Hi Darren,
Now the website has been replaced with a short letter about the closure and the brands affected :
Freedomdirect.co.uk
Freedom-direct.co.uk
Snowdeals.co.uk
Holidaysyoulike.co.uk

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Do you know whether we will get a full refund if they close as we have paid in full and are to leave in a couple of months?

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We booked a hotel and flight with Freedom Direct towards the end of March. Why were we not told that this company was struggling financially?

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Have you ever tried to tell your 8 year old son that he will not be going on holiday next week? My wife and I had to do that tonight. As you can imagine he was upset and both of us are devastated.

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I am due to fly out in 4 weeks time with my family and also my sister and brother-inlaw and only found out today when trying to book another seat that something wasn’t right but have tried all night to get through on phone lines and getting nowhere, as you can
imagine absolutely gutted as have paid all money upfront and can’t afford to pay all that money out again – so very very disappointed family.

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How can this happen??????

I booked our holiday accommodation with Freedom Direct and the flight with EasyJet. Will we get all of our money back? Help please!

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how come i only booked my holiday lastweek, we only had booking confirmation today i tried to go on the website tonight to see if i could find out which terminal we WAS going from we dont seem to have a atol number on our conformation letter but we do have a abta number can you please tell me which number i have to ring tomorrow i hope you can help

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Why NO INFORMATION about this??

Your website is the only one found. A friend checked the ATAL website and he could not find Freedom Holidays. Why? They booked us a flight and hotel how do we know if its a package holiday?

I am not sure who to call.

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we booked with freedom direct in february, we were due to travel the 21st may, the flights are with fly thomas cook, hotel with hotels4u also transfers with transfers4u, they are all part of the thomas cook group, can anybody help me what number do i phone caa or apta, im so confused cant stop shaking with sadness and anger, only just found out, thanks

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In regards to Tony Richardson above. Do you have any idea what it’s like to tell your wife and kids that you no longer have a job. Believe me a holiday would be the last of my worries. Telling them that the roof over their heads is more of a problem is my greater worry.

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Darren – keep up the great work keeping everyone informed.

Couple of points….. not sure what kind of products Freedom Direct sold – but if it is mainly summer bookings – then this is a really bad time to fail – as there will be a great number of booked (Jan / Feb / Mar) that are yet to travel (as planning to travel in May / June / July). A lot of disappointed people.

Completely different to the XL failure (early Sept) where there was probably less exposure to untravelled bookings. XL was a big problem with people currently abroad who needed to be flown back (an additional benefit of ATOL bonding is that repatriation is organised for you)

Also, if it takes X months for consumers to get their money back – they are going to have to find the money for their replacement holiday from other funds on the working assumption that they will have their money repaid. Not exactly ideal.

I agree – ABTA / CAA should have an emergency site they can put up on these occasions. They can hardly say this is a one off

This isn’t official advice. I am just a travel technology guy.

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Darren,

This has the potential to be more of a story / issue than XL (depending if my ideas about booking timings is right)…. but also only when consumers realise what has happened. They won’t know they ought to be disappointed quite yet – they will still be hoping it will work out OK and that money will come through and a replacement holiday may be available.

Many probably are not even aware yet as it will take a day or two – then a postal day – for any official information to go out.

They weren’t a small business either. Bad news for everyone involved – consumers, staff, resorts and travel technology providers. No one has monopoly on feeling bad about this.

Don’t be too negative on CAA / ATOL – the renewals process appears (from reports) to have instigated this failure – which pretty much means the process works. Without having a single clue about anything official – this may actually, once the fog of war has calmed down, be looked upon as a success of the ATOL system. Of course it may not feel like that to those involved on the coal face and who have suffered loss and I apologise for moving into “analysis mode” while the news is still fresh.

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Sorry to hear this news. Not surprised though. I was wondering when these kinds of things would start happening. Conquest, a tour operator for over 30 years in Canada, shut down yesterday in a similar manner to Freedom’s. There are Canadian travellers stranded in various places. A group of Canadians in Cancun, Mexico, were told to pony up $1,000 dollars or leave the premises. Sorry for the employees as well.
-
But we shall not lose faith. There will be an economic recovery and hopefully responsible leaders who will regulate the financial industry the way it should be regulated to avoid the crises they generated.
-
Jaime

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Darren

Few points, it is not legal to say a financial protected company is in trouble, for 2 reasons, before this rule a company was brought down that was not in trouble by rumors that it was and secondly a company that maybe borderline (there has been a lot) have survived because people did not know.

Notes to help.

1) ATOL if you book flight and another element and have a ATOL invoice you are covered.
(ATOL publish claim forms day after failure on there website, or as soon as they can)

2)If you have accommodation only or any other holiday without flight, Freedom is a ABTA member, so if you have an ABTA invoice then contact cega on 01243 621500 or e-mail abtaclaims@cegagroup.com.

3) If you have paid in full, you can check with the suppliers of the holiday, eg airline and hotel company (if you have vouchers) and see if they have been paid. In which case your holiday will go ahead.

NB. An ATOL or ABTA invoice is any document issued by a company with your holidays details and costing on it and the relevant logo. Some holidays have been sold separately for example Easyjet flights, then hotel. In these cases if you have your flight tickets, this will be a ABTA claim, or check with your hotel company if you have there details. This information is a guide only and will depend on your booking, read both ABtA’s and the CAA ATOL websites.

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Why there is not a standard closing page. The CAA is government controlled and ABTA has it hands tied by the government and they are not allowed to act in any matters that are commercial, such as this. A suggestion has been made to the government, so maybe will have some effect in years to come.

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For those who will be looking to claim, if you have paid by credit card and IF the advice from the CAA is to go via your credit card company to claim (this is very likely) then you could well be paid out pretty quickly indeed.

Once you have confirmation from the CAA that this is the process you should follow (hopefully they will update their website soon) then give your credit card company a ring. They will probably ask you to claim in writing at which point there’s a good template letter here:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases#how

Those who paid by another method may be in for a bit more of a wait however if the claims process is similar to previous failures then there aren’t too much paperwork to do. If you are claiming you will need to get photocopying your tickets, invoices and any supporting information for payments made. The CAA will probably want original documents whereas your credit card company should be fine with copies.

This would be the page to watch on the CAA site:

http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1052&pagetype=87

Has there been an Appointment of Administration? If not is there a timescale that needs to happen in?

@ Pauline it’s probably going to be the CAA you need to contact in the first instance, via the number on the holidaysyoulike.com site. Although it took about 2 hours for me to get through on their XL number recently!

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hi darren i phoned freedom direct freephone number to book it was a flight and hotel then the transfers last the flight was with olympic airlines we were due to travel on 15/6/09 for 2weeks we paid in full we only recieved the conformation yday we dont have a atol number on anything i dont know if thats a package or not i got all the info off line then phoned them ive tried abta number but they sayin try tour operator but we not got any numbers for them thank you debbie

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Darren

New information for all holidays has been provided by the government today.

http://direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/TravellingAbroad/BeforeYouTravel/DG_175232

As to the rest, helpful, it a mess and the industry have told this government from day one it is a mess. From the inside all that seems to happen is they make it worse, they have not taken on board one suggestion on how to make things easier.

Simply put with the Internet one company can now at a a ATOL tour operator/ Non ATOL bonded tour operator/ a bonded agent/an unbonded agent and a introducer….. how can anyone tell….???? ………. This is the mess we find ourselves in, worse because the government has not made the law clear that 6 years after ATOL guidelines where put in place we still do not know who right about the ATOL scheme.

As to the information on there website, it is clear and easy to understand. The other advantage in this case (not all are like this) is Freedom protected there customers with ATOL or ABTA, so everyone is covered.

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The CAA have a page up now with more detail:

http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1052&pagetype=90&pageid=10633

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@DEBBIE

Olympic airlines (different to Olympic holidays) is not a tour operator, if your booked on them flight numbers start with Letters OA, then you will need to contact ATOL.

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Hi. I am from the BBC. if there are any Freedom Direct passengers worried about whether they will get refunds who would be willing to talk to me later this afternoon i’d be very grateful — please email me on dominic.laurie @bbc.co.uk — thank you

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The CAA said Freedom Direct would have enjoyed a ‘period of grace’ of ATOL protection for around three months. “If a company does not renew its ATOL it would have a period of grace where we would still continue to hold a bond and customers would be ATOL protected,” said the spokesman.

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I was due to fly to Turkey on Sunday with freedomdirect.co.uk This is the second time in 8 months as i was supposed to go with XL in October. I have managed to rebook the same turkey holiday with a company called holidayclick.co.uk at £100 per person more than i orginally paid:(..Luckily i have just received my refund from my October trip so i would say to all of those effected you will get your money back….eventually!

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Don’t know if this helps, I have booked accommodation only with Freedom Direct. I contacted the number on their website and was advised to contact my supplier “Hotels4u.com”. I did this and they confirmed my booking from my paperwork.,however, no payment had been made by Freedom Direct. They did tell me that all might not be lost and took my phone details as they would know more later next week and would call me back. Worst case scenario is this, no payment made so I have to make a claim to ABTA and then re-book direct with “Hotels4u” (ok I have to pay again, but at least my room booking will be safe for that date) Hopefully that’s not the case will post again when I get a reply from Hotels4u

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Please can you help i booked my holiday and just paided for it in full on the 6 of april,i have been on the website and its says that ATOLwas not with freedom direct from the 1st, will i still get my money back, we are so gutted it is unreal my children are teenagers and so upset how can they do this to people, they only text my phone on the 1st to tell me to pay it in full straight away how did they not no this was going to happen.

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hi darren im sorry about this but i have just looked at my conformation again and it sayin that my flight numbers are pgt482 going out and pgt 481 coming back the whole amount of money was taken out on 11/4/09 we still in limbo we dont know who to contact (apart from you)

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We had booked our honeymoon, due in 8 weeks. We also had made full payment which Freedom Direct choose to pay for our flights directly with Easy jet…by doing this they have now made our accommodation and transfer booking as a “non-air booking” (as per ATOL Crisis Management Information sheet – and telephone confirmation with ABTA). This now means that Freedom Direct are NOT protected by either ATOL/ABTA or CCA – therefore we have lost all our accomodation money but do have active flights that we now need to book accomodation. Our only hope for compensation is via our credit card company – who currently are not being very co-operative and say “we may be compensated, depending on the claim being processed”…Thank you Freedom Direct!!!

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Myself and 3 other family members, one of them my 82 year old Mother, have flights and accommodation booked with Freedom Direct and we were due to travel on 16th May 2009.

I took out “Supplier Failure Cover” at a smal additional cost, via Freedom Direct, with Rock Insurance Services Limited, at the time of booking. I tried to ring them this evening when I heard about Freedom Direct ceasing to trade, but was unable to speak to anyone who could help me. I was told to ring back on Monday between 9 and 5.

I then contacted the airline and they have confirmed our flights are fully paid for and are still valid.

I e-mailed the hotel and asked them to confirm our booking is valid, then, I noticed our accommodation is booked through another party called Holiday Brokers, Part of On Holiday Group (UK) Ltd. I have e-mailed them asking them to confirm our booking is still valid. I hope I get a quick response but If it turns out that it’s not valid, I’m unsure if we will get on holiday as I don’t know if the insurance company will be able to provide an alternative accommodation in time. I don’t even know if the insurance covers Freedom Direct going into liquidation, I think it may be cover for the airline or accommodation provider only.

Lots of unanswered questions for a lot of people but if your holiday is supposed to be in the next month or so, check your documents and e-mail/telephone anyone you think may be able to help.

Shortly after I booked this holiday in October last year, Freedom Direct were offering free “Supplier Failure Cover” to anyone booking flights and or accommodation with them. Again, check your documents, you may have this and not be aware of it.

I do have a lot of sympathy for the employees of Freedom Direct. They are often the last to know that the company is in difficulty. The company my husband and I work for is really struggling. I can’t sleep for the worry of us both being out of work together so I can imagine how they must feel.

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re: Debbie | 17 April, 2009 at 9:33 pm, my previous rant.

To: Sue | 18 April, 2009 at 12:24 am – yes I can confirm that our accommodation too was done through a third party, On Holiday – i did manage to speeak to them yesterday and they confirmed that they had not been paid from Freedom Direct and were in the process of cancelling all accommodation booked via them – I could however book the accommodation again through them at the same price. They did notify me about the Supplier Failure Cover policy, as they are not ABTA or ATOL bonded – and we wish we were advised of this at the time of our original booking – but at the time we thought we were booking a package holiday and would be protected.
To: Darren Cronian | 17 April, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Our accommodation was charged on my credit card by Freedom Direct, although as my paragraph above explains this was then sold on to On Holiday. Regarding ABTA and ATOL – ATOL state that because of the way payment was taken from my credit card it became a non-air bookin and Freedom Direct did not have a bond to cover these transactions therefore they will not deal with the claim, and that is the same reply I got from ABTA – just hopeful the credit card comes through…

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we booked our hols to travel to egypt in July. mt partner was just about to pay the full balance on wednesday night when we realised after going on website they had ceased trading. luckily we had only paid a deposit of just under £500. we had paper work and i phoned the tour operator libra hols who the flight had been booked with. luckily the flight was still booked and our deposit had been paid to them, we were told we could pay libra hols the full remaining balance on our flights and confirmation was sent through today!. after trying for what seems like hours i got through to the company who the accommodation was booked through (again we had paperwork stating who this was booked through somewhere2stay with a booking ref) they told me that our reservation was still valid and again if we paid them the remaining balance it would be ok to still travel in July. all in all we have only lost our transfers and discount we were offered from Freedom Direct. my advice to people in the same boat if you have any sort of paperwork with names of companies on ie allbury travel, somewhere2stay and relevant ref numbers all might not be lost. persevere and good luck!!!

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@Darren, it is complicated, isn’t it? I agree.

This is because they were 1)selling their own package holidays under their own ATOL. 2)selling components as an ATBA agent (and may have been considered a package holiday to the public when they booked). Thus avoiding a large ATOL bond to the CAA protecting all passengers.

ABTA’s website about failures: http://www.abta.com/consumer-services/travel_problems/ceased_trading

The government really need to do something to improve regulations on travel websites where agents are selling holiday components (flight plus accommodation) that are not protected, but are considered by the public at the time of booking along with many others (like the CAA) to be a package holiday.

If you are concerned for the future, I do suggest you consider this (not easy to do online), if you book over the phone ask before you book ‘is this a PACKAGE holiday’ and ‘is it protected by ATOL?’ If you’re told your flight is covered, beware, this is not a package holiday and your ‘whole holiday’ will NOT be protected.

@Sue – “Supplier Failure Cover” will cover airline failure or other third party providers become insolvent. I don’t believe it will cover in the event of the failure of a booking agent.
Maybe someone could advise on that.

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i booked our holiday for me and my wife in january and paid it in full.when travelling to work on friday like so many others i read about freedom direct and was in total shock,as this has not happened to us before i was running round like a headless chicken not knowing what to do,luckerly for us our flight had been paid for and confirmed(easyjet)and can still fly.but we had to borrow a large amount of money to rebook our hotel as we had no idea of what to do or who to talk to,i need to find out who to talk to and how to get our money back.

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Darren/Debbie

You may be correct about your accommodation meaning you have to make a claim from your credit card, same as the CAA will say. (This is due to the number of credit card companies not signing authentication for CAA etc. to handle the claims like they used to) but Freedom was both a Bonded tour operator and agent with ABTA, so no matter how you paid as long as you have a confirmation you money is safe.

@ Sue, the free supplier failure was other by all agents of the On holiday group. Looking at my information it does not cover the agent, but everything else down the line. However On Holiday group is a member of ABTA so they should protect your “pipeline” monies.

(Pipeline means monies collected by an agent that have not reached the supplier)

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For All,

If you have to make a ATOL/ABTA claim and you know the company has still got your accommodation, ask that company is they are accepting assignments instead of paying again.

this is advice for people who do not have an invoice with ATOL number 9740 on it. If your invoice shows this number contact the CAA.

If you have booked a holiday or other travel arrangements with Freedom acting as an agent for another ABTA member, Which you can check by reading your paperwork and receipts from freedom. You should if you booked more than 2 weeks from the failure have a invoice from the company your holiday is with. Then the following advice from ABTA applies.

What Happens if Your Travel Agent Ceases to Trade?

If you’ve made your booking through a travel agent, it’s important that you obtain and keep all the paperwork referred to above. This will show that you have a booking with the relevant holiday company.

You should contact the holiday company to make sure that the booking is in place. If it is, then your travel arrangements should continue unaffected.

In the unlikely event that your travel agent has failed to make your booking with a travel company you should contact your credit card company if you paid by credit card. If you didn’t pay by credit card, contact our claims enquiries office for advice and assistance. Contact: ABTA Claims, PO Box 127, Metro House, Northgate, Chichester PO18 8WQ, Tel: 01243 621 500.

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Have not seen anyone affected by the demise mentioned above but living and working for a realtor/rental agent/relocation service in Panama we see snafu’s like this from time to time. We tend to recommend that people use travel services to plan and then make their reservations directly with the airline, cruiseline, etc.

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Hi, I actually booked a holiday through freedom direct last wkend on 12th April an had no idea they were ging to go bust. There was no mention of this on the web site at the time of booking. But I am really shocked because it is reported that freedom direct restricted from selling holidays after end of march as they were no longer ATOL protected, but yet last wkend they had over £1500 from me. I used my credit card but am unsure of whether I will be entitled to any money back. There is no advice for me, please is anyone else in the same situation? I have been sent an ATOL reciept from Avro travel, but that is all.

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with regard to them flight numbers i gave you yesterday i have just phoned them they are saying that they got no recolection of our flights they said its a charter flight and gave me a number in marmaris to contact also on the letters we have had there is only a flight number and a departure date its not saying where from i have been trying to phone caa they just giving me a website address http://www.atol.org.co.uk ive been on that do you think that we are right to put in a claim at this stage does any more people know of any other numbers to get in contact with thank you

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Her’s an update to my previous post earlier today about my booking of flights and accommodation with Freedom Direct.
Holiday Brokers (part of On Holiday Group) who Freedom Direct booked our accommodation with are not ABTA/ATOL bonded but On Holiday Group are (ABTA No: L3315).
I e-mailed Holiday Brokers and received this reply:

Please note that we are not a travel agent and we are not ABTA bonded.
On Holiday Group Accomodation act as an agent on behalf of the hotel. Freedom direct have booked your accomodation through On Holiday Group Accomodation however Freedom Direct have not paid for the reservations they had booked with us.
All Freedom direct bookings have now been cancelled in our system because of this.
You will need to contact ABTA and supply them with Freedom Directs ABTA number or your credit card company to reclaim your money lost.
You can make another booking through On Holiday Group Accomodation however I cannot confirm that the cost of the booking will be the same or even available.
If you chose to make another booking with us direct you will need to make payment today.

Kind Regards

On Holiday Group Agency Support

I rang Holiday Brokers today and spoke to an advisor called Jack. He told me the same thing about not being paid by Freedom Direct and about the ABTA bonding. I asked what was the normal procedure for receiving payment from Freedom Direct and I was told they were usually paid either once the holiday commenced or even when the holiday was over. I find this difficult to believe. Does this mean the hotel wouldn’t get paid until after our stay? “Having the wool pulled over my eyes” comes to mind!!. Also, If they are not ABTA bonded, what is their ABTA Number L3315 for?
I’ve not been able to make contact with ABTA or ATOL as the office is open Monday to Friday only.
Barclaycard have told us they can raise a dispute against our payments, but this may result in our flight being cancelled. As we still want to use our flights, they advised us to wait until after the holiday.
I had paid Freedom Direct an additional fee for the supplier failure cover and this fee is shown on my invoice, although I am still under the impression that it will only cover the airline or acommodation going bust, not the agent. (Freedom Direct).
Now I’m not sure of how to proceed. We can rebook our accommodation direct with the hotel at around the same price, but by using the flights, I wonder if it would affect the claim we make for the loss of money for the accommodation?
RMTare the insolvency accountants dealing with the liquidation of Freedom Direct. Their web address is http://www.r-m-t.co.uk but they don’t have anything more to say than is now on Freedom Direct’s web page.
This is so frustrating and there doesn’t seem to be any information out there to help.

