I had even worse experience. I booked a ticket from London to San Francisco through them. Firstly, I was informed by the airport staff when I arrived Heathrow that my ticket was properly issued, and I was suggested to contact Holiday Genie immediately. Secondly, I called them hundreds of times, but no one picked up the phone. So I had to purchase a new ticket on the spot. Thirdly, I sent a detailed report to Holiday Genie when I returned to the UK. Once again, I waited three months until they replied me. I also sent them a Pre Action Letter to indicate them that I was really annoyed and was considering to file a lawsuit against them. Finally, my suggestion is STAY AWAY from this bunch of horrible people. Buy your tickets from a professional and reliable agent!

you wouldn't think they are legitimate if you had tried to use them - appalling avoid at all costs

Definitely something very dodgy about this company. Booked flights yesterday paying by credit card but did not received confirmation so emailed them. Today received call to say credit card declined and could I pay the money by cash into their bank account. Said I could but preferred not to as I wanted the extra security that paying by c/card offers. Gave them another c/card and they came back with same story. I was perplexed - I do not owe anything on either card and have high spending limit. Phoned banks and they said no attempt had been made to take a payment from the cards and it would not have been refused. Phoned Holiday Genie back but they were very rude and offhand and said they could not hold booking unless I paid direct into their account so told them to cancel and I would go elsewhere,which I did getting a slightly cheaper price through Opodo. And guess what - my credit card went through immediately and I got confirmation immediately. Googled Holiday Genie to find customer service no.as I was going to complain about rude staff and was alarmed to see all blogs and alerts about this company. I then realised they had full details of 2 of my credit cards and could put payments through even though I had cancelled and booked elsewhere. Had to cancel my credit cards to make sure they did not do this. Nightmare dealing with Holiday Genie - will warn all my friends not to use them.

Well I made it to New York with holidaygenie with no problems. However, thanks to the stress I had worrying about whether I would get there or not I don't think I would use them again. It isn't worth the hassle. Nor would I advise anyone to use them just in case.

I think that companies that appear on your site should have a clear identification to show whether they are protected. I have booked a hotel through your site at 1800 hotels and arrived at my destination only to find they had gone bust and the money I paid for the room taken out of my account months ago. I paid by credit card but will probably not get anything back as they are an agent and I will not qualify for a refund under section 75. So if they are on your site you should accept some responsibility for the companies you choose to go on your site. I don't think this site is thorough enough in ensuring the customer gets what they pay for. I am having to pay for my holiday twice. Travelsupermarket needs to do something about this!

I am using the service of holiday genie , for a couple of years , I haven’t faced any difficulty in booking or any thing else .. well.. once it happened I was going to Miami .. the flight got delayed .. I asked for any compensation .. they refused but they connected me to the manager of the airline to sort out any kind of problem .. otherwise everything goes fine .. and I think I don’t have any problem with them so I m not gonna try anyone else

Thanks Alan.

I wasn't able to pre-book my seats from here to Paris, but managed it from Paris to New York and from New York to Paris. Will give them a call tomorrow to make sure all is okay.

The fact that Air France has allowed you to book seats shows there must be a legitimate booking. Very few carriers allow pre booking of seats within Europe, so there is nothing to worry about. Have you been emailed something called an E ticket? If you have a quicka call to Air France will put your mind at rest.

I have just booked tickets through them (just flights) as they were slightly cheaper than other places. Though I am now really worried after reading reviews. I checked the airlines website. We are able to select our seats for the flights between Paris and New York but not to get to and from Paris.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should do? I am now really worried that I'm not going to get to go and lost all that money.

Ok I'm unhappy now, I just want to book my Honeymoon and I thought Money supermarket would be the best place to find a holiday when I see this researching Holiday Genie:

"Hi All.

I've just read this thread, entirely unsurprised.

I work in the travel industry, and trust me this is just the tip og the iceberg.

These guys are notorious, there are 3 or 4 companies all working in similar locations who between them, buy and sell seats between each other. If you are lucky enough to get a confirmed booking with these criminals, then particularly over christmas and new year the chances are that the seats will have been 'cheated' to be made available.

You see there are ways to book seats that effectively aren't there, this is done by cowboy companies like Holiday Genie (and all their associate companies) to book seats and more importantly take your money.

If the airlines find this going on, then the only people that suffer ultimately will be you.

My advice is don't use them. Like I said I work in the industry and know an awful lot about these guys, some of which I'm just not allowed to post.

If they're offering seats over peak dates, i.e xmas/new year that no one else seems to have then it's 99% guaranteed that they've busted the system to get them and if the airline finds out, then they'll just cancel your flights, end of story.

This problem is one of the main reasons that flights are overbooked, because idiots like these won't play with a straight bat.

If it helps you all to know, when you book any flight with any airline anywhere in the world any time, every travel agency sees THE SAME AVAILABILITY. It's a live system. So if holiday genine or their associates are offering something others don't have then this is how they do it.

If anyone wants to know anything else, let me know. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have, if I can!!

Stay away from these guys, it's just a matter of time before the inevitable happens.

You get what you pay for in this life, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is!!

Cheers
Rob"

Can somebody just give me a straight forward answer - Can I use this company without fear of being ripped off or scammed or getting my flight refused?- YES or NO?

Do not use this lot, they will rip you off.

I booked a flight with them, and they took it upon themselves to extract more funds from my card two days after I returned. After complaining to them they said that they would give a refund, but weeks later there is no sign of it. Messages left on the answer-phone of the operative I’m dealing with are not returned, emails are ignored, and on one occasion I had the phone put down on me when I asked for a person’s name. I sent a recorded delivery letter to the Director of the company explaining the situation and giving them time to sort it out; this has also been ignored.

I’m currently going through the process of reporting them to the police, trading standards etc. I’m surprised they are still allowed on this website.

Hi loub

Just to confirm Alans post, Holiday Genie are indeed legitimate. We have a creditation process here that all companies must go through before appearing on travelsupermarket.com.

Pete

It appears to be 100% legitimate, it has a CAA ATOL licence to sell 20,000 holidays, is a member of ABTA(although they won't be providing financial protection, the CAA will) and is authorised by IATA to issue scheduled airline tickets so you should be safe dealingb with them. They are based in East London so it's not a scam

I have been looking at a holiday operator site called HolidayGenie.com and was hoping that you could advise whether or not they are a reputable company. I am looking to book a package deal to orlando but am a bit nervous as i have never heard of them before. I was a victim of an internet scam last year so am quite apprehensive about using someone i've never heard of.

Many thanks