Themeparkland/flightshop in closed down

[poet123]

Just read a thread on the DIBB saying the above have gone into dministration as from 23/6 all enquiries re tickets/flights etc are not being answered. Check with ABTA Hope no-one on the boards is affected.

 

[Mpet]

I'm afraid that's me. Fortunately I only ordered US tickets - not all of them form Themeparkland. I ordered tickets about 3 weeks ago - I should have realised something was wrong when I didn't receive them quickly as previous posters indicated that it was a quick service.

The phone message says the company is being sold - leave a message. Does anyone know if this would be coverd by ABTA - or would my creditcard company cover the loss?



Maxine

 

[SimonV]

Maxine, if they were not ABTA bonded, you will need to contact you CC company asap to recover any outlay. I'm sorry to hear this but I'm afraid it does happen from time to time.

 

[poet123]

maxine,
I sent you a PM

 

[LorraineH]

Oh No!!

We've lost out too!! About £2,000 worth of tickets, and I feel terrible cos Ive been recommending Theme Park Land loads on these boards.

Ive contacted my CC company, and they have said that I am NOT covered under their policy. Apparently their policy DOES NOT include attraction tickets, so although Ive paid in full online, Im not covered.

I booked and paid for all my tickets back in April, and wasnt worried when I didnt receive them, as I was told to expect them 10 days before departure, so thanks for the heads-up on this. It would have been awful to get to October, only to be told the company folded back in June.

Anyway, Theme Park Land ARE ABTA-bonded, and I have contacted ABTA direct. They say that the receivers have been in all day yesterday (Thursday) and all day today. They have said there are some tickets on site, and these will be posted in the next 2 days (but whether I will receive them I dont know - how many poor souls are expecting them!).

ABTA have told me to ring them again next Wednesday if I havent received my tickets and they will send me a claim form. At least time is on our side here.

But I am absolutely gutted. The tickets we bought we so cheap and we thought we had got great deals.

So we are going to back to the planning stages again. Anyone know of where we can cheap attaction tickets from???!!!

Obviously we will have to wait to get the £2,000 back first!!

Oh this is a nightmare.

Good start to our wedding planning isnt it??

(And on a different note I ordered our wedding invites from a US site on Ebay as we wanted lovely printed Mickey & Minnie ones, only to find that 2 weeks ago customs seized them on entry to the UK and we had to fork out loads for customs to release them)!!!!!

Anyway, things can only get better.



Lorraine

 

[julieandco]

What do I do, I paid 1000 on credit card for tickets I havnt got any more credit to buy more. My c.c. says I will have to pay it back I just dont have the money!!The phone line says somebody else has taken over if that is so then isnt it ok????Im in such a state I dont know what to do

 

[Van Helsing]

I'm not sure if Theme Park Land is cover by ABTA. This is what their website says and it all depends on what they mean by a division of CTI Leisure. I would phone ABTA - ASAP


Theme Park Land is a division of CTI Leisure, which has been trading under the name "The Flight Shop" in Hessle (near Hull) since February 1993. In that time we have established ourselves as one of the regions premier travel agencies.

The Flight Shop joined the CTI group in June, 2000 to form CTI Leisure. CTI (Corporate Travel International) have long been regarded as a UK leader in corporate travel management solutions.

Our relationships with our key suppliers have been strengthened through years of partnerships and co-operation enabling us to discount their products and pass the savings onto you.

CTI Leisure incorporates the best of both the online and the traditional offline travel agency to bring you the service, value and choice you deserve.

We are ABTA bonded (G9435), ATOL Protected (4436) and a member of IATA.

 

[Mpet]

Hi

Just an update.

I managed to get through to Themeparkland and was told they had been sold - but she couldn't tell me who by as the contracts had not been signed at that point - but she did say it was a large Travel Company. I was told that if I wanted my passes, I would probably have to pay again (as if!!!) and claim back my original costs through ABTA.

I then called ABTA who said that the Administrators had been in an had posted tickets that were in the office - but they couldn't tell me at the moement if mine was amongst them. However, they did say that if I had not received them by Tuesday to give them a call back and they would advise on alternative suppliers for tickets and tell me k#how I could claim back the costs from them.

I also rang my credit card company - EGG. I explained the situation and told them I had called the company and was told I would probably have to pay again. They said that I may be protected as it was classified as a 'dispute with a retailer'. They logged all my details and saidthey would pss it on to the department that deals with it and I would be contacted within 7-10 days.

So hopefully, I should get my money back from someone!


Maxine

 

[poet123]

I cannot see how a CC cannot be liable if you paid by CC for either goods or services. The only exception to this rule as far as I am aware is if you used a CC cheque which does not give you the same protection, The CC and the retailer are jointly and severally liable under section 75 of the consumer credit act.
Obviously the CC compnay would far rather you pursue this with ABTA but they do have a legal responsiblity. so dont worry.
The fact that they are attraction tickets is totally irrelevant anything bought with a CC over £100 is civered.
Contact yor Citizens advice bureaux for more info and help drafting a STRONG leter and one of complaint re bad info given by CC company. WHich card co is it?

