you would lose your deposit if you cancel. Not sure about amendment charges- it can be as low as £15 per person- but you'll need to check your small print.

Thanks for your reply, we have paid the holiday in full, wasn't given the option to pay a deposit. I guess I better just cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Thanks again.

Sue x

Try for a move of dates Sue as I doubt you'll be covered. Better to pay the ammendment fee than loose the holiday totally.

Thank you for that Glynis.

I have now spoken to Skybargains and they said that they will charge me 80% cancellation fee, even though it is still almost 13 weeks before we depart, does this seem fair to you? I have checked the booking details and it doesn't state this in them.

I also asked for the amendment fee and they said it would cost us £50pp to amend the flights and £40 to amend the hotel. I asked who was charging this fee and the lady explained that some of the cost was the flight operator/hotel and some was their own costs. I then explained that most hotels don't usually charge any fees if it is outside the 24hr notification period so it must be them that are charging the fee but she didn't know how to answer this.

What can I do or do you think it is a fair charge?

Thank you for your help.

Sue

If you have booked the holiday they should have sent you a confirmation together with a copy of their Terms & conditions regarding the holiday.

Read that and see exactly what it says. Does it differ from what you have been told?

I personally think that the charges are excessive.

fwh

Paying in full 13 weeks before departure is a little over the top. A few years back and at about 8 weeks before dep. the tour op. would expect payment in full. It seems this is now about 10-12 weeks prior to dep.

fwh suggested you read the terms & conditions - wise advice. How did you book ? I presume it was on-line - if so, you will have been asked to "tick" a box stating you've read the t&c's. You probably didn't, not many of us do. So ask Skybargains to provide a copy or look on their site to obtain the details. Remember, the version in place at the moment you booked and paid in full is the version that applies to you so if they've changed the t&c's very recently check that aspect.

Speak with the school. You presumably telephoned them to ask about the exam dates. Would they know them so early ? I'm surprised these exams do not extend into June - even as late as end of June.

I would have sought a written answer from the school before booking a holiday - I've been in exactly your situation ith two kids in the past and hoping to get away before the main school hols start - and prices rocket.

If the school provided written confirmation that your daughter had no exams in your holiday period you could always try getting them to pay your costs

Speak with the school. You presumably telephoned them to ask about the exam dates. Would they know them so early ? I'm surprised these exams do not extend into June - even as late as end of June.

GCSE exam dates are published well in advance and the school would probably have had them at the time but even if they didn't, I would have expected them to advise a parent that booking a holiday for the first week in June was not a good idea in relation to the GCSE exam schedule.

Parents are supposed to have the written permission of the school to remove a child from school during term-time. Did you do this before booking? If you did it will be easier to prove that this was the school's mistake but with eg a phonecall to the school secretary it's going to be harder to prove that you were provided with the wrong information.

I'm a bit out of touch with the English system now but do you know if the Exam Board still does re-sits in the autumn? If they do it might be easier and cheaper to still go on holiday at the end of May and pay the fees for her to take the exam with the re-sit candidates in the autumn.

SM

Smart idea SMa - the resit option. Might also get agreement to sit the exam just before or immed. upon return.

I have a feeling that once the exams period starts the school "year" has effectively finished and there's therefore no problem with removing your child from school - you are not legally obliged to make them attend the exams......I await a teacher correcting me on that point though.

You could have a chat with Ros Sue as Skybargains have put together a package for you ie flight and accommodation. The fee's sound harsh to me ie £90pp.

Give her a ring for free advice on 01922 621114 there may be something she knows that we aren't aware of regarding these charges.

Thank you so much for your support everyone.

I feel this is a lesson for me, I should not have taken the receptionists word for it and although I didn't know that the exams carried on through to June, I should have double checked or indeed had something in writting.

