Barrhead Travel Service review: never got what we paid for

15th of May 2017
Florida Booking -428306# Toland - Barrhead Travel ref: [protected] Thomson ref: 3577806

Dream Holiday Trip To Florida 2017 May 15TH
Nature of this complaint stems from the very Minute we made the booking and to give you an Idea of what has gone on I will break it down in to sections for you for you so this will be against Barrhead Travel as we paid them in Good faith for the Holiday with Thomson's
1 22nd January enter Barrhead Travel premises at Braehead and we were seen by Staff Member Craig who insists that he could beat the previous offers from Thomas Cook and Thomson's, But as his Florida experts are not in yet could we give him 24 hours to see what he could do so My Wife and I said yes as we have previously travelled with Barrhead before to Florida.
2 23rd January I was working in Newcastle and My Wife was saying she is going to Braehead tonight have you heard anything from Craig at Barrhead yet or will I just book with Thomson's I said no not heard anything yet I will be phoning at 16.00 after my course has finished 16.00 came phones in to and got Chloe and she says that Craig is on his day off, At this point I was furious as Craig had said give me 24 hours and I will get back to you but he is not in or even bothered to give our query to anyone else to sort out a price for us, When speaking to Chloe she said give me half an Hour and I will get back to you see what I can do. At 18.30 with the Wife still saying can she get an answer on who we were to book with Barrhead or Thomson's for our dream holiday as she was in Braehead I phoned Chloe and she said she could beat the other travel agents price I was just tell my wife to come in to her and she will sort it out for me as we spoke I clearly said what we were looking for and Chloe replied yes I said great and phoned my Wife and told her to go into Barrhead and book the holiday My wife stated is it
Orlando Villa plus 3 bedrooms with Games room SUV car with full insurance and extra legroom seats on the Dreamliner Flight for 3150 I confirmed yes after speaking with Chloe earlier in the call so Holiday booked we are on our way..
3 24th February My Uncle and myself go and pay the rest of the Holiday to Florida in Barrhead on a very busy Friday night and during the week I had a nasty accident At work I was in a terrible amount of pain we waited about an hour to pay so as you could imagine could not wait to get the Holiday paid and get home so met Chloe and she took the rest of the holiday payment including park tickets so big relief holiday payed and now could relax.
4 25th February Saturday morning I was sitting and going through the paperwork that we received from Barrhead and something came up the invoice said Orlando Value villa plus and the extra legroom was not on the booking I immediately phoned in to Barrhead Travel and got Chloe I asked her if this holiday I booked had a games room she said I think so and asked about the extra legroom. I will check out the villa for you she said and then I explained what we had been looking for again Chloe then said that is not what I booked for you I said I would beat Thomson's price but I managed to do that with a different Villa I repeated that was not what I asked for she then said I will phone Thomson's and get back to you she got back about two hours later saying Thomson customer service was shocking and apologised for the delay confirmed that this was not the Villa we had asked for. I asked to speak to a MANAGER and was told no one was in until the Monday so they would get back to me then.
5 1ST March Wednesday I waited until 18.00 then Phoned in to Barrhead Travel as no one had got back to me and after speaking to two staff members eventually managed to get Chloe and She confirmed that the manager was looking into this but was busy with another customer at the time of my call but she did confirm that because my Wife had signed for the holiday there was little she could do so I told her I would be in to see her when I was back in Glasgow.
6 3rd March Friday night at 19.00 I went down to the Store and managed to finally speak to a manager called Lesley Anne very nice Lady and she explained that she was trying different avenues to help us out including asking Thomson's to put a games room in the Villa that we had booked but it does take time and would I give her until Wednesday of next week to get back to me.
7 8th March Wednesday night 19.30 and no phone call I called Barrhead Travel and could not get Lesley Anne or Chloe as both were off and not back in until Friday I asked if there were any update on my complaint and was told no so you can imagine my frustration as my dream holiday was becoming a nightmare so decided when I am back on Friday I will go in again.
810th March Friday evening comes and I head to Barrhead Travel could tell straight away that Lesley Anne was glad to see me her Face dropped she did apologise saying she has tried every angle but could not do anything for us and that the villa we went for in the first place is now away or she would have upgraded us to keep us happy but she cannot upgrade us to the five bedroom as it is too much.