 

[LorraineH]

Hi Poet,

My credit card company is Barclaycard and I have since looked at their website for their terms and conditions, as the girl on the phone said that "attraction tickets" are not covered.

Their website says that if you pay in full with your Barclaycard for goods/services over the internet and do not receive the goods within 7 days then you will be covered up to £5,000.

So that sounds good, until you read the "items not covered" part.

This states that if you buy cash, money orders, travellers cheques or any other "transferables" over the internet then Barclaycard wont cover this. I presume my tickets are "other transferables" although what this means God only knows.

What I cant understand is that most people use credit cards when buying tickets (eg concert tickets, football tickets etc) either over the phone or via the web, and probably dont realise that their purchase isnt covered.

Still, I was hoping my attraction tickets would arrive in this morning's mail, but no such luck.

I will phone ABTA again in the week for my claim form. But I am so reluctant now to order any tickets, and wonder whether it would be better to just pay in dollars out there at the park gates. We ordered additional extras like the Pirates Dinner Show, Gatorland, Balloon Flight tickets, as well as the standard WDW/US/SW tickets and have read somewhere that ticket prices for things like Dinner Shows, Gatorland etc are really discounted if bought in Orlando. Its things like the 10 day WDW pass, that cant be bought over there, that I need to buy from the UK. (Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!)


I will let you all know how I got on next week with ABTA.


Lorraine

 

[poet123]

I just contacted lloyds tsb and they tell me that we would be covered for attraction tickets so I would really check it out with the citizens advice people.

 

[Van Helsing]

LorraineH if you've ever looked at a Disney ticket it says on it that it's non-transferrable. Maybe that would get you through the Barclays loophole ?? Make sure you tell them that the tickets are non-transferrable and don't let them fob you off.


Good luck

 

[LorraineH]

Thanks for the replies. I will chase up Barclaycard again. I hate insurance policies, they always seem to get out of paying one way or another!!

The problem we have now it seems is that I ordered 4 x 10 day WDW specials, and 4 x 2 day/2 park Universal Orlando passes (which gives an additional 5 free days) and now looking at various sites, if we wanted to order the same tickets elsewhere, we have to order by certain deadlines.

The 10 day WDW special has to be ordered by 31st July and the Universal special by 30th June - which is Wednesday - which is when ABTA told me to phone back.

So although somehow or other I will get my money back, in the long term I will lose out because I cant re-order the "special offers" that I ordered originally.

We are reluctant to go ordering our tickets from another site that could go bust at any time, before getting our money back, but if we want the cheaper offers we will have to.

Aaaaahhh!!! I was doing so well with my planning!!!!


Lorraine

 

[Melcatfish]

If you can't reorder by the deadline I think a Fun in the Sun from Paramount is about the same price £180 ish for an adult and gives 30 days of Disney unlimited access, plus KSC and other small attractions, and a character breakfast.

Hope this helps a little bit. Sorry that you are all having problems.

Mel
x

 

[Celestine]

This is a horror story, especially as this is a "holiday of a lifetime" for many. Whilst of no consolation what so ever, for any of you having to rebuy tickets, I can highly recommend www.ticketmania.com (especially if you subscribe to mousesavers). We have used them & with the exchange rate as is, give excellt vfm with real tickets (not vouchers) with you within about 10-14 days. You get e-mails throughout so that you know your order has been processed & also when it has been dispatched.

 

[Lisa1976]

Sorry about you guys that have lost money.

We used Themeparkland in March for our Universal Tickets, we were going to use them again for December, wonder why they have been sold thought they would have been doing a roaring trade.

 

[julieandco]

I talked to Themepark land today Sat, and they said there is not going to be a problem and everything will be posted it is just that their sister company has merged in with them thats all. Do I believe her?

 

[Van Helsing]

LorraineH i would recommend Keith Prowse

 

[LorraineH]

Van Helsing - Thanks for the Keith Prowse recommendation, but they seem far more expensive than other sites I have researched. Their 10 day WDW pass is £199 for adults, whereas I have seen it advertised for £179. Plus the fact that they dont send the tickets until 10 days before departure fills me with dread. I just want my tickets, in my hands, NOW!!!

Poet - How ever did you find out about all this in the first place? And would we ever have been contacted officially to let us know?

Julieandco - I wouldnt trust anything they say with a barge pole!!

And on another note - I have found a speciman claims form on the ABTA website. They state that they will only pay out if the credit card company says we are not covered, so maybe attraction tickets arent coverd after all.

Lorraine

 

[Van Helsing]

Yes but i like the fact you get the Ticket