Disgraceful behaviour by major club

[KnL]

Paul,

The current economic climate is simply not the fault of the club.

The cost of my holiday has increased by approximately

 

[RogerL]

If you paid in advance, the club in question should have transfered the money into Euros straight away, isolating themselves and you from currency fluctuations.

This is fraud but sadly legal.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi all

just a thought keep a eye on the exchange rate and see if it goes down again in light of a no vote in the irish referendum then you could demand a refund for the differance

colin

 

[John_374361410]

Paul, I agree with you. I got a bill for

 

[Michael_5123947]

It seems to me that the club is clearly taking an opportunity to gain interest on the period between taking the cash and paying the site owners etc. There is nothing wrong with this and indeed you could view this as proactive financial management. However, the key question is are we as members happy with this situation of paying up front yet being exposed to the vagaries of the money markets. Speaking personally I am not. I would urge everyone to simply book direct with the operators themselves. I have had no problems doing this, it is often cheaper and extremely easy - many have excellent online booking facilities and speak excellent English if you simply want to pick up the phone. Don't let the club leave a bad taste before the start of your holiday - vote with your feet.

 

[MartinJ]

It all comes down to risk vs reward. The club are happy to take the reward of some interest on your money before they forward it on to the overseas site but its the honest member who runs the risk of a surcharge if the pound goes belly up. Not on in my view.

 

[Peter_374225034]

It all comes down to risk vs reward. The club are happy to take the reward of some interest on your money before they forward it on to the overseas site but its the honest member who runs the risk of a surcharge if the pound goes belly up. Not on in my view.

Why is the club not booking guranteed currency rates.

on taking x bookings they should "hedge" future risks by using a currency brokerage to spot a block of funds on the days rate with a maturity date when the final payment is needed.

This will enable them to gain interest, and mitigate future risks without impacting their customers.

http://www.internationalfx.co.uk/corporate.php

 

[trucker]

Booked my ferry and camping cheques through the CC in December and paid a deposit. Just paid the remainder of the balance and recieved my camping cheques. Not a mention of extra charge for the "strenghth of the Euro" nor any extra charge. Glad im not part of the not so "Friendly Club"

Kevin

 

[allen1]

I really cannot understand why anyone with a computer would book through either of the clubs,its so much cheaper to go direct.

 

[Rich]

Why the hell are people thinking that the club or any club are right adding to the cost of an holiday after taking a "full" payment? If you book early then the club should have paid the fee to the relevent people at the time at the rate of the time. If the rate has gone up from advertised then if you are told at the time of booking then you have a choice to pay or not but getting a bill after you have booked and it has all supposededly been sorted.....that is wrong! If I were in that situation I would be more than unhappy and not give them any more money in membership!

 

[trucker]

Allen, If you do your homework before booking its not always cheaper to book direct. The ferry was over

 

[tangophil]

I have booked many a holiday abroad (package deals to Grease etc), worked out the costs, paid the deposit only to find out months later when I've come to pay the balance that it has gone up because of one surcharge or another.

It is written into the small print for all holiday bookings, whether package deals through a travel agent or camping/caravan holidays booked through ANY club that they reserve the right to alter the price up to the day of travel to cope with the fluctuating markets.

I agree with everyone that it is frustrating to have to pay more when you thought everything was calculated and sorted months before hand, and if this extra money was lining the pocket of some 'fat cat MD' then I would be the first to cancel, resign from the club and hold a placard up on the street corner displaying my annoyance.

However, as has been pointed out, if the price of a foreign booked holiday increases, beyond the control of the club, for whatever reason, then it is only right that the members affected pay the difference. I certainly don't want to pay extra for someone elses holiday, any more than I would expect anyone else to pay more for my holiday.

We have to be realistic, frustrating as it is

Phil

 

[RogerL]

Once the holiday has been paid in full, it SHOULD be up to the operator to buy forward - whether it's currency, aviation fuel or whatever. That way both they, and the customer is protected from increases.

If something increases which is genuinely outside the control of the operator, like a government tax, then this is reasonable to be surcharged for.

It's unreasonable to be surcharge for aviation fuel once the holiday has been paid in full.

When items like currency and fuel fluctuate, they also go down as well as up - when was the last time an operator gave a refund due to circumstances outside their control?