Meryll83's SBP/Citrico's/Morocco PJ - Update: Trip Report now underway!!

[orangetiggs]

i dont think mentioning abta will help, when we complained to them i just rang when i got to my 28 days and they told me what was going on with the matter. the complaints team when i worked for virgin atlantic only worked mon-fri anyway and were very busy so i would call them before threatning further action

 

[IndyBride]

How exciting you got your ring!! I can never take a good picture of my ring either! That's why I never posted a picture of it!

 

[meryll83]

i dont think mentioning abta will help, when we complained to them i just rang when i got to my 28 days and they told me what was going on with the matter. the complaints team when i worked for virgin atlantic only worked mon-fri anyway and were very busy so i would call them before threatning further action

It does say on my letter something along the lines of 'in accordance with ABTA rules we will respond fully within 28 days' - so they've broken that agreement haven't they?
I'll probably give them a ring on Monday as suggested I think if I still ahven't heard anything by then.
As I mentioned before, they do appear to have discounted my dad's booking when I look online (although why only his booking I don't know and why they've amended the price match/flying club discount to be less favourable first!), but I'm not sure I should settle for just this to be honest. Or am I being greedy?

How exciting you got your ring!! I can never take a good picture of my ring either! That's why I never posted a picture of it!

It is exciting! And now it has to sit in a drawer for another 17 months

 

[orangetiggs]

your lucky they have given you something at all, they have ruined our holiday and we have nothing from them!! we have had to change our honeymoon to a destination we dont want or cancel everything which was not an option as we had already contracted with disney. We just got a sorry over the phone and nothing else. We spent 6 hours in the travel agents argueing with them to no avail. They dont seem to like to deal with complaints pre departure. But if you complain after your holiday they are very quick to come back and we have had vouchers from them everytime we complain to them

Personally having delat with their complaints team before I would call them as you ahve said as I think that will be more benficial than writing to them and threatning to take it further. At least you have a discount on your fathers booking so thats better than nothing.

The flyinh club discount has prob changed as its only applicable on certian things and if the overall booking value has gone down then of course the discount will be less. We have just amended our booking and we get frequent virgin holiday club discount and this has gone down as the overall booking has gone down

 

[meryll83]

your lucky they have given you something at all, they have ruined our holiday and we have nothing from them!! we have had to change our honeymoon to a destination we dont want or cancel everything which was not an option as we had already contracted with disney. We just got a sorry over the phone and nothing else. We spent 6 hours in the travel agents argueing with them to no avail.

Personally having delat with their complaints team before I would call them as you ahve said as I think that will be more benficial than writing to them and threatning to take it further. At least you have a discount on your fathers booking so thats better than nothing.

The flyinh club discount has prob changed as its only applicable on certian things and if the overall booking value has gone down then of course the discount will be less. We have just amended our booking and we get frequent virgin holiday club discount and this has gone down as the overall booking has gone down

Ohmigod, poor you!
Don't you feel like trying to write a letter now, to see if they will offer some sort of compensation?
It's obviously (sort of) worked in our case.
What exactly happened in your case?

What they've actually done on my dad's booking is take off the price match they honoured on the park pass, and then increased the flying club discount to include this discount on the pass instead.
It's only about £2.70 difference but I just don't get why they did this without informing us! (They did this a few days before the £25 goodwill gesture was discounted, I noticed as I've been keeping an eye on it and also a new invoice has come through showing the price match/flying club discount amendments).
Presumably a new invoice will arrive soon showing the goodwill gesture - does this count as a response, or should they have still written to me about how they've chosen to resolve my complaint?

 

[orangetiggs]

we booked ours as soon as the brochures we released last year and of course come sept last year after our contract had been signed and the uk blessing was booked virgin decided to change all the flights around, so our uk blessing is on 20th spet and they wanted us to fly home on 20th land on 21st! so we had the option of 2 other places mexico and barbados (we are having 2 weeks in disney and 1 week honeymoon in caribbean) we dont really want to go to either but had to make a decision as everyone had booked around us so we ended up going with the mexico option.

They would give us nothing, no upgrades or anything! we have a huge list of things that have gone wrong with our booking and its still going on now so once we are back the letter is going in and I'm expecting compensation from them *** they have kinda ruined our honeymoon.

They told us it was our fault for booking so far out! well dont issue the brochures then

 

[meryll83]

Hope you manage to get something sorted out with them Sarah.

The official letter came, and I've decided just to go with the flow and accept the £25 discount they added, and ignore the fact they amended the discounts first so we're a couple of quid worse off. To be honest I can't be bothered with any more hassle!

Think I will ring them some time this week though and ensure my mum's dining plan has been added correctly though, as it doesn't show properly on the invoice still

Went for another dress fitting today and it turned out to be the final one so the dress is home
The dress lady blatantly lied though and said we'd never had any conversation about a bustle, so it hasn't been added and I'm just going to use the hoop at the back and carry it on my arm.
I couldn't be bothered to make it another trip to Darlington just for a bustle to be sorted out, but it really annoys me that people make this stuff up!

