Arillas Bay Apartments 2008....BEWARE!

[JC]

Getting more anxious by the day with all these bad postings and would really like to change my accommodation.
Anyone who managed to contact Manos/Thomas Cook by phone either before or after, what number did you call ?
I managed to contact Thomas Cook who said they couldn't deal with my request because my original booking was made with Manos (on line).  They referred me to the Manos website and when you go to 'Contact Us', it just says there are technical difficulties with this page - sorry.  I can't find a phone number anywhere.  Does anyone even know where they are located ?
Thanks for all the replies I've had to my posting (no. 90) but I'd still like to know if the wandering house-breaking Albanian is still in situ ?
Thanks  JC

[graham]

The number for manos is 08712302405 but don't hold your breath I've been telling them since last monday that My tickets aren't here yet and I fly in 4 days.

[JC]

Dear Graham
Thanks for this.  I've made about six calls since I posted my last message and finally have a number for the Duty Officer - 01274 387634.  She said this was the right number but I'd have to call back in the morning as it is an emergency only number in the evenings.
Can you - or anyone - tell me, please, how to send a personal message as a reply so that I don't clog up the forum with messages just for one person ?  Thanks.
JC

[riggers]

Hi JC.

Just click on the persons name. Then you will be able to send them a message.

riggers..

[M n M]

JC, go to near the top of the page shown as below and click on the "Members" sign,
    Home    Help  Search  Profile  My Messages  Calendar  Members   Logout   
then use the first initial of the members name 'A,B,C, ect. scroll down until you find the name wanted (may be on a following page) click on their name and scroll down to find (additional information) I think it's called and you will see it say's send a personal message. The rest is easy.
I think i've got it right, Mick.

[M n M]

riggers it just goes to show how long it is since I had to think, it's lovely not having to work anymore. Mick

[Dawny]

JC - I have been trying since Monday to get my accomodation changed.  Tried loads of numbers - best one so far is 0870 7580184  at least i've spoken to humans on that line.  But they insist that there are no problems registered so you have to pay £80 admin + upgrade costs - Looking at the prices of other accomodation available I suspect it will be around £288 for 2 people.  This number was given to me when I phoned the "Customer Service" number on my booking confirmation - I too booked on the internet.

When I told them I wouldn't pay the £80 they said they have no authority to waiver it. I was told to call 0870 0100569 which is customer relations but haven't so far had anybody answer the phone.  I sat in a queue for around an hour and gave up.

Out of frustration I asked them to go ahead and move me and had resigned myself to pay the £80 so they (0870 7580184) have send an email to Manos to ask for a cost for me to change.  You have to tell them what apartments you want to swop to as they seem incapable of giving you any options and it must be a Manos property not any other Thomas Cook.

I was told that Manos would call me within 48 hours with a cost and it is now around 40 hours later.

I suspect from a legal position all the evidence on this website is "hearsay" and not admissable as evidence when you haven't experienced problems first hand so I suspect it is a difficult situation to force them to accept.

Maybe this is something for Watchdog?  I guess the industry aren't used to people comparing notes and sharing experiences on forums - maybe its time for some new guidelines from ABTA?

Good luck I think you'll need it.

[MicK-G]

Hi Jenny
I remember you from last year. My children were friends with Molly, Holly, Joe and Lindsey. I wouldn't worry too much about the Albanian chap, this seems to have quietened down now. We used AB just to sleep in last year and we used the pool at other apartments as we weren't impressed with AB's. We'll lookmout for you and say "Hello" on our arrival on the 4th August.

[Quack John]

We share everyone's frustrations with trying to get moved from the AB, our agents and TC have been worse than useless!
We've left things as they are and are heading out to Arillas on Monday night. We'll have a good look round the AB on Tuesday morning and will be tracking down the rep if all's not to our satisfaction (which, from reports back on this forum, it clearly won't be!).
The emphasis will be on TC / Manos to sort us out with alternative accommodation at their expense, and by the sounds of it this has been the case several times over the past few weeks.
After all, we've paid them a lot of money for our holiday and for suitable accommodation, why should we have to pay more? The AB should be at an acceptable standard, if it's not then it is TC / Manos's problem, not ours, and they should been made to pay to deal with it and make things right for their customers.
Sorry for the rant, I'll get down from my soapbox now!!
All I can say is watch this space! Reports will follow!!

The main thing is, we're still very excited and looking forward to our first holiday in Arillas ....... only five days to go....bring it on!!

