Flight Centre Travel Group review: Not being told about guaranteed tours and non guaranteed tours

Mary Johnson

Tue, Aug 29, 10:28 AM

to rachael.lochhead

Good Morning Rachael.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us, as requested a list of things that weren't right.

The first and most important

1 We were never told about GUARANTEED DEPARTURES, if we were told we would never have booked and paid $26,000.00

2 Didn't need to go to NewYork. (American Tour Cancelled)

3 Had flights to New York from Cagary and a weeks accommodation booked as that's where we were starting the American tour in New York

4 Had flights from Los Angeles to London (American Tour Cancelled)

5 Didn't know the price of flights from Los Angeles to London as they were all together, so lost all that airfare.

6 Had to Buy new tickets from New York to London about $2888

7 While we were on the Canadian tour we were informed the Turkey tour was cancelled.

8 The refund from the American tour came back on the 26th April one day before we left Australia so no chance to book anything else.

9 As the American tour was cancelled we said could we come home a month early wou;d have lost the air flights and we paid enough for them.

10 As the flights were booked from Australia return we had 25 days to fill in.

11 We had a car hire for England which dates had to be changed

12 As we had flights to Turkey that had to be used otherwise we lost that money.

13 Who wants to spend 6 weeks in Turkey, we had to.

14 We booked a Cruise from Istanbul to Istanbul because we wanted to break the time up, not realising its school holidays, so 800 children and two other people on the boat spoke English, if we did all the tours we wouldn't have had to do a cruise

15 Turkey Refund didn't come back til 22nd June the tour was cancelled on May 17th.

16 Had to find extra money to cover the cost of changes.

17 Two day before we left I asked Blake what happens if the Turkey Tour was cancelled. He said he couldn't see that happening.

17 Extra cost with accommodation in Turkey

18 Not happy with customer passing the buck back to Cost Savers

19 Emailed for an add on to my Insurance as we are doing a Cruise, have not had a reply to this day.

I have to send this now Rachael because every time I read it something else comes up.

Our next Holiday we are looking at is for September /October 2024

A 14 day Safari

Premium Economy

Insurance

Has to Include 6th Oct as its my 80th Birthday

Thank you so much Cliff and Mary Johnson

nd Mary

Inbox

Rachael Lochhead (AU)

Mon, Sep 11, 2:50 PM

to me, Anya

Hi Mary and Cliff,

Thank you for patience while I looked into the details of the below, I wanted to make sure I had looked into everything your provided before replying to you.

I really appreciate you taking the time to provide the feedback on your trip, which has been addressed with the team. Your feedback allows us to ensure we are provided amazing travel experiences for our customers.

I can understand your frustration and apologise that the trip did not live up to your expectations.

As a gesture of Good we would like to offer you a $500 Gift Card for Flight Centre that can we used towards your next trip and hopefully help you get that Safari locked in.

I appreciate you allowing us the opportunity to provided you a great experience on your next booking

Kind Regards

Rachael

Mary Johnson

Mon, Sep 11, 5:25 PM

to rachael.lochhead

Hi Rachael,

Thankyou for the offer, but it falls way short of our expectations.

We are out of pocket a lot more than that, we believe that we are being short changed and request a meeting with you in the next 14days, please bring anybody else if required.

It feels like we have done something wrong ?

All of this problem could have been avoided if the correct information was given to us from the outset back in January this year.

If we cannot resolve this issue satisfactorily we will go further Consumer Affairs might be a start.

Regards Cliff and Mary.

Mary Johnson

Thu, Sep 14, 4:49 PM

to rachael.lochhead

Original Plan

27th April

Fly Gold Coast – Melbourne

Melbourne – Dubai

Dubai – London

Arrive London 28th April

Stay with Granddaughter

12th May

Fly London – Calgary

stay two days before the tour

15th May Tour from Calgary to Vancouver Starts

24th May

Tour finishes Vancouver

Stay two nights after the Tour

26th May

Fly to New York

Stay six nights before the tour

1st June

Tour across America starts

25thJune

Tour finishes in Los Angeles

stay two nights Los Angeles

27th June

Fly Los Angeles to London

27th June til 30th July

Hire car to see family in England.

30th July

Fly Istanbul for the Turkey Tour which starts today

12th August

Turkey Tour finishes

14th August

Fly Istanbul to Dubai

21st August

Fly Dubai to Melbourne

Melbourne to Gold Coast

22nd August

Home.

14th January

Paid Deposit $1210.00

20th January

Paid for the three Tours Canada, America, and Turkey

and Flights between tours

Paid $26.119.00

3rd February

Booked Flights

Gold Coast to Melbourne

Melbourne to Dubai

Dubai to London

London to Istanbul

Istanbul to Dubai

Dubai to Melbourne

Melbourne to Gold Coast

Paid $11397.44

30th March

Paid $6521.45 not sure what that one is for

22nd April

Paid $2886.96to fly back from New York

Paid $292.04 to change the date we fly to Istanbul

Changed Itinerary

27th April

Fly

Gold Coast to Melbourne

Melbourne to Dubai

Dubai to London

28th April

Arrive London and Stay with Granddaughter

12th May

Fly London to Calgary

Stay two nights

15th May

Tour of Canada starts, Calgary to Vancouver

24th May

Canadian tour finishes

Stay two nights

26th May

We had to fly to New York as the flights were booked with the tours on 20th March and were non refundable.

The accommodation was also non refundable Paid $2542

As the tour was cancelled on 29th March and everything was

paid on 20th March

Now we are stranded in New York as the tour was cancelled we wouldn't be in Los Angeles so now we have to buy new tickets from New York to London Cost $2886.96 and no refund for our flights from Los Angeles to London, lost all that money.