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I have booked a hotel for 7 days through freedom direct (unfortunately at about 1 am 1st of April! The price was £89 and paid via debit card. I have my reciepts etc however not sure if its valid or its possible to get my money back. It says on the email that they were working on behalf of hotels4u.

Anyone give me any help i’m a confused student!

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if you have received your flight e-ticket via e-mail then your flights should still be ok but it is worth checking with the firm that booked the hotel if this has been paid up front. if it hasn’t then try & rebook with them & claim the cost when you get back. this is what i’m having to do but fortunately for me the hotel only cost £80.00

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I booked flight only with Thomson,thru Freedom Direct last Sunday and payed £200 deposit.I have received confirmation and a copy of the invoice,and when the final payment is due,but there is nothing about my deposit I Payed with my Debit Card.What i need to know is were i stand

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i have booked accomodation only with freedom direct and there supplier was low cost travel group i have been informed by low cost travel they have not recieved any payments from freedom direct for the last 8 months.i have my voucher fro low cost but they say is no good because they have not recieved any payments.after speaking to abts they advised that supplier should still honour holiday because they entered into a contract and thats how agency law works but low cost travel said because they have not recieved no money they broke the contract.i dont no where i stand as i paid by debit card

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its distgusting that anybody can just pinch peoples money that people have workd hard for and saved all year if i went into a shop and pinched a packet of crisps i would be prosecuted its terriable and i hope like myself we can go on our well deserved holidays and would love to know where all our bloody money as gone

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i,ve booked my holiday begining of march to go to tunisia and we due to fly out on sunday 26th april 09 this weekend,we have firstchoice flights which we have the tickets for throw the posts all the hotel information and transfer information which was sall booked seperat so will it be still ok to go this weekend or should i check but not sure whoto call

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its so strange the day they go bust they send all ur documents out to u, i have booked to go in aug and have paid £1000 deposit they basicaaly sais to me is if u paid and it went to freedom direct then u are protected but if u paid and it went seperatly to the airline then accom then u would have to ring the hotel u was meant to be staying in, so i done that and the manager said we would have to pay £175 a night to stay there, i just thing freedom direct had a £48 million turnover last year and they have gone bust , strange, i hope we all get our money back

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hi we bked to go to hurghada 30th june for 8 of us flights were with thomas cook and accomadation with hotels 4u. after spending the whole weekend ringing both companies, weve been told that freedom direct has only paid 600 pounds to thomas cook and nothing of our accomadation. so we have no alternative to cancel and waite for our money back as our holiday was 3,500. and the most frustrating thing is this was our family holiday for some years an we worked hard to find the suitable accomadation etc as we are taking our disabled 9 yr old son with us. i am so frustrated to think they have left us in the lurch without a care in the world!!. good luck to everybody.

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one other thing does anybody have any idea of the time we will be waiting for a refund? thanks.

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I also booked a holiday through Freedom Direct on 11th April, and am worried because i believe they did not have the ATOL/ABTA number from 1st April, can i still claim any money back? Is the easier to claim my money back from my credit card company?

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Freedom Direct

Did have an ATOL, under the CAA grace period, so booking made on this are covered.

Also Freedom did have a retail ABTA license up to the 16th April.

There is a question here about On Holiday group, what they are saying about not taking the money till departure is correct, this is because agents would not provided an unbounded company with monies, so this is the route they took. If you have an accommodation booking (one without flights) and paid by credit card separately to your flights then dispute the transaction with you credit card company. If you paid by other methods contact ABTA.

The other question on here is how long do claims take, well once the administrators have handed over the details, claim forms are then sent out normally within a week, you then complete and return to the correct address, then depending on how busy they are it normally takes 4-6 weeks for payment to be made if all documents are correct. (keep in mind that the CAA are still dealing with XL), which was like 6 months of companies failing in one go.

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is’nt it about time,holiday companies,who have taken peoples money,instead of passing on the burden of rebookig and reclaiming monies,to thier customers,actually take some responsibility and sort out the problems they have caused .
we have accomodation booked in spain,with this company,for july 09,the booking was made in november last year.
we have not caused ”the problem”,be it bad business,or whatever
i am sure that holiday companies,would not accept,the public to pay for thier holiday on arrival.
yet we have to pay months in advance,to unbelievably,have NO holiday.
WHY DO PEPLE HAVE TO PUT UP WITH BUYING A BUS TICKET WHEN THERE IS NO BUS ?????

has our appartment dissapeared into the sea,why cannot we stay at where we booked,or indeed has the room never been booked………….5 months in the booking.
abta have informed us they cannot help,and have mentioned ”the small claims court”.
ONCE AGAIN WHY DO WE HAVE TO PUT UP WITH SUCH INCONVIENIENCE/INCOMPETENCE.
DO THESE PEOPLE JUST GO HOME IN THIERE BMW’s and pass ”the problem” onto everyone else

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been advised by abta that accomodation through a different person should be honoured i just phoned low cost tracel who confirmed they will not honour my booking so where next if you ask me there passing the ball on to each other i booked last year in august so they were abta protected then so why the hell is abta doing NOTHING

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update phoned Thomsons Holidays head office,finance dept on 01243621500, gave them my booking reference. I was told to send them my booking reference and a copy of my bank statement showing details of my payment to Freedom Direct, and they would claim my deposit back and deduct it from my final payment, They told me they were honouring all booking and not to worry, and would keep me updated. Also told me they had no record of people who had booked with Freedom Direct, so until people contacted them they could do nothing, so give them a ring

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An update on my story. I rang Rock Insurance this morning who could not give me any answers as to whether I was covered to make a claim with them. They told me to ring ABTA and make a claim with them.
I rang ABTA and they at first told me that Holiday Brokers should honour my accommodation booking.
Holiday Brokers said they wouldn’t as they are not ABTA bonded.
I rang ABTA back, got a different person who agreed Holiday Brokers will not honour the booking because of not having an ABTA bond.
Rang Rock Insurance who eventually rang back at 4.20pm to say I can make a claim on the insurance policy and to ring Europe Assistance.
Rang Europe Assistance who told me if I make a claim it will be for the original cost of the accommodation, not for the replacement cost which is £108.00 more if I re-book today. Also, the policy excess of £50.00, is per person, meaning I will lose out on £308.00 of the accommodation costs. This insurance is not worth the paper it’s written on!!
Because my flights are with Jet2 and have been fully paid, I wanted to still use them but ABTA suggested as my first payment covered all of the flights and a deposit for the accommodation, it may be safer if I re-book both flights and accommodation and claim the whole of the original amount paid to Freedom Direct, back from Barclaycard. The flights are now £187.00 more than I originally paid, so whichever way I go, I am going to lose out.
I’m frustrated to say the least!!
I live only a few miles from Freedom Direct offices and the local Chronicle newspaper are asking for people affected by Freedom Direct, to get in touch. I have spoken to Tom Mullen at the Chronicle newspaper and he says if they can get a big story together, it could push the liquidators into releasing funds to assist those who are losing out.
Anyone who wants to try this or just wants to have their say can contact this newspaper on the following e-mail address: tom.mullen@ncjmedia.co.uk

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I have downloaded a claim form from the ATOL website but it says i am required to provide at least 1 original document confirming my contract with freedom direct. I only booked last week and no documents have come through (and are unlikely now). All i have is my email booking confirmation. Does anyone know whether this will be valid? I am really worried i may not be able to claim anything back.

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I was going out on 27/04/2009 for 2 weeks. I read the sun paper and read Freedom Direct went bust. I paid £1800 for 4 adults.

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I found out on Saturday that FD had went belly up. (for want of a few better words)

We tried and failed as everything was closed, (why wasn’t there at least a recorded message with more than this office is only open Mon-Fri?)

We contacted our credit card company, who said we were to go through the ATOL/ABTA route and if we didn’t get any satisfaction, then they would deal with it.

I finally got through to:
ABTA 01243621500- who gave me the *wrong* number to contact Thomas Cook liquidation. They were only giving out more ‘phone numbers, which were extremely busy, 2 and a half hours constant ringing.

CAA 02074536350 – Girl there gave me really good advice. Basically it was, if I had paid for everything directly to FD and *not* the airline/hotelI should be fine, regarding the flights, not so sure on the hotel.
CAA’s official line is *DON’T GO* and reclaim the full amount.
Though if you’re flights are paid for (contact airline), you may still be able to travel, and rebook your accomodation.
They are sending out a claim form.

THOMAS COOK LIQUIDATION 01733416193 – This number is operated by 1 (yes 1 person) and the mail box gets filled rather quickly. Although when I did eventually get through, it sounded like they had roped in someone from god only knows where!
He took my details and said he will contact me, and that it looks like I should have my flights as I have a reference number. (?)

HOTELS4U.COM 08448754401 – this was initially straight onto an answerphone/mailbox. The girl called me back within half an hour or so (I was ‘holding on ABTA’ at the time) and as I had phoned them, they now had my details, and as soon as ABTA had confirmed what they were to do, they would get back in contact with me, but couldn’t tell me if they were paid or not.

We also took out the Suppliers failure insurance and according to the Rock Insurance website, it looks like you are getting insurance for agents going bust, but I may have gave up and read what I wanted to see.

Fingers crossed we’ll be going to Turunc in October.
If not it’ll be a soggy tent in the middle of the field out the back door! LOL

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hi i,m due to fly 9th may,booked hotel,flights and transfers with freedom direct but not sure whether it was sold as a package.it does say fdhl air inclusive package amongst the other provider details but i cant find an atol number.any suggestions please.thanks lisa

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has any body got there e-tickets to go can you help me on birthday some say you can go some say you cannot go i go on 27/04/2009 to turkey

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Booked last november to go to majorca in september. After spending hours on the phone think i have the information i need. I booked flights,accommodation and transfers all seperate. The flight is with Jet2 who tell me has been fully paid by freedom direct but the accommodation provider YouTravel.com have not been paid any money from freedom. YouTravel.com say i can rebook the hotel as a new booking then claim back what i had paid to freedom direct. CAA advise to claim everything back and not travel but why when flights have been paid. Very confused.

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were going the spanish grand prix, booked with freedom and our hotel supplier is hotels 4u have called them and they said its booked but not paid for but abta said they are legaly bound to honour the holiday as they are the supplier….also contacted the hotel and they said as long as i hve the voucher then its fine ,,, but i only have an e-mail voucher and they want original
any help would be great

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So,so sorry for everybody.Why hasn’t someone got a website where we can all get the answers we need quickly and correctly?Thank goodness for this one.I was clueless with what to do.I’m not sure i’ve done the right thing,but have not cancelled my holiday,(its only my second holiday with my sons and it’s his 18th).I phoned the airline direct(who were great) and also the hotel where we’re staying.Neither have been paid,yet the airline said they had confirmation and would honour my booking and claim from Freedom Direct themselves and the hotel will keep my rooms but I will have to pay again and hope to claim the money back.I felt a lot better for contacting both directly but have no idea whether this will still work out yet.Ive also no idea what specifically i’m covered for by Rock insurance as I’d not yet received the policy and whether I can somehow transfer this to help me now.I know I should have taken more care but never thought we’d,like all of us would end up in this position.I have an awful feeling things might still backfire and I end up with no compensation from Atol either now.I’ve had to borrow the money to ‘repay’the hotel and am stretched to way over my limit.It’s just my sons birthday and I can’t let him down.Really feel for everyone here,so good luck and let us know how you get on.

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i rang abta today and they advised me that our accomodation should be honoured by the operator even if they have not recieved payment from freedom direct because that is agency law so i spoke to operator who said they will NOT be honouring any bookings so i rang abta who told me that if they were not willing to honour our booking then we would lose ALL money paid.I asked if we were abta protected and they said we were but could not claim because operator should honour booking so nobody is offering to sort out anybodys holidays by the looks of things.I have spent all day on phone with abta lostcost holidays and rmt administrators and whoever you phone say you need to speak to others its like there passing the ball on.I booked because i was told i was fully abta protected but abta are not will to pay so who the hell is gunna because they cant just take peoples money like that i would say that is THEFT and i feel nobody is going to get a penny back CHEERS for whoever is responsibe because people have had to work hard all year for there holidays to have them taken away like that is a total JOKE robbing Bastards do they know what they have done to my kids and other peoples and where is all the money well something needs to be done and it needs to be done by ABTA if you ask me because there the ones named in this but are doing NOTHING but saying speak to operator they SHOULD honour your booking there is adifference between SHOULD and WONT

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help……… really confused now spent most of yesterday on the phone… as im sure most of you have. what i,be been told to do by most operators is to go ahead with the holiday and pay for it myself and then claim it back? is that the right thing to do? really really unsure of what to do….. the caa have sent me a claim pack out which i have filled now filled in… but would appreciate any advice or is anybody else considering doing the same? is that safe to do?

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See there’s lots of concern regarding accommodation. I two am waiting on Hotels4U. What’s the point in having agency law if companies just refuse to honour what I believe to be a binding contract. What are ABTA doing? Buck passing springs to mind. Waiting for them to contact me will post again when I know what their plans are or are’nt.

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@Amanda, Thomas Cook only has 1 person because this deals with travel agents going under, normally around 1 per week and maybe 100 bookings. Freedom has caused 1000’s of bookings.

@Lisa, it is unlikely you booked under Freedoms ATOL, however the e-mail confirmation if you did will be honored by the CAA. (look on it though to see it it mentions another company or ATOL number, if you can only find the number go to the CAA’s website to see who it belongs to)

@ Jim Walker, you advice is a bit backward, because in this case everyone thought they where booking with a Tour Operator, if they had of been just an agent the monies would of been safer! What works in one country does not work in another.

@ Debbie, this is what the industry wants, but the government will not listen to us, write to your MP.

@ Rachel, if your dealing with a ABTA/ATOL company, this is the correct advice, but I would push them to accept a deed of assignment (remember you must get all the claim details to them before you travel for this to work)

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correction on my post regarding travel agents going under, I meant 1 per month (not week)

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i have just got my holiday back same hotel in fethiye same flights and transfers i will print phone numbers.01733417100.thomas cook.transfers hotel acd 084444820090.bthis is brokers number holidaynights.co.uk.good luck all

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hi i booked with freedom having same problem as the above but even my flight with thomascook we can still use them we need to do a name change but they are being very owkward and passing me to department to department no one at thomascook know who can do the name change any one else have probs doing a name change becouse freedom gone burst

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Anyone else going on holiday on the 27th April 2009, three days on the phone and stil dont know what happening with our holiday???

Thought we had booked a package holiday with FD, so spoke with ATOL. Then it works out FD paid flythomas cook with my CC for the flights (with whom have been un contactable for advice). Finally spoke to liquidators for about the 4th time and saif flights are booked and paid for – have to take them or no money refunded.

Spoke to ABTA sai youtravel.com must honour the booking FD made for us, who are now disputing this and say we have to pay again for our accmodation and transfers – then claim it back.

Whats going on???? Six days till the holiday we booked and paid for in January , and we just get passed back and fourth from thomas cook, atol, abta, youtravel etc. . .

wish the company would offically declare themselve as ended then this may make things easier, check company house website for more details of this (http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/) trading standards/consumer direct for advice for when they do.

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yes i to got passed from pillaar to post ring this company ring that company. i have been told ring caa, abta,thomas cook and my hotel supplier. i did all of that and the final verdict as stated previously is my holiday has now been cancelled by the caa(not me). and i have sent my claim of to the them as i had all the relevant paperwork i hope!!!. and dont no if any body has checked but the flights have now gone up our original flights cost 2,240 they are now 3.240????. but thomas cook have responded by saying if we wish to book flights with them on the date we had originally, they would give them to us for the same price and so have the supplier of the hotels, but obviosly the final costing to lay out again is still much higher as there is no discount now that was supplied to us from freedom direct!.

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I have been on the phone for 3rd day in a row, spoke to ABTA who told me Avro and Youtravel have to honour my booking and that they then need to claim from ABTA (not me claiming from them). I then spoke to Avro who said as long as i provide them with proof of payment to Freedom Direct then they will honour flights. Just spoke to Youtravel who are not prepared to honour the booking unless i pay up again (ABSOLUTELY NO WAY) even though they know they can claim it back from ABTA. I am waiting for one of their managers to ring me back now. But i am a little apprehensive because the CAA advice is that all holidays have been cancelled by them. Who are we supposed to trust? I am due to travel in 4 weeks and dont know what to do for the best. I am sorry for everyone else in this situation and hope we all get it sorted eventually.

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I share the same experience a lot of poor buggers here – have confirmed flights but no accomodation despite paying in full only 2 weeks ago. Being shunted from pillar to post to find out who to claim from – currently £1,400 out of pocket. Paid by Direct Debit and spoke to bank to try and claim on this chargeback scheme- they advised to claim through t ATOL, they advised to speak to ABTA who sais hotels 4U should honour the accomodation through this so called UK agreement law !!! Abta advised to contact them at the end of this week – not sure if I’ll get any further forward however I will certaintely be giving it another try. Also contacted Rock Insurance as I had taken out ‘Supplier Failure Cover ‘ with FD and they are sending out a claim form, however there is an excess of £50/£75 per person. Might be my only option – good luck to all.

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sorry what is a deed of assignment?.

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Hi there, a group of 15 of us booked a package holiday with freedom direct due to fly out 19th July for a week to Zante. I made arrangements to get proof from my bank for payments made. However on contacting atol, the office confirmed that their legal team are looking into matters and some holidays may still be honoured. Could you please confirm this and would you recommend our group to book another holiday or wait for the verdict?

Thanking you in advance

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ABTA today have told me there is nothing they can do for me anymore and I need to claim on my credit card. My housemate has spent the last 3 days on the phone to be told by Thomas Cook that as the payment has been made directly to them they are providing the flights – if we choose to not go on them we lose the money. ABTA said due to the flights being provided seperately by Thomas Cook (even though i booked everything with freedom) my holiday is a retail package and therefore under licensing law YouTravel have to provide the accomodation. YouTravel have been extremely unhelpful and as an end result refused. The transfer company taxitansfers.com have been advised by their solicitor to not honour any bookings. Therefore neither, despite the legal requirement neither company will provide the service. This is when ABTA decided to not help anymore!!!!

So from somewhere, somehow I need to find some money to book accomodation and transfers. All this in the hope that Thomas Cook liquidators were telling the truth in that there will be a flight for me to get on on monday. YouTravel has been extremely disppointing. Needless to say when Freedom Direct declare themselves bankrupt on Companies House i certainly will be asking Trading Standards to act against YouTravel!!!!

Fingers crossed my partner and I will be allowed on the plane on monday!!!!!!!!!

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As a further update to my previous posts. I booked accomodation only with Freedom and my tour operator was Hotels4u. I have been in touch this morning and been told to submit certain documents to prove my booking and payment. It looks like they’re going to honour my booking and claim back from ABTA. Just be wary, anyone in the same boat, Hotels4u will ask for a balance statement from Freedom saying you have paid in full. I was not in posession of that document and asked if a bank statement would suffice, to my horror they said it may not be acceptable to ABTA. I then contacted ABTA on the emergency number for Freedom customers and was told by a supervisor that copies of bank statements are acceptable provided the transaction, account holder name and account number are clearly visible. I have since forwarded the documentation to Hotels4u and pointed pointed out that ABTA have advised that bank statements are acceptable. Hope this of use to those of you in a similar situation. Watch this space and I’ll let you know the outcome…

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PS RMT are useless and can tell you nothing!!! Is there anyone out there who knows what happens to the transactional databse? Surely this would show who has paid what and when. It has been suggested to me that ABTA would have it. If so why all the fuss over documentation???