John & Claire

[kes]

I have no axe to gring with Arillas bay apts,as I have never stayed there...and can only comment on the opinions expressed in the postings...If anyone has booked these apartments..just go ahead with your original bookings and make your own mind up when you arrive...If they are as bad as the comments on the forum..then I am sure you could transfer to other accomodation...Maybe  having read the comments on the forum the owners will make a special effort to rectify any problems & you could have a great time there........again just my opinion and that is what I would do...I would not pay £80 for transferring!!
Anyhow I hope you all get sorted and have a great time in Arillas

[Eggy]

Eggy, I don't know you but I always enjoy your posts  is it possible for you or someone to check out AB in the next few days and find out if the Albanian has moved out, please ?  Also if AB are getting their act together,
I am really sorry to hear about Thomas.  Did someone say that Nicoletta (his wife) had died earlier this year ?  They are not mixing her up with Grandma who died last year, are they ?

Sorry  JC

Living now in North Corfu this is a very difficult problem for us to get too invloved in.   Knowing many people in Arillas, by name or face, makes it unacceptable for us to interfere, especially as it is a problem down to the owners and tour operators to rectify.  I will now remain neutral on "favourite" bars/tavernas/hotels as it can quite easily offend people.  An example of which is that there was a recent suggestion for forum meetings to be held at specific places.  Although not my idea I took a little flak from other places.  "What's wrong with us then?"  and "people should decide for themselves" were responses.  And quite right too when rethinking about it. - so many places. Not all suit all.

Both Mrs Negg and I are sorry that some people have had a bad experience when staying at the Arillas Bay apartments.  However, as said earlier, if people have travelled with a tour operator that should be their first port of call if they have a grievance.  We cannot be seen to be taking sides.

Nothing can remove the fact that there have been continuous reports on the conditions of the rooms and it is right that people should be able to report on their individual experiences during their holiday.  However, my view is that if people have grievances that they wish to pursue this should be done via the Tour Operator and not on this forum. And If I was found hovering around with a camera or asking too many questions? – Well....

We must not forget that Dimitris , as website administrator, is responsible for anything he allows onto the site. I don't know what, if any, are the possible legal complications of all these posts but our advice to him now would be to close this thread as this has ceased to be a discussion about experiences and has become a greivance issue. 

What concerns me now is that reports like this can damage all of Arillas which I do not believe any of us would want to do.  Not only would Arillas suffer but possibly 1000 plus forum members as, if a finger of blame is pointed at the website administrator from people with businesses in Arillas, it could mean the website being forced to close.

One last word. Both AB and Sea Breeze looked to be with customers yesterday so let's hope all is now getting back to normal and important lessons have been learned,.

Negg and Wegg

[justphil]

hear Hear Eggy. I too have been horrified to read about it all but have refrained from commenting. My only comment now is to agree - Dimitris should close this thread before it damages Arillas as a whole.

Phil

[JustL@@KiN]

THIS THREAD SHOULD NOT BE CLOSED!!! and doing so will damage the reputation of this site.

If the thread is closed the site should be renamed to...

"www.arillas-only-posts-we-the-self-chosen-agree-with.com"

or

"www.arillas-stick-your-head-in-the-sand-and-all-is-wonderful.com"

[TerryW]

Maybe I am a bit naive, but do the owners of Arillas Bay Apartments actually know how much flack they are getting on the forum. They must have had complaints from individuals but they would not be aware of the worry that is being caused for new customers from the comments on here. There are also negative comments, on other holiday review web sites, from people who have stayed at AB this year.

May be some positive feed back would help them to understand peoples feelings and they could try to put things right. Everyday, people in businesses get complaints but nothing ever gets actioned until the owner or MD finds out.

The reviews for previous years for AB have been very good on sites like Holiday Truths or Holidays Uncovered ( no, Phil, it doesn't mean that kind of uncover).

I wish they had an email address so they could be made fully aware of what is going on.

Terryw

[Quack John]

If it wasn't for this thread we would be travelling out to Arillas completely oblivious to the problems that others had experienced, and at least we're now better prepared for it.

The fact remains that by reading all the threads on this forum, good and not so good, we know that we're going to a fantastic place and we're really looking forward to it.

Every holiday resort has it's issues and it's problems, and by knowing these we can all make decisions as to where we want to go and where we want to avoid. It's better to paint an honest picture rather than a false one and disappoint people.

Deleting this thread would be like sweeping it under the rug, better that people know what's been happening at the AB and then they can make their own minds up what to do.

The honesty of everyone on this forum is quite refreshing, keep up the good work i say!

John