This is my experience of Holiday Gems..... how would you feel if you paid in full for your holiday 5 months previously then when you got there the accomadation had not been paid for and the hotel refuse to give you a room until they had payment. This is what happened to me,my daughter and 5 yr old grandaughter, read below.....................

i went on holiday to egypt last october with my daughter and grandaughter, when we got there the hotel had not been paid for, even though the holiday was paid in full 5 months earlier. the hotel refused to give us a room untill i had handed over my debit card (i dont have a credit card) so they could get there money if i could not get the holiday company to pay up.

The contact number in resort would not answer and i had to call the uk holiday company for advise. Tthey could not do anything at that time and promised it would be sorted the next day. The hotel had no sympathy and clearly stated that no payment,no room. I had no choice but to give the hotel my card details but unknown to them i had not got the money in the account to pay for the hotel but they promised no money would be debited until the end of the holiday giving the holiday company time to pay up and if they had not recieved payment then they would debit the full cost of the stay.

The next day and for every day for 5 out of 7 i had constant calls back and forth to the uk with the holiday company and the contract company that they used to book the hotel to get someone to pay for the hotel that had been booked and paid for by me 5 months previously. I used all my holiday spending money to top up my mobile and i have documented evidence in a mobile phone bill that all the calls cost me £152. I had to pay for made and recieved calls and my bill as you do when you are abroad. Every day for 5 days we were locked out of our room because the hotel had not recieved payment resulting in having to go back to reception and update them on where the payment was for the room we had and to then call back to the uk to ask them why for another day had it not been paid and we had been locked out of our room and not able to access our belongings.(by locked out i mean we had an electronic card which they only activated for 24 hours at a time, after that it would not unlock the hotel room door)

i complained and sent documented evidence of every call and event that happened on a daily basis and the destaught we went through for 5 days because i had no idea what the egyption hotel would do if at the end of the holiday when they tried to debit the card and found that there was not enough funds to cover the cost. I had my daughter and 5year old grandaughter with me. This was a special holiday as i had saved for over a year so we could all go away together and had booked it at this date as it was my granddaughters 5th birthday whilst away and 1st holiday abroad and i had gone 2 years in remission from cancer. we were so looking forward to a holiday for both these reasons and to spend 5 days with not knowing if we were going to be able to ever leave egypt if the holiday company had not paidand i could'nt was so traumatising. After only3 days i was praying to that i could get my daughter and granddaughter home safe and sound.

I recieved notification that they had recived this complaint in november but since then nothing i have sent another recorded letter in february and made and documented 3 calls and the company are just ignoring me and not responding to what i have complained about. I have names of both of the people i spoke to from there companies and whilst talking to them while i was abroad both were appologetic and constantly informed me my mobile bill would be refunded as this was there problem and my mobile bill documenting there phone numbers and cost per call both to and from my mobile.

I have been advised by a solicitor that i should take Holiday gems to court and make a 100% claim back for my holiday nightmare at the very least. I have all my documentation and evidence to back up my claim and with the internet i can let the world know what can happen if you book a holiday with them and how they treat2 women and a small child left in a foriegn country.