atlaschoice

[joyboycpl]

may we start by wishing everyone a happy xmas
we have found out on xmas day that atlaschoice car rental have gone down the pan and so has a lot of ppl money including ours and there is no way of getting hold of them or as we have been told not much of a chance of getting our money back ppl beware

[alf1956]

That's terrible news for yourselves & the other people that have booked through Atlaschoice. I have used them for the past 5 years & they were always the cheapest by a long way. I wonder whats happened to send them under after all these years of what appeared to be a successful business ?

[Allenshouse]

If you have paid by credit card then I believe you have some recource to the credit card company - section 75?

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shoppi ... ation-help

[joyboycpl]

Thats the problem we paid straight from our bank as we have been doing to them for years

[pato]

That's terrible news for yourselves & the other people that have booked through Atlaschoice. I have used them for the past 5 years & they were always the cheapest by a long way. I wonder whats happened to send them under after all these years of what appeared to be a successful business ?

That's why they've gone bust, too cheap possibly

[Farol]

This is a good example of why Algarvedriver/YOR is a good choice. They don't take any advance payment.

[pato]

This is a good example of why Algarvedriver/YOR is a good choice. They don't take any advance payment.

Agreed I'm always dubious about companies that expect advance payments unless of course it's a bespoke item you're purchasing and therefore shy away from such requirements.

[alf1956]

It does seem strange that they have gone but after 25 years of trading surely if the margins were tight they could have increased them as with their prices there was plenty of scope to do that as when I have used them they have been as much as £30 cheaper than the next hire company.

[ceh]

Sorry to hear the news for those affected. Having used Algrave driver/YOR for about 10 years, and getting a good reliable service, i am now anxious about hiring cars elsewhere. Have just (literally) been looking at car hire in northern Spain and Greece for this summer and seeing this post makes me convinced I wont pay up front!

[sunman]

Thats the problem we paid straight from our bank as we have been doing to them for years

we got caught up in the LowCost Holidays collapse earlier this year, we'd paid by debit card & people said it wasn't the same cover as Credit Cards but Martin Lewis's site said a claim might still be possible so we looked into claiming on both that and our travel insurance,
in the end we claimed via travel insurance and got paid out, ok it took 2 or 3 months but it was all straightforward, sending copies of bank accounts where the debit card money had gone from and copies of the invoices,

I'm assuming you'd have told us if you have travel insurance?

self insuring isn't the worst idea in the world, as long as you don't expose yourself to more than you'd like to lose it's more of an inconvenience than a disaster.

[joyboycpl]

Thats the problem we paid straight from our bank as we have been doing to them for years

we got caught up in the LowCost Holidays collapse earlier this year, we'd paid by debit card & people said it wasn't the same cover as Credit Cards but Martin Lewis's site said a claim might still be possible so we looked into claiming on both that and our travel insurance,
in the end we claimed via travel insurance and got paid out, ok it took 2 or 3 months but it was all straightforward, sending copies of bank accounts where the debit card money had gone from and copies of the invoices,

I'm assuming you'd have told us if you have travel insurance?

self insuring isn't the worst idea in the world, as long as you don't expose yourself to more than you'd like to lose it's more of an inconvenience than a disaster.

many thanks and yes we have got cover (thank god) we have got to go into the bank and talk to them when they reopen but we have booked and paid for 2 holidays we will let everyone know how things go and how if we do get our money back

[joyboycpl]

Thats the problem we paid straight from our bank as we have been doing to them for years

we got caught up in the LowCost Holidays collapse earlier this year, we'd paid by debit card & people said it wasn't the same cover as Credit Cards but Martin Lewis's site said a claim might still be possible so we looked into claiming on both that and our travel insurance,
in the end we claimed via travel insurance and got paid out, ok it took 2 or 3 months but it was all straightforward, sending copies of bank accounts where the debit card money had gone from and copies of the invoices,

I'm assuming you'd have told us if you have travel insurance?

self insuring isn't the worst idea in the world, as long as you don't expose yourself to more than you'd like to lose it's more of an inconvenience than a disaster.

many thanks and yes we have got cover (thank god) we have got to go into the bank and talk to them when they reopen but we have booked and paid for 2 holidays we will let everyone know how things go and how if we do get our money back

just a update been too the bank and they are willing not to help us out Santander are very helpful in that way unlike NatWest who said if it was through them they would have looked into it for us and got some of our money back we are now going to try the insurance route will keep everyone posted

[pato]

Thats the problem we paid straight from our bank as we have been doing to them for years

we got caught up in the LowCost Holidays collapse earlier this year, we'd paid by debit card & people said it wasn't the same cover as Credit Cards but Martin Lewis's site said a claim might still be possible so we looked into claiming on both that and our travel insurance,
in the end we claimed via travel insurance and got paid out, ok it took 2 or 3 months but it was all straightforward, sending copies of bank accounts where the debit card money had gone from and copies of the invoices,

I'm assuming you'd have told us if you have travel insurance?

self insuring isn't the worst idea in the world, as long as you don't expose yourself to more than you'd like to lose it's more of an inconvenience than a disaster.

many thanks and yes we have got cover (thank god) we have got to go into the bank and talk to them when they reopen but we have booked and paid for 2 holidays we will let everyone know how things go and how if we do get our money back[/quote]
just a update been too the bank and they are willing not to help us out Santander are very helpful in that way unlike NatWest who said if it was through them they would have looked into it for us and got some of our money back we are now going to try the insurance route will keep everyone posted[/quote]

Very helpful if they're not involved, my experience of Santander isn't very complimentary.

[widge]

Advice from Money Saving Expert..................

Some customers with cancelled bookings have reported receiving the email quoted above, in which Atlas Choice says it is unable to refund customers, and advises them to start chargeback proceedings against Atlas Choice to get a refund from their card company.

Chargeback is a customer service guarantee for credit and debit cards which means if you don't receive the goods you bought on a card, you may be able to get your money back.

However, payments made on credit cards may qualify for even stronger legally binding protection in the form of Section 75 – a law which means credit card firms must protect purchases over £100 for free.

For full information on how to claim under either scheme, see our Chargeback guide and Section 75 guide.

If you've travel insurance for your trip, it's also worth checking with your insurer whether it will refund you for your car hire booking.

[smudger]

Advice from Money Saving Expert..................

Some customers with cancelled bookings have reported receiving the email quoted above, in which Atlas Choice says it is unable to refund customers, and advises them to start chargeback proceedings against Atlas Choice to get a refund from their card company.

Chargeback is a customer service guarantee for credit and debit cards which means if you don't receive the goods you bought on a card, you may be able to get your money back.

However, payments made on credit cards may qualify for even stronger legally binding protection in the form of Section 75 – a law which means credit card firms must protect purchases over £100 for free.

For full information on how to claim under either scheme, see our Chargeback guide and Section 75 guide.

If you've travel insurance for your trip, it's also worth checking with your insurer whether it will refund you for your car hire booking.

The Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 75, "equal liability" where the credit provider (credit card company) is libel for any breach of contract by the service provider. A court case many years ago held that section 75 applied to credit card transactions involving transactions with suppliers in other countries. The ECC, via Chartered Institute of Trading Standards, are the UK reps for inter EU consumer complaints.