AJSP Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 (edited) Not sure if this is widely known. ive booked through West East travel on and off for 15 years and had excellent service and pricing. I’ve also used other agents and booked direct with airlines but would estimate that WE Travel have been my choice of booking agent for around 80% of my/our trips to Thailand. It came as a bit of a shock to hear a few weeks back that they’d ceased trading. I think was on the 17th March. First I knew is when I received an out- of-the blue email from Thai Air ( first time for 4 years we’ve chosen them) which changed our outward flight from evening to midday and in bound from lunchtime to early morning ( just after midnight). Our trip was for one month end of July to end of August. having researched a bit it seems WE carry no responsibility and refer you back into airline. In this case, and as I booked through my credit card company I was advised to claim a refund from them. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, I’m not convinced travel in July will be possible and / or enjoyable and secondly the knock on effect of the minor flight changes wouldn’t be ideal. All considered I’ve fired off a claim to my CC company as Thai Air refer customers who booked through an agent to do so and as WE are no longer trading this is my preference rather than take amended flights. just a heads up to anyone else using WE and also to note the loss of what I considered to be a decent agent. Edited April 10, 2020 by AJSP 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boydeste Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 Thanks for the info, but I fear this is going to be one of many to come. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJSP Posted April 10, 2020 Author Share Posted April 10, 2020 30 minutes ago, boydeste said: Thanks for the info, but I fear this is going to be one of many to come. Yes, I guess with them they were a bit of a one trick pony ( aka a specialist agent) with low profit margins so keeping it running would have been a challenge. I expect the owners did ok whilst trading but felt this was an insurmountable issue to battle through. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boydeste Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 1 minute ago, AJSP said: Yes, I guess with them they were a bit of a one trick pony ( aka a specialist agent) with low profit margins so keeping it running would have been a challenge. I expect the owners did ok whilst trading but felt this was an insurmountable issue to battle through. My feeling is that this is going to go on for a lot longer than most people think, companies like those can close and reopen as and when things get back to normal. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roomark Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 9 minutes ago, boydeste said: My feeling is that this is going to go on for a lot longer than most people think, companies like those can close and reopen as and when things get back to normal. Exactly 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galenkia Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 I used to use them during my early trips. Their shop was not far from me in Chiswick.Would book in store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJSP Posted April 10, 2020 Author Share Posted April 10, 2020 21 minutes ago, galenkia said: I used to use them during my early trips. Their shop was not far from me in Chiswick.Would book in store. My sound a bit Pervy but Some of the girls on the phone sounded hot ( cue, sex phone line joke of old dear knitting whilst pretending she was a 36 DD supermodel and frigging herself off on the phone to a caller) 🤣. Please don’t shatter my dreams 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galenkia Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 1 hour ago, AJSP said: My sound a bit Pervy but Some of the girls on the phone sounded hot ( cue, sex phone line joke of old dear knitting whilst pretending she was a 36 DD supermodel and frigging herself off on the phone to a caller) 🤣. Please don’t shatter my dreams Had some decent Asian girls there when I used to go there. Think your dreams are OK 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWA Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 A well known TA with a good reputation for Thailand, shame to see them go. Good luck with the credit card claim - please let us know how it goes as having a middleman between you and Thai could complicate things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJSP Posted April 11, 2020 Author Share Posted April 11, 2020 1 hour ago, KWA said: A well known TA with a good reputation for Thailand, shame to see them go. Good luck with the credit card claim - please let us know how it goes as having a middleman between you and Thai could complicate things. I’ve read a bit on this and spoken in depth to CC company and it seems straightforward ( famous last words) as the company has ceased trading section 75 of the consumer credit act comes into play making a refund more likely. Your rights under Section 75 Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the credit card company is jointly and severally liable for any breach of contract or misrepresentation by the retailer or trader. This means it is just as responsible as the retailer or trader for the goods or service supplied, allowing you to also put your claim to the credit card company. You don't have to reach a stalemate with the retailer or trader before you can contact your credit card provider - you can make a claim to both the retailer and credit card provider simultaneously, although you can't recover your losses from both. This right is particularly useful if the retailer or trader has gone bust, or it doesn't respond to your letters or phone calls. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act also applies to foreign transactions as well as goods bought online, by telephone or mail order for delivery to the UK from overseas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 A few years ago I lost 70K baht when a long established travel agent I had regularly used in Pattaya went down with my money. They even printed me off e-tickets which made me think everything was fine. Since then I have always booked flights to the UK direct with an Airline. There are always windows when booking direct is as cheap as going through an agent. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coxyhog Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 A couple of years ago I booked through another Thai travel agent(can't remember their name but there was a thread on here about it).The payment was listed on my bank statement as to WestEast Travel.The one I booked with absconded with £570 of my dosh as well as a lot from other folks,mostly Thai I would imagine. Anyway WET denied any responsibility & the card company couldn't do anything. Although I'd used them before & never had any problems I've never used them since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john luke Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 https://www.resolver.co.uk/rights-guide/section-75-consumer-credit-act Have a read through this link. It does refer to PayPal but also covers bookings through an agent. The issue seems to be where there is an intermediary between the buyer/card holder and the ultimate supplier of the service such as the airline. More reason to book directly with the airline. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nadia Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 they have been going for years always used to book with them before the internet , I think trayvale travel have took a lot of business away from them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJSP Posted April 15, 2020 Author Share Posted April 15, 2020 5 minutes ago, nadia said: they have been going for years always used to book with them before the internet , I think trayvale travel have took a lot of business away from them Might have a look at this one bet your missing the Regency 😩 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nadia Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 On 4/15/2020 at 8:28 PM, AJSP said: Might have a look at this one bet your missing the Regency 😩 yes I am mate me and alan was going there before the meet with thinkingallowed but the virus put a stop to that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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