“MIS-SOLD - Alcohol NOT included in ALL-INCLUSIVE!
We were not made aware that Magaluf has a new law that stops all-inclusive hotels from serving alcoholic drinks at the bar. This is not stated in the hotel description on your website. On your site it states the following;
"All Inclusive Food & Drink
## Please note that the All Inclusive concept includes a maximum of 3 alcoholic drinks per meal. ##
Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in main restaurant
Self-service drinks during meals
A choice of drinks from bar 11:00 - 23:00 (50% discount on premium and imported brands)"
Now to me, this states that a customer cannot get more than 3 drinks per meal BUT there's a selection of drinks available at the bar which there was not avaialble with all-inclusive!
Now, after leaving the house at 2 am, getting to the hotel to find out this news, shocked is an understatement. After waiting for 2-years to go abroad and then hearing that we cannot have any alcoholic drinks on our stay was so disappointing.
We were offered a £150 voucher but this does not come close to what we had to pay for drinks every day after being mis-sold an all-inclusive package!”
Hi James, I am sorry to hear that your holiday was not as expected. The new all-inclusive laws were changed in 2021 but were announced in 2020. I can see that your query has now been dealt with. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. Thanks, Gary
“Worst company going !
Me and my wife booked a trip to Crete
We arrived at stansted with plenty of time to unwind.
We went to check in with Ryanair but told we had to do it online we had tried this on a number of occasions with no luck the staff there were very helpful they stated on the beach should not be using Ryanair due to there check in policy ( please Ryanair terms and condition if going through online agents) and after 1.5hrs managed to get checked in.
We arrived at the hotel which was all inclusive the bar open at 11am and closed at 10pm worst lager in the world and only ouzo and raki (no other spirts) orange squash and a couple of other soft drinks (bottled water chargeable).
The food was something out of this world not in a good way ! Same food for breakfast lunch and dinner for Severn days.
Finally our time to be freed from jail !
We made a number of attempts to contact ON THE BEACH to find out our time for the transfer with no luck.
One hour before check out and 6 hours before our flight reception told use our transfer had arrived my wife was in the shower I was packing we said we would be ready in 10 minutes but the transfer left leaving use with £100 taxi transfer plus ON THE BEACH £40 fee already paid.
On arrival at the airport we were charged the Ryanair £55 each to check in (Ryanair policy) do not use ON THE BEACH) now a ruined holiday and a fight when we get home to get our money back .”
Hi Mark,
I am so sorry to hear of the issues you experienced before and during your holiday.
Ryanair have introduced some extra verification for some bookings booked via a third party travel agent however we are not booking flights illegally at all.
Please can you send a formal complaint to customercare@onthebeach.co.uk so this can all be fully investigated fully and a response sent within 28 days. Thanks - Natasha
“I would just like to let you know NEVER book with this deceptive company. They are dishonest people and give you false information and do NOT do what they say they will do.They do not honour your package holiday that you book , and be careful if you book on line as the price you think you are paying is incorrect, their referral team will come back to you and tell that since you booked this & that has gone up in price and con you. DO NOT USE THEM.”
Hi, I am sorry for the inconvenience caused by this. As we're a third party travel agent and book through suppliers, when you book through us you initially place an order. In most cases, we can make the booking you see online and this gets shipped straight away. If not, it goes to pending as the availability may have changed with the airline or hotel supplier. A pending orders agent will contact you advising of this. At that point, we can either book the holiday or cancel the order. Prices and availability are at the discretion of the suppliers, so unfortunately we have no control over this. Thanks, Gary
Hi Kevin, sorry to hear that you decided to cancel your holiday. We appreciate that there is uncertainty regarding travel but unfortunately as flights are non-refundable from the point of booking, we can only refund these if the airline cancels the flights which they did not in your scenario. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. Thanks, Gary
“Appalling the amount of complaints with this company My son cancelled his holiday 8 months before due date They cleared his bank account saying he was liable for flights Emails get bounced back Looking at other reviews it seems they have a lot of money which should be returned to customers DO NOT BOOK with this company”
“My holiday got cancelled at the start of Covid and I have yet to receive the rest of my payment, there are so many fake reviews over on Trust Pilot that it makes me skeptical about trusting reviews from them in the future.”
“My partner and I have been having issues with On The Beach and their conduct is simply appalling.
We booked a couples holiday for early August and a family holiday for late August to Crete.
Quick overview
- Stopped selling holidays for June, July and August but if you booked with them. They refuse to refund or cancel the booking.
- They refuse to answer written or verbal complaints unless you have already gone on holiday (which hasn't been possible). They simply ignore emails and letters sent to them.
- There TrustPilot account is full of hundreds of 5 star reviews they got in the middle of lockdown.
