KARFA

As cws, it is because they are an budget OTA and spend peanuts on customer service so anything which doesn't earn money, like responding to customer questions, is rock bottom of the list.

Realistically I would say your report of their customer service precisely meets the level of expectation I would have with a cut price OTA like TravelUP.

13901

What's ironic is that the to-and-fro with me went on for a few days over email. I was in for the laughs, but they did spend some time inventing new stories to feed me, only for me to then find the obvious hole in the new castle of cards they'd just erected. One has to wonder if it'd have been easier (and cheaper for them) to simply do what Bluekjp had done. Penny-wise and pound foolish comes to mind...

KARFA

Not really. You just have to look at any travel provider who operates on a similar cut price basis. They can't stop you contacting them - although they can make it very difficult. But any responses will be handled by someone who has limited experience/knowledge/time because they are not willing to pay for that, or should I say the price you are willing to pay won't cover those kinds of costs. They really aren't going to spend time working it out and showing you full breakdowns to justify their answer.

They also don't have the luxury of having Bluekjp work for free for them taking the time to look up the exact figures and having the knowledge that they have relied on to provide you that answer. You are lucky you get that for free on FT, but TravelUP would have to pay and I am sure Bluekjp wouldn't come cheap!

Tbh I am slightly surprised you seem to think otherwise considering your experience in the industry. I think it is very clear if you want to rely on a reasonable level of customer service when it comes to OTA you need to stay clear of the likes of TravelUP etc.

13901

Mmmh, don't know. Even responding to an email has a cost. In my previous job I did a piece about automating some high-frequency, repeatable and not value-added queries to our customers, the kind of queries like mine and we had a price of about 1.25 euro/ticket or 0.25 eurocent per interaction, and that was with off-shore teams driving costs down. My example with TravelUp is hardly representative, but if they need to argue over multiple (I had 9 from them!) emails for something that could've been put to bed with one for too many customers then they are generating volumes, and costs, they could definitely do without.

Well, I think what surprised me is their stubborness. Bluekjp showed they were right in saying that only 30GBP was owed to me. And he did it with one post, I guess by looking at a GDS screen. The TravelUp fellas could've done the same, instead of dragging the charade out for quite a while and leaving me with a bad taste. I honestly never had a similar experience in the industry in this scenario, not even with Ryanair. I actually dug up an old email from FR, where they sent me one email - one - with the breakdown of what I paid for my fare, the taxes, their commission and then told me I could be refunded 3 GBP (yay!). It was all there: the T&C reference, the fare, taxes... it was unattachable and, frankly, made total sense. I might've not liked it, but you couldn't really say that FR was out to con me. I signed up for all of what they were doing.

marcopizzaiuolo

My understanding of those cheaper OTA is that somehow they manage to construct complex itinerary (at least one stop over) using a mixtures of fares that would not be available normally when booking directly.

for examples for one of such booking, I had to contact the airline for help during covid, I was told by the Airline CS that one of the middle leg on the booking was on a completely different fare and fare rules (not compatible) with the rest of the booking and hence it was causing problems with the changes needed and the guy on the phone was really surprised on how the OTA managed to make such a booking.

as someone else as mentioned, those OTA must have a superior IT system that allow them to search and make up such competitive tariffs but they do not equally invest in CS.

MADDM

Just read through a good portion of this.

​​​​​​Here's our story. Booked via TU, father in law sick and going through chemo so we can't travel back. Contacted TU to change flight, was struggling to receive replies and had no options provided, when, air canada changed our flight times, significantly enough that we could cancel if we wanted. AC confirmed though because we booked via TU would have to cancel and request refund via them. Did this (mistakenly over the phone) and never received the email they said I would receive. Followed up several times. Then I called Amex and began a charge back dispute. This is where it all really went sour. Be warned, when TU receives a chargeback, they immediately process a cancellation, say it's automated. Amex asked for proof of cancellation, I had nothing. They asked for proof of refund from AC, this was very difficult to receive but I finally got it, sent it to Amex and the chargeback was still unsuccessful. To add, TU claimed there was no record of me being in contact with them, when I was, for over a month. Just flat out making it all up.
Thankfully I was able to claim via our insurance, however still short £180 in taxes which they explained I should receive back from TU. In the process, TU confirmed a refund was processed and I would receive £60. I've asked for a receipt or any confirmation. No email reply now since late March, no receipt or formal document, no refund. I just emailed and gave them a week until I proceed via small claims, not sure of any other option.
They're complete filth. It's all by design. I can't get over how they are still operating and not being held accountable. I am going to report them to ICO (as I requested my personal data and what was returned was late and very light in content) and Trading Standards.
I urge everyone who's had trouble to report them to Trading Standards.
​​​​

justsawaufo

I'm about to book a family vacation to Turkey, travelup seem to come up in a search via trivago with rates %30 cheaper than other sites.
I've googled and searched the forum, seems like people have used it before and got what they paid for (unless they had to make changes and such, which I'm willing to accept the risk).

Please let me know if you have used them to book hotels in the past and how your experience was?

nozmeister

Pre covid I booked hotels through them without issues. I also booked a number of flights which were generally fine although they messed up a sector once that I had to spend a long time trying to get hold of them to fix.

However given the issues with refunds, etc as described in this thread I would not go near them again when there are many, many other options.

MaxFlyer

Not booked hotel with them but their customer service is awful for minor issues let alone if things go wrong.

andymcdonnell

Booked a hotel last summer in NYC with them. It was a last minute booking so knew I wouldn’t have to change and they were 30% cheaper than anyone else. All went fine.

They seem to be the Ryanair of the net. Cheap yes but if anything goes wrong you’re screwed

justsawaufo

Thank you! that's the consensus I got from them so far by reading the reviews: it's ok until you need to make changes, so either make sure you don't make changes or go elsewhere, I appreciate your confirmation.