My wife & I have just come back from 2 weeks in Costa Rica, a new package destination from the uk, we travelled with First Choice, I would point out, Costa Rica is not quite ready for the package 2 week holiday, we stayed at the Occidental Allegro in the papagayo region, it is in the brochure as a 4 star resort, this is an exageration to say the least, best guess would be 2+, the hygiene around the bars due to infestations of wasps leaves a lot to be desired. we were told we had been upgraded to a superior room but to be honest if that was superior I would have hated to gone basic. It is the only place I have been to that I would have to think seriously before I decided to go back. The place needed a lot more attention to detail before First Choice decided to send the British public.

this is the kind of post people need to read, to get an unbiased view of how resorts really are, not just from glossy mags promising you the idealic holiday of a lifetime?

hope you dont mind me asking pete did this holiday live up to your expectations and because of your experience did it dampen your holiday, if it did i would suggest you visit www.abta.com/codeguide  this is abta's code of conduct: a guide for consumers.

this link is also good www.abta.com/articlesandcode  especially good because there is a section standards on brochures and booking conditions  very good if you have found the description of the hotel and its standards not to what you expected from the brochure description. abta states on   s o b & b c  that all the members  (travel agents) must 

1. For all accommodation you must clearly indicate the nature of accommodation including its location, category or degree of comfort and its main features.

do you still have the travel brochure, if you have, you could compare what is written in the brochure and what you experienced. how does the 2 compare. has 1st choice resonable indicated the category or degree of comfort? did you specifically book this hotel because of the 4 star listing in the brochure. i for one would consider going to 1st choice and seek compensation, explain your problems to them calmly before mentioning the possibility of compensation (test the water and see what reaction you get) if you decide to see them do it asap, there is often small print in the terms and conditions about putting a complaint to the holiday firm.

sorry if i have bored you, but it is just an idea.

cheers jim 

Jim

Thanks for the reply, I am currently in the process of dealing direct with First Choice, they have at last acknowledged receipt of my lengthy complaint, there are some inaccurate points in the brochure which I have pointed out to them, My initial post was a somewhat diluted event of things. We have loads of evidence of events that do not live up to expectations. I would point out Costa Rica itself is a nice place, the problem lies in the fact that it should be kept for the 4 - 5 day Eco tourists and not the full 2 week package, they are just not ready for it. They have not trained their staff in the art of 'Customer Service' and 'Damage Limitation' she took the approach that if you can't handle it, leave the guest to their own devices. I will not be going back there and I hope First Choice do the decent thing and address my concerns and complaints. By nature I am not a person who complains so this course of action is serious enough to evoke this action from me. I will post any outcome on this site to inform readers.

Thanks again

Pete

your welcome pete

cheers jim

i have to agree as someone who has spent a lot of time in the region  ie belize. honduras.guatamala, brazil and costa rica these places are for the backpacking type of people not the four star tourists,but believe me its a lovelly part of the world and great people but not for a two week holiday place.......maybe one day you might return and enjoy its beauty......

Just to give you a conclusion to my problem, I decided to take out a small claim proceedure against 'First Choice' I appreciate this is a time consuming excercise but when done via the web site it proves to be a lot less hassle than you first thought, First Choice wrote to me and completely ignored my issues and concerns, this was the reason I went to small claims, once issued with the court papers they wrote to me offering an out of court settlement, I declined their initial offer and informed them of an amount I was willing to accept, they eventually settled out of court and paid court fees. I feel justified in my action and would not hesitate to seek redress via this method if I get further 'poor customer service'. These companies should realise that we as the customer do have rights.

 

Pete

well done pete, great to hear everything went ok eventually. just goes to show how the big companies will listen when you go down the small claims route.

jim

 

Hi

I haven't been to CostaRica but experienced lack of facilities when travelling to Turkey with Medhotels. The hotel did not have any booking information when we arrived, the room was without a view (did have a brick wall) should have been sea or garden. No aircon and not single beds. Plus we had a flood from the apartment above twice, of which the hotel had no record . After sending faxes and letters to Medhotels over a period of nine months, we suggested court small claims to resolve the issue as they were being quite complacent. They seemed quite happy for us to do this and suggested we go ahead .I discovered that the company acting as their agents with whom I had booked the holiday and paid my cheque to were responsible for any repayment and eventually they repaid some of the cost obviously Medhotels must have know this but were not given any information to us.

Hope this info may help anyone with a similar problem

Lucy

Hi Lucy

I think that if we feel we have not received what we pay for, especially where holidays or other expensive issues are concerned, we, the customer should not feel afraid of seeking answers via the small claims method. It is easy to do now on line and if you are in the right the chances are you will win. I would point out though, that initially I was 'Never going back to Costa Rica' and blamed the place but it is not the place, it is the people back here who initially do not get it right. Do not let one bad experience put you off Turkey, we had a bad initial time 12 years ago, we went back and now have an apartment out there and also some land for a villa. At times we are to quick to blame the people in the country but when it all boils down it is 'Customer service' here getting it all wrong.

Well done for getting some money back, I wish you well with future holidays

Pete

It just goes to show that the big faceless corporations don't always win, well done!

I just wish more people would have the courage to take on the companies who feel they can walk all over us. If you are right then you have rights, never feel intimidated just because they have solicitors to fight for them or loads of money to fight with, if you are right, then you right and that is what matters.