9 10th March I went away very frustrated and angry at myself for not fully looking at the booking that Chloe had made and to be honest the invoice is shocking but when I spoke to Family members they all said “did you say on the phone that you asked for the Villa with games room” I said yes well go back in and fight for your Villa and after speaking to Thomson's as well the advice was get back into that store so went back in and after discussing the issue with Lesley Anne again she did not realise that there were phone calls made between myself and Chloe to confirm the holiday she said this would be very helpful and to give her a couple of hours to listen to the calls and she would get back to me.

10 11th March Saturday morning no response from Lesley Anne was about to go for something to eat and got a Strange call from a staff member from Barrhead to say that there was a post it note on the computer to phone you and to let you know we will get back to you on Monday, I asked did It say anything on the account she said no so at this point my opinion of Barrhead Travels customer service is dropping by the minute.

11 13th March Monday comes and after a hard day at work guess what no phone call again from Barrhead I phone in and was told that Lesley Anne was off until Thursday I was furious and I vented my frustrations at the manager Kirsty Louise who said she would look in to it for me and get back to me in due course,

12 15th March Wednesday night at 17.20 I receive a voicemail from Kirsty Louise at Barrhead saying she is only in to 17.30 then off until Friday so will not be pick this back up with me until she returns I was furious 10 minutes to phone someone back is not acceptable in any case after phoning in and was told she was away and that there was no Manger in the store.

13 16th March I phone in on the Thursday and got to speak to Lesley Anne she says sorry for not getting back to me sooner she confirms that I do say on the phone call “ is this the Villa with the games room” but Staff member Chloe ignores me and talks over me saying what she has on her screen so it is a muddled up phone call Lesley Anne says I say there was about 6 calls that night to Barrhead but she said I only needed to listen to one I said but you will hear me say is it the villa with the games room but only the confirmation call had been listened to, Lesley Anne apologises says she will have to have words with Chloe but as a goodwill gesture she would offer me 400 pounds back towards the holiday but it was too much to upgrade to the Villa we wanted and to be honest not worth paying extra as no one has ever heard of a bad villa in Florida, if I wanted I could cancel the holiday but go and talk it over with your wife and then get back to Lesley and if I was not taking the offer I needed to email her with the rejection of the offer, After talking to my Family we wanted the Games room as my leg would still be sore on the holiday and would give me the chance to recuperate at the villa and would also give my family something to do at night.

14 17th March I phone in to let Barrhead know that we would not take be taking the offer and got Kirsty Louise another manager who was very sympathetic and did not want our dream holiday to be soured by this I asked to cancel the holiday as I had found another with Thomas Cook she said if we pay the 1000 pounds would you pay the 500 pounds to upgrade to the holiday that we wanted in the first place she would be willing to do this for us but do not pay it tonight as she needed to confirm this with Thomson's I said okay, Kirsty says I know you are teaching tomorrow so I will send you a text let you know everything is okay.

15 18th March No texts at all and with my wife texting me throughout the day asking has Kirsty text yet I said no I then phoned in at 17.40 to find out that Kirsty was away for the evening and off until Wednesday so I explained to the girl and she was very confused but came back saying eventually that she thought everything was okay I said thank you, I then phoned Thomson's myself with my booking ref to find out that it had went through okay and It did glad but did not receive a text from Kirsty at all.

16 19th March Receive a text from Kirsty Louise at 18.00 saying everything went through which I knew anyway.

