Halsbury Travel Group
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Reviews 220
Dark GIRL
Apr 12,2023i hope you get sued. you can not put a price on the disappointment on children’s faces. absolutely disgraceful. not just 1 but over 8 schools have been let down. HORRIBLE
Adrian Laffey
Apr 04,2023Trip for 90 students cancelled with less than 24 hours notice. Notwithstanding the cost of ski gear, ski lessons and effort to organise by our schools teachers….. How can you put a price on the look of disappointment on our 16 year olds. Horrendous. Acknowledged the offer of refund and compensation, equally someone will have to cover the cost of the hotels. Nothing better than negligent….. Hopefully the company manages its cash better than booking coaches, or there will be nothing coming back…. If you are booking a school trip, strongly recommend you look elsewhere.
Paul
Apr 03,2023What reputable company realises hours before that they haven’t booked coaches for a school trip that has been planned for over a year? There is no excuse in this day and age for it all sitting in one person’s email / spreadsheet / OneDrive or whatever it is that actually happened. What’s worse is the absolute tone deaf responses I’ve seen them give to other parents where they apologise for ‘having to disappoint a small number of schools’. In this language you really see the mindset the company has in response to the absolute emotional devastation they’ve caused to hundreds of children. That devastation caused by their outright negligence is reduced to a small issue (we’ve disappointed only a small number of schools). Essentially saying that we are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I feel almost guilty that my child has actually been able to continue with their trip where hundreds of others haven’t, only because of the last minute actions of our ski trip leader and parents rallying around to find an alternative coach company with less than 24 hours to go. I’ve just seen this response from Halsbury to one parent who has had their children let down: ‘Thank you for your review. We are very sorry to have disappointed a small number of schools that were due to travel with us this weekend. All customers will receive a 100% refund and additional compensation. The money will be paid in full into the bank accounts of affected schools prior to the Easter weekend holiday. Schools will then be able to distribute this to the parents. Best regards,’ How tone deaf is that? Thank you… Very sorry… Yes you’ll get money plus extra… money into bank accounts… money distributed… small number of schools affected… BEST REGARDS. Whoever is writing this has no concept of the emotional devastation their company has caused. It’s just pure business. This business HAS ABSOLUTELY NO PLACE being involved in the welfare of children. Full stop.
Ian
Apr 03,2023Update ******* After more than 11 weeks of waiting for a refund, all the communication we have had is that it is in the insurance peoples hands. Still waiting on forms to claim for expenses such as extra food and drinks needed and unneeded ski equipment. Poor showing. Daughter was going on a school ski trip with this company. After much deliberation between the teachers and the travel company it was decided that they would travel to Italy via Dover on the afternoon of the 1st, despite the well published delays and problems, as they need to make an attempt to travel to be able to claim on the insurance.!!!! After 10 hours sat at a bus stop in Folkestone they got called to the port, and waited there for an hour and informed of 12 hour delays to board before the bus drivers said they wouldn’t be able to drive for another 12 hours after the ferry crossing. Harlsbury done nothing to provide food/drink of any kind to the teacher and children stuck on the coach. Awaiting to hear if Halsbury/ the insurance will refund the trip and hopefully as a goodwill gesture will reimburse people’s expenses for ski kit and refreshments during the delay.
An angry parent
Apr 03,2023Dear Halsbury Travel, I'm a parent of a Year 10 student who was supposed to be travelling with you from Chulmleigh College in Devon to a week-long skiing trip in Italy. Like the many, many other parents who have been in touch with you, I am angry. I'm angry because my daughter is not currently skiing in Sestriere. I'm angry with how the cancellation of her trip has affected her and her friends. I'm angry about all the money hundreds of families that have been let down by your company have paid for trips that have not happened. But, most of all, I'm angry by the fact that you clearly don't get it. From the various messages on social media channels and TrustPilot, it's clear that you've let down several schools this week. It looks like 300-400 children are currently sitting at home with broken hearts. Here's the bit you don't seem to get. The children you have let down are 14, 15 and 16 year olds who, once again, find life experiences being torn from their grasp for reasons outside their control. These are children who have spent a lot of the last three years sitting at home being deprived of life opportunities and social interaction. Unable to see their friends for six months during lockdown. Another six months wearing masks on school buses and in classrooms. These are children who have missed out on school trip after school trip because of travel restrictions, social distancing, budget shortfalls and economic hardship. These are children who had one chance before they leave secondary school to experience a week away from their parents, to travel a foreign country, to make new friends and to begin their journey from a disrupted childhood into young adulthood. I'm sure you remember school trips like that. School trips that gave you experiences that you can recall today in an instant. Experiences that still influence your lives and life choices. And yet, from the starchy messages you've been putting on social media and in reply to reviews on here, you actually don't seem to get any of that. Not one little bit. Yes, we damn well want our money back. Yes we want compensation for the hidden costs you can't see. No, I'm not sure a discount on future bookings is realistically going to work out well for anyone. You've lost customers, but you still have time to win hearts and minds. I know of families who have made huge sacrifices and gone without over the last year in order to give their children the opportunity to go on this trip. I know of children who have had to save their pocket money or get weekend jobs to help their parents