am sure it is of benefit for Simpsons to offer accommodation that they know but they need to ensure that the standards are maintained and if the property isn't up to scratch it should be thrown off the programme. Loyalty to the owners of the properties they sell in their packages is all well and good but they need to keep the paying customer at the front of their mind!
As for the reps, the one we had in Crete with Simpsons was excellent, one of the Corsica reps was nice and was helpful. The other (in the villa with the maintenance issues e.g. one of the kitchen cupboard doors hanging off, a filthy old armchair, unkempt pool area full of old dead leaves, patio door lock broken so it couldn't be secured, etc.) just had a bad attitude. I don't think she could believe that we weren't leaping around for joy and no doubt had us down as demanding because we might want to lock all the doors when we were out! We are not by nature 'complainers' and this was the first time we had ever raised issues with a rep in more than thirty years of extensive travelling.
From the response we had from head office after answering the questionnaire that THEY sent to US, I doubt anything was done because they seemed to share this 'everything must be fine because we're Simpsons' attitude. There is still no reference to aircraft noise on the one property and no change to the photos of the other. That says it all to me.
If you are going to pay the premium that a tour operator gets for organising a holiday, in my view the least you can expect is that they can identify high quality properties commensurate with the price being paid, keep an eye on them to ensure standards don't slip and listen to their customers (without attitude) when they have legitimate complaints. If they can't do that, and can't ensure their staff are civil to people asking perfectly reasonable questions, then they don't deserve our business.
Ironically we went back this year to a simply stunning property which we found on a holiday lettings website - we were dealing with the owner, who was going to be staying in the property after us, and who happily answered all our questions. The place was immaculate.
We have just had an excellent holiday with Simpson but I do note your remarks on head office. I telephoned to ask a simple question as to what was available in the welcome pack in order not to duplicate purchases and was greeted with a sarcastic, dismissive observation from someone who obviously was of the opinion I had crawled out from under a stone. I am also now wary from your review that standard are not consistent across properties and service by reps. really useful
If my comments had been taken seriously I would have expected that the property descriptions would have been amended so that other clients could make an informed decision. There is still no reference to the aircraft noise issue at the first property, and the photos of the other are exactly the same as before - including pictures of the pool area complete with furniture that isn't there!
It is very important to us for our guests to share their experiences with us. As mentioned we ask for feedback from everyone returning from their holiday, so that we know which aspects are working well and where we need to improve. We apologise our initial response caused some offence and when there are short comings we do accept responsibility. I would like to reassure this reviewer that their comments were taken seriously at the time and apologise this was not conveyed in a more appropriate manner.
It is very disappointing that the reviewer has been discouraged from travelling with us again in the future, however, if they changed their mind I am confident they would have a much more positive experience. Nevertheless, I wish them all the best in their travels.
Probably The Worst Holiday We Have Had!!
We have travelled for many years with a superb travel company who this year gave up their portfolio. I spent a long time trawling the internet to look for a match to the superb service that for over six years we had received from them. We are not rich, but we save hard for quality holidays. I chose Simpson Travel based on their great website, and being a Watford girl a feeling of camaraderie to the MD's blog.
After lengthy e-mails, we agreed on a 2 week 2 location holiday to Turkey.
One week at the Golden Key on the Bozburun peninsula and one week at the Dalyan River Suites.
I had made it clear that cleanliness was key over anything.
The reception at the airport was superb and the car hire was fantastic. Sadly that was the highlight.
The Golden Key accommodation was filthy and poor to say the least. I have reviewed this on Trip Advisor, what I believe was a balanced review.
The Dalyan was also far below expectations, however the saving grace was the owners desire to please and to try and make your holiday special. Again the review is on Trip Advisor. I am not here to review the property, only to review the agent.
Working in education I spend much time teaching young people about the investment in good customer service. Sadly Simpsons seem to have a strange idea of how to cope and help customers whose holidays have not gone well. Inevitably every travel agent will have dissatisfied customers. Having e-mailed Simpsons whilst on holiday regarding the issues we had faced and having informed the area rep that we wished to complain to the UK, we received nothing from Simpsons other than an e-mail saying our comments had been forwarded and someone would be in contact. On our return and with no response we contacted them again, and still nothing. Indeed it was only when I posted a review on Tripadvisor that they responded,not to me but on Tripadvisor! We were absolutely astounded. I was then promised a response after I sent a shirty e-mail threatening to publish my photos. This was from the MD who in fairnes to him seemed genuine, but informed me his son would respond (in charge of the Turkey portfolio). Sadly the son was in Turkey supposedly following up my complaint, which took about 3 weeks! When he did respond, his suggestion was that we had not been truthful and that we could never agree on what had happened!
Apparently our evidence and endless photos were not enough! Indeed I may as well have had a signed confession from the hotel, it would have made no difference. I guess they have so many satisfied customers that they do not need to listen to those who are upset.
I might add, to give you some perspective of how bad this holiday was, that on our "private transfer" back to the airport, our driver took us on a little trip to pick up a mate, who proceeded to sit next to our daughter and look down her top. Simpsons told us there was no evidence to support this allegation!! Really?!!! Apart from four of us in the taxi and a taxi driver who does not want to tell the truth! Was I supposed to film this? Beyond shocking!
So I guess my point is this....... All the great reviews are fine, but to me what makes a company is how they respond when things go wrong. We all hope our holidays will go well. Sadly, if it goes wrong, then with Simpsons........please expect nothing. Actually after a lot of threats they gave us £400 back off a £4500 holiday (originally £250), but I didn't want their money. I wanted an apology and for them to show us how they can get it right, I wanted them to show us how they really do it. Not free, but with a small discount for the bad experience. Simpsons are not interested in righting wrongs and sadly that attitude eventually will catch up with them. We will never travel nor recommend them and they need to address their customer service! Either way shame on you Simpsons.
I was very sorry that this reviewer remains disappointed with their experiences with Simpson Travel. We had been in contact regarding their holiday during their stay and once they returned, on several occasions.
It is our priority to make sure guests enjoy their holiday and if there is a problem our local teams will do their best to assist and settle any issues. It was our understanding that both hotels responded and resolved the issues the reviewer raised during their holiday. We take customer feedback seriously and the head of our Turkey portfolio investigated the comments made by this reviewer whilst in the country with the hotels and transfer company. It was not suggested that the reviewer was not being truthful and we apologise if this was the impression given.
The comments about the private transfer that the reviewer mentions was not something that we were initially aware of and once we were, was taken very seriously. We took action, investigating and speaking with the transfer company personally.
In our communications with this reviewer we conveyed our apologies and it was not our intention to leave matters unresolved. We believed a satisfactory resolution had been met.
We Have Travelled Twice Now With Simpsons Travel A
We have travelled twice now with Simpsons travel and have found them fantastic on both accounts. The staff are incredibly helpful and the properties stunning! Would highly recommend!
Great Location Friendly Staff
Lovely family hotel and very friendly and helpful staff
Good lay out of rooms if you have children as they have their own space upstairs
Would travel with Simpsons again and if had the chance would go back again.
The hotel did its own boat trips which where fantastic.
Arosmari Cottages Crete
Beautiful cottages and pool communal area, wonderful village with everything you need and great tavernas and bars. Simpsons service couriers etc all top notch, great place for really relaxing break or longer holiday, lots to do around and about. Highly recommend.
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