ComplaintsforClub Med Sales Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  10/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I booked an all-inclusive package of Club Med Cancun by a travel agent on 2023-06-02. My travel agent had a reservation quote of 7216.08 CAD. Reference no. *********. Air transport with *** ****** is included : depart YUL-CUN 08:00 – 13:10\return CUN-YUL 14:55 – 19:20. Later of the day, I’ve accepted this package. But during my travel agent processed the transaction, without any notification, Club Med has changed the depart flight to YUL-CUN 18:25 – 23:20. Invoice amount is 7428.09 CAD. **** *** ********** ******** *** *******  Dispute 1: Club Med changed the flight without any notification during the purchase processes. My travel agent and I found the changes on the reservation doc when the purchase was done. We’ve contacted Club Med several times. They said : the flights had some changes with unknown reasons in their system during the purchase processes. This situation is not their mistake. The reservation is done, so if we want to change the flight, we need to pay their operation fee (200 CAD per person) and the gap amount of the flights. As a customer, this situation is clearly caused by Club Med’s system. The flight changed by Club Med makes us loss 10 hours daytime in resort, which has more than 1000 CAD value. Plus, our young children will be very tired with this late flight. Dispute 2: Due to their processes problem, Club Med has charged us more than their displayed price of the flight YUL-CUN 18:25 – 23:20. The all-inclusive package with the flight YUL-CUN 18:25 – 23:20 was 7293.48 CAD before and after our purchase transaction. Please see the screenshot in attachment. Dispute 3: Club Med provides 15 days to complete the reservation with the same price. But Club Med charged us more than the reservation quote in the same day. At the end, I had to pay more money with 10 hours daytime less. Club Med don’t take any responsibility. Customers haven’t any right but accept the loss and the inconvenience. Please help us to protect the customer’s right. Thanks.

  Business response

  12/06/2023

  Good Morning, 

  Please note that Mrs. **'s reservation was booked directly with her travel agent, ********* ******** (**** *** *******), on her travel agent's Club Med portal. The travel agent did not call into our call center to confirm nor book this reservation, the travel agent went into her Club Med's travel agent portal and booked this trip for her clients and confirmed the trip with payment directly online. These were the flights that the travel agent chose herself for her clients. Once the travel agent confirmed this trip in her travel agent portal, the travel agent automatically received the confirmation voucher, via email, once she confirmed this trip, clearly showing what the travel agent booked herself online for her clients. 

  Once the travel agent confirmed the file on her Club Med portal online, she then called into our call center on June 2nd, 2023 at 6:02pm, (after the fact)  to try to request the earlier flight, but was advised by a Club Med agent in our contact center, that if she wanted to change the flights that she had chosen and confirmed for her clients, that her clients would have to pay an airline change fee per person and the cost difference of these new flights that she wanted to change for her clients. The travel agent advised that her client refuses to pay these fees. The travel agent was advised that these airline change fees are imposed by the airline, and the cost difference is what the flights were priced at the moment she inquired, and her clients would have to pay this if they wanted to change their flights that she had booked for them.  Club Med is not an airline, we follow the airline's policies with our contractual rates that we have with the airline. 

  Please see attached print screens as proof, no error was made on Club Med's end, these clients will need to take this up with their travel agent, who is the one who booked their flights and trip, herself, in her Club Med travel agent portal online. 

  Nothing further is required by Club Med on this file, 

  Kind regards, 

  ***** ******** ******* ****** **** *** ****** ****** ***** ********* **** *** ***** ****** ***** ***** ** *********** ***** ***** **** * ********* *** *** *** ** ***** ******** ** ************** ***** * **********************************

  Customer response

  13/06/2023

  
  Complaint: 20169830
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  For 1st point, my travel agent did book my trip in her travel agent portal. She has chosen the morning flight in the begin of reservation process. And she hasn’t received any notification about the flight being changed during the reservation process. She has received the confirmation with the late flight when the reservation process was done.
  My travel agent has also called club med twice to understand what happened and what they can do to figure out this situation, not only the call at 18h02. 1 club med agent didn’t know what happened. The second agent thought the flight had been changed with unknown reason in club med’s system; this situation happens, nobody’s responsibility, and it is the customer to accept this or change with an additional fee. Is it fair?
  

  For 2nd point, the price with the late flight was cheaper before and after my reservation in club med’s website, please provide the proof and an explanation as for why my price is higher.
  

  For 3rd point, club med guarantees the reservation at the same price within 15 days, right? Why couldn’t I pay the same price that my agent had received earlier the same day?
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* **

  Business response

  13/06/2023

  Good Afternoon, 

  Our previous email was very clear, Club Med did not change your flights, your Travel Agent booked these flights for you.

