blonde poker forum

Jokes will be tolerated but I really would like some serious advice too.

Last week Mrs Red & and I popped into a travel agents looking for a short notice holiday. We we were offered two weeks in The Gambia leaving on Jan 20 at what we thought was a very reasonable price.

We asked all the revevant questions like "is it a safe country?" and "is it OK to travel outside the resort area?". We wee assured that it was a very safe country.

We didn't book on the spot but went out for a meal, when we returned home our daughter told us that the travel agent had been on the phone asking if we wanted to book.

The following morning I was about to ring the travel agent when they rang me again to ask if we wanted to book We said yes we did and went ahead.

This morning I was browsing online and found this. Apparently there has been political unrest since Dec 1st.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-38621092


https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/gambia

I've been to The Gambia 20 or more times, twice during the time of Military coupsTom, though not for the last 15 or 20 years.

Political unrest & Military coups are comonplace. Curfews often exist at night.

To regular holidaymakers, it's not, imo, (or was not, at the time) safe to venture outside your Hotel grounds. You'd either get hassled by beach bums or hustled  by conmen or drug dealers.

As it happened, I was close friends with an Italian family who ran Casinos right along the West African Coast, & they took good carer of me, chaeuffer driuven cars everywhere & such like. We went to dinner frequently with Ministers of The Gambian Government, & it was all very shady. Later, the father was murdered, & the Mother plum disappeared. But that's a whole other story.

The weather there at this time of year is lovely, 100% blazing sunshine all day every day, but it is not a pretty country, & does not fulfil the expectation of "Africa". Eveything is charred & brown, & there is almost no wildlife at all, apart from the most wonderful variety of birdlife.

I'm not sure The Gambia would suit you & Mrs Red, to be honest.  

Demand your money back.  This has been all over the news and could clearly deteriorate into a revolution/civil war.  

Do you think we would get our money back?

We specifically asked about safety and travel outside our our resort and were assured that there was no problem although obviously we have no proof of that.

There you go, Tom.


https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/gambia

Thanks Tone. That's the same link that I used in my opening post  :)

Unless there is a cooling off period in the T's & C's getting refunds from travel agents will be tough but you do have a case with them telling you Gambia was perfectly safe.  You may have a better chance asking them to let you select a different holiday.

Is it normal for travel agents to ring you up numerous times asking you to book?

Not been to Gambia but know people who go annually and seem to love it. Safety of the country is another issue of course.

If they said it was safe, then I think you should.  They have mislead you.  

I have travelled to several dodgy countries over the years, but pretty sure I wouldn't be signing up to go there right now.  

Which is the company and when is the holiday?  It feels inevitable that there is going to be some unrest at the "handover" date.  If your holiday is after that and the country remains peaceful on that date, I'd start feeling easier.  If it does get messy, the foreign office are likely to save you.  

I don't think this matters though.  If you asked about safety and they did anything other than advise you the loser of the last election was refusing to step down then they have failed in their duty of care in my view.

Oops, sorry Tom.

Travel agent is Thomas Cook. We are scheduled to fly on the 20th, which is right about when the shit hits the fan.


political unrest in the build-up to the scheduled handover date of 18/19 January 2017. Although the situation in The Gambia remains calm, the potential for disturbance remains and this could include Banjul International Airport being closed at short notice.

hmmmm I don't see your African adventures in your Wikipedia page.  No doubt someone will sort that out in due course.

I'd go back and be firm and keep escalating.  As someone else said, say you are willing to change to somewhere else and that you are flexible on dates.    

Suprised someone as big as Thomas Cook giving dodgy info unless the sales person is on a commission based pay system and is close to a bonus or even the other end of the scale and is desperate.

I think if you transfer to another holiday with them they should be accommodating. Best time of year for Brits to visit Thailand BTW 😉

Also surprised at Thomas Cook ringing potential customers up to try and seal the deal (unless RD had asked them to get in touch of course). Pushy sales tactic would actually put me off booking with them.

When you picked Gambia, didn't you research it first? Seems very un red dog like!

I would hazard a guess that Thos Cook were pressuring Tom as they would have had many cancellations, & are faced with a half empty flight & a bunch of empty (pre-booked in bulk) Hotel rooms.

Are you implying they saw him coming ?

Possibly, not sure tom is the type to be pressured into something though. What I meant was did tom go in and say I want to go The Gambia, is it safe as I haven't researched, or did tom go on and say I want to go on holiday somewhere, where can you recommend that's safe. And they came up with The Gambia.

