“Terrible Customer Service – Left Without Help During Our Holiday
I booked a package holiday to Vienna with On the Beach for myself and my 17-year-old autistic son, costing £922. What should have been a wonderful trip turned into an extremely disappointing experience, made considerably worse by On the Beach’s complete lack of customer care.
Our hotel, Art Hotel Vienna, was advertised as a 4-star property but was nowhere near that standard. Our room was unbearably hot, with no air conditioning, sealed windows that initially couldn’t be opened, and only a small fan. The carpets were stained, furniture was dusty, electrical sockets didn’t work properly, and the shower rail was broken.
I reported these issues to On the Beach on the very first day of our holiday, expecting some assistance. Instead, I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get help through their WhatsApp service.
Conversations were repeatedly closed without any resolution, forcing me to start again through their automated system, entering my name, booking reference and explaining the same problems over and over.
Rather than enjoying precious time away with my son, I was constantly chasing a company that seemed completely uninterested in helping us.
Despite providing photographic evidence and repeatedly explaining the situation, nothing meaningful was done to resolve the problems while we were there.
After returning home, I submitted a detailed formal complaint, supported by numerous photographs. The response was generic, dismissive and failed to properly address the issues I had raised.
On the Beach offered me a £100 voucher towards another holiday, which I found insulting given the experience we’d had. Why would I want to book with a company again after being treated this way?
My complaint was never simply about a disappointing hotel. It was about the complete failure of a package holiday provider to assist its customers when things went wrong.
I have now escalated my complaint to ABTA.
I would strongly advise anyone considering booking with On the Beach to think carefully. Everything may be fine when your holiday goes to plan, but my experience suggests that when something goes wrong, getting meaningful help can be incredibly difficult. They claim it’s 24/7 help on resort. What that actually means is a WhatsApp chat bot that asks you endless questions and you have to choose an option from a list each time. Sometimes it will refer you to the hotel and end the chat. Other times it says someone will come back to you. They reply. Hours later. And end the chat. Meaning you have to start all over again. That’s what their 24/7 help is ! Not actual help or support.
I will never book with On the Beach again.”
“Booked and confirmed we had lounge access as a perk.
After a 2hr chat with on the beach they said we didn’t have it as it couldn’t be booked. Yet it’s available to me to book direct with the airport,
It’s a con. Selling a bonus they never intended to honour.
Never again. Be warned.”
“A 'budget' holiday that cost us a great deal. If something goes wrong with your holiday, there is no one to help you. You report to an automated Ai WhatsApp chat and ultimately, in our case lose your money. We complained after a really bad experience on a '4 star' holiday to Majorca. We had a cramped dirty room with broken fixtures fittings from the lights to the door and a buzzing electrics box, insects coming in through the gaps a broken toilet, shabby uncomfortable beds and a bathroom from the 70s that barely functioned. Low ceilings no window in the main bedroom an aircon that struggled to work it really felt more like a cell than a holiday. We had to stay here for 3 of our 6 nights and having spent almost £6,000 for a week have been offered a £250 voucher towards our next holiday with On the beach. Their excuse after multiple emails was that while away on holiday we 'must first pass through an automated bot section where a Data Protection Act (DPA) security check needs to be also completed' on the whats app chat which they cant see at their end. I have sent records of the entire transcript proving this wrong but to no avail. Ultimately they just do not care what they are selling as long as it does sell and if you are unlucky and get a bad room or hotel like we did its just tough luck, once you have parted with your money you wont see a penny back. The best I can do now is never book with them again nor trust a company that doesn't take pride in its reputation and puts profit over people. Everything is definitely not better on the beach.”
