“What a terrible company this is.
I'll preface by saying this review is HEAVILY sarcastic, nothing framed as positive comes with sincerity, but I firmly believe if you don't laugh you'll cry, so just know there is no defence to be found from me regarding these scoundrels.
I bought the £99 mystery deal from Wowcher (of course this is a minimum of 2 people deal, meaning it was already up to £198 total) in January because it seemed like a fun idea - fast forward to July, & I have only just managed to organise the trip.
I originally spoke to someone in April, but after having zero deals of substance/wanting more money for nothing, I was told I would be contacted again once the agent had 'done some more research' - it must have been an entire thesis she was writing, as I wasn't contacted again for 3 months. In the end I had to call them - they'd been messaging me to put pressure on, claiming they wouldn't have dates available for long etc. (these are plain lies, they don't own their own airline so why wouldn't they be able to just offer the same flights you can book for yourselves any time of year 😂),but when it came to the time I gave them to call, they didn't.
Anyway, I was on the phone for 55 minutes, every time I asked a question I was on hold for 10, & I was being offered the most ridiculous places comparative to the location - who is paying £200 for a 2* 2 night stay in Bucharest?!
Then of course the hard sell begins 'we can offer an extra night to a new location which gives us more options, maximum £20pp extra...' if they couldn't offer that deal for the original 2 nights, why the heck would an extra night make it possible - are they only choosing hotels with a 3 night minimum? Anyway after a roll call of Europe's worst cities I'm told Venice is available around the dates I suggested, which is absolutely perfect as I'd love to go there. Another 10 minutes, 'that'll be an extra £79pp'. Long gone is the £20 max, but there's the promise of an included breakfast at a 3* hotel close to the city & the train station - in my experience, in a large city it is usually one or the other, but never both. But ok fine, it's Venice so let's go for it.
Suddenly 'so that's November 20th to 24th...' Nope, I absolutely cannot do November as I'm already away then; I get sighed at & told I'd said November was possible - I mean, I'm pretty sure I would know when I'm available & that I'd said about 3 times that November was absolutely impossible, but go off buddy. Then another 10 minutes to check September again.
After this it all comes back, 'to confirm that's an extra £156, 6am flight on 4th September, the name of the hotel, very nice place, 3*, free breakfast, close to everything, 3 nights in Turin'. TURIN. I had agreed to Venice, everything was Venice, suddenly a completely different city. I asked what had happened, again I'm sighed at 'I said Turin before and you said it was ok' - apparently this was communicated via one-way telepathy, because there's no way on Earth I was told this. It's such an obvious scam, lure someone into a great deal then whisper the T&Cs which clearly alter the entire set up whilst claiming you'd made them Times Square neon clear all along - the definition of scamming no?!
But this is 45 minutes in, & I have plans to eat my lunch, map my family tree, see the world, settle down in NYC, & fly to the moon, so this purgatory must come to an end. I haven't been to Turin (for good reason mind you), so I might as well go for it for the sake of my sanity. But of course, in order to secure this elusive deal I've waited my whole life for, I must pay immediately whilst on the phone. This reminds me so much of those website deals with the 'if you don't sign up in the next 30 seconds this offer you don't even want will be gone forever!' nonsense, but this is how they get you, they wear you down through the mental exhaustion of listening to the same excruciating elevator music for 40 minutes whilst they clip their toenails, call their mothers, comb their hair & laugh at your foolishness for believing they're acting on your best interest, and in immediate contact with the hotels they work with.
I didn't want to pay outright because it wasn't just my money, but who could resist the lure of Turin? Turin! The city of Jesus bedsheets and the most uninspiring city square Stephen King could dream up! Oh hold me back fair Weekender Breaks, you spoil me!
I asked why the Venice deal was suddenly no longer available, and was told that it's because 'the hotel didn't meet our standard, we don't go below 3* so people don't complain that we didn't give them the deal they paid for' Ha! All I can say on that is this - if the hotel they booked us into was the option up to their standard, I don't want to imagine the state of the Venice one (the toilet in Trainspotting comes to mind). Once I had paid I actually had chance to look it up, and my god, what a dive. I've roughed it with the best of them over the years, & being from a Northern town I'm not easily frightened by the first look at a place, but this place appears to occupy some kind of crack den from the outside, the room decor predates Caesar, & I won't be eating that breakfast without a tetanus. One positive though - it's *so* close to the centre at only 45 minutes on the train!! As I said to my partner/fellow guest, when it comes down to it, judging by a hotel we won't feel safe staying in I would have preferred to take my chances at the alternative - at least we would have been in VENICE 🤦🏻♀️ the irony that he thought this option would be the one that helped avoid negative feedback 😂 The fact that that is front and centre of their priorities tells you they know how awful they are, especially considering how many negative reviews they have around the Internet.
I was told to contact the company if I had any issues, so of course I emailed them & said I was really disappointed & felt totally ripped off, no way was the trip worth the £356 I'd now paid, and would it be possible to change at least the hotel or location (at a cost almost definitely, but we're willing to pay) because we're going to be further out of pocket booking another hotel in a place not run by the mafia if we do go on the trip - funnily enough, despite the promise of 24 hour assistance availability, I never actually had a reply 🙃
The kicker though, and what motivated me to finally leave a review, is I just noticed on the invoice I will be expected to pay a further £20 at the hotel to cover taxes and management fees 😂 brilliant.
