“If I could have given 0 stars would have no communication about refund understand having to wait for the air refund but had nothing unlike a holiday I had booked with hays won’t be booking with OTB again”
“On the beach cancelled my April holiday due to covid, which I understand. I do not understand why I am still waiting for my flights to be refunded and why OTB have made themselves impossible to contact. I contacted my local MP Yvette Cooper as there are many customers, nationwide waiting for refunds. I have been advised to send all relevant paperwork to her office with links to the numerous review sites that are full of reviews from OTB customers, stating the same issue. I accept they will be experiencing high volumes of calls and emails at this time but we recieved an email saying we would have our refund on Monday 13th July along with £100 voucher to spend on another holiday with them. The voucher came but nothing else. Many of my friends have been refunded from other companies so why are OTB so slow to act? I advise you all to take the same action and fully inform your local MP of this unacceptable treatment by On the beach. The more MP's speaking up for us in Westminster, the more likely it is that action at government level will be taken. According to Google, this company makes over 80 million pounds profit a year and yet are failing to refund customers their hard earned cash. It's absolutely appalling.”
Hi Sharon, thanks for getting in touch. I apologise for the delay with your refund. If you've still not received this, please contact our team via Manage Your Booking. Thanks. - Wendy
“Quite possibly the worst customer service ever offered by a company. Complete disregard for all their customers. Total failure to answer phone calls, messages or emails to help people with refunds or changes to their holiday. Avoid at all costs.”
“Absolutely disgraceful company. Zero customer service and charging customers to cancel even when the hotel is shut and Portugal is not on the UK travel list. Unable to contact them as no phones on and all messages ignored. Avoid. Should be shut down.”
Hi Angela, thanks for getting in touch. All hotel only bookings are subject to normal booking conditions. I do apologise for any inconvenience caused. - Wendy
“Book hoilday in march ,the hoilday was canceled on 14 march because covid 19 asked for refund ,still wating 4 months and still wating and on the beach stop replying to my emails , the hoilday was ATOL protected, what a joke.”
Hi David, thanks for getting in touch. I do apologise for the delay with the refund. If you've still not received this, please contact our team via Manage Your Booking. Thanks. - Wendy
“I’ve used this company several times before without issue but never again. I understand that Covid-19 has been a difficult situation for companies but closing phone lines is outrageous. I found out my flights were cancelled on 01/07 as I checked directly with the airline, however On The Beach still email me to say my holiday is still going ahead and want me to pay the remaining £2000 for the holiday. If I don’t, I risk losing the money I’ve already paid. I’ve sent about ten messages via their only official means of contact, commented on their Facebook and sent a DM on Facebook and have heard absolutely nothing. If I found out two weeks ago that my flights have been cancelled, surely they must know and just be able to cancel the holiday! Other companies have kept their phone lines open, I wouldn’t mind waiting 40 minutes on hold as long as I could actually speak to someone! Lots of people have had the same issue, it will be remembered and I imagine they will lose a lot of custom.”
“Still no refund for my holiday, they are blaming this on the airline yet I know at least 7 people who had flights booked with the same company and they’ve had a refund!!! Been waiting since March!”
“Do not use this company months waiting for my refund that they say they are waiting for off easyjet so I Contacted easyjet and they have shown me my flights been refunded. I hope this company goes bankrupt?!!!”
“There is no way of getting hold of this company, their contact centre is only open from 10am to 4pm and I was cut off today after 2 hours of waiting to get through, then the line goes dead. They sent me an email 2 weeks ago saying they would be in touch regarding the option for my holiday in two weeks but nothing. The flights I have booked have changed with EasyJet but not on my booking. This firm is the worst at letting their customers know what is going on and you cant actually talk to anyone.”
“Shocking company. Try to ring, phones not available, send an email, no response except for generic email. We will never ever book with this company again. Fast to take payments, terrible customer care.”
“Shocking communication. Still wating for my refund from March.
I have another holiday booked for October yet they have no problem taking the installments for that one.
Certainly no way to run a business.”
“These people are literally stealing people’s money and getting away with it. I don’t know what the best route is to get my money back. They don’t communicate. I will also try ATOL and Trading Standards. Failing that the Police”
“Appalling customer service. In the event of a pandemic they shut down all contact. You cant call, email or message. If you do finally manage to send a message it is completely ignored. We recieved an email saying they will be in touch to discuss our options but never actually got in touch. In the meantime, whilst we waited for a phone call, they increased the cancellation fee from £141 to £3500. Absolutely disgusting!!”
“Received an email inviting me to cancel my holiday due to covid and I’ll only have to pay a small admin charge.... but they then took the rest of the holiday payments from my bank account as soon as I cancelled stating it was in their small print.
This sent me overdrawn into financial difficulties.
Absolute scam, how can they get away with this appalling service and treatment to customers? Why aren’t the press interested? Something needs to be done and I’m not giving up on losing my money.
On the beach are the worst company I have ever dealt with. Vile and thieves!”
“Appalling- I've written 10 emails at least, enquiring about cancelling our holiday due to unforeseen Covid 19 restrictions. We are both Keyworkers on the front line; we simply cannot afford the time to risk quarantine after. We have had no response apart from automated. Weve saved up for this holiday over 3 years and simply cannot afford to pay for something which cant happen,and then not even be sure if and when we will be refunded. We need to know what's happening- our two young kids are affected by this too. Its disgusting sevice , On The Beach, you should be ashamed of yourselves.”
“This must be a contender for the worst travel company in the UK. Here's our story.
We booked in November for a holiday on the 25th June this year. We requested to change the holiday to August, something most companies are doing for free. They told us it'll have a new price for hotel changes, transfers and an admin fee (nothing was itemised, it was a lump sum). We agreed. Then, we're told we have to change the flight ourselves (it's hidden when you book but check your receipt and you'll see they charge a flight booking fee that isn't refundable). I paid them £32 and they told me I have to change the flight myself. Except, I couldn't change the flight so now I'm stuck without a flight. I can either take the loss and book a new flight or try to work with OTB to start the process again and rebook with them. They chose the third option, pass my messages which turned into a complaint from department to department. Obviously, the inevitable happened and my 25th June flight was cancelled, so I booked with another company. All good right? Wrong. Today they emailed me to say they're still going to take an £80 admin fee, plus I assume the £32 airline fee. So, over £100 for stress and disappointment.
With this in mind, I've reported them to Trading Standards and I'll be sending all the messages to ABTA and my local MP, plus anyone else who is interested. If you're in a similar position to me, I recommend you do the same. And if you're reading this about whether you should book with them, remember a lot of their customers are out of work right now and this is how they treat you.”
“I’m sure people on here that have given a low star review fully understand the problems the travel companies are experiencing, however OTB do not keep the customers/ client updated and I think 3 months for a refund on an easyJet’s flight is being very patient. You can’t get through to speak to anyone and I feel the whole policy/ company is extremely poor and certainly would never use them again. Sorry but after getting through today I was told they were chasing up easyJet flight refunds from my date.. 15th March!! Came off the phone feeling completely fobbed off, and yes I’ll still have to wait!! Very poor customer service... How do they get away with it? My credit card is now going to try and claim on my behalf.
Never again”
“Do not book a thing with these cowboys as they never refund your money and send generic emails when you try to find out any info. What a joke of a company”
