Travel Club of Upminster

[Rachel23]

hi guys i thought this might be of interest I work in travel and this header was in one of the trade papers this wk....

'Travel Club of Upminster seeks financial advice'
Sep 23, 2010 10:29

Travel Club of Upminster has approached insolvency practitioners Shipleys amid reports that it has failed to pay more than 20 hotels in Majorca for this season’s bookings.

 

[JMD40]

I saw the article today also and was surprised to see my quotes from this forum copied into the article - we are being watched guys!!!!

 

[Belladonna]

Brilliant! Claim for royalties JMD!

 

[usandthewoof]

And I thought I had seen the last of Big Brother !!!

 

[Belladonna]

Shame on you!

 

[tangofan]

This is very sad news indeed. Once again this summer, it looks like another travel company has taken customer's money but not paid it over to the hotels etc. As JMD40 says, if you have paid by credit card you will be ok but many people probably haven't and some smaller companies, including some featured on the forum, do not take credit cards so in the current economic climate, frankly it is a big risk to pay a lot of money by cheque or bank transfer.

I believe some insurance companies are starting to cover operator failure but this is probably only for packages booked through ABTA companies, and not small companies or individual owners. Also it is very unlikely customers could claim from the administrators, they would be at the very end of the list of creditors.

We didn't manage to get to Majorca this summer for a variety of reasons but I was really looking forward to booking for next year through the Travel Club so I am not sure what to do now. Like everyone else, I can't afford to put my hard earned cash at any risk!

 

[favie]

I saw the article today also and was surprised to see my quotes from this forum copied into the article - we are being watched guys!!!!

Interesting to read the article JMD....we are indeed being watched!
Real shame if they go under.

Travel Club of Upminster seeks financial advice - www.travelweekly.co.uk

 

[Belladonna]

The pen - or keyboard - is mightier than the company!

 

[JMD40]

Royalties - now thats an idea?????
Tangofan - hold tight dont do anything for now there is no rush - ssssh, dont tell anyone but there is a possible plan B being closely investigated to ensure that all those fantastic loyal TCU customers can still enjoy the same holidays they have been enjoying in the past.

 

[BBCNEWSGIRL]

Interesting JMD40, it would be gud 2 get the same level of service as the old Travel Club of Upminster. It has never been the same since the Birmingham company took over...please keep us informed

 

[tangofan]

Interesting JMD40, it would be gud 2 get the same level of service as the old Travel Club of Upminster. It has never been the same since the Birmingham company took over...please keep us informed

Yes I agree. I am looking forward to further updates

 

[tangofan]

Royalties - now thats an idea?????
Tangofan - hold tight dont do anything for now there is no rush - ssssh, dont tell anyone but there is a possible plan B being closely investigated to ensure that all those fantastic loyal TCU customers can still enjoy the same holidays they have been enjoying in the past.

Thanks for this JMD40. I will await further developments...!

 

[northern star]

Illa D'Or Hotel and Club Apartments

I notice today that Sunclub.co.uk are advertising on the Forum prices and accommodation at Illa D'Or Club Apartments and Hotel for next year. Is Travel Club still in there for future bookings? Or does this mean that bookings need to be made either direct with the Hotel or through Sunclub?

 

[pollensa]

There is an extremely odd comment here from the owner of TCU - see Simon Calder's blog The latest LBC Presenter Blogs | LBC

"Thomas Cook, the company that started the inclusive holiday 160 years ago, and is still Britain's second-largest holiday firm, has written to hotels in Spain, Greece, Turkey and beyond saying it will not pay the final 5 per cent from the money it owes for accommodation provided in August and September. Why? Well, that's a question I hoped to put to a representative of Thomas Cook, but the company has declined. Instead, they gave me this statement:
"It's a result of the impact of the exceptional challenges we, and the market, have faced this year - volcanic ash, emergency budget, slow return of consumer confidence. We've had a great deal of understanding of this from our partners. It's a better solution than reducing capacity and the majority of hotels have been supportive."
But don't try the same trick on Thomas Cook - the first won't allow you to knock of 5 per cent from the final bill. So what's the fall out, except possibly wiping out the hoteliers' profit margin? Well, one immediate effect, according to the owner of the Travel Club of Upminster, is to make Spanish hotels uncertain about whether they'll get the money they are owed from British firms. As a result, customers of the Travel Club of Upminster are being asked to pay again, and then to claim back the cash when they get back to Britain.

What Thomas Cook is doing is pretty bad but I really don't see how this can have affected TCU that much. It is having a far worse effect on the Spanish hoteliers.

 

[Gommar Goffer]

That is absolutely disgusting behaviour - tantamount to holding a gun to the head! Basically saying " we are not paying you - what are you going to do about it?" The outcome is simple - we will not be welcome because of the greed of the big travel companies - vote with your feet and wallets - use the little guys - go private - stuff the shafters!

 

[BBCNEWSGIRL]

The Travel Club of Upminster have gone into administration according to this link
Travel Club of Upminster enters administration - www.travelweekly.co.uk

People who have paid by credit card can try and claim back......but because they were not Abta bonded customers may have real problems!
This goes to show you really do need to buy from an ABTA protected Travel Agent or somebody who is offering Supplier Failure Cover so you know your money is protected.

 

[tangofan]

So it is definite then. It is very sad that Travel Club should end in this way. We first used them about 30 years ago, then once we had children we holidayed in the UK as we couldn't afford to go abroad but once we decided to venture abroad again, Travel Club were our automatic choice and we have had many holidays with them in recent years.

As BBCNEWSGIRL says, the only way to book a holiday nowadays is with a credit card or special insurance cover. This usually rules out renting from private owners so it is very difficult to know what to do as we all need to be sure our money is safe don't we.

Most of the properties still seem to be available through Sun Club but who are they? Their website says they are members of ABTA and they offer supplier failure cover but is that sufficient? It doesn't say who is providing this. They don't have the ATOL logo but their FAQs refer to them having it.

 

[roig cat]

Thomas Cook to Cut U.K. Jobs - WSJ.com

I bit more on Thomas Cook!

 

[roig cat]

Sorry had to remove re copyright reasons which I hadnt noticed when pasted!

If you Google' Thomas Cook 5', the full article is available (or it was for me and I dont subscribe to this US newspaper)

 

[BBCNEWSGIRL]

So it is definite then. It is very sad that Travel Club should end in this way. We first used them about 30 years ago, then once we had children we holidayed in the UK as we couldn't afford to go abroad but once we decided to venture abroad again, Travel Club were our automatic choice and we have had many holidays with them in recent years.

As BBCNEWSGIRL says, the only way to book a holiday nowadays is with a credit card or special insurance cover. This usually rules out renting from private owners so it is very difficult to know what to do as we all need to be sure our money is safe don't we.

Most of the properties still seem to be available through Sun Club but who are they? Their website says they are members of ABTA and they offer supplier failure cover but is that sufficient? It doesn't say who is providing this. They don't have the ATOL logo but their FAQs refer to them having it

Funny enough I rang Sunclub this afternoon and enquired about the supplier failure cover, they were very helpful and explained that every element of the booking you make through them will be covered by Supplier Failure Cover, so you have no worries. All the flights they book are also ATOL bonded, so there is no worries there! I want to book the Illa Dor again for next year, had a great time this year (1st time) so really keen to secure my room for next year.