17 21th March I was going to leave this at Branch level but after speaking to several people and taking advice it has become apparent that I did not get any discount off this holiday whatsoever and it cost me 500 pounds more to get the holiday that I wanted and throughout this ordeal the customer service has been shocking to say the least,

18 21st March response from Kirsty Louise at 16.56 Good afternoon Mr Toland I hope that this email finds you well? I have tried to call you regarding your complaint letter that you had sent into our customer services team today, however I have had no luck in reaching you. I am finishing at 1730 today and then off on holiday for 2 weeks, and I would like to speak with you before I finish up. Would it be possible for you to call me on [protected]. Again not much time for me to reply for someone who finishes up for 2 weeks.

19 23nd March Good morning Mr Toland, I called your mobile earlier to discuss this issue with you although it was your messaging service. I am on [protected] from 9-5PM.
I will try your mobile later or if there is another number I can contact you on please let me know and I will call you.
Yours sincerely,
Iain Shaw.

20 4th April Email sent to Barrhead Good Morning I am very disappointed in your company even more now I have been waiting on a reply from a Mr Shaw for over a week and a half now To let you understand we had a conversation on Friday the 24th of March where Mr Shaw had said about the complaint below I will go and talk to my directors who are on the way back up from London so I will not be able to speak to the until Monday or Tuesday but I will get back to you as I hate when people say they will phone back but never do I do hope nothing bad has happened to MR Shaw but can someone please get back on this matter before I take it further

21 4th April Email from Barrhead Good morning Mr Toland, Thanks for your email.
I called your mobile but it was your answer phone so left a message. My director has agreed to refund a further £250 (as we spoke about ) to resolve this issue and hopefully retain you as a valued client. I finish today for a holiday so if you call me with your card details I will get the money processed before I go.
Kind regards,
Iain
[protected]
P S Thanks for your concern at the end of the email. Brilliant.

22 5th April Refund in account so complaint finished got a five Bedroom Villa in Florida and extra legroom.

Onto The Holiday

1 15th May arrive at customs Sanford airport we got the wrong staff member he seemed to be in a mood and said to us that the Esta Address you used was not a real address and do we know where we are staying I said no that is what the travel company had given us and a lot of discussing and after showing him my airport security badge through my company DHL we were allowed entry but in future he says make sure you have the right address or you will not get in to America

2 15th May Arrival in to Sanford Airport up to this point still had no idea where we were to go and get the villa keys etc...As Craig from Barrhead said just go to the Thomson's Stand when you get there they will help you out with the villa when we got there did not know that TUI was Thomson and went looking about for a while before we seen a member of staff to ask and then she directed us to TUI .
Got to the stand and the TUI staff member said thought you had missed the flight and gave us the info for the villa I seen that it said Davenport and asked why we were told an address in Kissimmee for the Esta and all through the booking we thought it would be there we would be staying as we had stayed there before and knew the area well... She said that is where we had been given.

After upgrading the Car we were on our way after four hours we arrived at the secured entry to our estate and after 40 minutes of trying the code one of the neighbours had seen us and came to the rescue and let us in said the gates were still causing issues as the estate was only open a year got to the villa and was very surprised to see 6 bedroom not what we asked for as it was very late we decided not to go in the pool as we could not see what was around outside so unpacked went for messages at the local Publix 13 miles away very local.

3 16th May Woke up around 6 am went down and what a view looked out to a swamp out the back no wall or fence between us got something to eat and then went outside to sort out the sun loungers and move the pool hose out which was still in the pool. After moving the sun loungers I noticed a red and black Snake trying to climb the mesh that was securing us from outside and nearly ran screaming but when I turned round the pool man was there saying I will get that must have got in last night so Pool man took around 45 minutes to usher the snake out and as he got the snake out he asked did my son want to hold the snake I said you have spent forty minutes ushering it out why would you say that, he replied I don't mind them but thought your son would want to hold one.