We became concerned when OTB stated they would no longer sell holidays for June, July and August in May.
I complained in writing and requested a refund on the basis that they are expecting me to pay for holidays, that they are refusing to sell.
They are using the conflicting Government advice on the Amber list between DtL and FCDO, the advice is do not travel for leisure.
The response I got back was "Please note that this email address is for customers who are submitting a post travel complaint only – we are unable to respond directly to individual booking queries." At the time no one had travelled internationally for over a year on holiday.
When I went to leave a review online I discovered they have inundated Trust Pilot with 5 star reviews. The CMA is cracking down on false reviews. OTB has thousands of 5 star reviews during lockdown. Which is completely nonsense, they are clearly fake reviews Tui has 8k reviews and 1.9 stars. OTB has 23k+ with 4.1 stars.
To be clear they do not accept complaints written via the messenger. Formal complaints must be submitted in writing via email (which they ignore) and they do not respond.
They have withdrawn from their ombudsman and state they will not refund flights even against government advice unless there is a specific law”
“My son cancelled his holiday, so no booking showing in manage my account, has had £400 taken from his bank account, unable to contact anyone at On The Beach via phone or email!!!”
“Taken double payments of nearly 1000 pounds from my account. The only way to contact is by waiting for 69 minutes on a phone that cost 12p per minute. Absolute scum company”
“No money refunds waiting 14 days don't have any money in my account 😡 I tried to call them two hours no one answer😡And you want to say that this is a good attitude towards the customer?😡😡😡”
“We will not use this company again. We had it confirmed on two occasions by the airline that our seat had been refunded to On the Beach. On the Beach have refused to refund us the money. Writing to the CEO, Simon Cooper, they refused to accept a signed-for letter. The result of this is we have lost £570.”
“155 pound deposit paid including covid insurance before Turkey went on the red list for June 29th.Called constantly never answer sent hundreds messages I want this money back if not I'm taking it further they say they cancelled my holiday due to non payment ehhhh it went on the red list who's going to part with money known that you can't go disgrace they wanted 250 to change the date to next year same place same time never use them again”
“We have a holiday booked on 2nd july 2021 to Spain. we have asked to change it to july 2022 which has been a nightmare, partly due to Ryanair. It has cost us £1200 so balance still outstanding. Spain are on the amber list. We have tried changing which will cost an additional £575. It is the most stressful situations I have encountered with a holiday. Cancelling will cost us £275. Avoid on the beach and Ryanair. Greedy companies”
“Bad customer service worst ever seen
Do not book with these they rip you off
Dont take there insurance as they have excuses with everything they dont pay
But the main part is there customer service worst seen”
“We are not travelling until February 2022 but without any notice at all on the beach has taken 2 payments this month so of nearly £900 which has left us considerably over drawn and not enough for this month’s direct debits!!!”
“The reviews are correct!!
We had a holiday booked for June 16th 2020, due to covid this got cancelled as the lockdown originally was that we wasnt able to travel until june 21st! So we changed the date to go to june 30th and paid the extra £100 charge. However, due to the change of lockdown rules and having to self quarantine on return etc we asked what the options were and if we could change the dates to next year, same place & dates just 2022. They said it would be easier to change the dates as they are “waiving” their admin fees. So we asked the question for next year.. They came back and said it would be £480 extra to change? Whats the £480 cover then? when we go on the site and type in the same place, dates etc for next year the price is near enough the same as what it was when we booked it for this year!! When i questioned this, they came back and said because we already have a pre existing booking with them that is what the costs are. Yet if we were a new customer it would be the cost of what we got on the quote. How is that right? So a loyal customer who has used them many of times before & have a booking with them already will be charged extra just to change the dates which may i add is not down to our own fault... its because of having to self quarantine & we cannot afford to take extra time off work but its ok for a brand new customer to book and only have to pay what our original quote was ?! The price hasnt even gone up an extra £480?! We've gone back and forth on msgs because they will not talk over the phone and basically we are left to either pay the £480 for next year, also adding that they require £375 to secure it (f#cking cheek) or to get an £83 refund!! On there site, they advise that if you have a holiday to change the dates and no admin fees will be charged so thats what we tried to do but somehow want to charge us an extra £480! And at the time of booking to june 30th, they told us that we would be covid covered should it be cancelled or we needed to alter our dates because of quarantining etc. (Anything covid related).
This company are con artists. They have every answer in the book to make sure they do not give you a penny back !!! I will never ever use them again!! & i will make sure i tell everyone to avoid at all costs !!!
Absolute bunch of c#nts!!!”
“I feel I have been scammed , on the beach has been holding my returned flight payment for 19 days and will not even acknowledge receipt of it despite covering email from EasyJet, I cannot afford to lose this money , someone please tell me how to sort this out , many thanks”
