Dave R

After having issues fitting a cassette to some new wheels, I took some advice from Balfes, at which point it was recommended to purchase a new one, which fortuitously was in stock. The price however was a rather eye watering £120, which I felt obliged to pay considering the help I was given.

However despite a price match being advertised for like for like products at the more typical £60-70, Balfes decided not to honour it, meaning an extremely expensive trip. As a long standing customer, I was left disappointed and severely out of pocket.

We booked a car via VIPCars last summer for a holiday in Malta. We ended up with a hire car firm called Surprice. The car wasn't great, but more importantly we ended up being charged without our knowledge for pre-existing damage to the tune of 450 euros on our return, with the hire car company presenting a differently marked damage sheet as proof, which is either a mistake or an attempt to defraud. A quick trawl of the internet for Surprice makes grim reading.

VIPCars, while initially engaged in assisting, eventually just stopped responding and to my knowledge we still have an ongoing open case with them. #PNH-406-27742

We eventually got the money back via chargeback via a drawn out process with the hire car company, who fought every step of the way.

The moral of the story is, that while using a broker might give you a good price, if they set you up with a rogue provider, then they offer no more protection than booking yourself. My advice would be to do your homework and pick a reputable company, as the few pounds saved cannot compensate for the stress of having to raise a dispute to recover and potentially lose 100s of pounds.

Even less kudos for VIPCars for questioning the integrity of my original review rather than deal with the issues raised.

Good value, good service, don't charge for roaming and include international calls. Nothing to fault.

Please don't be fooled by the 5 star reviews below, dealing with Gotogate was without question the worst experience of any company I have ever dealt with in 50 years.

After the airline cancelled our flights and told us they had refunded to Gotogate, we were fed lie after lie by 'customer services' (to be honest, they offer no service) with bizarre updates, various fantastical statuses or promises of 'escalating to the appropriate team'. It was only the intervention of Skyscanner and obtaining written dates, times and document numbers, that our refund was finally given back to us.

Moral of the story is, please avoid this company and their contemptible business practices like the plague. Their cut and paste expressions of concern in these review sites are as meaningless as their updates to customers. The sooner the owners Etraveli group shut down this enterprise, the better.

If it is any sort of crumb of comfort for people affected by them, we did eventually get a refund, however we had to do all the detective work ourselves and it was only via Skyscanner we managed to have any sort of dialogue with them.

To follow-up on a review I left earlier after having been left high and dry by Gotogate, one of Skyscanner's partners.

After many months and with Skyscanner's help, we finally managed to secure a refund from Gotogate. In this regard Skyscanner were excellent and super helpful in assisting this on-going nightmare. However, as in my previous review, Gotogate still show as an option when booking flights, which considering the contemptible way in which they operate, is a huge disappointment.

So credit to Skyscanner for helping and as a service, we have few other complaints. However, be aware, there are no guarantees once you have left Skyscanner's site so be sure of the credentials of your provider before you commit.

No stars would be too much. We are due to fly in less than a week and need to rebook or cancel with the airline. The phone line does not even ring, let alone be in a queue. We are utterly out of ideas. A very expensive lesson learned. Please do not give this company your business

If I could give no stars I would. We have been left high and dry with the coronavirus outbreak. To quote their website:

Please note, our policies do not provide cover for cancellation, abandonment or curtailment claims if the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advises against all or “all but essential” travel. Our policies will not provide any cover if you are travelling against Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) advice.

So if you travel you will not be covered and if you don't travel, they will not re-reimburse for cancellation. Totally valueless cover and we would have been better off saving our £80 and having no insurance at all. A disgrace.