Snake out time for him to clean the pool as we were talking he asked did you come from England I said no Scotland I love Scotland and says the snake was not a venomous one but the one in here yesterday was a big black one was a beauty, I said were was the snake found he said in the pool clearly startled by this then tells us that this is their swamp please do not feed the Alligators as they will associate you with food And keep coming back I said do you have them a lot around here he said yes two doors up the gators go under her tree away from the sun.

We set off for TUI to pay the 500 pounds deposit which we were told by Barrhead we would not have to pay as we would struggle to have money for the holiday so managed to pay the 500 pounds deposit and 50 for the cleaning bill and to see what we could do about the villa when we got there I explained what had happened and was told that they could not do anything As they had no Villas left in fact your Villa Mr Toland Had to be acquired by us from a third party as we did not have a suitable villa left,

I said what do you mean was told that due to us booking so late and that Thomson's had no Villa s left for us they had to go to a another company to Acquire a villa So I asked if they could look in to moving us as we did not feel comfortable in that area and it was miles out in the middle of nowhere at Davenport City Limits,

Was told they would look but could not promise anything, Gators were part of Florida life and that we were living in their swamp by the TUI representative who told that they have 2 gators out back in their swamp and long as you stay away we would be fine.

At this point family decided that we were not going to get any help from the staff so went in to Kissimmee. Also told the rep about the gates and that you could not open the patio doors as the alarm kept going off was told it was law in Florida up until few years ago so if we wanted just take the battery out I said no then you charge us for breaking it,

Seen on the garage wall that Tuesday night please leave the bins out for refuse collection and as the bins were full put them out

4 17th May on our return from Universal which was well over 2 hours away around 31 miles which is not a short distance from the parks as the brochure says still struggling to get in through the gates with the code,

I went to take the bins in and found them still to be full I looked around and seen that a few of the neighbours bins were still out then one of the neighbours came across and welcomed us in to the neighbourhood, Says bin days have changed now a Thursday Cool I said that we have just rented this villa for two weeks neighbour says sorry we had seen the u haul men here a week ago and thought that this was your stuff they had put in the Garage as they were putting the pool table and football table and the neighbour thought they were painting the garage but were actually chalking the walls with the pool chalk.

I found this alarming the lengths this company had gone to but after talking to Lesley Anne at Barrhead earlier on in the complaint she said she would look at maybe asking Thomson's to put a games room in for us after talking direct to Thomson's they said they would never do this and that Barrhead were telling lies.

The neighbour said that they were sorry to see Marsha go nice neighbours they were at first thought just being nice and friendly then started saying hope that does not mean this will be turned in to a tourist estate last thing I want.

5 18th May Arrive home from Disney which was 29.8 miles away from the villa I know they said within 30 miles but thought this was a bit much to be honest gates were open as they had broken down was very tired so looking forward to pool time and the games room in the pool until it got dark as there was only one light and not very bright and as there was no outside wall did not feel safe into the Games room noticed that there were 5 cues but only two had tips so told the family look we need to really watch what we are doing as there are only two cues not saying we would have broken them but not much option if a tip came off got a few games in then on to the football table after scoring my son tried to get the ball back out but we could not the ball back was actually too small and when you scored it was stuck inside the table so gave up on that.

Uncle had bought a few DVDs in Wal-Mart went to play them but no DVD player in the villa so watched the TV instead as I looked at the brochure again says that there will be a games console could not find one in the villa.

Sent a Email to TUI which was on the instructions we had and got a reply saying could I come in as they wanted to talk to me the following morning.

I thought maybe they had found somewhere for us.

6 19th May at around 10.00 after fighting our way through the traffic got to the TUI Office got a welcome can you come in to the back room as it was busy family stayed in the car firstly apologises for the pool man and about the bins and about the snakes etc but they had nothing for us and if they did we would have to pay anyway.

