My concerns about booking holidays on eBay
By Darren Cronian on Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Tonight a friend asked me what I thought about booking a holiday off eBay. It had me wondering if many people use auction sites to book any aspects of their holiday and is it safe. I think you are protected if you make a payment on eBay with PayPal but how safe is it.

My concerns about booking holidays on eBay

Anyone can create an advert

For a start there’s so little information on most of the ads to identify if the seller is a genuine seller. I was browsing and found one ad for a holiday in Las Vegas, it mentioned that they act as The Global Travel Group but to be honest anyone could create such an advert.

The ad didn’t break down the price, i.e. the flight details and accommodation. There’s a mention of the ATOL bonding number but anyone can find that online. The seller only has one review. I am not suggesting that this is a scam ad, but, it does not give me enough confidence to book this holiday.

eBay checks are a must

I do not use eBay so I am unsure if any checks are made when someone submits a holiday/travel advert, but there needs to be some level checking. Wouldn’t it be safer for travel agents or companies to be vetted before being able to submit their deals and offers?

Care should be taken

I found an interesting news article on TTG about someone who copied and pasted holiday deals from travel agents and put them up for auction at a different price. I am not trying to be a scaremonger but I do think consumers have to be very careful and make sure you do your research and get contact details.

Have you used eBay to book a holiday? If so, what was your experience? Would you book a holiday on the auction site? I am also interested to hear from anyone who has had experience of opening up a dispute for a booked holiday or accommodation.


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13 responses to “My concerns about booking holidays on eBay”

Kevin May | 7 January, 2010 at 10:28 pm

Booked a villa in Spain for one week via a seller on eBay.

Was marvellous.

And cheap.

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Jacqui Birch | 7 January, 2010 at 11:08 pm

We advertise our services on e-bay, but with a link to our website, where clients can check out our company details, contact information, company registration etc.

There are many others that offer supposedly similiar services to ours, that are not registered companies, nor do they have the necessary operating licences, vehicles insurances etc.

We would welcome e-bay putting a vetting system in place, and would happily pay more for this service

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Brian Potter | 8 January, 2010 at 8:25 am

We had a problem with a villa rental. It was impossible to contact the person, they never replied to any communications. In the end after sending various messages we put in a request to have our money refunded and (after 2 weeks) we got it back.

I’d never use auction sites for holidays but for small priced products I would.

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Justin Roberts | 8 January, 2010 at 1:44 pm

Caveat emptor is all I have to say, and particularly so with Ebay, I am definitely once bitten twice shy…

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Nick | 8 January, 2010 at 2:58 pm

Darren

This not the first or the last time, travel is a target. Here a TTG report from last year

“Christakis Philippou, Evangelia Liogka, Timothy Entwisle and Peter Kemp were sent to prison having been found guilty of defrauding an estimated £18 million from would-be holidaymakers.

Philippou and Entwisle were found guilty of five counts of fraud and Liogka of four counts following an eight-week trial. Kemp had earlier pleaded guilty.

Abta and the CAA were two of the big losers, along with credit card companies and thousands of consumers.”

check check check… look up the company on the web…call and make sure it is them…AND check there membership of which ever checks out.

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Heather | 8 January, 2010 at 4:18 pm

I have never used an auction site to book a holiday but I have used it to bid on many other types of products. The review system does work but if there’s only one review, it is difficult to judge.

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Alan | 8 January, 2010 at 4:48 pm

Why would eBay be any different than other unknown travel websites? It’s all about trust and you have to go wit your gut instinct.

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Hannah Roberts | 8 January, 2010 at 5:00 pm

Love eBay, would I book a holiday off it, no way.

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Janna | 8 January, 2010 at 5:00 pm

I have booked accommodation off eBay with no problems… I guess it is no different than booking it off a private owner’s website.

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Darren Cronian | 11 January, 2010 at 7:15 pm

Thank you for the comments everyone.

Alan, that is very true about booking accommodation off ebay, but the example I gave was supposedly a package holiday. I agree that accommodation is probably a little bit more safer, but you still have to make sure that you do some research before booking.

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Erica | 12 January, 2010 at 4:23 pm

I haven’t booked a trip through ebay and would be very careful to do so unless I had done some serious investigation/research to avoid getting ripped off. I’m completely sure there are good deals to be made for those that take the chance. At the same time, there’s many scammers to look out for. We just need to learn how to separate the two.

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Malcolm Brownson | 18 January, 2010 at 11:53 am

We advertise Holiday Rentals. All my clents receive a written confirmation. Thankfully
we have 100% rating and over 5 years experience…So concerned to read some of the above comments!!

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Darren Cronian | 18 January, 2010 at 12:38 pm

@ Malcolm

If it works for you that is great. I am only writing from my own thoughts, I haven’t used ebay myself, but I do think its important that consumers do their research before booking a holiday or accommodation on auction sites. The fact that its ebay may mean someone do not do that research.

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