posted by Travel Cat on Apr 30
It seems very difficult to believe that there isn’t just on set of rating available for everything - I mean it’s either 1* and a bit basic, 5* and it’s everything you ever hoped for with bows on top, or it’s 3* and somewhere in-between.
Why all these travel companies have to invent their own scale and play it off against other companies can only mean disappointment for some people. Some even use the ratings used by the country itself, which will never be useful to us because most of the countries we visit will be ‘developing’ so won’t have some of the things that we would be used to.
I once booked a vacation that was offered as a 3* through a high street tour operators brochure - this rating has never caused me any problems before. It’s clean, accommodation is nice and you don’t have to dress up for dinner! However, what I didn’t find out until I got there was that the high street tour operators only rated it as a 2*, but were selling it on the higher star using their ’sister companies’ to advertise it in their brochure.
The 2* meant that not only were the beds made of concrete (as were the cupboards and shelves) but the ‘buffet restaurant’ was more like a school canteen. Some of the rooms didn’t even have a window! The TV only showed 2 channels, and one wasn’t English speaking!
The rep did very little about this apart from offer us an official complaints form, or offer us another hotel if we paid them nearly a quarter again of our original vacation cost!
Another vacation a few years later, was booked for a 4* island and I couldn’t believe the price, so I checked everything I could and sure enough, it was ours if we wanted it. The only thing I didn’t check (as I have never heard of this ever happening before) was whether our room was actually 4*, because on arrival it clearly wasn’t! The rep happily confirmed that ‘ yes, the majority or rooms were 4*, but that ours wasn’t’ and that was that. How can they sell it as a certain star, and then not give you that upon arrival!
I book my vacations as they are a great price for what they say they are - but if they aren’t even that, then I would have paid a different price to make sure they were! I once had a rep tell me that ‘what did I expect for the price I paid’!
I expected the one I saw in the brochure, but at a cheaper price! If it meant I got a worse vacation I wouldn’t have booked it. It’s like seeing great boots for half price, then getting a pair with a broken heel instead - ‘well, what do you expect for that price?’!
I now always take the pages of the brochure with me on vacation to make sure everything they offer is at the hotel, but unfortunately when you are there, sometimes you are just stuck with it.
I think this is totally unfair; many people only get 2/4 weeks off for the whole year for their time off, and they can be misled by the only thing they have to rely on - the tour operators brochure description!
All of the above vacation ‘problems’ I had were with the same company, so they will never get my money again! One time could be my mistake or a disgruntled employee, but 3 times must be their fault, their low professional standards! The pain of it is that they are not always that much cheaper than the larger more reliable operators like Kuoni (which I can only say great things about).
Motto: Never reward bad customer service.
There are plenty more companies out there waiting for the chance to impress you, give them a chance! And when you find one you like - stick with them, even if it means paying a bit more. It’s worth it if it’s your only vacation this year…..
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