Travel giants slammed for failing to honour bookings for wrongly-priced holidays

Thomas Cook has come under fire from agents after refusing to honour bookings for holidays which it had wrongly priced.

Andrew Earle, of Andrew Earle’s World of Travel, had booked a seven-night Thomas Cook holiday for four clients to Turkey in mid June for £110 per person.

The holiday had been booked on Saturday, confirmed, and a paid invoice handed over from Axis, but then on Monday morning he was advised it was an incorrect price and that the booking would be cancelled.

Venting his frustrating on the travel industry Facebook forum Travel Gossip, Earle wrote: "Not good enough is it. But apparently it is and ABTA say it’s ok too.

"4 upset customers. And loads of work for us too with no commission – not that it was worth much any ways.

"Can we charge an amendment fee? Can we cancel for free when we make a mistake on a late deal? And how come they can speak to us when all we have is web chat?"

Earle, who says he is considering take legal advice on the matter, added: "If we can’t get accurate prices off our booking systems where can we? This is open to abuse by Tour Operators who suddenly see a spike in demand is it not?

"I think ABTA have to be more responsible too and this is a very grey area and a worrying precedent. When is a mistake on pricing obvious?" he added.

His post has prompted other agents to share their own experiences of operators not honouring incorrect prices, not just with Thomas Cook but with Thomson too.

Cassy Cullen said she had the same issue with three Cook bookings for Majorca. "They wouldn’t budge. What is going on??? How can this be happening. I made one letter wrong on a surname and £50 charge 30 hours later CRAZY."

Beverley Barron, a Co-operative personal travel advisor, said the same thing had happened to her recently with a Thomson booking, even though she had actually checked the price with the operator’s head office first.

And Julia Cullen said she experienced the same problem a few years ago with a Thomson holiday. "As soon as I mentioned the client was a solicitor it was soon honoured," she said.

Other agents urged Earle to charge Thomas Cook an administration fee, while others pointed to the fact that his agency is a member of the Freedom Travel Group, which is part of the Thomas Cook Group.

"Virtual integration at it’s worst or perhaps vertical disintegration.?" said Gerry Yiatrou.

Yiatrou, MD Freedom Travel Saddleworth, added: "Thomas cook contracts .. If you cancel this is what happens .. If we cancel this is what happens .. How come their t&cs are different to ours? If you have had confirmation and their incompetent systems/staff have made a mistake then why shouldn’t they stand by it .. The way we have to if it’s our mistake?"

Some agents said the price of the Turkey holiday was obviously a mistake as it was so low, but others pointed to similar deals around at the moment and even posted examples from the Thomas Cook website.

A spokesman for Thomas Cook said: "Thomas Cook is looking into the issue with the utmost urgency and will reply to Travelmole shortly."