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Post by johnofish on Jun 27, 2010 16:26:12 GMT 2
Just heard from Oasis today that Thomas Cook/Direct/Hotels4you et al, have seriously overbooked for most of July. Kostas is blowing his stack as anyone who has booked for the Oasis and and gets 'relocated' will probably be. I don't really know the way ahead for anyone this situation as, fortunately, this has nrver happened to me. Kostas is doing what he can, but in the end it is the Tour Operator decision as to a resolution of this problem. Sorry to be the bearer of such news, please don't kill the messenger ( or Kostas pretty please !). I'm afraid my comment in another post ''They don't give a monkeys''seems to be proven. I'll keep the Forum up-dated as best I can, Yours Disgustedly, Johno
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Post by linnie44 on Jun 27, 2010 19:04:00 GMT 2
first choice did this to us a few years agao saying that the elizabeth was overbooked and we would be relocated to sadiri but after a few phone calls and a lot of telling them that i had booked a full year before we were given our room back , i can only say compain, comlain it may help it did with us if you want this holiday you have to tell them so we did and got what we had booked
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Post by johnofish on Jun 27, 2010 19:49:09 GMT 2
Linnie, I take it from your post that you had some prior warning of First Choice's decision to move you. Can you let us know how much warning ? I don't think the people who arrived last week were informed until they got to the Oasis as Kostas was involved in finding them alternative accomm.
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Post by linnie44 on Jun 27, 2010 19:56:38 GMT 2
it was 5 weeks before so i supoose we were lucky
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Post by Jan on Jun 27, 2010 20:11:21 GMT 2
I am on the point of flying out to Corfu and will be visiting my friends Kostas and Nikos,at the Oasis, fortunately i am staying next door. However i have been hearing at first hand the mess Thomas Cook is making of reservations this year. their staff out there have been singularily unheplful except for selling trips.
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Post by artisans on Jun 27, 2010 21:11:09 GMT 2
That is seriously worrying johnofish - what on earth are they playing at. This is a problem we have not encountered much in the past. Linnie is right - we need to complain bitterly, but it takes the edge off a holiday and if you get no prior notice, what a shock! Many people will not complain, they will just not return. I think Oasis has a responsibility in this also - they want the bookings and the revenue, but they also rely on repeat business - building up relationships with people like yourself. I hope they protest to Thomas Cook in the strongest possible terms. A good deal is when Thomas Cook, Oasis AND the customer each get satisfaction - one, or even two, out of three makes it a bad deal.
Have you any idea where people are being relocated? It would be good to know.
It seems to me that Thomas Cook have seriously underestimated the popularity of Roda and failed to secure enough suppliers to meet the demand. Maybe this is the first sign of the customer sticking up for what he wants and it may, in some ways, be a product of the 200 guests a day we see on this forum. At our last check, 47% of those were new visits.
Steve
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Post by johnofish on Jun 27, 2010 22:37:46 GMT 2
From talking to Kostas I know that, even though he didn't make the bookings, he feels responsible to HIS GUESTS ( ALL of those who have booked to stay at the Oasis) do not start their holiday on a 'downer', and has, over the years, built up a relationship with his guests to the extent that much of his business is repeat customers. I know from past experience that all the owners of Hotels/apartments feel the same. The Accommodation Lists that are sent out to the owners leave them very little leeway. In one instance that I actually saw, only 10 hours notice was given, and even then no arrival time was forthcoming. Late bookings, I hear you cry !!! No way. Both couples had booked weeks in advance. I must conclude that the short end of the stick is poking not only the tourist, but also the owners. And yes, Kostas has complained bitterly about this sorry state of affairs, but like us, I'm afraid it may it may fall on aurally impaired ears !!
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Post by johnofish on Jun 27, 2010 22:47:33 GMT 2
Sorry, have no info on where guests are being 'relocated' to, but anything I find out will, I assure you find it's way on to the Forum with alacrity. (Or even faster if I have phone no's/E mail addresses to contact. The Oasis E mail address is info@rodaoasis.com As far as I know this is only for July soif you're booked for Aug/Sept please hang fire, I'll keep you all Posted. Regards, Johno
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Post by artisans on Jun 28, 2010 21:59:30 GMT 2
In spite of the obvious problems for visitors, it is perversely reassuring to find that Oasis is receiving more bookings than it has rooms to accommodate people. It must tell us that Roda has an enduring and appealing quality that other destinations do not enjoy. In fact, there are many success stories this year as shops, bars, restaurants and accommodations respond to the variations of 'Supply & Demand' and 'Survival of the Fittest.'
