I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack. Be afraid. Be very afraid....
I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack. Be afraid. Be very afraid....
Member since:22.02.2001
Reviews:166
Members who trust:29
I haven't actually been on a holiday arranged by Voyages Jules Verne, but because of the grief they caused a member of my family, I have had major dealings with them as a group.
My sister suddenly lost her husband to a brain haemorrage at the age of 44, leaving her with two boys to look after.
Feeling the need for some peace and quiet, she booked herself one of their holidays that they offer around the Italian Lakes and Gardens, booking with a single room supplement of £150. A few months later and before she left for the holiday, she found that a passing acquaintance was also going on the same tour, the same week.
When she and this older lady arrived at the hotel, they were separated from the main group with another couple (brother & sister), and told that there was no single rooms available, and were given keys to their new rooms.
They were certainly beautiful rooms with a fantastic lake view, but my sister had gone there to grieve for her husband, and sharing a room was NOT in her plans. The hotel insisted that there was nothing else they could do, so to get some privacy in the evenings she slept in the living room area of the suite. She registered her complaint that she wanted her £150 refunded with the Rep.
On return from the holiday, she was distressed to receive a letter from VJV claiming that she had booked a double room with a lake view (a further £60) and they had no intention of refunding the money. They also said that they'd received no notification of the complaint left with their Rep, and denied that she'd even met my sister at the hotel with the keys to the new rooms in her hands. My sister, sadly hadn't taken the details of the other couple to be able to get them to back up her version of the situation, and couldn't prove that they knew before the group arrived that there was a problem with room allocation.
I called their head office to speak to the writer of the letter, Kate Kennedy, who was never available. In the end I explained to a young girl about my sister's situation, and that she'd complained to the Rep, but didn't make a song and dance about things because she didn't want to draw well-meaning but unwelcome pity for her circumstances. The young girl was whispering ways to complain to me down the phone, and was genuinely sympathetic.
I complained to them stating that my sister would never have booked a double room, which would easily be proved by checking their records, as she was to be travelling on her own and had no need for a second bed. Plus a lake view was outside her budget, and she would never have committed herself to this. They were in possession of the only copy of the booking form, (take copies of yours in the future) and we suggested they referred to it.
Nothing. Not a reply or a phone call. I phoned them again. They said they didn't have the letter. Kate Kennedy was in a meeting, and could I send another one. I did.
Nothing. Not a reply or a phone call.
Kate Kennedy was in a meeting, but they assured me she IS a real person, was what I was told upon my fifth or sixth phone call to the company.
Eventually, I threatened them with going to Watchdog about their appalling treatment to a recently bereaved widow. This worked.
My sister got the full refund of £150 single supplement, plus they dropped the £60 extra charge for the lake view. Nice of them to undo what my sister hadn't done in the first place.
No apologies, no nothing else, just a short letter explaining the refund was enclosed. She's never booked through them again. And I can't say that I'd recommend them either.
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It's not the first time that I've heard comments about bad customer service - it's just a shame that we didn't hear them BEFORE all of that started. Still. At least Sue got her money back, sadly that's more than I can say for some of the other customers. Cheers. Salgirl
Freddydog 12.05.2001 22:27
Sadly what companies seem very slow to realise is that if they give bad service or after sales care it counts as a black mark against them which in turn is passed on to others. I for one after reading your op would not touch them.
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May 12th, 2001
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