You can get all the abta guidelines,facts to the law etc on the abta website,i dont know how to set up a link but the site is http://www.abta.com. We contacted them last year after a problem with our holiday,didnot find them particularly helpful as they told us we should proberbly take our case to the small claims court,which we are currently doing.But there information leaflets etc are quite informative.

I had a problem with cruise control last December, as they would not respond i contacted ABTA. They sent conformation that they had recieved my letter and a refrance number, i rang them 2 weeks later to see what was happening, nothing was, and that was the last i heard from them.
They are after all policing thier own members, perhaps helping the customer is not in thier interest.

the tour operator have 28 days to reply.
this reply can just be a letter advising that that they have received your letter, they then have another 28 days to reply again.and the same after every letter that they receive from you, so this process could take some time! however if you have not received it yet you need to keep on that them, as they are breaking the ABTA Code of Conduct.
muzzy

Hi Phil

If you get the letter this week then i would leave it, but if not then you can always go to ABTA as the t/o is in breach of the code of conduct 3.1.

The t/o then gets a letter from abta advising them you have contacted them, and then it just carries on as normal.

Unless they have sent you a holding letter Phil?

This gives us another 28 days to respond if we are unable to at that time.

A miraculous e-mail reply after another phone call! To be fair to the girl on the end of the phone she was at least polite and sent me a copy of the letter I should be recieving in the post with a holiday voucher.

After that holiday I will not be using that company again so it is worth zero to me and I see it as just another way to get more of my hard earned cash off me!

If they have up to 28 days to reply to each letter ( as I will not be giving in to their tactics) then it is going to be a long process.

Bad press...as I can post up my experiences and name the company who let me and others down so badly on here and other forums and sites etc and also see if "holidays from hell" are interested in the photographic footage we all have between us cant I?

Thanks for the replies and any more advice will be gratefully recieved!

You can post whatever you like but do consider that you are also laying yourself open to legal action. It cuts both ways. You are entitled to sue them for whatever grievance you may have. They also are entitled to sue you if you post something defamatory. You also put this or any other site in jeopardy when you do so. It may take some time but you are into the complaints system and I would suggest that you follow it through. If you are successful in your action then you can post details of your complaint, what action you have taken and the outcome. It does surprise me the things some people put in writing. They do not seem to consider that it can have an adverse effect on them.

fwh

Surely you can give YOUR account of your holiday and if you have video footage of your complaint then how the hell can a holiday company sue for defamatory remarks?

If we are unable to voice our experiences if we have bad holiday then what is the point of this site?

I look at this site as somewhere where I can look at HONEST reviews and would, in the days of package holidays book a holiday accordingly and if there were lots of bad experiences avoid particular properties like the plague!

I also thought that was the point in having the Complaints section of this forum so that people can give their holiday experiences and ask for advice, keep us informed as to what is happening with their complaint should we be in similar positions ourselves or if we want to avoid booking with a particular operator.

Sorry but if you have a valid complaint with proof to back it up I don't see how they could take legal action against you so long as you stick to facts and don't get personal!

Just my opinion!

It's the 'personal' thing that causes the problems and opens the door for libellous actions.

Kath HT Admin

It is not so much what you say that can get you into trouble, as how you word it.

The way that the law on defamation works as I understand it is that you can't be sued for expressing your personal opinion, so long as you make it clear that what you are saying is your personal opinion. So if you were to say, for example, "in my opinion, Ubozak Holidays are a bunch of xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx" they would not have a case for suing you for defamation.

What you can't get away with doing (without some very hard evidence to back it up) is to go around saying Ubozak Holidays are a bunch of xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx, as this implies that it is only your personal viewpoint, but it is also, without question, the truth.

I agree though that when posting on a pubic forum the best option is to play nice, stick to the facts, and try not to lose your cool too much. People viewing the complaints on here will read through the lines and draw their own conclusions, anyway. If you feel the need to rant at length about a particular company and have the evidence to back up your grievance, then set up your own web site and get it out of your system that way.

I wouldn't even say on a public board 'in my opinion' to be honest. The facts are that if you write anything defamatory about a person on a public site and it may affect their earnings ie a company for instance, then that company can sue, not only you but whoever allows it on the website.

Whatever happened to Freedom of Speech?

You are allowed to speak Tis - you just cannot say for example that Smiths holiday company are a bunch of criminals who s cam everyone blind - as this could damage their reputation and further business. Unless of course you have proof that Smiths holidays staff have all spent time in jail for criminal activities.

You may still air a complaint.

Hi Glynis - sorry the way I read your earlier post was that if I was say that Smith's Holidays provided us with a holiday opposite a fully operational building site, with mould on walls and a death trap for a cot and a prat of a Guest Service Manager who's attitude was basically "Tough" when complaint was made, that I could be sued for saying so.

My experience (and yes it did happen with a large tour operator) may well have put others off booking a holiday with them so could they sue me for loss of earnings even tho' I had and still have video evidence of my complaints?

I aired my complaint at the time in the most public manner in an attempt to spread the word about their appalling lack of customer service and I sincerely hope they did lose business as a result.

I wouldn't get personal and say that the Guest Service Manager was a complete waste of fresh air with the brain the size of a peanut and completely lacking in common sense as I couldn't actually prove it, even tho' his actions helped form this opinion

Anyway, message received and understood!