Italy is full of so many beautiful places that it's impossible to imagine anyone getting it so wrong, but that's the wondrous magic of Weekender Breaks, like some sort of twisted demented Walt Disney, they can make all your nightmares come true 🤗🔮 #blessed
I'm sure my sarcasm does a great job of disgusting my disgust with this business, but for the sake of tl/dr - PLEASE DO NOT GIVE ANY MONEY TO THIS DODGY DEALER COMPANY, you will only experience regret & a trip 3x the price and 5x worse than anything you could have organised for yourself. I travel for a living so have booked hundreds of trips over the years on various budgets, but thought it might be fun to have a mystery break & let someone else do the legwork one time - 'experience' is a better word than fun, but at least I now have the knowledge to warn everyone I meet away from this company 😅 Anyway here I am again organising a trip because we're not sticking around that dump, so no rest for the wicked - but instead a few days in the magnificent Brescia & Genoa, I'm not going to be complaining about that 😻😎 I guess some advice I would give is if you already bought from them & can't refund it, do what I've had to go, accept the cheapest lousy offer available, then look for other places you can stay in cities that are actually interesting & beautiful!
But who knows, if I lose my mind & do decide to use them again, perhaps if I ask for a trip specifically anywhere on planet Earth, I'll get to the Moon sooner than I thought...”
“What absolute con merchants BEWARE of Wowcher Weekender Breaks.
I booked a holiday Auschwitz which seemed a bargain for 3 nights to Krakow and Auschwitz tour, via a Wowcher advert and paid £282.98 on 04/12/2023 – Wowcher client/affiliate which was with a company called “weekender-breaks”
The date booked with weekender breaks for the holiday was 30/01/24 3 nights returning 02/02/24.
I then needed to pay extra for transport from the airport to the hotel and return
I then had to pay for transport from the hotel to get to Auschwitz return.
I paid a further £56.00 and £160.00 TOTAL paid for the holiday was £498.98.
I am unable to travel due to having had a fall, damaged my Achilles heel on my left leg and my knee on my right leg waiting for a knee replacement I have had an injection to assist with the pain, Due to seeing the Surgeon in March again and set a date for the knee replacement. I can not walk at present as both legs are affected.
I emailed weekender breaks asking for a refund – and supplied proof of my surgeon reports and X-rays, to prove my case is legitimate. There was no response to my email so I phoned Weekender Breaks I Spoke to Parkan Parritan from Weekender – brakes who would not put me through to the owner of weekender-breaks. He advised he would not refund the monies due to my ticket being non-refundable – its their T&C – surely when one has proof of a doctor's letter and X-rays as proof of not being able to walk this should be taken into account.
Initially to claim the holiday I paid for was a nightmare and not straightforward to find out who the affiliate was with full contact details not made 100% clear and available.
The upsell thereafter works out more expensive than booking directly with a legitimate company. The upsell is required ...... i.e hotel I was told was 70km away for the Auschwitz tour so I had to pay for transport there and back
A Wowcher cheap weekend away???? Who you kidding Weekender breaks? Now transpires No Refund will be given even though I have provided proof of surgeons letters and X-Rays. if I want to postpone the break then I either have to cancel and lose everything, or pay an extra £499.00 for a 3-night break to Krakow!! Unplanned surgery has no bearing and these chancers just want further monies regardless of anyone’s unforeseen circumstances. Avoid at all costs!”
“A Wowcher cheap weekend away???? Who you kidding Weekender breaks? Now transpires f I want to postpone the break for 2 weeks then I either have to cancel and lose everything, or pay an extra £455 for a 3 night break to Krakow!! Unplanned surgery has no bearing and these chancers just want further monies regardless of anyone’s unforeseen circumstances. Avoid at all costs”
“Terrible company. Only interested in upselling and give you a 'deal' worth less than booking direct. I complained and they were uninterested, just more upsell, upsell, upsell.
This company is not giving you a good deal at all and charges far more than going direct. Just avoid at all costs.”
“About using this company at all costs they are com artists and scammers
I booked a holiday through the also garbage Wowcher and weekender breaks arranged the holiday
They booked me into a hotel with a large cash deposit without telling me prior to me confirming my booking that there would be a large cash deposit.
They done absolutely nothing to help the situation and are completely incompetent.
Do not ever book through this company”
“They tried to book me another destination and asked me for more money. I said no I can't afford it for some gut feeling going wrong. I booked the random destination and still....waiting for the tickets which I am sure not going to get at any time soon. WOWcher is the biggest scam ever! NEVER BUY ANYTHING from them.”
“Absolutely disgusting do not know how it is even a company. I will be letting everyone I know and sharing my experience. Can't fly because Germany not issuing any schengen visas at the moment all good not their fault so I phone up to see if I can change my name to someone who can fly and they tell me its 165 pounds to change that, their excuse was that the tickets are already generated.. how do you book tickets without any passport numbers? So I said can I change the date was very rudely told that if I change the date it will be the cost of the entire holiday all over again because they will not transfer the money to the new holiday even though I have over a month before my holiday start.. now they just got free money because I can't go and refuse to pay another penny to these people Absolutely scam company.”
“Very poor customer service, numerous hidden charges, poorly booked flight and rail connections. We were left feeling completely ripped off.
Our recommendation is to avoid this AWFUL company.”