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in answer to olivia,s comments made on here today we too have spoken to abta today who told us the same thing as our suppliers of both flight and hotel are the same as your,s! and i agree with you that youtravel.com are very unhelpful and damn right rude we asked the same thing and they told us no way the conversation ended when they rudely stated they are not going to help us and put the phone down on us! rang abta back who have told me to leave things with them as we are not due to travel untill 30th june and hopefully buy then things would be sorted fully as to whom is going to houner what, as they have been in talks with you travel for 2 days. so i have to sit tight for a bit and play the waiting game….. but thomas cook liquidations are telling us that they have not recieved full payment for our flights! arghhhhh its so frustrating the lack of information and then being given numerous numbers to ring but no body has any answers. the most annoying thing is that it took me over 2 months to find this holiday as were a party of 8 but four of them are children and one disabled child in a wheelchair. you save for many years to be able to afford a holiday ,research is thoroughly so it meets your needs and then some travel company take it all away from you over night!

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my friend booking is with hotels 4 u and they are going to hounor her booking but mine is with lowcost travel who have cancelled my booking i told them they have to give me my holiday but they said they dont because they no longer have a contract with them i spoke to abta and they said there is nothing they can do to contact there administrators rmt they told me i can claim from them but would not get all money i paid and would take about 18months

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I am due to depart on 6th June for a two week hol, to my horror heard the horrific news. I have paid Freedom every last penny £1.3k.

Flights are with Thomas Cook
Accommodation are with OnHoliday
Transfers are with taxitransfers.co.uk

Spoke to Onholiday (Monday), process of cancelling all accommodation as not been paid.
Tried to speak to Thomas Cook, some guy took a message on Monday and said they would get back to me (no joy yet)
Spoke to ATOL Monday asked to email all documents I have so they can advise best plan of action.
Spoke to ATOL again today (Thurs) as heard nothing yet, told me not to cancel flights. Problem is I cant afford to pay for accommodation again, so I have written off the holiday and just want my money back. he asked who was my money paid to told them all money was to Freedom Direct, he said well you should have a claim then. Too right I have!!!

So the upshot is my holiday is not being honoured, but dont know what to do with regards the flights.

So in the realms of a waiting game at the moment

Depressed Gemma

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I thought i was getting somewhere yesterday, ABTA said flight company and Hotel company would have to honour my booking and claim back from them. Flight company agreed to do this but not youtravel, i agree they were quite rude when i spoke to them they said there was no way they were honouring it unless i pay again!!!!!!! Youtravel told me that my booking is classed as a package and atol would have to deal with it (but there is no FD atol number on my booking only ABTA number so i am not convinced. So I too am back to waiting to hear from ATOL to see if they will take responsibility for this mess. someone needs to. i feel like we have no rights whatsoever. i eventually spoke to consumer advice centre who told me to write a letter to all parties concerned requesting my money back by a certain date, i think that is incase i have to go down the legal route (ie small claims). I hope it doesnt come to that.

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Latest on my case: Youtravel rang me this morning, told me that my booking is classed as a package and atol would have to deal with it (but there is no FD atol number on my booking only ABTA number so i am not convinced). So I too am back to waiting to hear from ATOL to see if they will take responsibility for this mess. someone needs to. i feel like we have no rights whatsoever. i eventually spoke to consumer advice centre who told me to write a letter to all parties concerned requesting my money back by a certain date, i think that is incase i have to go down the legal route (ie small claims). I hope it doesnt come to that.

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Due to travel on 19/05/09 for a week to Sharm el Sheik with my wife and two kids. Paid the full amount at the time of booking. Heard news and panic started. Ahter making numerous phone calls to ATOL ABTA KISS Flights and MEDHotels since Friday last week, the end result is that Flights okay, have to re book the hotel by exrta funds, (all spending money gone) and when times come to calim ATOl, they want me to email all the paperworks from Freedom Direct to see if i have a valid claim or not. Also my invoice from Freedom Direct clearly says it was a pacakge holiday and we are protect by ATOL.

There are no clear guidelines from any where, whatsoever. which is to me is wrong.

My sympathies with all the people (staff , travellers and all other) who suffered with this collapse.

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Lisa, If you look on your booking confirmation document from Freedom Direct. It should says at the bottom of the page “Freedom Direct Package” under the heading of YOUR COSTING. Also if its a package it should follow by saying “Money paid for these arrangements is fully protected by ATOL protection. Our ATOL number is ATOL 9740.”
ATOL 9740 number applies to all the bookings, booked as a freedom direct pacakage.

Hope this helps you and others

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Hello,

We are currently awaiting financial records from our bank to process the ATOL claim.
- We booked our holiday last Oct-Nov 2008. We paid the deposit in 2 installments via credit card and direct debit. We currently live in the Irish republic, 2 minutes from the NI border. All of our amenities are in the north. We therfore booked a flight out of Belfast as this is our nearest airport. Sadly my wife has lost her job and I have had my hours severely cut with the threat of losing my job to close for comfort. We therefore contacted the company with a vie to POSTPONING the holiday. We was informed that we had to cancel. This is a direct contradiction to the companies terms and conditions where they advise that cancellation is possible with the relevant charges. Not happy with this we started to ring round. The airline company informed that a postponment and change of airport is achievable at a £35 per person charge. Freedom directs fee is advertised as £25 per person. Contacting the hotel and then the 2nd party accomodation supplier they told us they would have no charge. This £35+£25=£60 x 7 travelling = £420!!! acceptable for a delay to spread the cost. Why then was we told that we had to cancel and lose £1200+. And the beauty of this, we was told this info in the 3-4 weeks before the company going into administration. We are now going to put in the claim to the CAA once our bank details arrive. Hopefully we may get the money back and get a postpoment of sorts!!!!!!! but what rattles me is what we was advised by the company, surely thats not right. I will be putting a letter of such in to the CAA as well. I will leave my name as Mr Smith because at this point dont wnt to go giving names. Advice is appreciated.

Sadly my booking confirmation is no longer in my email account. Will my booking ref number be sufficient? I have a contact email from freedomdirect in relation to our request for change on the booking ref.

Gemma,

we went through this with the same companies a few weeks before the company went into administration. we was looking to postpone. my comments above!!
The monies may have been paid to the companies involved.
- we rang both and asked to speak to the supervisor. the flight company were able to acknowledge from our flight date and time + booking names what monies had been paid.
the 2nd party booking company was also able to tell me what the balance was. Its worth a try !!! hope it all works out for you

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abta or whomever should have in place,a system where if one of these agencies goes down the toilet, for whatever reason,greed or otherwise, thier books should be sorted by abta or whomever,and we the public 10,000 strong, who have paid for our tin of beans, do not end up all independantly, rootin round, phoning everyone, with the possibility of further debt,to put right the mistakes of an agency who took our money and purchased mars bars to the tune of ,i would guess well over 400,000 grand.

abta or whomever could then claim the entire debt from the greedy one !
WE the paying public could and should go about our holiday as planned.

Martin Jones, founder of Freedom Direct, the travel firm that collapsed last week leaving more than 10,000 holidaymakers facing an anxious wait to see if they have lost their bookings, borrowed £400,000 from the company’s coffers last year to buy a new house.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/failed-travel-boss-vows-to-pay-back-163400000-home-loan-1670786.html

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Important note to all

If you paid any money to Freedom by a UK issued credit card (does not matter how small) the credit card company is liable for the whole amount you have lost. (as long as the value of your booking is over £100 and under £30,000)

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£400,000 house well he should be selling and sorting our bloody holidays out

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We booked with Freedom Direct in January to go to Spain. The whole package was over £3000 and was paid in 2 chunks by VISA debit. I noticed on my bank statement that my flights were paid to EasyJet separately when the deposit was paid. ( even though my deposit was £800, £416 was paid directly to Easyjet using my card details, and the rest to FD as a holiday deposit). I paid the remaining £2100 two weeks ago again by Visa debit card to clear the balance. Then Friday 16th happened!!!
Monday morning i contacted the CCA to be told that even though that everything had been booked as a “package” that it was not ATOL protected, even though my booking states it is protected under the ATOL scheme. I phoned the accommodation provider, Holiday Brokers, who advised me that the accommodation had been can cancelled and gave me a price to rebook. I contacted APTA, explaining the situation and they advised me straight away to claim for the accommodation costs through the Bank as it was paid by VISA debit card and therefore the Credit Consumer Act should come into play. As previously mentioned, my flights with Easyjet are fully paid so I had no choice but to rebook the same accommodation by credit card through Holiday Brokers along with a new taxi transfer. I am now seriously out of pocket and have the long wait of trying to reclaim this money back from the bank / Visa / creditors but feel it could take a while to sort this mess out.
I will let you know how I get on. Good luck to everyone

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I too am out of pocket to the tune of 2,200 through 2 outstanding holidays. Abta, hotels4u and taxitransfers are just passing the buck. No one giving straight forward advice. I paid mine via visa debit card and have been on to Abbey about claiming through the charge back scheme. they will send out claim forms. Dont know where I stand though as she said it is past the 60 days. Does anyone know anything about this.

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To be fair to the taxi transfer and hotel companies, they haven’t been paid by Freedom Direct and will never be, so they have no choice but to cancel reservations. The accommodation firm i booked with, Holiday Brokers, said the FD normally paid them on the day of departure.
As far as I am aware, if your card is VISA, whether it be credit or debit you are protected by your consumer rights. I found this on the following website and it may explain a few things a little bit better
http://www.which.co.uk/advice/your-rights-when-paying-by-credit-card/chargeback-on-credit-and-visa-debit-cards/index.jsp

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Hi All,

If you all visit freedom direct website it cleary states what your position is. All monies is protected and all of you will get you money back

i realise it may take a while for you all to get all your monies back. I am sick of reading people slagging off freedom . They should be actually praised for ensuring that all monies were protected and nobody will lose a penny.

Unlike the me and my 108 colleagues who now without a living. Ring the numbers on the website they will be able to get your monies back

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Thanks just looked up site this may be the best way to go as it looks hopeful. What I don’t understand is that ABTA said the hotels and taxi transfer companies can all claim the money back from them. Surely this would mean they are guaranteed their money whereas now a lot of people will have to cancel.

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Freedom hoilday staff person. We do not care about your job we want our £3k hard earned money back. Sorry but your job is not our problem. The information on your website is not helpful to me or anyone else.

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Freedom Staff member: I am in full sympathy with you losing your jobs as it happened to my husband in Augsut last year and at this present time, both of us are awaiting to hear if we are being made redundant.
As to what you are saying about the Freedom Direct website giving clear information about how to claim our money back, just read the previous posts, (mine included), to see what type of runaround people are having.
I have lost count of the telephone calls I have made, not to mention the stress, time and effort I have had to put into this, mostly when I should have been working at the job I’m likely to lose very soon, and I still don’t know who I’m meant to make a claim from. Holiday Brokers have cancelled our accommodation, ABTA are passing the buck and say they can’t help us as Holiday Brokers should honour the booking, ATOL won’t help as it was not a package holiday, Rock Insurance say we are probably not covered and Barclaycard won’t accept a Section 75 claim until we get written confirmation from all the above to say they are not responsible.
Freedom Direct have a few questions to answer.
1) Why was I not made aware that they were booking my accommodation through a broker that had no ABTA/ATOL bonding? Had I known this, I would not have touched them with a bargepole.
2) Why did they continue to take new bookings as mentined in some of these posts when they had been suspended from doing this by ATOL when their ATOL cover was revoked? 3) Martin Jones states in a press release in the local newspaper that all Freedom Direct’s bills had been paid and everyone who had booked with Freedom Direct will still get their holiday. How many of these posts say this is not the case?
4) Why didn’t Freedom Direct submit their annual accounts in time so they could renew their ATOL cover and what were the disprepancies the Auditors felt too uncomfortable with to stop them from submitting them?
I suspect their has been a few underhanded things gone on when Freedom Direct were trading and this is all going to come out eventually.
A question in general, where is the media coverage that was given when XL went bust?
I was in Turkey when this happened and we saw several broadcasts, even on the Turkish channels. Other than a few comments in the local newspaper, I have seen nothing in national papers or on national TV news.
This has affected just under 10,000 bookings, most of these will be multiple bookings yet no one seems interested in this.
The Government need to urgently draw up strict rules for this industry and ensure they are adhered to. (Rant over).

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please can you help me i booked with fd paid the money into their bank account
my flights are ok but the accomadation on holiday group say they are not liable to honour the booking will i get my money back ihad a contract with fd not on holiday group also should i rebook with them and pay again for the same accomadation thanks

i j bills

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I have e-mailed the television program ‘WatchDog’. If enough of us contact them they might just be interested to make this situation more public and make ABTA, CAA and ATOL aware that this situation is now becoming advertised nationwide and will affect new members of the public when they decide to purchase a holiday under the belief that they will be protected. this could also make those customers with holidays booked aware about the Freedom Direct situation so that they can also begin to take action.

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freedom direct ex-staff member.
yes it is awful that you have lost your job and i do sympathise with you. but martin whatever his name is clearly stated that all monies had been paid on the website and everybody would get there holiday…….. that was a blatant lie he has not paid all the money i for one have lost my holiday which i saved for for over 3yrs to be able to take our children away one of which is disabled and our booking was complicated due to airline etc needing measurements of wheelchair etc etc, and a lot of other people on here have not had it easy either. and as for us slagging fd off i think we have every right as we have been lied to!!! most of us on here have spent a fortune on phone calls and all have to waite for god knows how long for refunds and not in a position to re-book untill they have been recieved. when the company new exactly what they were doing. i had a letter of fd the day they went bust with all my paperwork and it was dated the 16th the day they new it was the end of trading for them.

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I have kept my nose out of this one, that said I will try and give some sort of general advice:

First: It will take time. Any collapse does take quite a long time to get sorted out. people should, however, take heart that on balance, nearly all should get their money back. Telephones will be busy and, and. But if your holiday is covered now, there is no strict time limit that one has to adhere to, so be patient.

Second: Get all your paperwork together. You will need every invoice and confirmation. You will need every bank statement. If you paid by cheque, you will need the actual paying instrument back from your bank. If by credit card, the slip and your statements (actual, not copies) showing the charges going through. You can write to the CAA to get claim forms, it’s just as good as using the telephone.

Third: It may well be that your holiday will not happen – even your honeymoon – so deal with it. These collapses happen (usually) in September when the relevant party see that they have not made enough money to get through the lean months. Sometimes they happen about now when the relevant operator/ agent finds they have not got enough “heads” for their summer programme. Occasionally, (and I am NOT in any way saying this is or may be the case here or even suggesting it may be the case here) it happens through downright crass stupidity – or fraud.

Fourth: You will need to find someone who can dis-entangle what you have booked with whom and most importantly, how. You MAY find that a high street agent will help you (more likely an old fashioned independent rather than a multiple) BUT you will have to ask very nicely and they may either a) charge you a fee or b) you will need to come to an arrangment to book a new holiday with them or c) (best arrangement) they may charge you a fee and agree to refund it when you book a holiday. You cannot *expect* a high street agent to do it as it (the collapse) has nothing to do with them – and you are going to take up a lot of their time – and they are certainly not in the business of bailing out failed companies for free.

Frankly, from reading the posts here, it is clear that Freedom were using various different ways of doing things – including split contracting and each case, each holiday, each honeymoon will need looking at and analysing what has been done, what may be salvaged and what may be lost. Only an experienced hard-core high street agent will be likely to be able to do this, so as to point you in the right direction. I suggest that you make sure that any agent you do approach is ABTA (if, for no other reason, they are likly to be the most experienced) and remember – ask.

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Rachel, well said. Freedom Direct have fleeced a lot of people by the sound of things. They had their ATOL cover pulled 31st March which prevented them from taking new bookings thereafter, yet they carried on without any conscience or regard for the people whose money they took. It’s no wonder that we are irate about the situation when they just walk away from the problems and we are left unable to get a straight answer from anyone. I really feel for you and your family. I hope you can get something sorted soon to get your holiday this year.
Denise, I’m going to look for Watchdog’s e-mail and follow your advice and hope others do too. After all we have nothing to lose as we’ve already lost it !!!!

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really cant believe that freedom direct customers are saying what they are at the end of the day its not there bloody money thats been pinched from them its there company that have pinched from us and whichever staff wrote this no frig all because i have spent all week on the phone to holiday company and abta i booked my holiday 8 months ago and paid full and yet my holiday as not been paid but they got there bloody wages didnt they.all this about all covered load of crap and all holidays have been paid for is a load of crap too and which ever freedom direct staff is saying things try telling your kids they cant go on there holiday shut up love because you know nothing our holidays have been CANCELLED but i bet your wages wasent have a bit of respect for all the 100000 people and you seem to know so much dont you thats probably why the company collapsed because your director is living in a 400.000 house at our cost

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denise i too have emailed watchdog so fingers crossed, if nothing else hopefully making this more public will help others in the future if this is ever to happen again. and hopefully force abta/atol/caa and all other people involed with travel agents to put some thing into place to deal with it straight away with the minimal disruption and upset to the customers. and also give clear guide lines! good luck everyone.

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****NEW INFORMATION AS OF THIS MORNING*****

spoke to the C.A.A this morning and there is going to be new legislation put in place to make a FULL ATOL claim under number 9740 where the following scenario exists

Apparently there are 1000’s of people out there who were sold “package holidays” under ATOL number 9740 only to be told by the C.A.A that because FD had used your card to pay for the flights direct, that you were no longer covered under the ATOL scheme.

I have since been told that CAA are working with ABTA to reverse this and if your booking confirmation has the words “Freedom Direct Package” and has the ATOL protection statement, the you will be fully covered for everything.

CAA told me that their website will be updated today with the relevant information… Seems like someone has been cracking a few heads!!!!!!

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I would ask everyone who can to contact not just watchdog but your MP, ABTA and the CAA have been warning this would happen since 1992 and the government has taken no action, even after 10,000 people were effected by XL.

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Hi,

I too booked and paid in full for a holiday on my confirmation booking it says your travel details Provider: youtravel.com Ltd
Then it says Package provider Freedom Direct Crete air package.
I paid £2700 in total for flights and accomidaton.
It says nothing about ATOL numbers just that “this is an acknowledgement of your booking with Freedom direct holidays Ltd ,we act as agents for your travel provider youtravel.com (ATOL number ) (no number)
I spoke to youtravel who told me they were arranging accomodation only so i should claim through ATOL.
Please please can someone tell me where to go?

Thanks

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I have just come off the phone to youtravel.com who have told me that they are looking for payment from me to secure my accommodation. They said if I pay out again they will issue me with a receipt for the extra money and i will then be able to claim it back from CAA but like amanda i have no atol number on my confirmation just Avro atol number (flight company) and seperate voucher for youtravel accomodation. booking also says pakage provider ‘freedom direct – lanzarote air package’. I have followed in denises footsteps and emailed watchdog, also emailed local MP on Nicks advice. Thanks everyone for your support

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Amanda

It sounds like your flight and accommodation has been booked independently, if you paid by credit card contact them for a refund.

Freedom was never supposed to fail (why the CAA gave them grace period) they are not a new company, just with the change in bonding rules they could not get a bond in time. This meant they could not earn the money, which in turn means they went under. Do not hit on freedom up to a couple weeks before they failed no one could of seen them going under, even after that time it was believed they would continue trading.

Before anyone jumps down my neck about this comment, yes travel companies margins are that tight that 16 days can make a massive difference. This week I have paid a bill for just over £2000 and my gross margin on that was £53.24, so when you shop around to save £10 or £20 pounds it comes out of that gross margin.