  Also please note by law, your main point of contact for your Club Med Trip is your Travel Agent, and you must communicate directly with her for your Club Med trip for any questions, inquiries or issues you have. You must go through your travel agent as you did not book directly with Club Med or on our website, this is not an option, you must go through your travel agent.

  Secondly, as for flights, it's price of day and time, the pricing, until the flights are booked and confirmed, can change, and this has nothing to do with Club Med, this is prices set forth by the airline. Again speak to your travel agent about your trip booked via her travel agency and she can go through the details of your pricing with you. 

  Lastly, Club Med doesn't have a policy that "guarantees the reservation at the same price within 15 days" this doesn't exist. I'm not sure who told you this, but this truly doesn't exist. The price for the land portion (hotel stay) is guaranteed for the day, same day, as it's price of day but for flights, the airline pricing changes every minute. You can look at one time, then look 10 minutes later and the price changed for the flights. In case you weren't aware, airlines sell different classes of service within each class, so in economy, you might have 25 different classes of service, for example, class A has 50 seats, once these are all sold out, it moves on to class B and class B is more expensive. If your agent quoted you a price and she did not put it on option for you to hold onto the price, then this is her fault and her responsibility. If she wanted to guarantee and hold a price, she should have created an option, which she didn't, she then in turn, went to her Club Med travel agent portal and booked what was available at that moment and that pricing that she got when she booked and paid for your trip. She was not holding an option with us for you, your travel agent looked at pricing, and then booked the trip later on, which means prices are subject to availability and change.  

  Again, Club Med was not at fault here, and we will not change your flights on file unless you are willing to pay for the airline change fees of 200$ per person and the cost difference in the cost of the new flights on file. This is your only solution if you want to change your flights on file. And if you want to change them, please call your travel agent, as you must go through her.

  This is Club Med's final decision about your case, as we didn't make any mistakes, your travel agent booked this for you and shall you reject this response, we will also respond with the same thing. We will not cover the costs for your change in flights, this is your responsibility to pay for this, as your travel agent booked and confirmed these flights for you on her own, Club Med didn't do this for her, your travel agent physically went into her booking system and chose these flights for you.  

  Moving forward, please contact your travel agent, whom by law, is your main point of contact for Club Med and you can also ask her why she chose and booked these flights for you, because Club Med didn't change anything, she literally picked and clicked on these flights, same as your room category, etc.....  

  Thank you

  ***** ******* ****** **** *** ****** ****** ***** ********* **** *** ***** ****** ***** ***** ** *********** ***** ***** **** * ********* *** *** *** ** ***** ******** ** ************** ***** * **********************************

• Initial Complaint

  22/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Contract Date: June 15, 2022 *********** ******* ********* Contract cancellation date: Jan 09, 2023 (only by Club Med side) Email notification date: Feb. 21, 2023 (after I called the called centre and ask the reasons) Trip duration: March 12-18, 2023, 6 days # of participants: 4 persons Financial lost: $1775.02 Whole trip cost: $10,508.30 Mental hurt: Maximum Time cost: Maximum I booked a ski trip on June 14, 2022 at Club Med Quebec Charlevoix for my whole family (4 persons). I called Club Med on Jan. 09, 2023 to consult what I could do if I had troubles to make the trip and had to cancel it. The agent told me there was some penalty if I would like to cancel the trip. The call was cut when we were talking about the penalty. I did not say ANY word about "going ahead to cancel the trip" or "I authorized you to cancel the trip and admit the penalty". The agent did not call me back after Jan. 09, 2023. After that, our family thought the trip would be continued and we started to rearrange everything for this March Break trip. From Dec. 01, 2022 to Feb. 20, 2023, there was NO email notification/confirmation or calls from Club Med about the cancellation or the trip. I called Club Med on Feb. 21, 2023. They mistakenly cancelled my trip but just asked us to rebook the trip which was $5,000 more expensive than the cancelled trip. Club Med finally sent an email about the cancellation on Feb. 21, 2023, after they did not solve the problem. The airfare $1775.02 was not refunded, again, without any notification before Feb. 21, 2023. My desired solutions are: either Club Med makes the trip with the same cost and the same time, or Club Med gives us a full refund, including the airfare cost $1775.02.

  Customer response

  22/02/2023

  Dear *****,
  
  Thank you very much for your quick response. 

   

  Unfortunately, the company called Club Med Sales Inc. does not provide an email address officially in the website. Fortunately, the customer service provides me an email address to make a complaint as **********************************. I am not sure if this works. 

   

  Thank you again and best,

   

  ******

  Business response

  16/03/2023

  Good afternoon Madam/Sir ,
  
  Please see attached print screens of these clients booking and comments on their file and email thread below, clearly stating by 2 Supervisors that the calls were listened too and this client clearly advised our agent to cancel their booking on 09JAN2023.
  
