Holiday Gems - www.holidaygems.co.uk
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Holiday Gems - www.holidaygems.co.uk
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User Reviews
Quoted A Good Price, Then Significantly Increased.
I booked a package holiday through Holidaygems. They then phoned me unexpectedly to 'confirm the details' but also increased the price by a significant amount without offering a reasonable explanation and I felt that they put me under pressure to agree or risk losing my holiday booking. The eventual cost is a lot more than booking the hotel, flights and transfers separately and I feel completely ripped off.
After the call I also noticed that the original website and email confirmations do not include any pricing.
I would not recommend Holiday Gems as it feels like a sham, I wish I had avoided them and booked directly (and will do in future).
Hello, many thanks for your review and we’re sorry you feel we did not meet expectations especially since you readily agreed to the increase. To clarify, the holiday booking was a package and therefore if it is increased for any reason that is offered to you. There is no pressure to continue, and we must strongly refute that there is any scam. When you place your order you see the offer price so know the original amount and when ticking to accept the terms and conditions as you did, you agree you are aware of the process. The additional amount was not payable until your balance is due. However, to remind you, our booking system relies on live feeds from our suppliers, brokers and airlines we are unfortunately not in control of momentary price changes, fluctuations or changes in availability provided by the same and whilst the vast majority of bookings will be confirmed without issue, we, along with many other well-known Tour Operators in the market cannot be held responsible whereby these changes affect our ability to confirm travel arrangements. In your case we can see this is exactly what happened. When you make a booking with us and prior to the point of actually confirming the arrangements for you, we “ring fence” the amount from your payment method although and critically, we do not debit your payment type and it is only held within your account until the point of us confirming your chosen arrangement and ourselves obtaining the relevant confirmation codes from our suppliers, brokers and airlines. Should we not be able to confirm your arrangements, your order is passed to one of our sales agents who will then investigate and try their utmost to provide you with an identical or near-matched arrangements and we will offer this to you. It is then up to yourself to proceed or not with the new arrangements. If you do not wish to proceed, we cancel your order down and release the “ring fence” amount for you. We also note in your case, you decided to proceed with the alternative and your payment type was therefore debited. Please note, our sales agent will always try to obtain the same, similar or cheaper pricing for any alternative arrangements found however, this may not be possible as once again, we are simply not in control of pricing, yield changes and availability of our suppliers, brokers and airlines. At all times, we work within strict company guidelines and always with your interests at heart. We would also like to mention that further details of the aforementioned are listed throughout the website in our Terms and Conditions to which you duly ticked when you made your online order with us
Hotel Vistamar Pierre & Vacances
We decided to go halfboard at a 4 star hotel for covenience,this is NOT a 4 star hotel.
The room was clean and adequet, the staff helpfull and friendly.
Breakfast good with plenty of choice, but the eve ning meals,poor selection and no signage to tell you what it was(and the chef not speaking english) lots of fish, no red meat just pork or chicken so salads were your only option.
We eat out a few times but the nearest resturant was a 15 minute walk and the nearest beach 20 minutes walk away.
In your room there was NO tea and coffee facilities or phone. The pool and bar were across the road as was the dining area not in the same complex. Very quiet with no bars or shops nearby. Overall not a 4 star as we have stayed in many over the years.
We would definatley not reccomend this hotel and will not be returning as it is not as the depicts.
Hello Sitruc, we are sorry that the hotel did not meet your personal expectation after choosing it to book. The property own website shows it is 4 star and if you booked online on our own website, you will have seen in the terms and conditions that the star ratings are provided by suppliers so we recommend independent research to ensure a hotel meets requirements. This research includes the location, facilities and perhaps previous reviews. We regret that you were disappointed with your choice. There is formal complaint process both when at the resort and upon return which should have been followed to seek more detailed response.
