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Celebrating my 50th birthday and wanting to provide some relief to my family after two recent losses, I decided to book a £4,000 week-long vacation in Morocco through Loveholidays. We opted for swim-up rooms in the luxurious five-star White Beach resort in Taghazout. Our initial excitement quickly turned into disappointment upon arrival.
The receptionist informed us that the hotel was now exclusively for adults, meaning our 12- and 15-year-old children couldn’t stay. It turns out that the booking agents had received this information months in advance, but Loveholidays neglected to inform us. Our children, both of whom have autism and ADHD, were confused and upset. The receptionist even denied our request to make an international call to Loveholidays, forcing us to go to great lengths to make contact.
Loveholidays took three hours to find us an alternative accommodation and we had to pay for a taxi to reach a four-star hotel in Agadir, half an hour away. By the time we arrived at the new hotel, six hours had already passed. Loveholidays promptly refunded us the price difference of £506.54. However, they forwarded my complaint to an intermediary booking agent, who offered us a mere £661 as compensation.
Despite this, Loveholidays deducted the £506 refund they had already given us and only gave us £178. As a token of apology, they offered a £50 voucher towards a future booking, but given this experience, I highly doubt I’ll ever use their services again.
AJ, Frodsham, Cheshire
The Loveholidays website encourages people to “be bold” and “be flexible”, but based on your story, it feels more like a cautionary statement than an invitation.
This holiday was meant to be a significant source of comfort for your family. Your partner had recently lost her mother after a five-year battle, and then your father unexpectedly passed away two months later. Your sons were already struggling to cope with these bereavements. Unfortunately, due to Loveholidays’ mistake, you lost the majority of your first day, had to endure the stress of finding alternate accommodation, and had to settle for a mediocre hotel 20 miles away from the original luxurious resort. The White Beach resort boasted six pools and four restaurants, while the substitute hotel had only one of each.
I presented all the details of your situation to Loveholidays, but they maintain that a sum of £178, which includes expenses for the taxi, refreshments, and phone calls, is a suitable compensation for the “inconvenience”. They argue that the £660 offered by the intermediary was not in addition to the refund you had already received, although they admit that the wording was confusing. They promise to conduct an “internal review of processes”.
In my opinion, this amount is inadequate. Unfortunately, aside from bringing attention to Loveholidays’ actions, there isn’t much that can be done. It’s worth noting that Loveholidays resigned from the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) in 2020, an organization that provides a code of practice and mediation service. Loveholidays directs complainants to the alternative dispute resolution service, Hunt ADR. However, this requires requesting an application form from Loveholidays and paying a non-refundable fee of £108.
My advice to readers is to try booking with an Abta member and to be aware that low prices may come at the cost of subpar customer service.
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