I addressed my concerns to them she said not a lot we can do just go and enjoy your holiday I said why did you bring me down here I just wanted to reassure you she said I said why did you not come to the villa to see my concerns she said that was not necessary I asked about the games console she asked her colleague to go and look in the brochure and agreed we should have had one but as it was not one of their villas she could only apologise and try to get me one as soon as she could but in the meantime gives me a Disney frozen pencil set for a 12 year old to colour in lol what planet is she from.

Get to the gates still not working another neighbour lets me in after telling her our address.

7 20th May Saturday Morning at half 7 in the morning man banging on the door with a play station 2 here is your console goodbye after fully wakening up I thought how rude he should have set this up as it is my holiday why should I but I set it up later on to find out that there was 2 games which one was supposed to Spiderman but was a music CD and the other was family games which included connect four but was a cd rom thought you know what I have had enough thought let us just enjoy the holiday and deal with this later..

All through the Holiday gates did not work so struggled to get in to the estate.

Most of the other Estates that we seen throughout our holiday including Champions Gate had a wall all around the Estate where as our Estate did not as it was not finished so you put my family at unnecessary risk.

Level of Customer Service was appalling even if they thought I was moaning they should still not lose the level of Customer service,

The Villa is only a short drive from Walt Disney World, but Clermont, Davenport and Haines City could be a million miles away. All 3 are small, residential towns” and you are not kidding a four hour Journey every day to the parks and back sometimes longer is not acceptable whether there are roadwork's or not also take in consideration the additional cost of fuel etc...Your company had a obligation to tell your customers about the roadwork's in that area you did not update this on your brochure either that Orlando is having a Major 4 year roadwork overhaul of its highways which would mean delays to the times that you have quoted and not the short drive as it states in the brochure...
I know it also says that you would be within a 30 mile radius of the Magic Kingdom at Disney but to be 28.8 miles away is as close to the outskirts and the city limits as we could get Also states in the Brochure that these Villas come in a league of their own you would not expect to be so far away from everything in the middle of nowhere in a new estate with builders in and out at all times of the day and building new villas next door to us and all around the surrounding Area...And to look out over a swamp every morning thinking is there Alligators out there which yes there would be but also is there snakes anywhere in or outside the villa was quite concerning...
Villa was not what we asked for 5 bedroom villa with Thomson actually got a 6 Bedroom Villa from a third party company which was confirmed by Thomson's as they had no villas left,

DVD player for you to watch the latest movies no DVD player in the villa,

You can choose between gaming and relaxing if you book here. Every villa comes with a poolside whirlpool bath, or a games room with a console and either table football, a pool table, darts or air hockey We had no console for the first week as this was a vacant property so absolute minimum in this Villa only when I said to the rep she managed to get one to us but it did not have a working game so my son could not play as we were so far away in the middle of nowhere this would have made his night and mine easier as he likes to play video games.

I know the TUI Representative said these Animals are common but I have never experienced this in my journeys to Florida and after talking to a number of friends family members and colleague's at work doesn't seem that common and my wife posted on her face book page just to see who else or anyone else had encountered snakes or Alligators on their holidays to Florida the answer was a resounding no and Google does not have much on this unless being at Gatorland counts..

I know the TUI rep says its Florida there is so much to do and not worry about the Villa but we had payed for the villa so yes the villa does count and not to mention the additional time and cost that was encountered after being so far Away and the delays on the highways...
The Villa Management Company was called Columbus rental homes I have the invoice to prove this and it states on their own website that all there villas are less than 30 minutes away from Disney Magic Kingdom and we payed them the insurance on their villa for any breakages etc so are they telling lies too because our villa was nowhere near that time.

I could go on but to be honest the Holiday was a complete Nightmare from start to finish we did the best we could but to find a snake the first day then be told it was smaller than the one we found yesterday and then bringing the gators in who are just two villas away would freak anyone out,
Also filled up the fuel tank 6 times during my stay which I thought was wrong as we were so far away meant we had additional mileage somewhere.
I would like to take this complaint further with Barrhead travel as this was the company I payed to go on vacation with even though the tour operator was TUI/Thomson