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As promised my follow up. Called hotels4u to ask if they had received my paperwork that they had asked for only to be told that as of yesterday my booking had been cancelled and I must pay again if I want to retain it. Phoned ABTA and all they could say was speak with Trading Standards, their advice was small claims court against the tour operator. Kiss your money goodbye because everyone has washed their hands of this and I hope they’re all proud of themselves!!! So much for agency law!!!

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i too spoke to hotels 4 u today i sent them all paper work they asked for then they cancelled my holiday i can say if you cant afford to pay again you will probably lose your money and also the price of apartmets is going up by the day to book again.abta hotels 4 u are all in it together because abta told me they were in talks with hotels 4 u and hotels 4 u told me they are not in talks at all and abta have told them to make people pay again

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We booked a holiday with Freedom Direct with a credit card to travel to Crete on 18/06/09. We paid in two instalments on Feb 26th and March 14th. Our flights are with Easy Jet , apartment vouchers state they have been issued on behalf of HolidayBrokers Accomodation abd Destination Services and transfers are with Taxitransfers.co.uk. CAA said our flights could still be valid but how do i find this out??? Do i claim with CAA or go direct to my credit card company?? Will we get a full refund ?? The apartments have not got a email address but i doubt very much Freedom Direct have paid for them is it worth trying to find out if the bookings still avaliable??

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I booked hotel only through Freedom direct, hotel provider being hotels4u.com…who are also ABTA protected BUT they are not honoring any bookings and say there is a loop-hole in the law that lets them get away with this as they are not a travel agent….then why are they ABTA registered??? ABTA say “yes, we are having problems with hotels4u.com and are hoping to sort something out by the middle of next week” He didn’t sound hopefull so looks like we have lost our deposit of over £300…but we’ve paid for our flights in full direct with Monach…but what use are they with no hotel to stay in??!! Everyone passing the buck as usual what’s the point of going with an ABTA protected agent when it doesn’t count for a thing when you need it to?!

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Rita
I contacted easy jet on 08712442366 who confirmed my flights are fine. However taxitransfers have cancelled by booking. My hotel is also cancelled although this is through hotels4u. Personally I am trying to claim through my card. waiting on forms being sent out so don’t know how successfull this will be.

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just sent a mail to thismorning@itv.com
- its worth a try init. lets hope they do something early next week

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why attack the woman who has lost her job?

you have your holidays

she has an uncertain future

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This was announced on the news tonight:

Hays Travel buys Freedom Direct and are to help Freedom Direct customers.

See http://www.travelweekly.co.uk for more info.

I don’t know where this leaves me now as my family and I have just paid another £810.00 for more accommodation as we travel in 3 weeks.

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If your holiday is worth a lot why dont contact northampton county court (this is were most are done) or online at money claim and start the process of a winding up petition against on of the suppliers….. “hotel4u ” would be a good start once the process has started (or the threat that people are joining ranks to do this) they may panic as once a winding up petition is issued all the bank accounts and assets are frozen they are apart of thomas cook and they will not allow this to happen and i think they would have no option but to honour there deals once you do it to one company the others will follow suit as the cannot allow there accounts and assets frozen…..

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Just had a message on the Freedom Direct Group on Facebook from Natalie, she had her money paid back into her account the day after the collapse ! She has rebooked with Icelolly.

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one lady on the FD group on Facebook has had her money paid back into her account this happened the day after collapse.

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Re Sues post
HAYS have brought Freedom Direct from RMT and i called them this morning and they confirmed this.
However the only people it will benefit is Freedom Direct staff as they are all being offered jobs.
I asked how they would help me as a customer who has a booking in June fully paid for and he said “well we will book you another holiday and you can pay us!
So no help whatsoever to any of us.
Was worth a try though.
At least thoses poor people have not lost their jobs.

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Hi,

I too booked and paid in full for a holiday on my confirmation booking it says your travel details Provider: youtravel.com Ltd
Then it says Package provider Freedom Direct Crete air package.
I paid £2700 in total for flights and accomidaton.
It says nothing about ATOL numbers just that “this is an acknowledgement of your booking with Freedom direct holidays Ltd ,we act as agents for your travel provider youtravel.com (ATOL number ) (no number)
I spoke to youtravel who told me they were arranging accomodation only so i should claim through ATOL.
Please please can someone tell me where to go?

I posted this earlier and have now got in touch with Monarch whom my flights were with and been told that it was a chartered flight and i would not be able to travel on it.
Therefore i assume i have a “freedom direct package” for which i can claim through ATOL?
Can anyone advise me if this is the case as my flights or accomodation are not paid for?

Thanks

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I have had emails from EasyJet and Hays Travel confirming my june holiday is still on. Hays Travel have now taken over Freedom Direct.

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Rachel

Sorry missed your post with regards to assignments. On all ATOL/ABTA claim forms there is a section where you can assign the payment to another company.

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****Further Update****

Log on to http://www.haystravel.co.uk/ – there is a link for FD customers to click on, this will then take you to http://www.freedomdirect.co.uk/clients.phtml

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****As of 11AM this morning Hays have the database of customers from the receivers.****

I foned them again and was asked for £500+ to secure my booking as FD had only paid £150 deposit for the flight. I worked it out, and you know what? Hays would be actually cheaper for the same holiday. OK so its only 10 or 20 quid, that might just cover the fone bill I’m gonna get next month.

Hmmmm seems someone somewhere is making a shed load of cash from this balls up. Told the guy I’ll fone ABTA *again* see what they have say about all of this.

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to annon……. how do you no it was a woman who lost her job? all it stated was freedom direct worker?? an we were not attacking her at all just stating the obvious about the lies.. an yes granted they do have a uncertain future(all though i doubt that now as of the 25th). and again , where are you getting your information from WE DO NOT HAVE OUR HOLIDAYS!!… please try to get your fact straight if you going to come on here and fight fd corner for them.

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I think it would be better to use this blog to help each other and share information that people receive from Hays, ABTA, ATOL, etc ,

Lets leave out the comments about what we already know and the slagging off how FD has got us in this situation. If anyone is unsure about something try reading past comments. I
think it would be beter to post new and helpful info only.

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Rachel, i agree!…We do not have our holidays and it’s the individuals at FD that took our money to pay their wages and keep the MD most likely in a life of leisure! It’s daylight robbery and the police should be called in as surely it’s theft?…or can we all go around taking money from people and promising them a product in return and then just keeping the money? Errr, i don’t think so we would be arrested so why do holiday companies get away with theft???

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I have just been contacted by a reporter from the Steven Nolan show on Radio Ulster. They are going to do a slot on the Freedom Direct issue on tomorrow morning’s radio show between 9am and 10-30am. So please contact http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/nolan/gotastory/ and give your story.
By the way been in contact with Hays who say we must pay again hotels4u etc and then claim back the money from ABTA.

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what we now is hays to publish details on the FAQ page of the website. I like many of you others is getting confused, all i want now is to process this whole mess in the best possible way. If your lookin Hays, this is your opportunity to show your true class. Simple really now, extensive section on freedom direct FAQ page in relation to all us guys and our comments over the last few days. If we need help, email address of freedomdirect cease trading helpdesk, i give my booking number and they give me the best advice. All i want is to either get a holiday or get my money back. Not rocket science really, just good customer service.

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PLEASE DONT GET EXCITED THAT HAYS TRAVEL HAVE TOOK OVER BECAUSE THATS WHAT I DID THOUGHT MY HOLIDAYS WAS OK NOW BUT RANG HAYS TRAVEL TO BE TOLD THEY ARE JUST THERE TO ASSIST PEOPLE WITH THERE BOOKINGS AND THEY ARE WAITING FOR ADVICE FROM ABTA AS TO WHERE PEOPLE STAND WITH THERE BOOKINGS BUT AFTER BEEN ON PHONE TO ABTA ALL LAST WEEK WE ALL KNOW WHERE WE STAND WITH ABTA AND THAT WE CANT CLAIM FROM THEM SO LOOKS LIKE NOTHING AS CHANGED AT ALL HAYS TRAVEL TOLD ME THEY HAVE BOUGHT FREEDOM DIRECT BUT NOT OUR BOOKINGS REALLY DONT BET IT WHERE IS OUR MONEY

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to all…. just wanted to let you all no that hays travel are constantly updating there website to keep all fd customers informed. and the last post was asking people to not contact them if there dates are on or after june 1st unless its absolutely necessary or to pay a balance off.(as they are dealing with the people who are traveling now/may) and freedom direct website is back up and running also. i have recieved email from hays telling me they would contact us by the 30th april with more information. fingers crossed. good luck everybody! if any body has any more information please post it on here, so we can all keep each other up to date. thanks….

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Following another day on the phone with Hotels4u.com (who i found extremely rude today!) and ABTA i can confirm anyone who had booked accommodation only (like myself) will not have it honoured and ABTA have advised the only possible chance of seeing any return of money will be through trading standards/small claims court!
Hays travel will only honour package deals so their e-mail saying your holiday is safe was all lies!
I have e-mailed ABTA and have been told my e-mail has been forwarded to their head office, as i blame them for a shabby set up and for mis-leading the general public into thinking that if you book with an ABTA protected agent then you think you’d be ok!

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REGARDING HAYS BUYING FREEDOM DIRECT I HAVE SPOKE TO HAYS TRAVEL TODAY AND THEY TOLD ME THEY HAVE BOUGHT THEM BUT THEY HAVE NOT BOUGHT OUR BOOKINGS THEY HAVE BOUGHT THE WEB SITE THAT FREEDOM DIRECT HAD AND ALSO PAID MONEY TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT OUR BOOKINGS AND IF YOU READ HAYS WEBSITE IT STATES THEY WILL ASSIST US IN OUR BOOKINGS BUT THEY HAVE NOT GOT OUR MONEY WE PAID SO UNLESS ABTA WHO THEY ARE IN TALKS WITH WILL PAY WE WILL ALL HAVE TO PAY AGAIN ITS NOT TO HELP US CARRY ON WITH OUR HOLIDAYS BUT TO ASSIST US WITH OUR BOOKINGS SO STILL UNSURE IF WE WILL GET OUR HOLIDAYS BECAUSE FREEDOM WENT INTO ADMINISTRATION I PHONED ABTA TODAY AND THEY ARE STILL SAYING THE OPERATORS OF ACCOMODATION SHOULD HONOUR OUR BOOKING BUT WE ALL NO THAT THEY ARE NOT GOING TO DO THAT LOW COST TRAVEL TOLD ME THEY ENDED THERE CONTRACT WITH FREEDOM AT THE BEGINING OF APRIL AND IF THEY STILL HAD A CONTRACT WITH THEM OUR BOOKINGS WOULD BE HONOURED BUT THEY DONT SO THEY DONT HAVE TO HONOUR OUR HOLIDAYS WE ARE ALL BUILDING OUR HOPES UP HOPING WE ARE GOING TO GET OUR HOLIDAYS BUT IF YOU ASK ME EVEN THOUGH HAYS AS BOUGHT FREEDOM DIRECT THINGS HAVE NOT CHANGED FOR US FREEDOMS WEBSITE IS UP AND RUNNING AGAIN AND ITS SAYS FREEDOM DIRECT WITH HAYS I CANT BELIEVE THEY CAN TAKE OUR MONEY AND STILL TRADE WITH THE SAME NAME BUT PLEASE DONT BUILD YOUR HOPE UP BECAUSE ON SPEAKING TO HAYS THEY HAVE NOT BOUGHT OUR BOOKINGS IN WITH THERE DEAL THEY ARE JUST ASSISTING PEOPLE SO IF ABTA OR YOUR SUPPLIER OF HOTEL ARE NOT GOING TO LET US HAVE OUR HOLS THEN WE HAVE ALL LOST OUT AND I THINK ITS DISTGUSTING

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Update: I have made a claim to my credit card company as ABTA, ATOL and CAA have just wiped their hands of this, however my credit card company are not satisfied with the entries to Freedom Direct on my statement as proof of a holiday – I need to get invoices. Like many others I was only email the deposit confirmation, never a full booking invoice, without this the Credit Card company won’t even look at my claim….Now another exercise to try and get this information. By the time I have finished I would have spent more than the holiday cost!!

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***Update – Monday 27th April 2009 21:00***

Hays Travel is now in receipt of all computerised client records from the administrator.

We have now received full client booking information from Thomas Cook for package holidays and flight only bookings.
We are now in a position to give detailed advice and assistance for Freedom Direct clients travelling on Thomas Cook airlines.

We are concentrating our efforts at the moment on Freedom Direct clients who are due to depart before the end of May.

If your departure is on or after the 1st June 2009 we would appreciate it if you only contact us if you have an urgent query.

We are in communication with ABTA & the CAA to gain clarity on their position with regard to this failure. Unfortunately many areas are still ‘grey’. We are very sorry about this. We will keep you updated whenever we can.

Thank you

Nicola Smurthwaite
Customer Services Manager
Hays Travel

Where is the grey area? I paid my money, and want my holiday! FD and the companies I booked with were ABTA /CAAbonded.

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Debbie

Go to http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/, as the bank will have to pay if any proof of payment is available.

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For ALL *****IMPORTANT*********

CAA have updated thier website with more clear information in regards to making a claim. They have also added different SCENARIOS of the bookings FD made and who can calim and how.

Link :
http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1052&pagetype=90&pageid=10633

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Went to re-book my hotel with Hays/Freedom Direct this morning and really nice woman told me to wait until Thursday as ABTA/ATOL in talks with Hotels4u about honouring everyone’s hotel bookings….last glimmer of hope…fingers crossed for thursday!
I also contacted Natwest yesterday as i paid on Maestro debit card…i asked for charge back to my card. They are investigating and talking to Mastercard…who will prob say no, not on debit card and they are not legally oblicated to BUT if they refuse i will take them to the financial ombudsman who view credit & debit cards the same and are in favour of the charge back facility being allowed with a debit card…so that is the final hope for me!

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annemarie… i was just about to post the same thing about abtol/abta in talks we to are advised to ring hays back thursday( not to re-book tho cos we are not in a financial position to do so..). i have been told by natwest as i used solo debit card that i cannot get any money back from them. our hotel provider is holidays 4 u, so by the sounds off it all hotel providers concerned are in talks with hays, although holidays 4 u told us today they have had there solicitors/lawyers in and theyt do not have to help anybody as they have not broke any agreements/laws?? ….. i am stressed to the max and like many others do not who to believe anymore every body says different.. and also dreading my phone bill!

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I have spoken to YouTravel.com today, and the woman I spoke to reinforced what Annemarie above has posted. She said that Hays had not been in touch with YouTravel as yet, and they are adamant the reservation needs to be paid for again. She advises all bookings are still reserved right up until the day before travel. She advised me to WAIT UNTIL THURSDAY before re booking accomadaton as Hays are in talks with ABTA/ A TOL and will announce if they will honour the bookings.

I have spoken to Thomson today who advise I will now be charged for the flights as its so close to departure. Am hoping I can claim through ATOL if we are unable to secure further accomadtion, as Thomson suggested I wouldn’t as flights were available to me. Does anyone know?

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hi all,
i cant beleive how much of a problem this is.
1 paid my full balance at the beggining of feb.
i am flying with thomas cook and my flight is still valid, but my hotel is booked through youtravel.com i phoned them today and they said that if it was to be honoured then i would have to pay £600 again which i cannot afford.
anyone else know what will be happening with the youtravel.com bookings?

i have saved so hard for this and am truly gutted.

any help/advice would be very much appreciated.

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I have just got throught to ATOL. They state I have a split booking which is not covered by ATOL license Flights = Thomson

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My previous post has been removed??? I have been sold a split package Flights Thomson – Accomadation You Travel transfers Local company. Thomson honour flights and I am liable for them, called ABTA as advised by ATOL re accomadation and they state they are NOT PAYING OUT ANY CLAIMS as the tour operator IE you Travel have to provide the accomadation under AGENCY LAW. Iam waiting for a call back form someone at YOU Travel. I hope they can sort out the legal wrangling before 25th May. If YouTravel don’t honor holiday i have lost £2′600

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My advise to everyone in strongly complain to ABTA in writting (email is quicker) and insist that your case is dealt with by a senior manager, insist on a prompt reply, and insist that ABTA pick this mess by means of refunds. They are the criminals who are failing in their duties and powers to advise people correctly on what should be done, they are also very good at passing the buck. Do not take any Sh** from them.

Direct your complaint to Charmaine Edwards (ABTA Claims Manager)

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matt…
waite untill thursday is what we are all being told by hays travel. abta/atol are telling people not to part with any more money. you travel are not being very helpfull to any body going by previous posts on here! i would be very careful in what you decide to do as if you decide to take your flights and book your accomadation yourself then again this is not a package in the eyes of the people concerned ,and if anything else happened you would not be covered?…… so i am waiting till thursday to hear what you travel and hays have decided between them…….. hope this helps a bit.

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Who is the Administrator appointed to deal with Freedom Direct Holidays Ltd.

That will help immensely for those that paid by Credit Card. The law is the law and money back through your card issuer is a dam sight quicker. Blowed if I’ll wait for ATOL making a claim from them will mean you can’t claim back from your card issuer.

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latest update……………… hays just updated at 9pm 2nite they now no what they are doing been advised by the caa what to do in each different case. states everybody will get an email 2morro from them!

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My update: Atol seem to be ignoring my emails, i cant get through to them on the phone (message just says to ring back later), Abta say youtravel should honour my booking and they are breaking the law if they dont. Youtravel say they need me to pay again for the hotel. I spoke to my credit card company again and explained that my flights were being honoured but i had to repay for hotel and transfers and they said that they would send me out a claim form and i would be able to just claim for the parts of the booking that i had not been able to use (ie original hotel and taxi costs). I just need to submit with my claim the email booking confirmation from freedom direct showing breakdown of costs (i too have no postal documents from FD) along with receipts for re-booked accomm/taxis. I am reluctant to pay out any more money for this mess but i have been told by credit card that if flights still active then i would not be able to claim if i chose not to take them. I am thinking now do i wait till Thursday to hear about this hays/abta/atol I can not believe how many times in the space of 1 week we have been up and down wondering are we going are we not going. Why is it so difficult for the powers that be to come up with some straight answers?

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i have had an email from hays travel this morning stating that my booking is classed at a category C, even though on my booking confirmation it is states that it is a freedom direct package and states the atol number 9740.

it also says that my flights and transfers are still valid but i would have to pay for my hotel again, and if i paid freedom direct for my hotel by credit card then i should claim it back direct from my credit card provider??

any advice on what to do about this?

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Matt
I’ve just had the exact same mail as you. If you look on the CAA website under Freedom Direct, I believe that we have a valid claim under scenario 2 ( see important notes) and Scenario 4. You may wanna to double check this though.
This is the claim route that I am going down

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Received from Hays:

This is a general update for information purposes only. You will need to communicate with our staff with regard to the details of your specific booking.
Regrettably we are finding that the situation with Freedom Direct Holidays is complicated, because Freedom Direct transacted business in 3 different ways.
Freedom Direct Holidays booked holidays for clients in the following 3 ways (categories). They either:-
Category (a) acted as agents for other ATOL holders; or
Category (b) booked clients under their own ATOL (9740); or
Category (c) contracted flights, transfers and accommodation, directly with suppliers but did not bond the holiday with the Civil Aviation Authority as an ATOL package
It appears that your booking falls under category (c). Subject to a detailed review of your file in conjunction with yourself and one of our consultants it appears that your flight & transfer are safe and you will not be out of pocket. Unfortunately the amount you have paid for accommodation appears to be lost.
We have liased with your accommodation provider and we can re-book your accommodation for the original price that you paid. Unfortunately you will need to pay for the re-booked accommodation.
If you paid Freedom Direct Holidays Ltd by credit card, a claim to your credit card provider should result in a full refund of the accommodation element of your booking.
For clients in your situation (category c), we have set up a new contact team who are fully trained in the circumstances of your type of booking.

