Agents blast long-haul specialist
Long-haul specialist Mercury Holidays has apologised to travel agents after they blasted the company for cancelling holidays or hiking the price months after confirming bookings.
Agents took to the industry Facebook forum Travel Gossip to vent their frustration after being forced to let their customers down.
One said the cost of her client’s surprise wedding anniversary trip to Mauritius with Mercury had increased by £852 per person several months after the booking had been confirmed.
Another said she’d cancelled her own holiday to Mauritius after Mercury admitted it had been booked on ‘ghost flights’ but that she had been offered £50 per person compensation. One agent said she cancelled a Christmas holiday to Mauritius and re-booked with Thomson after being asked for an additional £1000.
One agent said her clients had complained to ABTA after their tour to Vietnam and Cambodia, booked in October last year, was cancelled 17 days prior to departure. Mercury offered to pay out-of-pocket expenses.
ABTA said it had not received any complaints about Mercury Holidays, but a spokesman said members should inform the Association if they had any ‘issues’ with the company.
Mercury operations manager Jonathan Bugoja claimed the company was in talks with several agents regarding cancellations and price increases.
He said eight holidays had been sold at an incorrect price due to ‘human error’. He later said Mercury’s computer system had ‘pulled an incorrect price’.
"We are very sorry this has happened and we have been in contact with agents," he said.
"We have been working with agents and we understand this has been a difficult situation.
"We have been in constant communication with a lot of agents, actually that’s an exaggeration, we have been talking to a few agents, but not that many bookings have been affected.
"We are doing our best to help them and trying to make sure people can book the holidays at the correct price and still get a discount."
He said Mercury, which was founded in 1990 by Sunspot Tours, owned by Martin and Nick Bugeja and Andy Holland, carried 73,000 passengers a year. It was the winner of a British Travel Award in 2015 and named as one of the ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ this year.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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