May also ring our registry office this week to ask about an officiant to do our UK blessing/vow renewal watever ceremony for our reception here.
Can't remember if I posted before, but when I asked if they could send me some wording to see if it would be appropriate to have a vow renewal they told me I had to give them a £50 deposit first - meanies! They can't do a blessing coz they're not a religious organisation, but I was concerned a vow renewal would seem weird 2 weeks after our wedding, so I wanted to see how the ceremony would be worded.

 

[figmentfan814]

We got back from Hawaii about 3 weeks ago. It was such an awesome vacation. I've been to the caribbean and to Jamaica before, but Hawaii is so totally different. I never realized that they are the most remote island chain in the world!

Sorry to hear that you're still having a hassle getting everything sorted out. Our at-home reception is coming up next weekend. I definitely understand your stress having yours so close to your return. It's actually been nice to have the two month break to get all our pictures ready (and to get my dress cleaned! ) So, you're actually doing some kind of a cermony in addition to a reception back home?

 

[meryll83]

Glad you had a fab holiday Vanessa!
Hawaii looks beautiful!

We're hoping to have a small ceremony back home also, for those who won't be at Florida, so I need to give the registry office a ring and see what our options are....

 

[orangetiggs]

we contact the registry office but we were told they could not help us as we were already legally married.

We are having our rings blessed in church as thats all that we could get.

Any one can do a blessing as its not official so you could do it yourself if you had a friend who could do it

 

[meryll83]

Our registry office are treating it as a vow renewal (I called them today) and are sending us various options for the wording, but have basically said we can re-word it to suit us as much as we want, so that's good.

One of our friends offered to do it actually, but I don't know why but somehow it seems more official if a representative of an official company is carrying it out, despite them telling us what they do is not legally binding

Does the marriage certificate have to be sent off after the Florida ceremony for certifying or anything? Does anyone know? It'd be good to get a couple of copies I think if possible....

 

[orangetiggs]

the officiant sends it off and then you get it a few weeks later sent to you, not sure about copies

 

[meryll83]

the officiant sends it off and then you get it a few weeks later sent to you, not sure about copies

So it gets sent back to you at home in the UK, correct?

Well today I am another year older, but still one more birthday to go before the big day! I'm wondering when it starts to go fast coz at the moment it seems to be taking aaaaaaaaaaages just to get to this October so we can contract!!

The girls have now both tried on their dresses and they both fit just right which is a huuuuge relief, having ordered them online.
They possibly just need taking up at the shoulders slightly but they don't seem to need taking in or anything - not yet anyway, depends if any of us decide to try and diet!!!!!

Julie got engaged earlier this week, she was on a training course in Manchester and when she got back to her hotel room there was a card saying 'will you marry me?' and when she rang Steve he told her he was outside - he went down there to surprise her! I think she was totally shocked as she would never have expected him to appear there! They need to have a parental chat but I think they intend on getting hitched next summer, which means I'll get to be a bridesmaid for the first time before I'm a bride!

Back at work tomorrow, having had 2 weeks off, hope it's not too hard to get back into it..........

 

[Nicola2010]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I know how you feel... it's my birthday on Saturday and then i'll only have 1 more birthday until my big day (as i plan on getting married 5 days before my birthday in 2010 lol)... well hoping wedding day will be 2 years today actually!

Hoping it will fly by too but im sure your's will once youve signed the contract.

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

Happy Birthday Meryll!!! Hope you have a good one

 

[Beep]

Hey Meryll, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

It's all downhill from here luv, everything starts sagging and creasing! I hope you have a great day

You're still only a baby yet anyway

Who is your officiant again? Both Kevin Knox and Jack Day will get additional copies for you when they deal with the cerficate for about $3 so I'm sure everyone else will - just make sure you tell them you want copies.

 

[meryll83]

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone! (and the reassurance Alex )

Had a good relaxing day so far today and going to the theatre tonight, then back to work tomorrow

We're looking at Randal Miller to be our officiant but can't book him til 9 months out (someone worse than Disney! ) so I'll be sure to mention it to him and see if it's a possibility....

 

[Ticky Toria 78]

Happy Birthday!

 

[IndyBride]

Hope you make a fabulous wish!!!

 

[meryll83]

Thanks girls,

You know, I didn't make a wish - is it too late now??

I didn't have a cake so no candles to blow out, does that mean I've really blown it now?!!

Darnit, no wishes for me - until 17 months time when we get to watch it over Cindy's Castle
Man it's going soooooooooo slowly at the minute, I'd give anything just for it to be this October at least so we can contract and the proper planning can commence!!

Oh, so funny - my mum was giving me a lift somewhere the other day and had printed out directions and she came across this whole page of A4 covered in various scribbles. When I asked her what it was, she said it was my dad's list of restaurants they might want to book, I was like "you do know you can't book them til 6 months out?" - good to see daddy's excited! I asked her more recently though and she said she still hasn't returned it to him, I'll have to let him know where it is next time I speak to him (still tucked inside the road atlas!), he might be worried where it's gone!