Fire an email to  the chef exec.  I have done this on two occassions when I have felt badly let down by Thomas Cook.  On each occasion I have got back more than the cost of the holiday. 

chris.mottershead@thomascook.com

A bit premature imo. Tom doesn't even appear to have made a complaint, much less reached an impasse.

Well I did not want to use those exact words......

Does this excuse dubious sales tactics? Desperate times desperate measures and all that but belling potential customers to flog holidays to possibly dangerous countries doesn't seem like good customer service or indeed good business practice.

And there is no point in pissing around by going to a call centre in which the staff don't give a f**k.  Straight to the  top. 

Absolutely not, he's stubborn & obdurate & argues for argue's sake. But Thos Cook would not know that until they try, would they?

Not at all. I was simple theorising as to why they were pressurising him. I was not defending Mr Cook & Co.

They have targets to meet, & they are gonna miss The Gambia targets. It's Business. Missed targets, step up the pressure.  

PS - Tom purchased a pup.

If you do ask them to change the holiday make sure you tell them you like dolphins.

I read the government thing and it didn't look too bad unless the locals think Tom's moustachioed look is some kinda Gay Biker schtick. Hopefully Mrs Red's presence will help alleviate any concerns they might have.

Basically we have a small window in Jan when it would be convenient for us to have a fortnight away. We were initially going to Mexico but that fell through so we popped into T Cook and asked what they had available at short notice. They suggested The Gambia. (We were served by the manageress btw)

Went in today and it was packed. We spoke to a junior and he relayed our concerned to someone else by telephone.

After the call he told us that they were unaware of any problems when we booked but they have received a notice from head office this morning making them aware of the issues but also stating that unless the foreign office advises against travel their is nothing they can do for us.

I said I wasn't happy so they arranged for a manager to ring me on Monday.

I'm not hopeful.

My dad said the only people who never do anything wrong are the people who never do anything.  :-*

Great quote. Mistakes make you wiser and stronger. Unless you don't learn from them of course.

I was wondering if you were able to get a refund or change the location?

Flat refusal until today when I complained yet again that I made it clear that I wanted to go somewhere where I was free to walk around unescorted. I said that as a travel agent it was their job to be aware of political unrest /their duty to provide a holiday that I would enjoy as advised in this thread somewhere.

Got a call just now agreeing to change dates location and wave admin fees.

Result. Thanks blondes.

Still can't log in to the forum from my phone though.

 

Have you tried turning it off then on again?

You're welcome.

Sea what you've gone and started.

Meh there's polical unrest in this country, let alone USA. I would stop fretting, kick back, relax and enjoy the delights of Gambia. I mean it's gonna be pretty unfortunate when you change to the safe haven of Benidorm and then get hit by a bus or choke on a bit of stringy bacon whilst innocently devouring a 4/10 full English.

Lol.

My love for you grows stronger by the day.

''The FCO has changed its advice on travel to The Gambia and now advises against all but essential travel. Due to this we have cancelled all of our flights to The Gambia up to the 20th of January''.

TC, FB.

Yep just seen this.



 I saw this on the BBC and thought you should see it:

Thomas Cook holidaymakers to be returned from Gambia - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38659120

Read in the telegraph that neighbouring countries could send troops in to dispose el presedente.

Where are you going btw?  

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jts9suWIDlU

MANTIS:  "If I say its safe to surf this beach, captain, it's safe to surf this beach"

We just booked a short break in Spain because that way we got most of our money back.

If we had waited until today we would have got a full refund but were happy enough.

Tom,

Honestly if you havent already raise an executive complaint like I metioned other day.  There is absolutely no way you can be penalised. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38659120 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38659120)

"Thomas Cook is offering free amendments or cancellations for holidays to The Gambia scheduled until Friday, and free amendments after that date."

Personally I would still consider going to Gambia because think about it, no bother getting choice of sunbeds around the pool, no jostling at the bar for service, dinner buffet at your personal disposal & prob free upgrade to nice big room. I mean sure there are some negatives but look at the positives. One thing for sure and that's the weather hasn't changed, still blazing hot, when you get to boring Spain and it's all overcast and rainy you might think twice. He who dares rodders, he who dares.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/gambia-british-tourists-chaos-airport-thomas-cook-manchester-yahya-jammeh-adama-barrow-election-a7534631.html

BBC reporting Senegal troops have entered The Gambia.  No confirmation if they are planning on serving drinks to those still chilling on the beach.