This appears to be no different than what we already knew 10 days ago…
It would appear that Hays are just after more money from those of us who are already out of pocket!!!

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I’ve received the same e-mail…saying i’m under “c” so not covered! My last hope is the charge back rights i spoke about the other day!

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what the hell is a dynamic package!!!! cos thats what i,ve been told i got ,and basically pay again or dont go and loose your money!!! this is absolutely disghusting i,ve just lost all my money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. and FREEDOM DIRECT ARE BACK UP AND RUNNING AND HAVE MY MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (surely when you book and ask for a package they should not be allowed to miss inform you, but they have and got away with it! arggghhhhh.

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Matt, it sounds like you’re covered under ATOL, take a look on CAA website or call hays/freedom (if you can get through!) Good luck!

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Debbie,

Have Hays given you a telephone number for their new contact team covering category C clients please? Basically it seem the message is ABTA / ATOL are out of the equasion so pay again and claim under credit card of forfeit the cost of the flights & transfers. Like many others this is making me feel ill, and I’m not easily going to be in a position to lay my hands on anoth £1′300. NIGHTMARE

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Matt & Allan, I have interpreted the advise on the CAA website differently. I think that category C customer fall into category 2 ??

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I am pretty optimistic that if your original booking was sold as a Freedom direct package that scenario 2 and scenario 4 on the C.A.A. website will apply and we will be able to get our money back eventually. Check your original booking confirmation for the following text which appears right at the very end. This is crucial!!!

YOUR COSTING
Freedom Direct Package Basic Cost = £ xxxx.xx
Discount = £ xxx.xx
Your balance of £xxxx.xx is due xx/xxxx/2009
YOUR PROTECTION
£1 per person of the cost of this air holiday package is paid to the
Civil Aviation Authority to provide ATOL Protection to you. This means
the money paid for these arrangements is fully protected.
Our ATOL number is ATOL 9740. For more information see our booking terms
and conditions.

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So its a package when you book and not a package when things go wrong !! I can have the flight and the transfers…….im still waiting for a reply to find out if i can use the transfers to a different hotel (cheaper) in the same resort.

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Hi AGAIN

I have finally spoken to Hays and they are asking for us to pay for the accomodation again and claim against my credit card. I think we are going to have to roll over and do this as following my conversation with the Administrators ABTA are in a legal batte with the accomodation providers.
Administrators are RMT 0191 2569500
Freedom / Hays existing customers 0191 5106266 (got through quite quickly)

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i think if people flights are ok then the best thing that people can do is pay again for hotel or tranfers or even both in some instances and then claim back the lost monies through the credit card companies, does anyone else agree with me?

hays travel find out tonight for definately if taxitransfers.co.uk will be honouring these so we dont have to pay for them again.

what do you all think the chances are of actually getting the claimed money back from credit cards and how long will it take?

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Catherine.
On the small print on the CAA website under scenario 2 it states:
“IMPORTANT – IF YOU HAVE BEEN ISSUED WITH DOCUMENTS WHICH STATE THAT THE ARRANGEMENTS WERE SOLD UNDER ATOL 9740, OR AN AIRLINE CONFIRMS THAT VALID TICKETS HAVE NOT BEEN ISSUED YOU SHOULD FOLLOW THE ADVICE GIVEN AT SCENARIO 4″
I’m pretty sure this covers some category 3 bookings where the booking confirmation states that it was sold as a Freedom Direct package as is protected under 9740

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A category c customer is someone like me who booked the hotel only through FD (or those who may have booked flights also but not a “package holiday) so we are not covered as ATOL/CAA only cover flights and package holidays…they are nothing to do with hotel only in any shape or form! People like us are meant to be protected under ABTA who just keep telling us that the hotel provider should honour our bookings and if they don’t/won’t then ABTA can’t do anything except suggest we take the hotel provider to court! Very helpful of ABTA….NOT!
If you paid on visa…you CAN claim backthrough a “charge back” facility, just ring your credit card company..they will do this and it’s the law. If, like me, you paid by debit card (maestro) it is not law for the bank to authorise a “carge back” but if the bank refuse to refund you can take them to the financial ombudsman…who are in favour of charge back on debit cards as well as visa. This will take time but it could be a last ditch attempt to ever see any money refunded as ABTA are useless and a waste of space.

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Dear Matt,

Credit Card companies have EQUAL LIABILITY the comsumer credit act 1974 to refund you the lost money. Have a look at ‘The office Of Fair Trading’ website, or google The Consumer Credit Act. Don’t be fobbed off by your credit card company. Ask for a claim form. I am with Barclaycard & persevered until I was put through to the liquidations department in a UK call centre. I have heard that other companies have been more helpful. We are going to have to book the accomodation again, as Barclaycard won’t pay out for the flights but by law they will have to cough up for the accomadation & transfers. Good Luck.

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So can anyone confirm if there original booking with Freedom has gone through after Hays took over?

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I too had accomodation only booked ( £1013 paid by debit card ) have just received email from hays saying they are not honouring it .I claimed back through the chargeback scheme , sent my claim form off last wed and got full refund today !!! Thank God for Nationwide who have been most helpful and supportive throughout this nightmare unlike ABTA , RMT , HOLIDAY BOOKERS
Good Luck to everyone , type in chargeback scheme on google and you can get more info , speak to someone high up in disputes team at your bank as not all staff are aware of it

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On a previous post I suggested that people do try and find a friendly travel agent to help them and that advice still remains.

There are (now) many different ways any one holiday could have been booked. Although it may seem a that one has booked a “package” in many cases this may not be so. The only way to tell what has been booked and, most importantly, how – is by going through each set of invoices for each person. Only then can one suggest to whom one should address any requirement for refund. The other consdieration here is that, without guidance (and I am sorry to say this) some of the more unscrupulous may enedevour to ask you pay again, where they should really be honoring a commitment – indeed, could even wind up getting paid twice (by you!) for the same thing. It is not an easy thing to untangle and many may waste time and effort pursuing a claim with the wrong authority.

That said, at the end of the day, if you have paid by credit card and you are not given what you paid for on that credit card (assuming that the amount os over the £100 limit etc) then you can claim back from them. Credit card companies may in turn, though, bounce people around. Some people here are doing sterling work, but it really is a matter of IN EACH CASE studying how things have been booked. Even then, it is a matter of untangling – and being able to prove – payment.

It seems to me that Freedonm were doing a mixture of bookings with various mixtures of ways of doing them – split contracting – or dynmic packaging to give it is “user friendly” expression is particularly invidious. Indeed, split contracting is a no-no – even the Courts said that if you split contract something that is clearly a package, it’s a package (As one US President said – if it looks like a Duck and quacks like a Duck – It’s a Duck) What’s this all about? Well, let us say that you book a hotel and a flight. I give you one invoice for the flight and then another invoice, from another company, for the hotel. The two no longer “hang” together and I can neatly side-step the EEC Regulations.

Then there is the matter of the hotel bookings. These may be direct with the hotel, Freedom may have a contract with the hotel or they book through a third party (say a website hotel booking outfit). Then there are the transfers, which on the face of it are booked via another web based outfit. A total, unmitigated mess. Hence, as I keep saying, even if it costs you a few bob, do try and get a travel agent to help you.

Do not take issue against Hays Travel. They are a well respected and upright company and I think, very brave to have stepped in, in this way. It will take them a while to get their heads around what has happened and what pieces they are left with. Bear in mind also that in some cases (which is why some people are having to pay again) no bonding may have applied (or may have not been applicable, even) and if the providor of the relevant service has not been paid – well, they are not in the business of working for nothing. That said, it has been known for certain (usually overseas) contractors to be rather cavalier about what they have and have not been paid for. I keep coming back to this simple point about people getting their booking paperwork looked at, much as the prospect of paying someone something may compound peoples anxieties, it will make life a lot easier.

Side issue: This was so very, very simple before the EEC poked its ruddy nose in – and certain “vested interests”. We used to have something called stabiliser, which meant everyone had to be bonded all ways and only ABTA people could sell ABTA operators and vica versa and, and…. No! said the EEC, restraint of trade, not in the public interest – well, maybe it was an old fashioned way of working, but it did work and it did work very well.

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ps keep the email you get from hays and other correspondence from anywhere ( interestingly my bank asked me to get a letter or email from abta to say I was not covered by them and they REFUSED to even help me with that ) can anybody explain what ABTA do help you with ?

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well at last i have the truth…… i fly out on wednesday but my hotel was cancelled by hotels4u who dont give a f**** the rmt dont give a f**** and so it somes down to ABTA but before we get to them i called my hotel and they explained to me that hotels4u had cancelled my booking the day FD and my hotels is now fully booked… the hotel have been fine and done me a good deal in lloret (£95 each all inclusive for 5 nights) i have also contacted my bank who said i cant do a chrge back as my card is maestro but after some time i got them to agree that i can fill in a charge back form which is a start…..but the best is ABTA i have called every day since FD went bust and have been told one story after another so tonight i asked the girt a simple question WHAT IS ABTA and what part to they take in a situation like this her reply after some silance was i have no idea….so i asked again and added for years and years firms have gone bust so what roll do ABTA play when this happens , what do ABTA as a company do , after a long slience she replied i dont know so i asked to speak to her supervisor (john gilmore) if this was a real person , but he would not come to the phone…….it makes you feel that little bit happier that your not the only one who has no fuck*** idea whats going on

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murray h. you have given some good/interesting advice and it seems to me that you no exactly what you are talking about… which travel agent should i try tho a small independent one on the high street or some-body like thompson? i have tried and failed to un ravel this for nearly 2 weeks and like so many others have not got any where. failed miserably and got a massive phone bill to prove it! i have a little longer than some on here as im not supposed to travel untill 30th june. any advice would be appreciated thanks.

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@rachel – You may be best off looking for an independent – nothing wrong with a large mutliple, but they are unlikely to have consultants with the broad depth of (travel) knowledge required to unravel this sort of thing. You can but ask. You may be asked for/ could offer to pay a straight fee – or pay a fee which would be refundable, were you to book something with the agent on a future occassion – you will not get service for free.

People – you cannot DIY a resolution of these problems. I doubt if Solicitors, even, would be able to grasp the principles of bonding and responsibility without lengthy (and so costly) research, into matters which even travel agents take a while to get their heads around.

The obejective of any enquiry would be:

1. To look at copies of all invoices you have relating to your travel event.
2. Based on the above, to receive advice on a) What you can and what you cannot claim for and b) From whom you should be claiming which element – or part – of your holiday.
3. To understand, if your holiday is in the future, which parts may be “live” and which parts “lost” and/ or
4. Which elements you are likely to have to pay again for, on the understanding that there is a procedure, or route map, for claiming the money back.

An agent would not , I do not think, progress the claim for you, but you would want to come away knowing where you stand and who you should be writing to.

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Anybody actually managed a rebooking yet? Ive been on the phone for ever and keep getting cut off after a few rings or its engaged! Are there any other numbers i could try ?? The emails i send only get a automated reply !

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Nice one Kevin! What a surprise (not) that the staff at ABTA don’t even know who they are and what role they are supposed to play!
Can i just confirm to you all again…if you paid by credit card you will get your money back through charge back (it’s law) but it is likely that the payment won’t be refunded until after your due departure date as charge back is for “goods not received” and you can only say you haven’t received them until after the due date…if you get what i mean?! So you will have to pay out for another hotel in the meantime.
Hays offered me my hotel yesterday…if i pay for it all over again…at a higher price! Ha! They said they are honouring the price FD had agreed with me but it worked out £300 more because they said FD were giving me a discount and Hays will only honour origional prices without discount??!! You can imagine my response! The funny thing is when i rang their sales team direct for a price it was £300 less! Hays are definately in it for a quick buck and i’m again disgusted that ABTA are allowing us poor people to be taken advantage of further!
I’m also awaiting ABTA head office to contact me…i won’t hold my breath!

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This situation is an absolute disgrace. I am sick to the back teeth of speaking to the relevant agencys only to come off the phone with no further information. I am at the moment conteplating doing what matt jenkins has suggested and paying again (on my credit card) for my accommodation and transfers and claiming that back off credit card, i think it is my only option, risk losing £500 instead of £1600 and at least my kids still get their holiday. Although i am so reluctant to shell out anymore money. Does anyone think it is worth hanging on to see what hays have to say? i haven’t received my update email from them yet, the one they said i’d get yesterday (i am a may departure). I am currently on hold as i am typing this!!!!!

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[...] The blog post about the collapse of Freedom Direct Holidays over chez Travel Rants has now reached 192 comments. I expect that number will continue to grow and soon be over the 200 mark. [See blog post] [...]

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can anyone help me, sadly my email confirmation is no longer present in my tesco online email account. this was processed last oct-nov. can tesco retrieve this of there email server???? any it experts out there able to help???? or is my email statements which state freedom direct good enough????

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@ lisa :

i am going to repay for my hotel and transfers today and then attempt to claim the money back direct through my credit card.

i am not even going to bother contacting abta again as its just a waste of tim. we all know what backs are like so if you claim it back through your credit card i can assure you that they will fight your corner all the way as it will be them who loses out.

i either pay for this part of my holiday again or end up losing everything so i am just going to pay it.

im not going until the end of june but the hotel im staying at is sold out but they still have my room reserved so im just going to pay.

what do you all think about this??

i wish everyone the best of luck and think the best thing to do is go through the credit card companies and not abta!

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@Lisa
I agree with Matt and I hav done same. Our departure is in may as well and can not wait for all this mess. Kids are excited and we all need a holiday. One way or other we will get our money back and the best apporach is to go through Credit card.

Best of luck

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Rita,

I have got through to Hays quickly on a number given to me by the administrators
Freedom / Hays existing customers 0191 5106266 (got through quite quickly)

Matt,
We are doing exactly what you are doing, as we may as well have a holiday rather than loose £1300 for the flights. Have you shopped around for the hotel? I have found that Travel Republic are actually cheaper than You.Travel. You don’t have to book the hotel again through Hays. I have spoken to Thomson who will issue the tickets directly to me and cut Hays out. Just make sure you pay by credit card again, as once again the holiday is not a package and bonded by ATOL.

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Yes Matt, i would re-book…i have but will still pursue my claim. A little tip for anyone looking for hotel only…i looked mine up on hotels4u.com and it quoted about £2300 but when i went through trip advisor to hotels4u.com it gave a “trip advisor discount” so brought the price down to £1977!

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Catharine, Thankyou for number will try it now. Anyone know if i can still use the transfers if im not rebooking with Hays? im staying in same resort and hopefully in same road.

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** UPDATE FROM ME **

just spoke to my credit card who are refusing to pay a penny, they have said no matter how hard i try i wont get anything off them and that everything should be claimed from abta.

so i rang abta who have told me to rinf back next friday and have warned everyone DON NOT pay any money to hays travel as they are just trying to get more money out of people for nothing.
abta are in the process of speaking to all the individual hotel companies and are trying to get them to honour the booking.

hope this helps.

to be honest after what i said before – ABTA do sound more helpful as ive just spoke to them and hays and all hays travel are trying to do is force people to pay agin.

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WHAT happens tho when you have paid by debit card i have used my solo for my original booking and there is no ” chargeback” on these any body no where i stand?? thanks…

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For those hoping to recover lost accomodation deposit from the credit card company (like myself), I am a little bit concerned because the section 75 might not apply when the money is paid to the travel agent (FDH). See the exception about Travel Agents here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases

I wonder if anyone has sucessfully recovered money in this way when the funds were paid to the travel agent and not to the tour operator/provider.

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i have just spoke to a good friend of mine who works at a bank and he has said that because freedom direct were ABTA covered then there is no chance at all of getting money back from credit cards.
credit cards would have covered us all if freedom direct wernt abta covered but as they were we have to deal with abta.

ABTA are getting some news about freedom direct next thursday as they are waiting to hear from all the individual hotel providers so unfortunately just wait!!

dont trust hays travel though as they were just pestering me again for my credit card details, im not handing them over though.

i am just waiting until the end of next week for abta and am waiting to see if they manage to get some companies to honour the bookings!!

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Your all being fooled by ABTA they are a joke…….
hotels 4u cancelled my hotel and now the hotel is fully booked so how would they be able to honour the deal…….spoke with john gilmore from ABTA at 9 this morning and he told me if the hotels want honour the booking then they are powerless and i will have to claim my money back through the small claims court or credit card… i never paid by credit card so the bank have told me i have to claim from the administrators, but as anybody who has been in business there wont be any funds to claim from as the inland rev etc take the money first…….ABTA are a joke the can do nothing at all the are just an advisory service “AND NOT A VERY GOOD ONE”
the best way to get your money back is to ring your bank and say…. there is a transaction on my account i do not recognise sombody must have cloned my card as i have booked no holiday… and guess what you get your money back.

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I have just spoken to Barclaycard who say one way or another I will get my money back either through them or ABTA for the accomodation. They need a letter from You.Travel to state they were not paid or ABTA. I have spoken to ABTA again who are advising me NOT TO PAY AGAIN YET as their solicitors are in talks with YOU TRAVEL. I have called YOU.TRAVEL and spoken to a really nice sympathetic woman who has stated they will reserve my booking, until next week when ABTA and the travel provider decide what they are going to do. I’m going to wait a bit longer and see what happens. As I am still paying off the holiday on my BARCLAYCARD I have put whats left on my account into dispute, so I only have to make the minimum payments and won’t incur any interest. THANKYOU BARCLAYCARD!

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MATT – If ABTA don’t pay out your credit card HAVE to. it might take time but they have to under the Consumer Credit Act. You WILL get your momey back in the end, its just it might take months & months.

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We were lucky that our holiday wasnt paid in full. Freedom had taken our deposit and paid Jet2 and that showed on our bank statement. We have rang numerous helplines etc with no joy getting through. In the end I rang Hayes freephone number and the nice gentleman gave me a direct dial number to Hayes to resolve within 5 minutes (0870 495 9041). They have matched our original accomodation cost and transfers. However, we still lost approximately £100 as Freedom did get a discounted rate. This is not recoverable.