Avoid Avoid Avoid
Just booked and paid for a holiday over the phone with person.paid in full for the holiday with credit card,less than a minute later he said the holiday is no longer available and I would receive a full refund,they were all apologies.a week later and still no refund!they took the payment in less than a minute.i think I have been shammed by holidaygems,I thought they were a legitimate company.i contacted IATA and they said inform my credit card company and then IATA would deal with it.avoid this company at all costs and I mean costs,I am £600+ out of pocket.
Left At Hotel No Transport For Flight Home Had To Pay £110
Paid for shuttle to and from airport as part of the holiday, on return morning no coach turned up. We ended up having to pay £110 for a taxi to the airport or we would of missed our flight. Company did nothing to help and we have not heard a thing from them after 3 weeks. Stay clear or you too could be left stranded and no one answering phones when you need them.
Be Aware
I booked my holiday originally 430 pound per person, after 48 hours I received a email stating an advisor needed to speak to me. No other information was added , nobody had tried to call me even though they had my number. The next day I rang when they told me due to a system lag my holiday was no longer available and they would offer an alternative 1 star less and I need to pay an extra 180 pound per person. I told them this was ridiculous and at the very least expect to be offered an alternative for the same stars at no extra cost , giving that the lag was their issue therefore they need to absorb.
To which they told me they would ring me back, came back with a different cost of 80 per person and every time I speak to her the costs can change by hindered of pounds… ball…t. To which I said no , after around 8 phone calls of being put down to wait whilst they spoke to their manager. They called me and offered me the lower star accommodation at no extra cost and that they had booked it. At no point did I agree to booking this. To which I was told I should ring customer services because the lady on the phone thought that’s what I wanted. After days of ringing and emailing I was told I had “confirmed” this booking and they would not be refunding my money. After many emails sent asking for solid evidence of my “confirmation”. I was told I would only be able to receive this for £10 and would take 30 days. After I categorically told them I was not going on this holiday as they had booked without my consent. They failed to let the accommodation know I wasn’t going and I was being bombarded with emails with where are you.
No Good Support Once They Have Your Money
1- Fist time holiday with HolidayGem was good without any issue, but second time when I booked with them and paid in full. Next day they called me and asked for another £189 saying the prices have changed.
2- When we asked for cancellation due to some issue with visa, they refused to pay back. When we asked for change of dates or destination, the also refused. When we asked for change of some names in the booking, they tried to charge us double the price Airline was charging.
3- When we asked them to change few people name on hotel booking, first they said that they have send email to their supplier, later on when we were at destination, they send an email saying their supplier has not accept name change and we need to make new booking with them. At the end we had to make new booking with the hotel and all paid money was wasted.
4- Their transport in Sharm El Sheikh is very bad. On our returuned they send a message the they will pick us 3 hr 45 minutes before flight departure and I send back a message that this is very early and we want them to pick us up 3 hours before departure time. The driver still come very early and they ignored my message. When we said to wait for us 15 minutes, he left without saying anything. When we called, they said they will only come back if we pay 600 more. They know that you have no other choice and will miss the flight, so they charge you double for what you have already paid.
Took £1754.00 For A Holiday That The Flights Had S
Took £1754.00 for a holiday that the flights had sold out before they could complete. Offered a full refund but 3 weeks later had only paid back half, Having mad countless calls to customer services I am still almost £1100.00 out of pocket a month later. Charlatans the lot of them . I am about to send out court claims to the Directors. Don’t use them. And I am prepared to stand by this.
Melody thank you for your review, it would appear that this is a very isolated case of your booking record not having been administered properly but it is now dealt with and full refund given. We most sincerely apologise for the delay and once again we regret your experience which has also been conveyed in a call from our sales manager.
Great Communication
Having had a bad experience with another holiday provider he made this one very simple and easy ????
Fabulous Team
I booked a last minute holiday, mistake made with the rooms. Holiday Gems were fab. Sorted my booking, he was amazing, sympathetic to my issues. Re booked as I wanted. Soooo, grateful and very happy with service. Thank you, Thank you.
Avoid Holiday Gems
Booked a holiday to Tunisia.
Flight delayed 5hours.
Informed Gems while in UK to make sure transfer aware.