In the village there is talk that next year Afrodite will be in the Thomson 'Small & Friendly' brochure and Venus Apartments have a new contract with 'The co-operative travel'. Splendour Apartments will be featured in Roda Pages for the first time, Makis is steaming ahead in his first year as an independent. Nino's are full for much of this summer and Aspioti-Pipitsa continues to set the standard for everyone else to follow. These are tributes to people who are adapting to suit the new climate and there are a lot more I haven't mentioned.
The fortunes of Roda's bars & restaurants waxes & wanes as people try new ideas and find that they have captured the needs of a changing clientele. Restaurants such as Dolphin, Smiley's & Estrella are tapping in to people's needs, OPA is now a bar and a restaurant, Crusoes has opened a stylish beachside 'beer garden' and Maggie has rejigged her menu to suit traditional tastes and tighter budgets. Pirates' Bar continues to push ahead and shops like Acropolis and Fantasy continue to find a niche.
There is a degree of despair about what is proving to be a challenging year, but it is a character-building period from which the strong will be stronger, the fittest will survive, and the future of our unique village will be consolidated.
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Post by oldrottenhead on Jun 29, 2010 1:59:16 GMT 2
a day or so ago i pm'ed johnofish with details of my booking at the oasis at the end of july. he spoke to the owner (kostas?) and it appears my rooms are overbooked. i havent contacted the oasis but i did contact direct holidays/thomas cook this morning.
i pride myself in my diplomatic tact and carefully explained the situation, re i booked in january and i find out not from direct holidays but via this forum that my holiday is overbooked and i am none too pleased re this situation.
the lady i spoke to was very pleasant and helpful but informed me she would have seek info from the resort as she did not have this info at hand (very strange methinks). she informed me she would have this resolved to my satisfaction by the weeks end.
i will keep you posted re any response/update/outcome.
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Post by artisans on Jun 29, 2010 7:30:21 GMT 2
I suspect that the only people who know the extent of bookings are those in the local 'office' in Corfu Town. My impression is that they monitor what is coming in and it is they who tell the accommodation owners (or not) what to expect. The lady who said she will check with the resort will, more than likely, contact the local office. A lot depends on the relationship that the accommodation owner has with the local office and we have heard many stories of frustration in the past. This is an amazing situation when, on the one hand we have UK travel staff double booking hotels and, on the other, saying Roda is full. Fortunately, there are a lot of rooms still available.
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Post by linnie44 on Jun 29, 2010 9:07:34 GMT 2
i have tried today to book the alfidie for august next year ,thomas cook says no rooms avalible but dawson and sanderson and hays travel have rooms and i can book today , dont understand this but will go into all these office`s and enquire
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Post by artisans on Jun 29, 2010 10:08:37 GMT 2
Is that the Afrodite, linnie? Booking this far in advance is sometimes difficult as contracts change right up to May 1st each year - and even beyond. As I posted yesterday, it is rumoured that Thomson will feature Afrodite under 'Small & Friendly' next year. Let us know how you get on.
Steve
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Post by kathwebber on Jun 29, 2010 10:48:42 GMT 2
Steve, if Venus has a new contract with Coop does that mean we wont be able to book privately for next year (should we like it when we arrive on 23rd July).
regards, Kath.
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Post by lisydaly on Jun 29, 2010 10:56:02 GMT 2
Nothing's changed then - what a surprise! In the late 80's I went out with a friend (it was the end of April, I know because I celebrated my birthday while there) for a week with Olympic. We had booked through Thomas Cook travel agents - no computers in those days! - and wanted Roda because myself and OH had been going there for over 10 years and also as I had to sign up for the electricity for our house in Nymfes in town, and was being taken by Greek friends who lived in Roda to the offices, and also had to put our name down on the long waiting list for a phone. As an aside in those heady days the only way you got a phone in the mountains was when someone who had one died and you were at the top of the list. We actually got our first landline in 1998! Anyway - we were met at the airport by a Greek friend and we went to tell the rep we wouldn't be on the coach. She informed us that Roda hadn't opened and we had been put in Kassiopi. To say I was fuming is an understatement as the friend who picked us up owned the apartments we were supposed to be staying in in Roda and had got the apartment ready for us himself! Also - Olmpic's local rep was staying in his apartments and had been for two weeks. Needless to say we went to Roda! And oh my - what a surprise, everywhere was open. No other tourists but everywhere was open, including Golden Sands and the Roda Beach Hotel. As soon as it became possible to book flight only we did so - as did friends who used to come with us on holiday before we made the permanent move over. Sorted our own accomodation by phone and lived happily ever after. The big tour companies want your money and then, basically, don't give a toss about you - they have you in their control. It's about time it was stopped once and for all as they have had it too good for too long and if they want people to continue to use their services in these hard times they should go all out to provide just that - good service giving the customer what they paid for, not what they think the customer should have. By the way - we never used Olympic again, and I never will. And the local rep who was staying the apartment opposite us disappeared for the whole week. Wonder why? We never set eyes on him/her.
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