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Gave up trying to get through to Hays when i heard they were only interested in our rebookings at a higher price ! the transfers that i was told were safe were not paid for ! taxi firm confirmed this for me and sent me a cancellation invoice as proof for a claim. Rebooked with Thomas Cook. Put a claim into cc company and hoping for a result ! Good Luck everyone

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hi to you all,
what a total sickner this has been, like all of you it would appear that my booking in mid feb, paid fully on credit card and totally assumming that it was a package turns out to be a 3 parter, the flights honoured and going ahead,,but after some hurendous phone calls with very bad customer care, lack of knowledge of there subject area, extrememly sarcastic uncaring responses, in my opinion, it would appear the electronic highwayman have well and truly jumped on us the victims and mentally and financially stripped us…and thre not a thing we can do…. we can eventually,,, probably,,, hopefully claim back from the credit company, but until then continue to pay the interest on good we have not recievd, BUT>>>as i was told last week by the team manager of lowcosttravel,roughly translated…….. these days we can expect to be ripped of by the intenet highwayman, afterall everyone gets ripped off. yea iv got the flight for me and my two children, but like so many no transfer, no where to sleep,,,alas they wouldn`t confirm th details of our discussion in a written letter to myself, for the benefits of my claim for my return of my money, either through abta, atol, credit card, post via the royal mail and through my letterbox, definately not in e-mail… tho thy wouldn`t do that either ((((((((see, a am learning)))) but certanly not stating in written format, that they were unwilling to honour there obligated contract with abta and myself, in fact she ended the conversation, it just isnt going to happen, tuesday this week hayes advised that i wait till the 30th………. the peace pipe was being passed back and forth and hopefully a solution close….. yesterday abta… through the royal mail… sent me a detailed account of my booking with freedom direct but without any knowledge of booking reference numbers for all three countrparts… eeeeeerrrr………..not available????????? abta with cega???
oke doke….
it states that each tour operater is responsible for all monies paid to the agent ( freedom direct.), even if they have not recieved them… the letter states, if your tour operater requires you (US) may be requested to provide some documentation in order for them (the tour operater) to make the claim.
TONIGHT,,,. whilst not in close proximity of my mobile..aaarrrrgghhh, freedom direct phone me, yes me, my daughter (10) takes the call and exictdly retorts to me that they want to speak with me re… my booking,upon my return 1minute later,, they chat, and am getting another call 15mins…. 45minutes later i phone them only to hear that its the sales team, have i rebooked , and MY booking remains live and that i can rebook now in order for proceed, please just pay again silence…. the voice stuttering said you did know that freedom has ceased to trade,,,yes im just astonished we having this conversation and reiterated the peace talks that her colleague had suggested would be over on the 30th and a conclusion… tonight she was in contact who were not aware of all this,, can you believe it,, how sad…. in my opinion, i think abta chiefs should break their pow wows and attmpts to enforce there obligation to honour our contracts with them the tour operators, we`v all had enough now abta should break their contracts with said tour operaters, take away, suspend their registration numbers and deny them abta covrage.. until they honour what we have trusted them to do for us……. they the tour operaters are still trading and gtting richer,, taking booking from unsuspecting clients, each contimplating a holiday and luxury to most of us,….. i understand the complicated web that MR freedom direct has woven in order to ensure his monies to fund his luxurious lifestyle… a bet he doesnt have to book with fredom direct.. we each of us work so hard to get a break, all i wanted was to stop the world and get off for one week… i didn`t want another fight with another, come on abta,,, thy hav broken your rules,, to the rest of us…………might i suggest we all holiday in the time share we all own, a meer half a million home in ponteland… fully inclusive,
ive been spreading the abta word, the atol law and the caa guidance.. dont let these modern highwayman win……. may b if we all do it….others wont be hurting like those poor people who were phoned tonight from the hayes sales team, unaware of this horror… how sad… good luck u all x

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i have just looked on the freedolm direct website at the latest update which states the difference between categories a,b and c.
i am a category c as are most of the people on here i see.
my credit card company (halifax) have completely refused to repay any of the money even though i used my credit card.

i have a valid flight but no hotel or transfers,

what shal i do?

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Please would someone with authority form ABTA make some comment. Hays appears to have purchased the database in the administration and are using it to re-sell accommodation which ABTA should be honoring. What do ABTA do, what are they doing? Are they just a shiny worthless badge – in it of the members benefit rather than the consumers? At the moment that is how it’s looking. Not good ABTA.

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I know what ABTA stands for!!! American Brain Tumor Association because I have a bleeding headache dealing with these people.

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xcapewithus, i notice, has ceased trading as from an hour ago……… What happens now??……. Do i just sit and wait…….. By the way they are NOT ABTA……..

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my apologies everyone, it seems my e on my keyboard is not always happening in my above entry.
I, like julia, ask that an abta representative can help us all understand. I believed that abta was the seal of approval on any holiday deal, that if abta had awarded a registration to a tour operator, then we were safe, we are constently being advised in all areas of living to check out whos who and whats what and to look for specific badges that hang with this industry. atol and the caa have honoured their contract as a tour operater, i paid my money the same day, the same way as them not obliging. i wasnt aware that the money would then be divided into 3 parts and i have travelled alot before so am not totally niave.
I also believed that an e-mail was as good as a document sent via the royal mail.
i also have tryed the advice of approaching a travel agent, which is whata blieved fd were, to sort this mess, they however suggest and did not believe that abta would budge and that for abtas only advice and persistent tele-scripted speech, to take the tour operaters to the small claims court and to contact trading standards and my mp. I work full time, and have found these peoples opening hours are similar to mine, i dont have the time to spend hours on hold. My credit card company say they will only raise a dispute if am not reciept of the goods, to also ensure that i have in writing from the tour operater that the goods, the accommodation will not be honoured, however, countless e-mails, and phone calls and still no answer or written confirmation.
what to do? i cannot find any concrete legislation that will unravel this web of deciet apart. I have friends who are still awaiting claims from the xl decline. I cant afford private solicitors costs. i cant take extra time to sort this mess, Do i really just need to get over it, accept whats happened, and move on? I booked a holiday for the same reasons as most. is there really no official stance from an official travel industry excutive? I do believe that watchdog are on the case, but to date it would appear that if we want our holiday, we just have to pay twice and once we return, begin the fight to retrieve our own money. what has been happening to those whose holidays were iminent upon the closure of fd?

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Matt – We are in the same position as you. When is your departure date? At the end of the day we have to pay for our flights regardlessly so I personally feel you should go ahead and re book the hotel. I am waiting until early next week as ABTA is discussings with You.Travel yesterday & today re breaking Agency Law. If nothing resolved ASAP i am paying again as we go in 3 weeks. i have spoken to You.travel who were understanding and promised to reserve my hotel until I speak to them again next week. I have told them I will pay if ABTA and their solicitors don’t resolve anything.

You should escalate a claim through your credit card company – as I have stated to you previously they have Equal liability under consumer law. They will fob you off but you need to persevere. As I have said before, look up the consumer credit act 1974 7 the equal liability section. If still in doubt I suggest you contact the Financial Ombudsman. Barclaycard tried to pass me off when I first contacted them two weeks ago but are now being much more helpful. Don’t forget these card companie & banks want to make money not pay – this may be their reluctance.

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yes! xcapewithus ceased trading!! I am going with them this month and freedom direct in august!! Now both my holidays down the pan!! Is this my unlucky year or what?!

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i have just spoke to ABTA again about the booking with yourtravel.com and they are still waiting to hear the verdict on this.
they told me that under agency laws youtravel.com have to honour the bookings!!

so i am going to give it until the middle of next week and call back then, by the sounds of it ABTA are pushing youtravel.com as hard as they can to honour all our bookings, else it causes abta more problems with peoples claims.

i just cant bring myself to pay hays again as i cant trust them! im being told by abta not to hand over another penny as it would not be safe.

so im just going to wait and contact abta again and follow their instructions as they seem to be dealing direct with the hotel providers!!

no way am i paying over another penny until i understand what is going on.

i travel 23rd june so i had to pay the full balance.

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received automated response from abta telling me they will get back to me within 7-10 days! NO email of hays on the 30th as stated! emailed them and just got automated response from them! tried ringing caa line saying it to busy try again later! tried independant travel agent and offered payment as some-one had said try this, nope dont want to no(not there fault mind dont think i would want to get involved in this mess either!). husband credit card is saying he can have his money put back on the day after we were supposed to travel as that is the only way because then u have not had something you have paid for! the other amount was paid on my debit card and its a solo and not covered under anything.rang hotel company who have sed they will keep my accomadation open for 72 hours before im due to go (at least somebody out there is human) in my opinion hays are not helping either they too rang us and could see exactly what we had paid off my holiday because they told us, but want us to claim that back and re-book ! why when they can see what we have allready paid offered to pay the balance thats left and guess what NO way will they except that they want the full amount minus discount and want to charge for transfers that are free with the hotel!!! somebody is making mega bucks from this mess . dont no how they sleep at night because i can,t..

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[edited swearing - please no profanities] – Darren

Absolutely no help what so ever, im writing this on behalf of my parents who have been passed around more times than the current swine flu, They have had to pay twice to get their holiday, personally i would head hunt the CEO of freedom direct as he just seems to swanned off into the sunset with peoples money, people should drag him through the small claims courts and sue him. How should he get off scott free with peoples hard earned cash. Freedom direct were still taking peoples bookings less than a week before the company collapsed so where did all this cash go? (Into his £400k House?)
As for abta, atol etc these are not worth the paper they are written on so i wouldnt even begin to start asking these as they are passing it onto anybody else.
As for Cath above, it is fair dues that the card people will try to fob you off but it wasnt them who ripped us off in the first place but it would be nice to get our money back which ever way we can. where is MARTIN JONES?

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dont be fooled by hays travel they only want a new booking ihave phoned and e mailed countless times no reply .ihad to pay again as travel date 9 may nobody is interested my flights fine easy jet confirmed immediatelyohoned lowcost no joy pay or stay what catagory am i payed all money to freedom only after realised fd were agents for lowcost i am now hoping my bank will help with the visa chargeback option .go into your bank get them to ring as they have all relevent numbers upshot is barclays sending me a claim form so lmaybe not all is lost

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Have just received an e-mail from ABTA saying even if the hotel provider had not received the money i had paid to FD they should under ABTA rules honour my booking. They said i need to speak to their consumer affairs department and provided the phone number. I have just rang them who said i shouldn’t have been referred to them and they will find out who e-mailed me and get them to send me another e-mail with what i’m to do!! Talk about the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing!! Someone at ABTA…”Get a grip!”

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i took have been affected by freedom and also fall into catagory c despite having their atol 9740 protection. have sent details to caa and they have said i cant claim the money back. my flights appear to be safe as they were booked with thomson, just hope the tickets for them arrive. the hotel was booked with you travel who wont honour it despite what abta says about they should. you travel have said that if you have booked a flight with a company and hotel with another its called a dynamic package and abta have told them that this will not be covered by abta and you travel can not claim the money back from them. i have spent the best part of the week trying to sort this out, hays are only interested in getting money to rebook and refuse to answer any questions other than rebooking. it would seem like hays is doing very nicely out of it at our expense. abta has now said that if you travel wont honour it then are still talking to them about this, i have had to re pay you travel or my hotel was going to be cancelled. im hoping that i can get the money back from my bank. i also made a second booking on 9th april, flights fully paid to jet2 so they are safe, but the hotel was with hotels4u who cancelled the booking and again it falls in cat c with hays. hotels4u should also be honouring this booking according to abta but abta are not really enforcing the laws with the hotel providers and there for carry little weight i think. the only thing i have learn from the whole mess is to only use the larger companies and probally book days before you travel. i have also spoken to the rmt administrators about it but they can not offer very much info about where the money has gone.

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Hi me and my partner were also catagory c customers. I am so angry at the time of booking it was plastered all over the website that they were ABTA and ATOL protected and we even paid a small amount extra for cover. At no point did they say it was for our flights only and not for the rest of our holiday. We have had to pay again so we didn’t lose our holiday. I have contacted my bank Abbey who are sending me out a cliam form but I wanted to know if anyone had made such a claim before ? I’ve read something about 120 day limit but im not sure if this is from when you knew you weren’t getting what you paid for our from when you paid. We booked our holiday in september and paid most of it before christmas does any one know if this wil still count ? Unfortunatly my partner paid the last of what we owed in april but he has a maestro card with RBS and they have said there is nothing they can do.

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Hi folks just phoned FreedomDirect/Hays Travel on 0800 008 7927, and even spoke to a real person.It seem I have flights, but no accomadation,which was booked through Med Hotels.I was informed that this is still a Grey area, and was still being looked at by Abta.To begin with i was informed i would have to pay Hays again for my holiday, which i am not prepared to do.I asked about the e mail that we were suppose to receive yesterday,to be told i wasn’t on their system.I have now got an booking ref for Hays, so at least they can now contact me,which should be within the next few weeks, after their discussions with Abta

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Hays will tell you with regard any hotel booking you had with FD that they will honour your booking but you have to pay the full amount again! So why they use the word “honour” is beyond me?! Please no-one re-book through Hays/FD as their prices are higher than other hotel providers and why would you want to give them the satisfaction of giving them more money when they’ve already had your money once?! I’ve re-booked my hotel but will still pursue the long process with ABTA and the financial ombudsman regarding a charge back claim on my debit card.

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hi everyone, today has finished with a little more information, i have contacted trading standards, my local mp, the local government ombudsman, the evening chronicle, bbc watchdog and after this response,consumer direct,
Trading standards replied very quickly and stated.
Thank you for your enquiry regarding the above mentioned business and the problems you are having trying to sort out the situation with your holiday as Freedom Direct no longer exists.You would need to contact a government funded body called Consumer Direct(CD) who will advise you of the civil law rights that you have under the sale and supply of goods and services act and the packaged holiday regulations.You would need to provide CD of all details about your holiday what was booked destination, hotel flights etc and provide any copy invoice receipts and terms and conditions that apply.You would also need to advise CD who you have been contacting to try and sort the problem out ie your contact with ATOL , ABTA and your credit card company and what they have advised before they can advise you what you can do in the circumstances.CD can be contacted either by telephone on 08454 04 05 06(calls cost 4 p per minute from a BT landline, other networks may vary the charge) or their website address is at http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk. The problems that you have are under civil law matters any you will find that most Trading Standards authorities will not advise on these matters as they will only tend to investigate criminal law matters. I hope this assists you with your enquiry.

my local government ombudsman also replied swiftly and writes:

Thank you for your recent email. Unfortunately The Local Government Ombudsman can only investigate complaints against Local Councils and some other Authorities, as your complaint is about a Tour Operator it is therefore not something that we can consider.
Apart from speaking to your credit card company, contacting your local Citizens Advice Bureau, or contacting Consumer Direct for advice I cannot think of anything else that you can do.
I have now contacted them and outlined the situation. With only four working days left remaining before we depart for our holiday and stay at my destination airport terminal, unless of course i pay again, i remain optimistic but with a particularly misty optic. I am very sad about it all, and completely astonished by the sales pitch freedom and hayes delivered last night, how could they, maybe someone could loan me a tent big enough for 3 it to be a tent with a sea view, on a half board basis?
i hope the evening chronicle and/or watchdog can pick up our stories and all our valid searching questions and put them to the media to prevent others suffering and maybe have their experts in these matters expose the robbery occuring under the safety badges and certificates of ABTA .
anyone viewed the co-joined freedom direct with hayes websites proudly displaying there badges and rosettes that guarentees abta and atol coverage, should it all go wrong…enjoy the bank holiday weekend.
If a recieve anymore responses al post them here. x

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We have just returned from a holiday in Egypt. When we arrived, our accommodation which was booked through Freedom Direct, had been cancelled. We had to pay again for the rooms. On arriving back home, we contacted ABTA, who told us there was nothing they could do. We had paid by cheque, so could not claim off a credit card. We paid extra at the time of booking for this so called ABTA cover. They are a joke. They want reporting to ‘watchdog’ !!!

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@Annemarie – “Honour” in travel agency speak, translation: it’s a bit like filling up your shopping basket, going to the checkout and finding you have forgotten your purse. The checkout person says they will keep the basket intact and you can go away and get your purse. So, the hotel room is held for you, in your name, and will not be released (aka given away) to someone else – but you have to pay for it.
The big issue here, is how these hotels were booked and it sounds like (not having seen any paperwork, this is pure hypothosis) the hotels were booked totally seperate from anything else (by FD and notwithstanding anything you may have been told) Now, *say* the company with which the hotels were booked was a hotel booking company *only* then they would not require bonding in that they do not book packages; as far as the hotel company is concerend (and of course, the hotel) the matter is black and white – they either have the money for the hotel or they don’t. Do not blame Medhotels – they are doing nothing wrong. If FD never got around to paying for your room, then you will have to pay again – this means that you will need to check your credit card to see what you have been charged for. (see my posts re: getting these bookings unfangled).
“Grey area” – translation: Hays (don’t blame Hays, they are trying to sort out an unholy mess and as an agent myself, I can imagine what they are going through; but they need time, I am afraid and you must (all) give them time to sort themselves and so you (all) out. It is a gray area because Hays do not know who got paid and who didn’t and with whom and how, basically and until they do, they will not be able to give a clear answer. This will also need to be viewed in the context of what actually appears on your cerdit card. There may be one “lump” payment to FD in which case “Nightmaresville, Arizona” or there may be several payments for the various bits of your holidays (bit easier, then, as the dog can see the rabbit, as the expression goes).

ABTA is getting the rough end of the stick here. Before the EEC and a few maligned vested interests mucked up a perfectly good system, yes, ABTA dis-entangled any mess – and they did it very well. But ABTA can now only dis-entangle that which is ABTA’s and a lot of the shannanigans at FD, well, let us say, sailed pretty close to the wind. There are a lot more internet based outfits out there who sail so close to the wind, they come out the other side! Hays may be more expensive, but they are a well respected, stable and properly bonded company – so yes, they may charge you more because they have consequently higher costs – what are you going to do? Okay, so one internet “cheap” company has gone all pear shaped – Hays come along and try and get things moving – you don’t like the higher price so say: “I know, I will go and get myself tangled up with another cheap (internet) company!” Let’s try and lose another load of dosh! Will people ever, ever, learn? Lesson number 1: If it looks to good to be true, it usually is. Let us say (and I know I will get some stick for saying this) there is a lot to be said for the good old fashioned shop. Research on the net and then go and find an old fashioned high street agency – deals that are available online are generally available on the high street – at least, there is someone to go and shout at. End of plug.
Flights: Again, depends on what has been booked and how and again how you have been charged. The most financially insecure way of buying an airline ticket is, well, buying it from an airline. That said, without seeing the why’s and how’s and what’s it is difficult to say. IF you are booked on a charter chances are (and I mean “chances are”) you will be Okay – they are most likely to be bonded via the CAA “ATOL” scheme, if scheduled thenn the story is different. Possibly. Which is why I keep saying that all of you could save yourselves and awful lot of grief if you go and get some proper help. Oh! And it may not be ABTA, it may be the CAA or it may be the credit card company, depends on how…… etc etc etc.

Passing thought for all: Hotels give pretty much the same “nett” rate to all people. If I am a hotel owner, I give the tour operator/ the agent/ whoever my “best price” of, say £50 a night. I may give someone special £48 or not so special £52 – but I am not going to give one company £10 a night. Whatever the rate, there will be a few quid leeway. Now, if one company offers that room to you for £60 and another perhaps for £59, that makes sense – but if someone suddenly appears with the same room for £20? Many will think that’s a good deal; few think – Hang on! Why and How can this person offer me a room for £20 when everyone else seems to offer it for around £60? Well, you have now found out how!

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@Anne marie also should be read by @Helen

@Jackie West – I am not too sure what you mean by ABTA cover as there is no such thing per se. Could you look through your travel insurance policy, some do cover airline failure insurance/ supplier failure – few, but some do. The other thing is that I would not be too sure that your hotel did not receive payment – they could have just told you they did not receive payment. I presume that you must have paid your holiday balance to FD quite some time ago, there is a chance that the hotel was actually paid (I do mean “a chance”) you would need to write to the administrators of FD and advise them of this. They should then be able to tell you if the hotel was actually paid – Not too sure this helps as you would then have to provide these convincing proofs to the hotel in Egypt, which may cost more than it is worth.

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@ Murray H
i took was sold supplier failure cover by fd, this was for my 2nd booking with them, they sent what was ment to be the policy, no terms and the policy number does not show up on the system when you ring the helpline number suppied, spoke to hays about this and they could not even explain what was covered by it. they took my final payment on march 10th, did not pay thomson for flights as i spoke to thomson direct, they also didnt pay you travel or hotels4u on the second booking which was only done on march 9th. on both lots of booking comfirmation is clearly states that i have paid the £1 ATOL payment, yet i am not covered for the hotels. the caa looked at my paper work and said i was not covered.
on the booking forms, it clearly states that fd acted as agents booking flights with thomson and hotel rooms with you travel and hotels4u. surely they have done something wrong or illegal saying you were covered by atol and then your not, i was told by hays that i was covered at some point and then i was not covered. i did send hays all the booking confirmation and payment history as they reguested but just had the emails back from them saying im cat c. like most people on here i thought i was covered by ATOL and ABTA. ABTA do say the providers should honour the hotel booking also after looking at the paperwork. maybe if i attach the booking comfirmation to a post, you may be able to clear up for people the confussion as i expect most peoples comfirmation will be like mine.
let me know if this would help as a guide for people

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just found this petition on another forum, maybe if we all sign it up as it needs 500 signature, something will get passed to stop this happening again

This is the link:

petitions.number10.gov.uk/hols-protection/

when you click on to sign up, they ask 4 your email addy, they will then send u an email back to verify your vote, unfortunately this email will 99 times out of 100 end up in your junk folder, this email will be from 10 Downing Street, it will have a link which you must click, it will take you back to their site where it will say thank you your vote has been registered. If you don’t click the link your vote does not get registered.

