Freedom Direct

[Carol]

If you paid by credit card Stewart and they were in abta you will get your money back. We had to send our receipts etc to abta and claim our money back from them. We originally tried the credit card company but were told to claim from abta and we got our money within a couple of weeks. Abta (I think stands for Association for British Travel Agents) although dont quote me on this. I know it is something like that but as I said you should get your money back no problem if you paid by credit card. GOOD LUCK!!!

Carol

[Jozzyd]

Good luck everyone for today, I hope you all get your hoildays or money back

[rachel06]

I don't believe it, my holiday which i have just paid the final balance for is gone. There should be me, my husband, brother in law and grand parents coming out on the 27th June. Only paid the final balance last week.
We booked with freedom direct who had out-sourced our accomodation to lowcostbeds, transfers with Koral and the flights were with goldtrail.
I presume i have lost everything, luckily everything has been paid by credit card so should just be able to claim it all back via them

I was struck last year too with the XL saga, it was my honeymoon and we were going to florida, lost everything and i am still waiting for the money to come back now!!
Hope i can still get out to see the lovely icmeler

[Eatock08]

Well after an hour on the phone and 7 phonecalls, I've found out Monach will be honoring my fight if I send my bank statements to show I've paid the balance in full and I'm still waiting if accomodation is the same but at least I've got my flights!!

Rachel I'd ring goldtrail, Koral and lowcost beds they may still honour your booking if you can show you've paid Freedom Direct in full.

Alison

[rachel06]

That's good to know i've just tried emailing low cost beds, i am stuck at work at the moment and there's not much i can do from here. I've got all the phone numbers though so i can try and sort things out when i get home.

I have all the accomodation vouchers, flight payment confirmation and taxi transfer vouchers so hopefully they will honour the holiday.

[redrhino12]

Well no joy for me just yet.
I contacted Abta on the numbers supplied who told me to contact head office of TC to see if our flights were safe.
They in turn transfared me to the ticket department who in turn refered me to a voice mail facility that is full so please disconnect.
Head office said that due to the high demand with calls they were going to have a meeting to see about getting more people on the switchboards.

Well this weekend has done nothing for my slimming because I have been comfort eating so if my holiday ever happens I will look like a basking whale.

Patience dear friends is a virtue and they will not grind me down so I will keep on ringing every 30mins

Gene

[rachel06]

Gene,
That is exactly the same as what happened when we booked our florida holiday last year, ATOL of ABTA were a nightmare to get hold of, the phones were always engaged etc. We're still waiting now 7 months on for money that we lost then.

I am hoping that if nothing comes back and that we do indeed need to book the holiday again that claiming the money from the credit card company will be much cheaper.

One thing is for sure, i will get to icmeler some way!!

[Eatock08]

Gene

When I call Avro earlier today they told me to speak to credit control at Monach Air, see if you can get a direct number of TC credit control department as they will be able to tell you if they received the money from FD. I booked this afternoon off work because most of the companies I needed to ring closed at 5 and when i called ABTA they just told me to call the companies.

Alison

[redrhino12]

Just rang TC Head office again who transfared me to a very kind lady who was helping out the liquidation department as they were very busy.
The lady took down all relevant details including Flight reference number, my full name and address, she informed me that I was ABTA protected and that although she couldnt confirm anything for me at this time all details will be sent to the liquidation department and I will receive a letter in the nexr 3-4 days.

Fingernails have all gone tension is intense,only 4 more days to wait.
Who will crack first me or the wife?

Gene

[mazz]

This is awful.
I just hope you all get your money back and make it to Icmeler.
I can't even begin to imagine how you are all feeling at the present time.
Just good luck everyone!
Mazz

[kirky]

i hope every thing works out for everyone at least you got time on your side to sort things out,last year my friend got to airport day xl went under .good luck everyone

[rachel06]

Well i got in from work and phoned all the different companies.
I had been handling bookings for my husband and I and also my Husband's grandparents.

I phoned lowcostbeds, they have records of our bookings but freedom direct hadn't paid them even though we gave money to freedom direct back in January, so basically they've been sitting with our money in their bank accounts for over 3 months!! We can pay for the room again though if we want to but we are going to have to claim back the cost of the accomodation

When i phoned the taxi transfer company i got the same response, the booking is there, but again freedom direct hadn't forwarded the money on, if we still want this then we need to pay again and claim the money back.

Now for the flights my Husband's grandparents flights are fine as they have paid direct over the telephone to Goldtrail rather than through Freedom Direct, this is great as it is the flights that we know are most likely to be in short supply. We know we'll get somewhere to sleep even if it means the beach

For my flights i spoke to Goldtrail and as i paid money through freedom direct rather than straight to Goldtrail i have been asked to email them copies of bank statements and booking confirmation, and i am hoping that they are still going to honour them. If not then i am going to have to rebook my whole holiday rather than just transfers and accomodation.

My concern is though now, who do you trust? How do i know that the next company that i book with aren't going to go into administration and i'm going to be stuck again. This is the 2nd time in less than 12 months that this has happened to me and i'm still waiting for the money from the last holiday that i booked so people waiting for a claim to be settled from ATOL be prepared for a long wait, at the moment we've been waiting 7, almost 8 months and counting!!

I'll have earnt those Effes when i finally get there!!

[Rami Off Work]

My concern is though now, who do you trust? How do i know that the next company that i book with aren't going to go into administration and i'm going to be stuck again.

I think we have the answer:)


We may not be the full ATOL/ABTA/IATA etc etc agency.Although we are fully bonded by TURSAB which may mean nothing to you:) What matters is Reputation, Capital and Dedication to serve and stay in business. Therefore you can TRUST ICR TRAVEL in any means. We have not let anyone get stranded over the years, even helped those holiday makers who became a victim of companies that went bust over the years and NOT ONE person can come online here and claim to have lost their hard earned money to us due to our negligence.
We are here to Save you Money not to risk or loose your money. Our operations are simple, we do not advertise on TV, Radio etc and we do not blow or invest money on other areas of the business world for higher gainings. So, we are here and will continue to Save you Money as long as you continue to Trust in us as you have been doing over the years.

Thank you
ICR Travel

[rachel06]

That's reassuring to know Rami, and in fact i'll probably be in touch to see how you can help me out.

[tinkerbelle]

What Rami says is quite true, not that it would be otherwise. Some years ago I got a phone call from ABTA saying my holiday company had gone bust, (those were the days). I panicked and put a post saying help it was two days before we were to travel
ICR had no hesitation in offering to help me even though I was not their customer and said don't worry we will sort you out, even giving me their mobile number as we were arriving late.
We travelled with peace of mind knowing there was a company who would help us out at the other end. I know they have helped many others so a company like this one with a good reputation is worth its weight in gold.
Marg

[kitty]

Hi just to let you know after 7 months of waiting the caa have contacted us today to inform us that they are sending a cheque out today for deposit paid to xl last year,just a glimmer of hope to all you that have to be reimbursed for your failed holiday arrangements

[redrhino12]

Well phoned again today to the TC liquidation department and after faxing through to them all the relevant documentation reguarding our flights to Dalaman they have just rung me back to confirm that my flights are ok and our holiday to Icmeler is on again.
Hopeing that everyone else who has had the same troubles that things turn out alright,because the tension and worry seems to take over ones life.

Gene

[JT]

Nice one Gene, look forward to seeing you all again

[redrhino12]

I have learnt one lesson John and that is next time I will let ICR have all the problems in future I am booking with you.
So I will be in the office early June letting ICR book my flights tranfares etc. for 2010

Gene

[tinkerbelle]

Good news Gene, glad your sorted. Hope the others will be soon.
Marg