I booked my accommodation for Bali with Escape Travel. They informed me that they offerred the cheapest packages compared to other travel agents, saying that they were competitive, that they often had special deals with the hotels and could be even cheaper than DIY travellers booking via the internet.
The travel agent used the octopus travel website to make my bookings and I found that the prices were higher than what were stated in the brochures. However the travel agent insisted that octopus travel website gave the best deals and that the prices in the brochures were out-of-date. Because they booked via the internet, I was required to pay upfront. That was fine by me, until I discovered that I could get better deals DIY via hotelclub.net.
I rang the travel agent and informed that they were not the cheapest as they proclaimed to be but they said that there was nothing they could do about it since I had paid, unless I wished to cancel in which case I would incur a $200 cancellation charge. My husband and I emailed them separately, enquiring about possible upgrades given that the "best deal" we had was $100 more expensive than what we could get via the internet ourselves. I got a reply saying that they would look into it and someone was going to contact me to see if there was anything they could do. To-date, I have not heard anything. As for my husband's email, he never got a reply. We have actually been on the holiday and back, but I would not use Escape Travel services again. Prior to this, I have often organised my own holidays via the internet without any hassles and this time, I have decided to go with Escape Travel because they kept advertising about giving the best deals in town, which I find that it is not true in my case.
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