  This file was managed and these clients were already contacted about their file, by agents and supervisors. Their file, is cancelled – as requested by this client, under Club Med’s terms and conditions
  
  Thank you
  
  
  
  ***** ********
  
  Service Client Club Med Ventes CANADA
  Guest Relations Club Med Sales CANADA
  3500, Boul. De Maisonneuve Ouest #1800 Tour 2
  Montréal, QC, H3Z 3C1
  T: (514) 227-3966
  T: 1-800-548-1335
  Email : **********************************
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  From: ****** ******* ***************************
  Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2023 12:08 PM
  To: Canada, Guest Relations <**********************************>; ******** ****** ********************** ********** ***** *****************************
  Subject: RE: **Urgent**FW: [EXT] My contract was cancelled without my authorization, without email confirmation, without call notification
  Importance: High
  
  Calls have been listened to, client okayed the cancellation, a refund on the land  was processed (which they probably have now received).  The only room avl the dates they were booked is the suites, even with a 10% discount they are unwilling to pay more.  Yesterday *** and I spent another hour with them on the phone, looking at other dates that would have the room they booked avl (which we did find) but they would not change dates.  They cannot come to QCHC the dates they booked without paying more money.  We are going around in circles with these clients
  
  *******
  
  From: Canada, Guest Relations <**********************************>
  Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2023 7:05 AM
  To: ******** ****** ********************** ********** ***** ****************************** ****** ******* ***************************
  Cc: Canada, Guest Relations <**********************************>
  Subject: **Urgent**FW: [EXT] My contract was cancelled without my authorization, without email confirmation, without call notification
  
  Good Morning Team,
  
  
  We received this email from *** **, mentioning her file was cxl without her authorization. Please see her message below.
  
  I have read all Q comments on file.
  
  You all worked on this file and you also listened to the call. It is clearly notated that they called to cxl their trip.
  The last comment was on 21FEB, GM sent her email yesterday night (so after the last call).
  
  Since this is a future departure, Guest Relations cannot manage.
  
  Could you please assign an agent to call her back to explain that we listened to the call and she asked to cxl her file ?
  
  
  Thank you for your help and have a great day
  
  
  
  
  ********** ********
  
  Service Client Club Med Ventes CANADA
  Guest Relations Club Med Sales CANADA
  3500, Boul. De Maisonneuve Ouest #1800 Tour 2
  Montréal, QC, H3Z 3C1
  T: (514) 227-3966
  T: 1-800-548-1335
  Email : **********************************
  
  
  
  
  From: ****** ** ********************
  Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2023 11:47 PM
  To: Canada, Guest Relations <**********************************>
  Subject: [EXT] My contract was cancelled without my authorization, without email confirmation, without call notification
  
  Hi Guest Relations Team,
  
  Here is my sad story. My trip was cancelled by the agent without my authorization, without email confirmation, without call notification. Our family tried very very hard to make the trip, such as I have to change the working shifts with my colleagues and my husband squeezed his work in February so that we could spend the precious week with the family. However, everything is ruined because of the cancellation. The kids were very upset.
  
  I booked a ski trip on June 14, 2022 at Club Med Quebec Charlevoix for my whole family (4 persons). I called Club Med on Jan. 09, 2023 to consult what I could do if I had trouble making the trip and had to cancel it. The agent told me there was some penalty if I would like to cancel the trip. The call was cut when we were talking about the penalty. I did not say ANY word about "going ahead to cancel the trip" or "I authorized you to cancel the trip and admit the penalty". The agent did not call me back after Jan. 09, 2023.
  
  After that, our family thought the trip would be continued and we started to re-arrange everything for this March Break trip. From Dec. 01, 2022 to Feb. 20, 2023, there was NO email notification/confirmation or calls from Club Med about the cancellation or the trip.
  
  I called Club Med on Feb. 21, 2023. They mistakenly cancelled my trip but just asked us to rebook the trip which was $5,000 more expensive than the cancelled trip.
  
  Club Med finally sent an email about the cancellation on Feb. 21, 2023, after they did not solve the problem. The airfare $1775.02 was charged and will not be refunded.
  
  Here is some information about the contract: 
  
  Contract Date: June 15, 2022
  Reservation number: 439079839
  Contract cancellation date: Jan 09, 2023 (only by Club Med side)
  Email notification date: Feb. 21, 2023 (after I called the called centre and ask the reasons)
  Trip duration: March 12-18, 2023, 6 days
  # of participants: 4 persons
  Financial lost: $1775.02
  Whole trip cost: $10,508.30
  Mental hurt: Maximum
  Time cost: Maximum
  
  Look forward to your reply very soon. Our family is not able to book any other trip and still expect Club Med can give us an acceptable solution. 
  
  Best,
  
  ****** ****** **

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