“Very early start to our holiday and looking forward to a smooth transfer to our hotel. Well it went wrong from there. Had all the positives from transferz taxi service which was recommended by On The Beach we paid 53£ for, and saying will be there waiting for us and would stand with a sign so we knew who it was. Arrived early looked around as also said would check flight details and landing times. We looked for over an hour asking different people if was for us, but nothing. Rang the telephone number we were given and was an unobtainable number, great, asked a couple locals if dialling the code correctly said yes but after a lot of kept being told unobtainable realised was a no show so got in a taxi at the rank and paid equivalent of 20£ to get to hotel. Hotel was lovely great situation next to everything, food, drinks lovely local sites. Asked receptionist to try the number and said no answer unobtainable number. But I also might add, nothing from them at all, an apology email to say sorry absolutely nothing, disgraceful. Went ahead with our holidays which we really loved, had to book our own taxi again to get back to airport another £24£ again no phone call, message absolutely nothing to say was picking us up. Have read of others having same issues with Prebooked taxis only to be left stranded. It’s a disgrace and On The Beach don’t want to know and no sign of a repayment for lost money I will not be using them ever again they are shameful and it’s disgusting behaviour towards people trusting in their holidays but definitely won’t be mine ever again. 😡😡”
“I had a problem with my refund. I spoke on the chat with Lisa. She was very helpful and explained to me why there was a delay. Put my mind at ease and sorted my problem immediately. Thank you lisa”
“Last month I was on vacation on the 15th in Portugal Algarve at a 4-star hotel Muthu Clube Praia da (Albufeira). The vacation was paid for through the On the Beach Agency, which sells quite expensively for what this hotel offers. The hotel reception took a 100 euro deposit from us, which has not been returned to us yet. The reception staff said that we would receive it in a week, but it did not happen. So the conclusion is that the agency does not offer any security to the client. I had an unpleasant experience at the hotel because my wallet was stolen in this resort or from the room. We had to queue in front of the restaurant for 30-45 minutes to have breakfast, lunch and dinner. The reception staff were absolutely not friendly at all....”
“Payed by installments which on the site did not tally with my bank. My bank took back an instalment and onthebeach then cancelled our holiday no compensation or anything. I've lost hundreds of pounds and can't do anything about it.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.”
“We booked a package holiday with On the Beach and the outbound flight has been cancelled due to a airport strike. There are no phone numbers to contact them and AI chat is the only contact which gives you a ticket to answer in 14 days. Our holiday is in 6 days. The service is terrible. If we were stick abroad I would hate to think what would happen.”
“More “In the Lobby” than On The Beach sadly.
A booking error by On the Beach had us check out of our hotel 24 hours before our flight, leaving a family with two young children with no accommodation. In the hot Turkish summer this isn’t acceptable.
I then spent most of our last day with partner and children stressed, and in tears, while I tried to reach an OTB rep.
DO NOT BOOK A HOLIDAY WITH ON THE BEACH IF YOU EVER WANT TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK TO A HUMAN REPRESENTATIVE -BECAUSE YOU CAN’T.
Their in-resort support extends to an automated WhatsApp service where you do not get to speak to a human, just a highly limited automated menu service. It is completely inadequate for resolving problems.
After going round and round in circles with the automated WhatsApp chat we finally found this number to access customer support (+44 333 003 1954). However after multiple attempts to get through to anyone the closest we got - after having been on hold multiple times for half an hour at a time - was the line to be answered by what sounded like a person in their living room and was then cut off.
I will NOT be booking anything with OnTheBeach again.
(As an aside, the Orca World Hotel staff were magnificent in helping us).”
“I have been extremely disappointed with my experience dealing with On the Beach.
I purchased my holiday believing I was protected by their Price Protection Guarantee, which is heavily advertised. When I found the exact same holiday at a significantly lower price, my claim was rejected because the airline had apparently changed the flight time.
The issue is that I did not make any changes to my booking, and I was never informed of any flight change. My booking still shows the original departure time, while the holiday currently being sold shows the same flight number with a different departure time. Despite this, On the Beach insists the holiday is no longer "like-for-like" without providing a satisfactory explanation of why a supplier-initiated schedule change should invalidate their guarantee.
To make matters worse, every response has simply repeated the same generic explanation rather than addressing the questions I've asked. I've had to chase multiple times just to receive a reply, and the customer service has been incredibly frustrating.
Offering a £30 goodwill voucher instead of honouring a price difference worth considerably more only added to my disappointment.
Based on my experience, the Price Protection Guarantee appears to contain exclusions that are not made clear when you book. I would think very carefully before relying on it, as you may not receive the protection you expect.”
“We recently booked a family holiday to Lanzarote with On the Beach. The booking process was straightforward, and the hotel itself was excellent. We couldn't fault the accommodation, and we had a fantastic holiday once we arrived.
