Customers swamp TripAdvisor with complaints about travel agency

Angry holidaymakers have taken to online review site TripAdvisor to complain that a travel agent has failed to honour their bookings.

Scores of customers from online agency Bright Skies Travel, which also shares its phone number with Blue Skies Travel (UK) and Fly Vacations, said the agency, run by Clive Allard, was not responding to their calls and emails.

The Civil Aviation Authority said today that it would be looking at the TripAdvisor comments ‘to see what might be happening’.

One of the complainants on the review site said: "We are supposed to be flying to NYC on Saturday and surprise, we aren’t booked onto the flights. He (Allard) doesn’t respond to emails or phone calls… We have contacted the fraud team … who are looking into it but looks like we aren’t going on our holiday and have lost all that money."

Another said: "My family are due to fly with them to New York on Saturday . I cannot get any response from them. My daughters are unconsolable. I now wish he would just put us out of our misery and tell us that we are not going. Repeated phone calls/messages no response."

"I have sent over 10 emails today we are supposed to be going to New York on 31st October – two of our party are doing the New York Marathon. I have checked with Delta today and they have no booking under my name," said another respondent.

Kent-based company Blue Skies Travel (UK) Ltd is registered at Companies House, having been set up in July 2012. Its director is listed at Clive Allard, who replaced the previous director Joan Allard in August this year.

The company is not connected to the longer-established Blue Skies Travel.

Mr Allard, who is the brother of All Leisure Group executive chairman Roger Allard, previously ran a tour operator and agency called Travellers Cities, which ceased trading in October 2012.

The CAA said that Bright Skies, or Blue Skies Travel appeared to have been operating as an agent of Major Travel until a few months ago, but the association was unable to confirm if that was still the case.

Some Bright Skies customers have been given an ATOL with Major Travel’s ATOL number. TravelMole has tried to contact the latter company and is waiting for a comment.

Despite repeated attempts to contact Mr Allard, TravelMole has received no response. The websites for Blue Skies Travel and Bright Skies Travel have been removed and the Fly Vacations website said that there was a temporary fault with the phone line.