You are right in saying that my daughter can re-sit her exams at a charge and this would be cheaper but not sure this would be fair to her, I would also have to state that she is ill, booking a holiday would not be acceptable and rightly so, therefore I wouldn't want to lie about it. I guess the school won't admit to telling me, they have 6 receptionists and I am not sure which one I spoke to.....silly me, I am usually so cautious, could really kick myself with this one.

I have just emailed skybargains and explained that I feel this charge is excessive as I had given them 12 weeks and 6 days notice.

We shall wait to see what their reply is. I have used Ros before and she was very helpful so will probably give her a ring if need be.

Thanks again for all your help.

Sue

This is the reply I received from skybargains:

Thank you for your email regarding the costs to amend your booking, and please accept my apologies for not replying sooner.

I would like to refer you to the Cancellations and Amendments section of the Important Information at the bottom of your email confirmation which reads:

Cancellation & Amendments

Should you wish to amend or cancel your booking your Tour Operator and Skybargains.co.uk may levy charges. All amendments must be notified in writing. Cancellation charges and amendment fees may differ depending on the date we receive your communication.

I hope that this answers your question and should you wish to go ahead with the amendment please do not hesitate to contact us.

Basically they have you over a barrell, this does not give you specific information and therefore allows them to charge whatever they like, I wrote back and told them this.

I will amend this booking as I have no other choice but I have explained that I would not be using them again and would not recommend them to anyone. I also said I go on a website and will post on there thier comments so that no one else makes the same mistake as I did booking through them.

Thanks again for all your advice.

Sue

I am a little puzzled about this. Yes they can apply charges, but they cannot just do so without a published detail of what the charges will be. They cannot pluck a figure out of thin air.

I know you are stuck on this but I would request a copy of the amendment/cancellation charges that apply. You cannot say that charges will be applied. You have to have a scale.

Being daft, they could say that if you cancel you pay the full charges and another 50%

I would also speak to Consumer Direct on 0845 04 05 06 and ask their opinion.

For the cost of a telephone call you could save some money. As I said before the charges in my opinion do seem excessive.

fwh

Cancellation & Amendments

Should you wish to amend or cancel your booking your Tour Operator and Skybargains.co.uk may levy charges. All amendments must be notified in writing. Cancellation charges and amendment fees may differ depending on the date we receive your communication.

and that is it?????? Surely they must have a scale of fees? If this is all they have in their T&Cs I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.
I'm off to see if I can find anything else.

go to the website and you will find that that is NOT what they have in their booking conditions. I can't give a link here I'm afraid. However, it does use the word "minimum" when talking of charges and does not have a maximum charge. I would not find that acceptable. However, what they do have is that if you cancel with more than 3 weeks notice there is a minimum charge of £50( this was the booking conditions for a flight), and for ammendments it is £30. This is nowhere near 80% of the cost.
You will need to go through a mock booking before you can view them.
I would certainly follow fwhs advice and chase this up

and for ammendments it is £30.

Yet they've told Sue it will be a total of £90pp for ammendment I wonder if whoever spoke to Sue meant total £90 to ammend and not pp?

Glad you feel the same way as me. I'm astonished, I am going to give them a ring now.

Thanks once again

Sue x

Glynis,

There is 4 of us going anyway so this would not work out. The lady did say per person and I even confirmed that by repeating it.

I'm ringing now.

Sue x

This number is unobtainable now, any suggestions?

Fiona,

This is what it says:

Cancellation / amendment charges will apply to this booking once confirmed. The minimum charge applied for cancellation will be £50 or £30 for amendments if the cancellation/amendment is made outside of 3 weeks (21 days) prior to departure. If any amendment or cancellation is made within 3 weeks (21 days) a minimum charge of 50% or £100 whichever is greater will apply to cancellations, however amendments will incur a minimum charge of £30. If any amendment or cancellation is made within 1 week of departure (7 days) a charge of 100% is applicable for cancellations or £50 for amendments (Name changes will incur a fee of £10).

Is this fair?

Sue x