If you sign up please pass the word around

Best regards to all

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dan
I`ve tried this link it took me to trip adviser and said this link has now been deleted. the other link takes you to a greek travel site?

I have been searching and writing to all sorts of people and organisations to see if I can interest someone with the knowledge now needed to clearly define the ATBA bond terms and conditions to the booking agents. What is Abta exactly? Surely there must be someone or something out there on this mass highway that wont allow us just to take this situation and let these tour operators who can take our monies win this battle.
I now have learned that this bond fee was alledgedly paid for by freedom direct uptil the 13th march 09, So this would ensure, i would presume, the payments via the protection scheme of ABTA to those then on and before the 13h march. Am sorry to those after this date. How do you get in contact with freedom direct administraters to see if theres a chance,, freedom did pay prior to this closure?
a realise it may sound stupid but Would freedom direct have been making fraudulant statements suggesting they had ABTA bond and registration after this date?
Under the ABTA bond prior to this date. would abta not need to pay for the accomodation and taxi transfer if freedom direct have not already done so prior to their collapse, as was suggested in their closing website information.
mr murray has now educated me in the analysis of the word honour and other travel agent jargons, in my opinion, very loosely. I get that now, however do a realy just need to accept I`ve been taken in because the holiday I booked online sounded, looked, everything it should have been and not to good to be true. and that i along with 10,000 others cannot suggest we`ve been had under the ABTA rulings?

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There are two issues which I keep on about: 1) Time and 2) Sorting out the paperwork. Time is required because there is a lot to sort out. I am sorry that some of you do not have time (before your holiday may start) but if you look at a previous post by Hays Travel, you will see that they are starting by trying to untangle those people that are going now-ish, first. If you are not travelling for, say, three or four weeks, then let Hays sort out the urgent stuff. 2) Paperwork is critical and it is a shame, a big shame, that high street agents are not trying to help our Jo Public – the high street could do itself a big favour in this and it’s not like I am advocating them doing it for nothing. ABTA/ Advantage please copy and action.

Get our your invoices. Now, a certain amount of the invoice is likely to be standard pre-printed paperwork. I regret that the (possibly) misleading inclusion of ATOL or ABTA logo’s on the pre-printed stuff could be very naughty. What your invoice says, more precisely, how it says it, indicates where you are at. If the invoices states “booked as agent for XYZ” then we need to address our issues to XYZ, if the invoice lists flights, accommodation etc, all as one with no indication of “booked as agent for” then chances are, it is an inclusive package and thereby covered by the FD ATOL.
Now, there is a further strand to this which may bring hope to some. FD were members of Advantage (a MARKETING grouping of independent agents) and as such paid their bills to *certain* (many of the mainstream ones) tour operators by direct debit. Advantage held a £300,000 bond (with a top up facility) to cover that direct debit which Advantage feel should (that’s “should”) be enough to cover outstanding money paid to FD but not paid to suppliers (aka the actual tour operators). Before everyone goes off hot foot to Advantage (www.advantage4travel.com) NOT my website, please (please….!) Hays Travel will be aware of this BUT need some time to get to the bottom of things.
Now (put very, very, simply) ABTA fits in twixt the (ABTA) agent (here, FD) and the ABTA tour operator. The ATOL (where flights are involved, sold as a package, etc etc) fits in twixt the tour operator and the travel providor, (that is the bloke you see driving the plane or standing behind the hotel reservation desk) in other words, the guy who bolts the bits together with the airline/ hotel, etc.
The main issue seems to be with these hotel booking firms. Flight wise, I think people are pretty much Okay one way or the other, either via ATOL or because FD paid via CAPS, so charters will get paid or because they booked, say, Easyjet and they (or you) paid straight away on your own card, in your own right (effectively). Now, some of these hotel booking companies are ABTA so we have this “ABTA to ABTA” thing – at the risk of being hamstrung, the hotel booking companies should do what they damn well ought to do and that is make sure that the holiday bookings work, without further ado. We have had (in travel) this scenario before, when ABTA (behind the scenes) really had to bang some heads together – and which is porbably going on now. IMHO I do not know why these hotel booking outfits are able to “bask in the glory” of ABTA and then have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into doing the right thing when the chips are down, but that’s another issue. It may be that as the margins are so tight, they simply can’t afford to do it properly, which says a lot about some of these outfits. Again, another story.
Ultimately, yes, with credit card payments the principle is no supply (of goods and/ or services) = refund. The problem lies in partial supply and partial payment. In other words, the flight bit paid to FD (as opposed to say, direct to Easyjet) but hotel not working (partial supply) and in partial payment (deposit paid in cash and balance only on credit card) and, of course, a combination of both!
So, my overall message is allow some time for things to get sorted. There are funds out there and many of you may not have lost as much as you thought. Wait until you know *for definite* what you have lost (if you have lost) rather than going overboard just yet.

If you do want to start something with with HM’s Grateful Government, you can suggest that it is high time they ditched all this EEC Package Travel rubbish and we went back to what we had pre-1992 and Stabiliser…. People may not have liked it, but it worked and it worked very, very well.

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we have been told we just have to pay our deposit for the hotel ‘ wich is 25 pound per person and we still have our holiday .is this right

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MR MURRAY how much time do we have i am traveling 7 days time despite numerous calls to hays nobody bothered to ring back or e mail me as promised could it be because i have already had to pay lowcost again and hays not going to get a booking as for abta i only booked with freedom because of the abta atol badge even when collapse came still wasnt worried as i believed MARTIN JONES saying everybody was covered and a simple phone call would put it right how stupid could i be 40 phone calls numerous e mails later i am so much wiser and i dont believe in santa anymore

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I to have booked an apartment with fd paid balance in full 08.04.09 only to learn about a week later by pure chance while looking at the internet that fd had gone under, i have gone through the same process as people above , my apartment voucher was issued by you travel, they say freedom direct have not payed them so to ensure my booking is honoured i have to pay again. Abta say it is completely down to you travel to honour the booking whether or not fd payed them under abta law so i have to contact abta next tuesday to see if an out come has been resolved between both partners lawyers. Hays travel, i spoke to a very nice agent today who said they would wait until i had spoken to abta on tuesday to see if i wanted to keep my booking by paying again, as i have already paid for my flights i stand to loose over £900 if i have no apartment booked so looks like i have to pay again. consumer direct advised me to letter (recorded delivery) all the documents they already have regarding my booking ie. bank statements customer receipt from fd you travel voucher along with my covering letter outlining what had happened. i booked using visa debit switch card so going on what abta said and hays i tried to claim charge back from my bank halifax bank of scotland, visa have told them for the moment they will not respond to cash back attempts from anyone with anything to do with freedom direct, this may change in the future! i have sought legal advice as well, are ther any oter suggestions out ther i would be glad of any advice.

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@Carl Langley – if you have paid low cost beds again, then your holiday would be, I presume, all sorted. Now, there is no time limit as such on claims, so I would now go and enjoy your time away. I presume that you would be making a claim to get the initial or first payment for your accommodation back and this you can progress once you return. Lowcostbeds are ABTA and ATOL, so you should register your claim by the good old fashioned way of sending a letter to ABTA, by recorded delivery and (at this stage) enclosing a photocopy of your FD invoice. This will “register” your claim – or at least, prompt ABTA to send you that which you need to formerly claim your initial payment.

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@hackett – this suggest that your holiday must be some time off, yet – if you are only paying the deposit (you do not say to whom) – so if it is to Hays then – go ahead and pay your deposit, pay by credit card and use the same credit card as you intend to use to pay the balance. (see my note about “part payment and part supply”, passim.

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Like many people on this site I have spent the past few days continually being passed from pillar to post, without a glimmer of hope that things are getting sorted.

I paid Freedom Direct in full in January be maestro debit card for accomodation only for a holiday in July.

The first I heard that FD had gone under was when I received an email from Hays on 25th April stating ‘Your holiday should not be affected and our customer services team are here to help’. 5 days later I received a 2nd email stating I fell into catagory C and ‘Unfortunately the amount you have paid for accommodation appears to be lost.’.

Since then I have taken days off work trying to sort this mess out. Hays who although polite basically just want me to pay again and think they are doing me a favour by being able to offer the acommodation for the original price I paid!

My main problems though lie with ABTA and Med Hotels. ABTA advise that Med Hotels under agency law must honour the booking. Med Hotels say they will not honour the booking as they have not been paid and would go bust themselves if they did honour the bookings. I go back to ABTA and they just say it is down to Med Hotels. Med Hotels say that ABTA have no money left so they would not be able to claim. So back and forth I go between the two, but never getting anything resolved.

Consumer Direct advise me to contact ABTA and so the circle goes on.

Med Hotels says I can book and pay again, but ABTA say under no circumstance should I pay again.

Why if FD, Med Hotels and Hays are all ABTA bondedI am I having such trouble trying to understand how ABTA works and what it is worth.

Any advice would be appreciated.

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@Murray H
Please advise:
I never received my booking confirmation from Freedom Direct. I have contacted ABTA who can read my booking on screen but can’t (or won’t) forward me a copy. RMT advise me that the database was sold to Hays, so they don’t have the information. Hays tell me, like ABTA, the can see my booking on screen, but have a screen only system and are unable to forward me a copy…….
I have tried my credit card company for a claim and they will not pursue it without the booking confirmation and information from ABTA to say they will not pay it. ABTA will not provide this until I forward them a copy of my booking (although they can see all the details on screen (as above)).
As per a previous comment you left, this is my honeymoon and I am dealing with it. New accommodation has been booked but I would like to try and claim something back to help the replacement costs.
Please are you able to give information as to where I can go to get a copy of my booking confirmation.

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hi again, ended up paying hotel and transfers again! guess what i,m a catagory “c” also even though clearly states my atol bond number 9740 on my invoice and even paid the two pound for it.!! anyhow i,m due to fly next week and didnt want to lose my flights so had no choice really.put in a claim with my bank will let you know how it goes.

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@murray h.

if we do re-book is it safe to jus deal with air line and hotel supplier direct? what im scared off doing is re-booking directly with them and then something happeneing in connection with this situation? so if i re-book i was thinking of doing it independantly and not going through hays as to be perfectly honest i dont want any connection with them once i have travelled because who,s to say that when we get to our destination the hotel could say we have not been paid for your accomadation once they realise hays/freedom are now one company!! at least bking it all separatly there will be no mention of either of these companies, am i correct?? thanks.

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Hi everyone, I’ve just found a travel article on Google. I isn’t helpful in any way but this is the only article I have found so far, which tells of the plight we are in. Note the section about Hays Travel and their assistance promise.
I have pasted the link below, (Hope it works) so you can read it.

http://www.travelshorthand.com/april-failures-what-can-we-learn/

I’m in the process of e-mailing The Sun newspaper and any others I can obtain e-mail addresses for, to try to highlght the awful situation we are all in. Maybe if we can get some media attention, this might not happen again.

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@John et sequiter… IF you pay again, that does not mean that you somehow waive any (future) claim you may have to recover the original money. This second payment should be viewed (in many cases, please bear in mind that I have not seen any paperwork) as a stop-gap measure to make sure the holiday happens. Now, I am rather annoyed about the antics of some of these hotel booking outfits. ABTA are quite right – with the “ABTA to ABTA” bit, as said before, certain hotel booking companies should ruddy well get on with it , as said passim ad nauseam. I believe various people will be getting quite an earful from ABTA over the bank holiday. That said, Medhotels may reveal the real truth which is that they cannot afford to honour all the bookings! BUT the crack from MedHotels (if they did say such) about ABTA “not having any money left” is both misleading and highly irregular; if not downright stupid. Never, in the whole history of ABTA has any person, where proper ABTA members are concerned and where ABTA rules (they are not “laws” ) have been applied and are applicable, has anyone been left out of pocket. Ever.

There is another point. You may try enquiring directly from the apartment or from the hotel which you wish to stay at and see what rate they will offer you as a direct customer – this perhaps only if your booking is not being handled by Hays. You see, if you pay MedHotels(rather than, say, Hays) that is not “paying the hotel”, that is paying MedHotels. That said, MedHotels is part of Thomas Cook so I am wondering if the comments alluded to came from a rather inexperienced clerk, rather than from an experienced Tommy Cook person. Now, if you do enquire, you may get a rate that will cause you a sharp intake of breath, a slap on the head and the need for an urgent gin-and-tonic and a sit-down. But you may not. If you do agree to pay the hotel direct, then at least that element is tied up. Note: I would really only think about this if I was going very shortly. I mean, maybe the hotel goes bust – but here again, pay the hotel in whole, only using *one* credit card.

@Debbie. Wow! This is a new one! Catch 22 – You canot claim until you get an invoice but you cannot get an invoice because…. No, it doesn’t work like that. The administrators must come up with an receipt (at least) for monies paid to FD. The administrator cannot say that they have flogged all the “database” to another party and therfore, are trying to act as administrators to a failed company and their first task was to… er…. sell off all the information! I think that your credit card company are sailing a bit close to the wind as well. Assuming that you made all payments (deposits/ balances) using the same card, then it is a matter of “I paid this, got naff all, I want my money back” The proof of payment , as far as you are concerned (and so the credit card company) is clear as the nose on your face, it is that whopping great big figure saying “FD paid £10 2s and 6d” on your statement – or whatever sum it was. I am very disturbed by what you say, if anyone anywhere pays money for a holiday, in whole or in part, you must get a receipt/ invoice straight away. There is, again, something to be said for the high street agent – but I thought (not much experience of this for, as a travel agent, I would never book anything unless I got either a) a ticket or b) a bonded recipt at the moment I handed over money – can internet companies provide a receipt by return email? I don’t know! From a High Street agent, you get, at least a receipt straight away and as soon as you have that – assuming the agent is ABTA – the ABTA bit kicks in. (Footnote: the Travel Trust do pretty much the same thing – you are making sure that you have documentation from the moment you hand over money – in whatever form)

There is another general tip I wish to give you all. One of the things I first learnt in travel, was “Write it down and get the name of the person you spoke to” -a lot of people have been calling and emailing. No, write out your issue to whomever in the form of a letter. Write it in the evening on a PC and then store it. Next morning, re-read it carefully and edit our all the ranting you probably put in the night before. State you case factually, clearly and without emotion. Now, send it, “signed for” to the company. When dealing with peopl on the telphone, write a synopsis of what is being said as you go, make sure you take the name of the person you speak to, the date and the time. This letter may be a calim to ABTA, or to Hays or to the administartors or to whomsoever you deem it appropriate. By this means, whatever happens, you will have formally “placed your stake in the ground”.

Deeds of Assignment – this was also mentioned earlier. This is a mechanism where, if a claim against a failed company can be clearly identified as being covered by a proper travel company bond (eg ABTA, ATOL ,TTA, etc) Instead of having to pay again, you can sign over the proceeds of your particular claim to the (new) agent, instead.

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@Stevie H Be careful what you say. Have you analysed their Balance Sheet? There are if you make unfounded allegations concerning a company, you could be in very deep trouble! Consider: Most of the world’s airlines makethumping great losses – just because you make a loss does not make you insolvent. The P&L is not the whole story.
@rachel Of course you can book direct. BUT the rate you get from the hotel may be a tad more than what you will get from Hays (or any tour operator) – a tour operator buys, perhaps 80% or the rooms in the hotel for a whole season – you are buying one room for one or two weeks, so you may only get what is called the “rack” rate. Of course, you will be speaking to the hotel owner in person or the actual hotel reservations and may be able to do it the old fashioned way, as we do in business travel, book a hotel room, agree the rate. when you leave, pay the bill. Bit old fashioned, I know, but stunningly simple and works to everyones satisfaction. BUT the rate may stagger you. You can but ask. You may not be able to buy seats on a charter flight “direct from the airline” but you may get the next best thing – that is, a Thomson Flight from Thomson or a Tommy Cook flight from Tommy Cook. You would be able to buy a scheduled airline ticket direct in the usual way, also Easyjet etc. You will need to think about a taxi from the airport to the hotel and you will not have a rep in resort (latter item – may not be an issue, depends on how seasoned you are a traveller and where you are going)
I think people are seeing the wrong side of Hays. They are not “one and the same” as FD, they have taken over the assets (ie forward bookings) of FD and are spending a lot of time, grief and heartache trying to sort it all out. (trust me, I know – been there, done that) and its bad enough having to do battle on the supplier side to make sure it all works; having then to do battle again on the customer side, really makes it a fun time!

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[...] The failure of Freedom Direct heralded something new, that being an internet travel company going down the tubes. Why this is new, is because, unlike days of yore, there is no immediate ability to achieve face to face contact – something which clients who stood to lose their holidays would much prefer to have. If a tour operator went bust, you marched off down to your travel agent and were able to talk to someone. You could get some sort of satisfaction from knowing that a real human was dealing with your plight. An internet travel outfit may be miles away from you, even in another country and there is no “local” shop to go to. True, people used to book direct before the internet, but these were with companies whose name you did see in the “local” shop and this brought a sort of comfort. The plight of some of those caught in the FD collapse is well reflected in the travel-rants blog. [...]

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I spoke to my bank again about visa debit cash charge back(halifax bank of scotland) as i used my visa debit switch card to pay my balance in full they said at first that visa had put a block on any charge back with anything to do with freedom direct then i was told that because hays had taken over freedom direct they could not claim charge back as they could not go to hays it would have to be freedom direct so at the moment while it tells me on the bbc watchdog website and various other websites i am entitled to claim through visa debit charge back the bank/ visa seem to be pulling the shutters down and running away frome the issue. The parting advice i got from the bank was that they could give me 3 helpline numbers guess what, abata caa and wait for it atol. I have contacted abta , cosumer direct,you travel, hays travel who i must say have been most helpful with various information not only their products, the people i have spoken to have been really genuine, i feel i have just about taken every route i can, as i have said before i have flights booked so the apartment i payed for to fd(you travel) looks like i am going to hve to pay for again against abtas advice, can any one shed light on where i go from here esecially with the issue of the bank and visa debit charge back, all advice welcome.

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Hey, i booked a holiday with freedom direct as a “package” but i am apparently under category “C” and my hotel and transfers are not safe. Looking on the atol website I should be able to claim under them. I have tried calling ABTA who just flog me off to the CAA all the time. I think I am going to have to re-book my hotel and transfers and try and claim the money back as I do not want to loose my room.

I paid by a visa debit card and was thinking of claiming through that (visa charge back) because I think it will be quicker than ATOL? But I was wondering if anyone knew if my claim failed with visa whether you can then try and claim with ATOL??? Thanks. Any help is appreciated!

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@murray h… thanks for that its egypt im going to and as stated b4 taking a disabled child so i would need a rep (just incase). so i have looked into getting my flights with the airline i was supposed to be using and waiting for them to get back to me. and was going to book my hotel with you travel.com as these were the original people i had my paperwork from via freedom direct. i have infact rang them and they have sed if i wanted to book direct with them they would infact give it to me at the same price i previously paid. but after reading what steve had wrote im even more worried now, that i might loose even more money. ohhh i just dont no what to do for the best.

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All,

What we need here is a solicitor,
- if we all group together we should be able to get some aswers of ABTA/ATOl/CAA and all the others who have our money.
- why has none of these guys given us honest and accurate info, they know who has paid what and is booked with who!!!!

