Do you book flights or Holidays on-line ? Tell us about your experience

Be exceptionally careful when booking on line. Never press the submit button twice. The software used by on-line booking agencies is extremely poor and is not capable of detecting double bookings. They wouldn't have it any other way! You will be charged twice if you submit twice. Over the recent monthswe have had several cases of travellers fighting to get back their overpayment for duplicate bookings: most have failed! Using a 56k modem, the response after pressing submit may be several minutes. Go and make a cup of tea, do not be tempted to 'try again'.

Consider using Registered Call (follow this link) to record your call to companies taking telephone bookings, particularly for airline seats These are excluded from the principal legislation. The companies record their calls, but these records never seem to be available when they do not support the company position. At the minimum, Registered call provides an inexpensive partial insurance against subsequent misrepresentation of your requirements. Because companies will be warned that the call is being recorded, it may well ensure that you receive better service.

Companies like Ebookers.com can provide an excellent service, if nothing goes wrong. But what happens if your booking does go wrong? How do you get their attention? Unfortunately, we get more complaints about e-bookers than any other company involved in travel and contacting them can be a nightmare. They will do everything to shake you off, ignore your complaint or get you to give up.

Do not let them get away with bad practice. What they sell on their sites is sold by description and you are entitled to get exactly what they describe as being for sale. We started this site as a result of being subject to misrepresentation by e-bookers. After weeks of correspondence, all via recorded delivery, and dozens of telephone calls, we had spent more than £30 on getting matters put right. We are still waiting for the £30 some three years later!

Did you know?

When you call Ebookers 0207 numbers, where do you think you are telephoning - London? Not even close. The consultants with whom you are booking may be called Derek and David, but they are in fact operating in India. This brings economies that are enjoyed by the customer and this is fine, until you get a problem! Do Not bother with the Tottenham Court Road or Gatwick Airport addresses. Tottenham Court Road is a shop where you will get put on hold for ages or where you will get an answering machine from which calls are not returned if they are not about new sales. e-bookers has recently been taken over by an American company and the usual enquiry 'blockers' seem to have disappeared. We are grateful to James Hancock of Gosport for the only piece of up-to-date contact information we have been able to get. He tells us that the current contact is:

Daniel Parsons

PO Box 45568

London NW1 8US

We don't know what has happened to the office manager who was (and maybe still is):

David Baker
E-Bookers, 45-47
Chalk Farm Road
Camden, London NW1 8AJ

Tel: 020 7958 3939
Mobile: 07958 749753 or 07985 667917

If you have a genuine grievance - Don't Give Up! We took up the case of David Fraser who had been issued with tickets that were not in accordance with his requirements. He came to us when he was frustrated that he could not get an equitable resolution of his problem. This is a copy of his e-mail entitled :Incredible

Dear Bob,

After weeks of stalling they (ebookers)sorted me out within 10 minutes of getting
the last e-mail!!!!

Once again, thanks a million for your help, you saved me 24hrs of flying/airports to get back to the same airport for the next onward flight! Not to mention the stress and bitter taste in the mouth.

Best regards,

David

This is sadly, typical of the type of complaints we receive. Rachel (Surname & Address withheld) wrote to us recently about an experience with Expedia. Her e-mail reads:

"I recently booked some flights with Expedia but made the mistake of booking over the phone. I felt I needed to speak to a "real" person as it was quite a complicated booking. On recieving my visa statement I found that I have been charged £100 for "administration cost" although how one phone call and flights for 3 adults and 2 children can jusify £100 costs I don't know. Expedia have told me that I was notified of these costs before booking but there is only a taped message before you get through to an operator which I do not remember hearing. On the web site, if you ask the question it says you will be charged £10 per person but does not say this is on top of the £10 per person admin charge. This I feel is misleading.
I can't believe that Expedia can justify charging this much and get away with it. Had I realised I simply wouldn't have booked over the phone.
Am I able to do anything about this??"

This type of complaint is by no means limited to Expedia. Internet travel companies advertise very competitive prices, are convenient, and there are bargains to be had. However, large numbers of customers end up paying a great deal more than it would have cost them. Moreover, what they are buying can be an inferior product. Many of our complaints are about flight bookings where they have bought a ticket from one of these on-line agents, only to find later that it is subject to quite unreasonable terms and conditions covering cancellation, changes of date etc. The saving on the original ticket may have been 10%, but the end cost can be a great deal more. Be aware of these very restricting terms and conditions before you decide to book.