Unfortunately, the airport transfer service that On the Beach included as part of our holiday was a complete disappointment. After landing, we waited around 30 minutes for the coach to arrive. Once everyone had boarded, we then spent a further 90 minutes sitting on the coach at the airport because several passengers had still not arrived. The driver showed no urgency or concern about the delay—he simply smiled and pointed at his passenger list.
With the time approaching midnight and no sign of the coach departing, we decided we'd had enough. We collected our luggage, got off the coach, and took a taxi to our hotel instead. The taxi journey took just 30 minutes, meaning we could have been at our hotel hours earlier.
To make matters worse, we contacted both On the Beach and the transfer company to raise the issue. Rather than taking ownership, each simply pointed the finger at the other, telling us we should speak to the other company first. Neither accepted any responsibility or made any real effort to resolve the situation. This was particularly disappointing given that On the Beach had taken several thousand pounds for our family holiday, including the transfer service that failed so badly.
Because we had completely lost confidence in the transfer company, we also cancelled our return coach transfer and booked a taxi back to the airport at our own expense. We simply couldn't risk relying on a service that had already proved to be so unreliable.
Overall, the hotel and the holiday itself were excellent, but the transfer service and the subsequent customer service from On the Beach were genuinely shocking. If we were to return, we'd happily stay at the same hotel, but we would never use the airport transfer service again and would strongly recommend arranging a taxi instead.”
“Our flight coming back got cancelled. Got moved onto another flight but onthrbeach didnt let us know we found out ourselves when we went to check our seat numbers they had gone! Was moved to an 8 hour earlier flight meaning we have to been collected from our hotel at 3am! Tried to change flights but sunexpress say they cant do anything and after weeks and weeks of trying to contact onthebeach and filling in different forms we still have had no contact from them. We go in a week! Will never book with onthebeach again so much stress!”
“Holiday booked .
Return flight has been cancelled trying to get hold fo on the beach is impossible as there so called live chat is just a BOT which asks the same question over and over .
Every number you call just sends you back to the BOT .
It is absolutely disgraceful customer service .”
“AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!! Our flights were cancelled for two weeks before On the Beach even thought to inform us, so we were left fretting the entire time. We’ve had this booked for 4 months and are due to fly in 2 weeks. Getting in contact with a human is near impossible and by the time you do, they’re unable to help as they’re not authorised to assist. We were finally emailed and offered new flights or a refund, to which I promptly responded. Only to then have our flights changed AGAIN in the app to those of a completely different airline, different airport and different times - NOT those that were offered, nor similar to our original flights. Have kept chasing an explanation in the email string over the past week but to no avail of course. Now live chat won’t even put me through to an agent at all. Pathetic excuse for a company and disgusting communication. They responded to my review on another platform saying my booking has been ‘flagged’ and they will be in touch yet no contact has been made of course, just as long as it looks to others like they're on the case! Never again!!!”
“Booked sunday today they cancelled saying price was wrong, already booked insurance. Was booking parking. Was birthday treat for wife and taking grandson as a pre high school treat, tried to send complaint but said booking number invalud, yes because you cancelled. Need took look somewhere trustworthy.”
“** DO NOT USE ON THE BEACH **
** DO NOT USE ON THE BEACH **
We booked a Package holiday with On The Beach at a good price and received all the booking paperwork .
2 days later we got a email saying it was cancelled due to a technical error with their suppliers but the exact same holiday with same dates is still advertised on their website but at a much higher price. To make matters worse you can not telephone or web chat with any humans at all. You just go round and round the system and never get anything sorted out.
On The Beach are the worst travel agents around.
Mr E Price”
“I used on the beach many times throughout the years I was happy with as I was able to speak to someone when waiting on live chat but now it is impossible to chat to some one live and cant speak to any one to resolve my issue. This is the last time ever I’ll use them”
“One of the most deceitful and misleading non existent customer agents! Their app does not let you get through an agent, it has been designed like that. getting through to a an agent is like trying to crack the code of Fibonacci! This will be my last time booked with them guaranteed even if it cost more to book with a travel agent that I can speak to a human if needed.”
