In these days of credit crunches, recession and depression (cheerful, eh?), I thought it might be worth mentioning again that Nile Cruises 4u is part of The Cooperative Travel Group, which itself is a very important division of the mighty Cooperative Limited, one of the largest companies in the UK with assets in excess of 9 Billion Pounds.
What does that mean for you?
Well, it means that your money and your holiday is totally safe with us. As part of the Cooperative Travel Group, the UK’s largest independant retail travel company, we are fully bonded with ABTA, the Association Of British Travel Agents and fully licensed holders of an ATOL, (Air Tour Operators Licence) issued by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Which means…if your tour operator or ailine goes bust then you are fully protected.
How many other travel comapnies can say that to you?
When XL Airways went kaput a month or so ago NONE of our clients lost any money. They were offered either another holiday, or, if the alternative was not suitable they were offered a full refund by ourselves.
You sometimes see some other companies offering slightly different prices than ourselves, (although we pride ourselves as being one of the most competitive price-wise). But, you should double check the financial security of the company you are booking with.
Who are they part of?
Who are they owned by?
What sort of guarantees have they got in place should there be a failure on behalf of the airline or cruise company you are booked with?
In these crazy days it is even more imporatant than ever that your money and your holiday is 100% secure.
This is, of course, Bull. Though indeed a refund was ‘offered’ after our trip was cancelled on us 24 hours before it was due to happen, I have been waiting 3 months for it now, and still with no sign of it, despite every response from Barbara at nile cruises 4 u being a vehement declaration that it is being dealt with even as we speak.
Is anyone else having this hassle, or has she just decided she doesnt like me..? I started off so polite but this company has been laughing into my face for so very long now. I cant even be sure Im getting anywhere when I speak to them because they just lie lie lie. If I could JUST get an honest response…! 🙁
Dear “Jade”.
I am publishing your comment and my reply on our blog for anyone, including future and existing clients to see. If we had any other motive than to help you and ensure that you received your refund do you think that we would do so?
Sadly you are one of many thousands of people who lost their Nile Cruise and Egyptian holidays because of the unfortunate demise of African Safari Club, a well-established company that traded honestly and successfully for many years and who’s products we sold without complaint for years. The unfortunate staff of African Safari Club also lost their livelihoods and we as a company have lost an enormous amount.
However at all times, despite what you describe in your comments above, we have worked and are still working hard to help ALL of our clients recover money lost.
I deeply resent the phrase “This is of course bull” and “Is anyone else having this hassle, or has she just decided she doesnt like me..? I started off so polite but this company has been laughing into my face for so very long now. I cant even be sure Im getting anywhere when I speak to them because they just lie lie lie. If I could JUST get an honest response…! 🙁.
How dare you say that we have lied to you.
Anything we have told you is the truth. The process of reclaiming your money is laid down by the Civil Aviation Authority and we have no alternative but to follow their instructions.
Let me explain to any else reading your comment just what happened:
For reasons totally beyond anyones control and due to a situation that was totally unique, i.e, the revolution in Egypt, all flights to Luxor starting on the 31st of January were cancelled on the instructions of the Foreign Office. Flights and Nile cruises were then cancelled for the next five weeks. However as the situation was changing on an almost daily basis the flights were not cancelled on the instructions of the Foreign Office until 2 or 3 days before departure. This caused unprecedented problems for all of us throughout the crisis.
Your departure was one of the first cancelled and we were instructed by African Safari Club to apply to them on your behalf for a full refund which we did. We also helped you arrange for refund of your Egyptian currency by supplying you with a letter detailing the reasons why your cruise had been cancelled.
Unfortunately African Safari Club as well as many other operators, agents and airlines then suffered weeks and weeks of disruption and chaos as the situation got worse. Never the less we chased the accounts department of African Safari Club again and again to ask them to arrange the refund due to you and many other clients.
This went on for many weeks and was a major source of frustration to ourselves as we had no other course of action other than daily phone calls to the company. Plus we were receiving emails from yourself complaining about the delay in receiving a refund.
Eventually after weeks of chasing African Safari Club and submitting documents they required on the 15th of March our administration office received cheques from African Safari Club for refunds including your own and they paid for express clearance of these cheques. However on the 16th of March we found out that African Safari Club had ceased trading and that cheques written by them over the last few days would not be honoured.
If you can tell me what on more we could have done I would love to hear it.
The fact that African Safari Club was now in liquidation meant that your refund would now have to come from the Civil Aviation Authority who were holding a bond posted by African Safari Club for just such situations. However this means that you will have to complete the authorised forms which we have posted to you.
The process does take some time because of the numbers of people involved. People like yourself who are waiting to receive a refund. There is absolutely nothing we can do to influence the speed of how things are acted upon by the CAA but they have a specialised department who work on nothing but these matters and they will be working flat out.
You have emailed Barbara on several occasions expressing you disatisfaction and worries about your refund and she has replied giving as much information as possible and we have acted on your behalf as quickly and as professionally as possible despite your comments above.
Dont’ you think that if we had any influence in the speed of these matters we would have tried to apply that influence? We are as frustrated as much as you are. We have many, many clients who were affected by the totally unique occurence. We have also personally lost an awful lot of money but we are not taking it out on the people who are working on sorting the situation out.
You will not lose your money as you will eventually be refunded by the Civil Aviation Authority but it will take time.
However I will not accept that you have the right to say the things you have about this company or its staff. Do you honestly think that we would choose to treat any of the many of our clients affected any differently than the others? Plus we do not lie to our clients. We may have to say things to them that they do not want to hear as in your case but that is totally different than telling lies to clients.
May I suggest that if you feel that you have been treated in an unprofessional way by ourselves, if you think we have told lies to you or that we are trying in any way to embezzle you of the money you have paid that you contact a solicitor and start proceedings against us. Or, if you do not wish to do that, then you contact the Association of British Travel Agents and apply to use their free Arbitration Scheme were you can explain to ABTA how we have lied and tried to defraud you of money that is due to you.
In the meantime I can assure you that we have done all that we were required to do and more to proceed with your claim for refund. We will also do anything else that is required however it is now in the hands of the Civil Aviation Authority to arrange your refund subsequent to your submitting the required forms which we have sent to you.
I can sympathise with the fact that you are frustrated that you cannot immediately receive your refund however we cannot do anything to help speed up the process. However if you wish to continue to accuse us of telling lies or acting in any way other than in a professional manner I want you to take steps to make your comments and any accusations placed on a legal footing rather than post unfounded remarks on this public forum.
Colin Maddocks