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I have been reading the website for the last two weeks and have yet to see a positive result.I was sold a package in January,only to find that FD had used my credit card to purchase the flights from Monarch-this discovered on my credit card statement!!;and now as indicated from comments on this forum my booking becomes Non-Air and ABTA/ATOL will not accept a claim!
However I contacted Monarch Schedule (ZB) bookings and they confirmed my flights were indeed live.
The accommodation element was with Thomas Cook ,I had received booking vouchers,and I managed to get through to their litigation/liquidation department who likewise confirmed the bookings were intact! I have also had the ok from the Hotel.
Thinking this was too good to be true,we had a late night phone call from Hays offering to re-book some accommodation since they said flights ok but hotel not!!
The following day,after I had calmed down, I decided to ring them and challenge their statement only to have it completely rescinded.
Even so, the holiday now appears intact,but with the experiences of most other reports ,I really cannot believe we are the only fortunate ones and remain very sceptical since despite the verbal good news no one will provide an e-mail.
The taxi transfer part is still a mystery,no one will say where the money is!!
We are supposed to go next week-wish us luck!!
I still wonder if anyone else has managed to salvage anything.

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@ Rachel…I’m like you..very worried about who i now book my “accommodation only” with as i’ve probably lost what i paid FD and lost all my money for my other holiday (2 weeks time) who i booked with “xcapewithus” who went bust last week! I have re-booked my FD one with Hotels4u.com and am keeping my fingers crossed…i hope they’re ok..they are party of the Thomas Cook group and offer very good deals. The best deals usually come up if you search via the Tripadviser website. I have looked into “supplier failure cover” insurance but there are so many clauses ie. If the travel provider is part of any group like ABTA the failure cover will not cover you!

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@ John..I’m in the same boat, i paid by my maestro debit card. Natwest said they won’t do charge back as not a credit card. I have asked them for a letter (which is on its way to me) stating that they (Natwest) will not honour a charge back. I will then make an official complaint to the Financial Ombudsan (which i have informed Natwest about). The Financial Ombudsman view debit cards the same as credit cards and believe charge back is right for both! It’s my final hope!

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Can anyone shed any light…Why is the name “Freedom Direct” allowed to be used still? From legal pages i’ve browsed through on the net, they all seem to imply, that if a company goes bankrupt/or goes into liquidation then that name cannot be used for a period of time (1 year plus) There do seem to be a few exceptions but these tend to point in the direction of all monies being honoured or if you had been trading under that name yourself previously? Any legal boffs shed some light for me?

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Hi Darren,

My comment wasn’t libelous. It was based on facts from publically available information. Anyone can download accounts from Companie House.

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@lee smith you may of course get a solicitor though you may find that what you need is time rather than anything else. Getting a solictor involved (who would have to be one fully au fait with travel) may be a bit premature.
@rachael being blunt, if I had been the travel agent, I would have had strong reservations about booking Egypt with a disabled child and would have suggested elsewhere. That said, I do not know your exact circumstances and/ or how well travelled you are – so forgive me if you are a well experienced traveller to those parts. Now, if you “re-pay” that does NOT mean that you cannot, later, make a claim for the money you have lost – you are not, sort of “invalidating” any future claim you may have. I suggest you pay special attention to the travel insurance you get and you may need specialist advice for this – whatever the disability of the child, there is sure to be a support group and they will, no doubt, be able to suggest something suitable. You may well need that support more than a rep.
Youtravel I do not wish to comment about. For me (and I may be corrected about this,) it is my understanding that along with the ABTA logo, you should state your ABTA membership number, which I cannot see on the youtravel website. There is a Greek membership number, but I cannot tell you anything about that. (not being a) Greek or b) In Greece. If it was me, I would want to ask them what their ABTA membership number is first. Perhaps someone else – or someone from Youtravel – could assist, here. If you look at the hotels4U website, you will see the number clearly displayed. NOTE: The above is not a comment on liability and/ or security of booking or bonding, it is merely an observation on the showing of ABTA numbers and as @rachael says, they are part of Tommy Cook and so for me, (and this is a personal opinion) I would be comfortable with Hotels4U.
@rachael Oh! For heavens sake! What do you mean – search via tripadvisor ???? A good part of this is because people are paying too much attention to price and not enough attention to anything else. So, if XYZ outfit who may be a good guide with a bit of affiliate booking bolted on, suggest book with Skinemrookem & Bunk …..
“supplier failure cover” – quite right, if you were covered by an ATOL or ABTA bond, then you do not need S Failure cover – the Supplier Failure is to cover you IF nothing else does, which is what I would have thought, people wanted! Note: I am not regulated by the FSA so now cannot sell travel insurance (have sold it for about 30 years before the FSA stuck their nose in, mind – Let me see, the FSA – arn’t they the people who were supposed to regulate our, er… banks) So, you may want to ask a local high street agent about suitable travel insurance.
@peter – Yes! if Monarch charged you (this applies to anyone else) or Easyjet etc charged you direct on your card for your flights, then your flights are as safe as houses. Again, with Hays there may have been some crossed wires (as mentioned passim ad nauseam (again)) bacause they simply have not had the chance to get to grips with things. Likewise if you are holding Thommy Cook vouchers for accommodation – then you are Okay.

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please remove details from bottom of site,I will continue to monitor site for follow up.many thanks.

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@Murray. Yes I have analyzed their balance sheet. As a finacial director myself I am in a good position to understand what the figures mean.

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Maybe I’m one of the lucky ones but I think I have sorted something out from all the confusion. I booked flight, accomodation and taxi trnsfers from FD. Hays have said that flights with Thomas Cook ok but need to rebook accomodation and transfers. Hays have been very helpful and I think are doing a good job of trying to sort things out whilst being abused and shouted at down the phone. Every time I have e-mailed they have replied and I have managed to get through to speak to someone on several occasion. they told me I am atol protected and as I paid for everything with credit card, I can claim this way. I have sent forms to atol and my bank have been helpful too and requested photocopies of documents. I am optimistic that it will al work out ok. I hope I am not disappointed.

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& Murray, please note that my reccommendation of Trip Advisor was to use the LINK from there to Hotels4u as you will then automatically get a 13% discount as opposed to going directly onto the hotels4u webpage

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@ murray. thanks for that and i have been to egypt b4 an many other places and do always get the appropriate ins cover via medical screening. and as for what u stated about via tripadvisor discount… for people like me when u have been fleeced for 3,500 pounds every saving counts and i do not mean to offend anybody here and sorry if i have by making that comment i just thought people could do with some savings if there out there! thanks again for pointing out about the abta number on you travel website as i was only looling for the logo. perhaps i will try hotels 4u.(i got that tip about via tripadvisor off holiday truths.). and as for supplier failure i never asked about it think you made a mistake there.(its annemarie who asked that and also annemarie who stated that hotels 4 u are part of tommy cook). thanks again.

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and it was also annemarie who stated about trip advisor an not me!!! lol im getting balmed for things here i haven,t said and believing it myself… good job we can laugh.:-)

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i,ve just checked on abta website and infact youtravel.com are members. and it gives there number! phewww.

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@ Annemarie, go to the guardian.co,uk / the observer website there is an article headed the credit crunch refund thats all grief and no fun sun 29th march, print this off as it details exactly what you can do regarding the debit chargeback scheme, we should be entitled to the same treatment as people with a credit card ,from what i understand the banks are like all the rest trying to save any hassle for them. Hope this helps you best of luck i think we will need it.

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@ MURRAY,

Please can you advise on the following? We are due to depart in two weeks. I still have to pay again for accomodation with You.Travel and have been advised to wait until next week (Thurs) by ABTA. What happens if I secure accomodation with You.Travel or another accomodation provider with my credit card and then at some point before departure, ABTA enforces YOU.TRAVEL to give me the accomodation – so I end up with two lots of accomodation booked. Will I still be in a position to claim from BARCLAYCARD or will I be in the same position as I am now with my flights – they are available so no claim can be made? I’m getting increasing nervous that I have no accomodation secure and departure date is so close – surely I can’t be expected to wait until the day before I go! Advice appreciated! Thanks

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hi all,
youtravel.com are members of abta there number is W9858 .i,ve paid them again as i travel next week and i,m not waiting for abta to sort it out,they havn,t been that helpful with us since it all happened.i,m still adament i was a package,got the atol number and it even states i,m a package on my invoice but hays reckons i,m are a category c.not a package.!!! dont think any of them know really.if my items were booked seperately then how come i was given a holiday discount of my final price for booking a package!!!

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i really dont get it i recieved email today from hotels 4 u who told me that my accomodation had not been paid for by freedom direct and i would have to pay for accomodation again they also told me they act as an agent for freedom direct which i think was the other way round as i have been told freedom direct acted as agent and they acted as operator can anybody advise me as to who was the agent and who was the operator as they are both sayng they acted as the agent dont understand

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Mr Murray, a think a can understand your frustration at us, but , a would beg of you, to mayezz write an article where we can make reference to it, maybezz be able to print of a ticky box sheet, a flowchart thingy? a something that helps us ensure that we have done all we can, without you having to get repetitive or bored because we appear to rant on about nothing that you haven`t heard before. The advice you give us is free and for that I remain really grateful. Thank you. Truly. But I keep getting there with your advise and then another block, whats that about? My head hurts. Yes for those who travel this month we are bound to get frustrated with Mr Hays. Come on surely you must get why? You are correct, ok then again, days when we visited Mr travel agent in the real world, we could speak face to face and still get no where any faster, a do remember, very faintly tho, being in my pramulater outside the shop. I have booked and enjoyed my holiday with Hays in the past. I am pleased that Mr Hays has took a business and its employee’s to a place that will thrive as he already does, very well, even in this downturn? am sure that when he announced his interest and declared that he would buy a data base? (data protection?_ are data bases often up for sale? that he would take over all forward booking? Am I really silly to believe I thought that meant us? Yes Mr Hays has done alot of people proud, make a successful business and as he said from humble beginnings. But, again like so many of us suggest it would appear very odd to me and others, that along with the majority of freedom direct sales and administrative staff, two members of senior staff and allegedly? Mr Jones, Mr freedom director, himself, all who have been employed with permanent conracts to the established Mr Hays team. Mr Jones tasked with sales and the overlooking o fhis ex staff team and bookings arrangments (guardian blog) they have very swiftly re-commenced web sites under the double barrel of hays with freedom direct or is it freedom direct with hays. Whilst I realise that it was with pleasure that RMT announced their merger, forgive me for being a smidgen suspicious here or if also a get frustrated with Hays. I just want the best for my family and OK my disabled son also, who thrives in the warmer weather, he receives his physiotherapy from me every day in and out of the poo, the fresh air and outdoor life for just one week, his asthma is controlled and seizures less frequent and he just has the fun along with my older daughter who just for one week gets her mam to herself. Yea we saw an Internet bargain ,£900 for a week, (yea and before you tell me I know that I can claim it back, fingers crossed eventually) why do you make me feel that I chose this without care and attention, yea we bought the cover even though we were atol protected, like so many of us, smacked hand, wont do tat agin either, its only when this happens do you really analyze it all for what you reiterate it was. I researched for abta and atol registration, I paid on a credit card however, you suggest that for that amount I have paid, I can except for this situation we are in but, in defence, just as there are many guises that people wear for all sorts of reasons in this world, this may teach us that things are not always what they seem. And if this was just about offering low cost holidays for Joe public and significant others then the question that Mr Jones borrowed albeit legally, £400th (independent), and advantage has awarded a £300th bond, that abta had awarded Mr Jones his period of grace to sort out his finances. e built up an excellent reputation along his 12 year journey and yes I believed he owned or anaged a real life travel agents in Gosforth. Hands up and take me away if am wrong.. Yes time plus infinity takes you beyond, but with only four working days left are you just saying that I am out of time? Off I went yesterday and again walked through the doors of the real life travel agent, not pre 1992 though, haha, this time to your suggested advantage real life travel agency and heard that freedom can offer and pay for these forward bookings if they were trading or chosen appointee’s or is it as Abta suggested that some tour operators claiming from the caa and abta will get paid twice. Why is it so wrong to believe that the right thing will just be done without a fight. Okay we need to get the rules clarified better and maybe we need someone with your experience to highlight or lead us how to get there. and yes pre 1992 might have been better as you say but 16 years plus later is a long time to be saying that. Why is it that this is the first case with such huge implications for so many people and somewhat directly different from xl as was put in another blog and suggested on other sites. People suffering xl crash are still waiting for their claims to be processes. I also have written to the evening chronicle, newcastle, the guardian both who have published previous articles. I have asked watchdog and consumer advise consumer to suggest anything. Ive written to my mp, the financal ombudsman now. I tried the links give to HM without success. What if I just cant afford to re-pay so then no re-booking can occur? Have I lost the flights claim as my bank suggests? It was withdrawn from one credit card, I believed one payment, but now as the statement clarifys three seperate amounts all payable to freedom direct?

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After reading review sites about the XL collapse and the CAA . i dont hold out much hope of any of us getting any refunds for a long long time…………

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Well said Jeannette! I too have e-mailed The Sun, A local Paper, BBC Watchdog and The News Of The World! I will also this week write to my MP and when i receive my letter from Natwest saying they are refusing my charge back claim, i will then put in my official complaint to the financial ombudsman.

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@annemarie – Fair enough, point taken, I will take my wrist as being well and truly slapped!. In defence, Your Honour, I just don’t want people jumping out of the pan into the fire!

@lisawalker. Good, glad you found that. The number is supposed to clearly displayed, though. No doubt youtravel will duly ammend their front page to make this clear.

@Cath – Difficult. Try this: If (anyone) pays again to secure accommodation (should not have to do it with flights) *with the same company* (by that I mean the people or method you used to book with in the first place), then any given person can only be in one place at one moment in time. I would suggest that if you do pay again and then ABTA does act to get Youtravel to honor the bookings, then Youtravel will be obliged to refund you one or the other – after all, they cannot get paid twice for the same thing. There is a general principle here. If you do something, it does not mean that you have then made your bed and must lie in it. If you are entitled to a refund on lost funds, these may be still reclaimed, even though you have paid again. If it was me, I would indeed, not wish to wait until the day before I travel – and I think it is a tad silly to expect you to, as well. What I would like to do, is wait until tomorrow and see what ABTA have achieved over the weekend, specifically, I would want to know if they have done some hard talking and if they have got somewhere in making certain hotel booking firms do, IMHO, what is right.

@Jeanette I am not against people enjoying cheap holidays; I am asking people to pay more attention to who they are buying from and that they do check the “about us” page of any website (or indeed any other agent) they wish to use. Re: Hays and FD. We have had this “people reappearing” bit before. This is a personal opinion: I do feel that if you have failed, you have failed. I do not agree with, for whatever reason, people being taken on again – even if there are excuses such as “helping sort the mess out” or whatever – they are people that have failed and they have clearly failed many of the travelling public, who put their faith in that company – not to mention their hard earned cash. To ask the former directors, or main people, “to assist” (and that freely and voluntarily – as they should do, if they had any sense of honour) – is one thing; but to bring them in, in such a high profile manner, if that is the case, does demonstrate, to my mind, a singular lack of good judgement and sensitivity. It is not a decision that I would wish to seek to defend. As I say, though, IF that is the case.

@rita welch Yes, It will take time – quite a time – before people get such refunds as they are due – but though it takes time, if they are covered, they will get them. You will have a lot of form filling to do and you will have lots of bits of paper to provide, so be prepared for that – but get your appropriate refunds, you will.

Please note that I am working somewaht in the dark in that I have not seen indivdual paperwork and do not know each set of circumstances, save for what people write here, so it is quite hard at times!

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Can anyone help i booked flights only with fd travelling with thomas cook i have just spoken to hays who advised fd only paid deposit for flights and i need to pay the rest again and try and claim back from my debit card is this what happens, thanks im a bit clueless when it comes to this

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to all….. ive just recieved a call from hays advising me that i am actually cat (b)? and saying my flights are safe but not accomadation although fd has payed them a 40.00 deposit! they will take that off the cost of the booking and although fd never paid all my money to the flight company hays can now see exactly how much i did pay fd and are prepared to take all moneies i paid to fd and deduct this off my flights so there is now only a small amount to pay off flights and still alot to pay of accomadation. so i think im going to ring abta in the morning and see what they are advising or rather see where they got over the weekend. i must say the lady who rang me from hays was extremely polite and helpful and i told her i would get back to her tomorrow once ive spoken to abta. (here we go again)@jeanette well said and good on you and people dont always realise that some people have to look for bargains or we would never get a holiday and people like you and me more so ,as god knows we pay more than most people for insurance just to be able to take our disabled children away. so when we see a bargain we jump at it.

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@ Donna..i believe flights are protected by ATOL

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Mr Murray an sorry. but you still have neglected to answer my questions, even generally.I can only presumme that Mr Freedom Direct is the sole benefactor from this situation, at least for the time being, A will continue this in every civilized way this is available to me. I do hope through the internet highway I can get some more positive and promising solutions to these problems. It seems here we cant find it at this time. If by any chance you can I,ll gratefully take them into consideration. Thank you.

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Murray, since you seem to know a bit about the industry, and I appologise if i am asking questions that have previously been asked, can you tell me where (you think) I stand!
I booked a “package holiday” with FD for myself and 9 others, paid deposit with my credit card and balance by debit. On CC statement flights were paid using my CC, not to my knowledge!. I have been in touch with ATOL, who said they couldnt do anything, my CC company, who will only get involved once they receive a letter from ABTA, who will not do this as they say all of my holiday should be covered! Lowcost Beds say they have the booking but I will need to pay another £1960, and Taxi transfers say they have cancelled the booking. I have also in my invoice a statement about the £1 to ATOL each as well as an insurance document for Supplier failure cover??
I dont travel (hopefully) until 6th of June, therefor I have a bit more time – however my sister is also in a similar situation, she booked for another 4 of us – 14 in total who are all due to fly out then.
Do you hold out much hope for us??

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today i ask hays to supply all the information held on their database for my 2 booking as i am entitled to this information under the section of 7 of the data protection act. spoke with someone called paula who refused the request saying that they only have a read only file and can not print this. how can they only have a read only when they have been given full computurised client database from rmt accounting. i will tomorrow speak to data protection about this and see where the law lies. maybe they are refusing to supply the information as they are hiding something from us all, after all the only people that are gear up to profit is them from reselling hotels to us all.

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@donna if i was you i would check ur bank statement first to see who fd paid because in some cases they have paid the airline direct using people credi/debit card and it will say on ur statement wether it was thomas cook or freedom direct? as if they did this its a whole different ball game according to atol/caa. and then i would fone thomas cook direct using ur ref number for the flights and see where u stand from there… hope this helps good luck.

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@ donna also u can only claim back of ur debit card if it was a visa debit card! all other debit cards do not use the charge back facility!

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my hotel was booked through youtravel.com, i was told by someone from abta on friday that if i wanted to make sure i was to get the same hotel then i would have to pay again and then see what was sorted out after.

the thing is, i have repaid hays travel for my hotel/transfers but am wondering that if abta say youtravel.com will be honouring the orininal bookings then will i lose one of the amounts that i have paid? as i would have paid twice for the same thing??

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i cant understand why hays travel or abta will not forward all our booking information i too believe i paid supplier cover and i phoned rock insurance who told me they did do supplier failure cover with rock insurance they also told me that anybody who booked before febuary are covered but must send them invoice but how can we do that if they will not allow us to have access to our own personal details for what reason cant they supply us with this information would love to know i dont think there is a chance of anyone getting a penny back also can someone advise me were abta an agen or were they a tour operator as hotels 4 u advised me that freedom direct were operator and hotels 4 u were agent but it states on my invoice freedom direct were operator

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Dan…let us know how you get on…i think it’s all very suspect!

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dan, I totally agree, when you read articles that suggest during the period of grace awarded by abta, atol and the caa, that from freedom direct accounts £400.000 was loaned to Mr Jones towards his personal mortgage, albeit legally? I do question who would have authorised such a huge withdrawal if the caa were aware of the problems from January 1st regarding renewing abta and atols? surely those authorising were aware of the state of their accounts and possible imminent insolvency request? I