Excel Airways > Reviews > A super nightmare

Author's product rating:   

Food Quality	Satisfactory
Customer Service	Very unhelpful
Punctuality	Awful
Space	Terrible
Value for Money	Poor

Advantages:	We arrived home safely .
Disadvantages:	Too numerous to mention .

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

On the 25/07/05 we booked a 14 day holiday to the Dominican Republic with Thomas Cook. Although we had paid extra to pre-book our seats there was total confusion at Excel Airways check-in at Gatwick Airport. We checked -i n and Excel Airways staff failed to put a security tag on one of two suitcases. We noticed it and told him the suitcase would get lost. We asked to speak to a supervisor. That request was ignored. The plane was delayed 4 hours. We did not receive a bottle of champagne as ordered on the outward journey. When we arrived at Punta Cana as predicted one suitcase was missing. This contained all my wife's clothing and all the clothing for the two boys. We received no assistance at all from the Thomas Cook Rep. Not even a simple Tooth Brush. The return journey was even worse. There were huge arguments between passengers who had pre-booked seats and did not receive them. There was several visible defects on the Aircraft namely condensation dripping from the light units above our seats. The lights kept switching themselves on / off all night. The attendant's bell rang all night due to a fault. Two passengers next to me had seats with broken backs. We could not recline our seats due to the close proximity of the seat rows without injuring the person behind.
Excel Airways initially told us to claim from the Travel Insurance and the claim would be dealt with under the Wasaw Convention. This we have since found out is incorrect. The claim now comes under the Montreal Protocol. Thomas Cook have stated they will only respond to a letter for compensation from a solicitor.
Barclay Travel Insurance initially offered us £117. Then they offered £321. Their final off was £381. This was rejected. Considering we only claimed £443, after deducting £105 for excess and 10% for wear and tear.
I will clearly state we have not received a single penny from Thomas Cook or Excel Airways. It took 5 months to even get a letter from Excel Airways confirming the loss. After 10 months and hundreds of letters we have recived the square root of zilch. The solicitor advised us to cancel the claim, write it off as there was no point pursuing it any further. It would cost us a lot of money on top of what we have alredy lost. The Airline Industry can continue to maintain thier high profit margins. and there was nothing we could do about it. We have dealt with the Insurance Ombudsman, the Air Transport Users Council, Thomas Cook, Excel Airways and Barclays Travel Insurance. Apparently we have to provide receipts for every single item in our suitcase!! I thank god we were not claiming for a far worse incident. Next time you buy a tube of toothpase, please keep your receipt. You never know when you will need it. The solicitor told me next time I travel to write an inventory for every single item, have it photograped and have receipts for every single item. How rediculous has the Travel Industry become?
I believe it was appalling the way we have been treated not to mention traveling on an Aircraft that was not properly maintained.
Please note on the 25/07/05 Gatwich Airport was full of Armed Police officers. The was CCTV everwhere especially since the recent London bombings. Yet a large suitcase can just disappear. That has very serious Security Implications for passengers travelling through Gatwick Airport.

General Comments
I do appreciate you do not receive first class treatment when traveling on Charter Airlines. Having traveled on numerous charter flights around the world, including several from Third World countries. In comparison Excel Airways have failed to convince me they provide a quality service.
From my last experience I find it very hard to believe they have actually received awards!!