Got there at midnight no transfer only TUI reps and one taxi driver.
Called emergency number told to call transfer company ourselves.
Very helpful taxi driver tried to find our transfer but nowhere to be found.
He then took us part way to resort and we changed taxis with his mate who dropped us at resort.
Contacted gems to be told we must have been a no show, so how were we in Tunisia?
Made a complaint they have now told us the transfer company were waiting for us.
The airport was deserted.
It cost us £40 for the taxi but did not get to resort till 3am.
They would not even refund the £9 that the 3 minute call cost to the emergency number.
We are a couple in our 60's and we were left high and dry by Holiday Gems.
Avoid at all costs and stay with the named companies instead of these confidence tricksters.
Your process involves us contacting the supplier at great cost to phone them.
After midnight after a 5 hour delay nobody but us and TUI passengers and reps plus one very helpful taxi driver kin the area.
The process is basically self service but not mentioned in the booking when the money was taken.
What service did we pay for?
Your emergency number told us to sort it ourselves!
We weren left high and dry once out of the UK with no assistance whatsover.
Forgot to mention that Holiday Gems had the transfer booked for the wrong airport up until 3 days before we flew?
Go figure what sort of service you will receive.
Stick with the real travel companies at least there is someone to hekp you in times of need should you require it
Hello we are disappointed you place this review since upon investigating we did discover that you had not followed the correct process to receive your pre booked transfer when you could not locate it. Under the circumstances, we are unable to refund the costs you describe as the service was available to you. We must strongly refute your comment about being confidence tricksters, we sympathise that you overlooked the requirements but there was a clear process in place to receive the service you paid us for and neither ourselves or the supplier are found to be at fault and warranting reimbursing you.
Q&A
When booking Ryan Air flight there is an option for Priority boarding with carry on luggage what does that optio give you? Do you get extra carry on as well as the one small bag?
Can I request an outer seat? I have a hip problem and I need to stand up frequently and don’t want to disturb people having to passover them.
Looking at hols to Turkey, there is no mention of baggage allowance/cost and no option to add it on. How do I know if it’s included please?
Is baggage included?
No, baggage is not included and Holiday Gems have a rather convoluted way of arriving at the final price for a holiday that tends to add quite a bit more to the initial cost. Baggage can be added later in the booking process but it is rather hard to find. Having said all that, I would personally give Holiday Gems a wide berth if you are in any way concerned about getting a timely refund if things go wrong. I was expected to wait over 6 months before I could even start the process for a refund. In the end I claim the money back through my credit card. Beware.
They do not show luggage prices. I am deaf, Icannot use phone need to sort it out. Can anyone help?
why can't I use my credit voucher to book another holiday. I have tried to book a future holiday to Spain using Vueling and have been told they cannot book the holiday
Is it usual for a representitive of Holiday Gems to phone if you fail to complete an order?
They will ring to see if you have a problem with the holiday you are looking at and if you have found the holiday cheaper somewhere else they will price match it.
I am wanting to put baggage through on their site. How do I do this?
I emailed them, asking if hold baggage was included in the final price I had obtained online. Someone got back to me with a price including hold luggage, saying that a few suppliers on their website did include hold luggage in the price. The email answer also contained a telephone number which I used to ask additional questions.
Holiday Gems were very helpful.
Can anyone tell me please if there is normally a vast difference in cost when holiday gems get in touch with you? Also, I'm assuming you are not commited to buy unless you are happy with final costing? Thank you
yes there will be a price rise and you may even find your accommodation has not been booked when you arrive in the resort leaving you stranded as they done with with my cousin last year AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE would be my advice
I am trying to book a holiday with Holiday Gems online however I can not find anywhere to add luggage into my holiday final total. Please could you inform me when this option comes into effect so I can book the holiday before the price changes?
do not book with this company, go on tripadvisor and google them. avoid!
Hi I was thinking of applying for a sales job and the email address that is on the site bounces back, any idea where to send it to?
could try admin@holidaygems,co.uk