What would you do in this situation?? vacation related..(LONG)

Ok so my brother and his gf (18 & 19yrs old respectively) decided to book a trip to Ireland in August as my brother's graduation/last trip before college vacation. They used a travel agent that my family has been using for years.
Last week my mom receives an email stating the remaining balance needed to be paid by the end of the week. my mom goes over it and realizes that this new invoice is almost $700 MORE than what was originally quoted. So she immediately starts questioning the TA. After much research and emails etc., it turns out the 'TA fees' were not included in the contract that my mom originally received. My mom flips saying that its not her fault, they agreed upon that first amount. Blah blah they go back and forth and ended up needing to pay it. My brother and his gf split it.

Fast forward to monday the TA contacts my mother again saying that the tour guide they were going to be staying with in Ireland now says that they are NOT able to go on the trip b/c they are not 'of age'. They need to be 21 otherwise accompanied by an adult. Now it's like WW3 and all hell broke loose. My brother, gf, and mom are LIVIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD. The tour company said its the TA's fault, she should have known or at least inquired about the age restriction. So since monday they've all been fighting over it. The TA said she will do everything to get their money back (my mom said that she better get back every penny or there will be hell to pay) She was able to get back the money for the land (hotel, tours etc.) but NOT the airfare which was almost $2k!!!!!! The airline refuses. My mom has things in writing from the tour co and the airline fighting them on this.

Now what does one do in this situation? Do you file a complaint and bring this to court, trying to get back $2k (which to anyone now a days is A LOTTTT of money) or do you say f*ck it and never bother with these people again?

ETA- that this trip was completely paid for by my brother and his gf. They've saved up for almost a year!

2K is a lot of money.
A TA is supposed to be an expert on travel, which is why you use their services and don't do everything yourself.
If your mom can't recover the money from the airline (very hard to do) then go after the TA for the airfare money.

Fight it and get every penny back. You were not notified in advance that they had to be 21.
Wow id be so pizzzed!

First of all, that *****! I would be PISSSEEEDDD at the TA.

They could bring it to small claims court. I mean, I am sure they can also try to file for the court fees along with what they are trying to get back.

It's up to them. 2k is a lot of money to just throw away, but then again depending on the fees with the court she may want to just say forget it. I don't know though about the court fees, so I would inquire about that.
What town are you in?

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Posted by SB7308

Fight it and get every penny back. You were not notified in advance that they had to be 21.
Wow id be so pizzzed!

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Exactly!! My mom was like W TF why didn't you do your research and know this from the beginning

I would still go if I were them, find a different tour.

If not what airline is it with and can they get a credit for future use? Usually these credits are only good for a year though.

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Posted by Jenn04

I would still go if I were them, find a different tour.

If not what airline is it with and can they get a credit for future use? Usually these credits are only good for a year though.

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She said that she's tried moving them to another tour but everything is either booked or has other age restrictions. Who knows but this whole thing is ridiculous

absolutely without a DOUBT -- they should go after the TA

maybe find an attorney who is a friend of the family to write a certified letter to the TA informing her that due to the TA's incompetence and negligence they are out the money for this trip and that it is their responsiblity to pay. if they do not pay--your mom will be suing them in small claims court.

that stinks about your brother and his GF's trip--i feel so bad for them. can they at least maybe do another trip this summer? down in the caribbean everything is 18 and up and they can have fun still.

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Posted by MJDoc12

absolutely without a DOUBT -- they should go after the TA

maybe find an attorney who is a friend of the family to write a certified letter to the TA informing her that due to the TA's incompetence and negligence they are out the money for this trip and that it is their responsiblity to pay. if they do not pay--your mom will be suing them in small claims court.

that stinks about your brother and his GF's trip--i feel so bad for them. can they at least maybe do another trip this summer? down in the caribbean everything is 18 and up and they can have fun still.

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that's what I told them to do. Book a trip on an island, do an all inclusive and enjoy yourself.

Poor boy works 7 days a week at a deli, plus goes to school to try and save money. I feel bad, he was so excited

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Posted by dajc23
that's what I told them to do. Book a trip on an island, do an all inclusive and enjoy yourself.

Poor boy works 7 days a week at a deli, plus goes to school to try and save money. I feel bad, he was so excited

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see now that just makes me so mad for him! you see so many spoiled kids get trips paid for by their moms and dads and never earn a freaking DIME to pay for it -- and your brother worked his tail off for this vacay and gets shafted!!!

ugh---definitely tell him to head down to DR, Jamaica, or something and just ENJOY his hard work!!!

I would fight it! How absurd! The travel agent should be refunding them!!!!!!!!!!! Or finding a trip they CAN go on. I assume she was aware of their ages....fight, fight, fight

i would fight it but

can't they still go and tour ireland on their own? do they need to be part of a tour? sometimes its way more fun to just wing it and plan what exactly you want to see and when. that's always how I vacation.

good luck to your brother, I hope he gets to go.

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Posted by snwb08

i would fight it but

can't they still go and tour ireland on their own? do they need to be part of a tour? sometimes its way more fun to just wing it and plan what exactly you want to see and when. that's always how I vacation.

good luck to your brother, I hope he gets to go.

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that's what I had originally said to them but they were going for like 10 days so they wanted some kind of 'plan' especially since this is the first time they are going away alone, without parents.

Is the travel agent part of a larger agency---like Liberty Travel? If so, maybe you can contact their consumer relations?

If not, I'd contact the Better Business Bureau.
I've always had luck with them!

Fight it! 2K for an 18 year old is the equivalent to 20K for us I think.

Get every last penny back from the TA.

it's a long shot but Conde Nast Traveler has a column dedicated to resolving situations like this...kind of a 'Shame on you' of travel.
This sounds like a good case for them.

Is there any chance you can use the plane tix, and book a different tour?
There are a lot of operators out there, and if you explained the situation, maybe they can work something out.

Even though the TA said everything is booked, there are probably other guides more geared to independent travelers. There are tours for just that age group. In my experience TA's only know a certain section of the travel biz. (the part that pays comission.)

Finally, I think they should still go. If they stay in youth hostels they will meet other kids their age, and get around fine. I am a big fan of guidebooks.

My last suggestion is contact a local college, and see if they have some sort of 'international' club...I bet there are students who would love to help visiting americans....and may come here to visit some day.

The TA should be giving you back the 2K since she is the reason you lost it. Don't waste your time with the Airlines -- its not their fault so they aren't going to refund the money.

The TA completely screwed this up and unless it is stated that he needed to be 21 somewhere on something your brother signed how was he to know.

I would fight the TA tooth and nail -- get a lawyer -- get Help Me Howard involved (seriously I know someone who he got them money back!).

In the meantime, try Sceptre Tours based in Lynbrook. They are a tour company and you book everything with them and cut out the TA. I am not sure if they have age restrictions but they are reputable.

I would NEVER use this TA again and I would be reporting her to her superior or the BBB.