We are now back in London Early so have changed the car hire dates to

1st June to 29th June

Where we spent time In England visiting Family

July 29th

With Granddaughter

6th July

Fly Istanbul had to pay extra to bring the date forward

Paid $292.04

Before we left Australia and the Turkey tour was going ahead and we had more time than we wanted, we thought we would like to stop in Athens on the way to Turkey, not possible lose money on the flights, at this stage cant afford to lose any more money.

So with still so many days in Turkey we found a Cruise that would take up some time, did ask Ashlee if she could book it for us, but couldn't, so we booked the Cruise ourselves.

6th July

Had to find Accommodation 10 days

16th July

Istanbul to Istanbul Cruise

25th July Cruise Finished

Had to find 2 nights accommodation

27th July

Turkey Tour

12th August

Turkey tour Finished

Had to find another two nights accommodation

14th August

Fly Istanbul to Dubai

21st August

Fly Dubai to Melboune

Melbourne to Gold Coast

22nd August Home.

Just to answer a few of your questions.

No we didn't arrive in Turkey to do he Cruise the date was changed before we booked the Cruise, we went to Turkey early as we had nowhere else to go, we booked the Cruise as we had too much time in Turkey, when we booked the Cruise the Turkey Tour was still on, I booked the Cruise on 26th April and the Turkey tour was cancelled on 17th May.

While we were in England we found a TurkeyTour that fitted in with our dates, I know Ashlee was looking but couldn't find a tour that went in our dates,or didn't take anyone over 69

We booked the tour on 8th June

We stayed in Turkey as one we couldn't change the flights, and two we found a Tour of Turkey.

We also asked if we could come home a month early but was told we would lose the airfares with Emirates and have to book all over again.

We didn't book any of the alternatives, as one they didn't go across America like we wanted to do and Two the refund from Costsavers didn't reach us til 26th April and we flew out on the 27th, so couldn't afford it as was waiting for over $11.000 to come back.

None of this would have happened if we were told about non Guaranteed tours.

We are retired and open to any dates, we could have changed them for a Guaranteed tour if we had known about them.

I have since read that Costsavers offer a $99 Insurance but wasn't offered that.

Its not always about money, sometime its the way we have been treated and we think we have been treated very badly.

Rachael Lochhead (AU)

Wed, Sep 20, 7:12 AM (12 days ago)

to me

Hi Mary,

Thank you again for providing the extra information. I have taken the time to look through everything and have spoken with the team to confirm timelines and information provided.

Again our apologies that the trip did not meet your expectations. It was an extensive trip, with many moving parts that of course did not fall into place despite everyone's best efforts.

Based on my review of this case, I would like to provide you with a refund for the flight you had to purchase from New York to London once the USA tour had been cancelled - total cost $2872.60. I appreciate this was a genuine unexpected out of pocket expense at the time.

Prompted by the cancellation of the USA tour I can see that you were updated that the Turkey tour was a non guaranteed departure and I understand you made the decision to see what happens and to continue as planned. When the tour Turkey tour did cancel on the 17th May the team provided 3 alternative options for you to consider. At that point, although you were overseas, notice of more than 60 days was given, as such, there was reasonable opportunity to update your plans. I understand you elected to make arrangements independently which was absolutely your prerogative.

I acknowledge that you are a loyal Flight Centre customer and we would love to have the opportunity to provide a more positive experience on your next trip with us. To further show our good faith I would like to increase our previous offer of goodwill to $1000.00 off your next trip with Flight Centre Tweed City.

Thank you again for providing your feedback and allowing us the opportunity to respond. I make this offer in a genuine attempt to resolve the matter and I look forward to your positive acceptance. Please kindly provide your BSB and Account number and I will get the $2872.60 refunded for you as a top priority and a future credit noted on your file with Tweed City.

Kind Regards

Rachael

Good Morning Rachael

Thank you for your email.

I would like to clear a couple of things up that aren't right.

When the USA tour was cancelled you say in your email that we were updated that the Turkey Tour tour was a NON GUARANTEED tour, At no time were we told any of the Tours were Non Guaranteed or Guaranteed tours, from our first visit til our last visit. The Only time we found out about NON GUARANTEED or GUARANTEED tours was from our Costsavers Tour guide on the Canadian tour.

Why would we have paid $26,000 in January and planned the whole trip from start to finish if we thought the tours wouldn't go ahead and why would we book flights to and from the Tours if we had known they might not go ahead makes no sense.

When the Turkey tour was cancelled on the 17th May when we were on the Canadian tour and the team did provide us with alternatives, we did say yes to the first one, but they didn't take people over 69 that's us out as we are 78 and 81. One was for September and we were home in August. We decided to leave it for awhile and maybe find a tour from England which was also hard, we did manage to find one.

It really doesn't matter why we didnt take a tour. The most important thing is If we were told about NON GUARANTEED and GUARANTEED tours we wouldn't be talking to you right now.

As you can tell I am still very angry and upset that our wonderful trip didn't work out as planned, I'm not saying we didn't have a good time, we did ,but we didn't need the stress while on holiday or now.

Mary

Rachael Lochhead (AU)

Fri, Sep 29, 9:01 AM (3 days ago)

to me

Hi Mary,

Thank you for your email, I have sent this off now to be processed for you

Please allow 7 working days for processing

Kind Regards

Rachael

As you can see its not us they are worried about but the new customers, we are still very angry and want the world to know how we have been treated by Flight Centre