cover the costs. I know of families buying ski jackets instead of Christmas presents, because they couldn't afford both. I know of parents who paid extra for ski lessons over the last few months so their kids could get the most out of their week. Since you cancelled the trip, I also know of parents who have had to rearrange the holiday they'd booked this week because they cannot take their son or daughter with them at such short notice. I know of parents who have managed to find extra money to treat their disappointed children to something exciting during the Easter holidays - just to give them something to smile about. I know of parents having to hurriedly book time off work (with loss of pay) because they were unable to arrange childcare quickly enough. So, yes, pay us back and pay us for all the extra stuff we've shelled out for over and above the cost of the trip itself. But the thing is, money only goes so far. As parents, we are hurting. Hurting for what our children have, once again, lost. We feel helpless. Today, our children are sat, lethargic, unspeaking, upset, depressed. Nothing we do seems able to shake them from their gloom this weekend. They are staring at their phones and messaging their friends with that all-too-familiar feeling in their stomachs. That feeling they've felt so many times over the last three years. That overwhelming feeling that life really and truly isn't fair. So, I think I speak for a lot of parents when I say it's time to wake up to what you've done, Halsbury Travel. Turn off corporate speak. Be human. Personally, here's what I want. I want you to be honest. Be honest about what's happened. Nobody believes what you've said so far. I want you to demonstrate a genuine empathy and understanding of what your failings have done to all these children. You've potentially changed the direction of over 300 young lives. And I think you should consider what suitable 'compensation' looks like. Getting our money back is the least we'll accept. But ask yourselves what more you can do to provide 300+ life-changing experiences that will go at least some way towards making up for the crushing disappointment you have delivered to hundreds of children and families. The ball is very much in your court. Do the right thing, Halsbury.
LH
Apr 02,2023No words to describe how shocked & upset I was to hear my grandson’s long awaited skiing school trip had been cancelled with less than 24hrs notice. And then to read your reply Halsbury that you had to cancel a small number of school trips. I’m not sure what constitutes a ‘ small number’ in your world, from what I have heard numerous schools up & down the country have been let down, with complete disregard for the upset you have caused to hundreds of children, parents & teachers. Not to mention the financial implication of all of this. I sincerely hope somebody will be held to account for this!!!
Sheila White
Apr 02,2023With at least 4 schools affected by this last minute cancellation due to no coaches booked, has anyone checked to see if accommodation in Italy was booked ?
Mr Peckett
Apr 02,2023The travel company that does not travel. My friends kids were due to travel to Italy by coach on 1st April only to have it cancelled due to some clown not booking the coach!. On what planet can a travel company have the incompetence to fail at the very first basic hurdle? People have spent well over £1000 to get their kids the experience of a lifetime that you have Catastrophically naused up. I would not trust Halsbury Travel group to put their shoes on the right way let alone organise a trip.
LUCY BURKE
Apr 02,2023My child was due to travel on Saturday 1st April with 60 other pupils from bristol who were all let down with only 24hours notice of cancelation of their ski trip which has been planned for almost 2 years. Very devastating for all involved.
M.
Apr 02,2023Along with around five other schools our daughter’s final year ski trip was cancelled by the company with 24 hours notice. There has been nothing but stock copy and paste replies about this. ‘Katie’ is obviously the only person who works for this company and spends so much time copying apologies that it’s no wonder the company is failing. These trips were all cancelled because the company’s admin is so lax that they didn’t bother to check that coaches were booked. For a whole number of schools. To be clear, the full refund and compensation being offered should obviously be a given. If compensation does not cover every penny invested on equipment etc for these trips then the company should expect some robust legal challenges. In an ideal world the combined legal cases of all the affected schools would take this company down so they could not disappoint any other children ever again. They don’t deserve to keep trading and an investigation needs to be launched by travel regulators. You cannot adequately compensate for the loss of a once in a lifetime trip for a group of children when you take that away from them the day before. They will never have that chance again. Your staff have taken that away. You have personally ruined the final school experience of countless children and I hope your consciences suffer for it for a long time. But I doubt they will. If you work in a school and are planning a school trip in the future, your best course is action is to not use this company and to make sure that all of the schools in your region know not to use them either.
leanne morris
Apr 02,2023Halsbury travel….never let your child go to Italy booked through these! Huge safeguarding issues with ski instructors! Turning a blind eye! Very disappointed and to think your all ex teachers ! Safeguarding should be your priority!
Helen
Apr 02,2023I have taken some time to try and get some prospective on how a company could make such a monumental mistake! To cancel my daughters ski trip less that 24 hrs before they’re due to leave?? No communication, no apology, a small jester of compensation that in no way goes in covering the emotional distress caused and call me skeptical I am not convinced I will see any of my money!! This trip was booked in Oct 21, I think two plus years to organise a trip is sufficient!!! After all you advertise as “specialists” in planning school trips! Clearly your not! How can it be the same reason for so many schools? How can you run a company like this? I would like the director of Halisbury to go to each school affected and have a meeting with the parents and students and apologise and explain how badly Halsbury have let the kids down!!! I would like to know when I will expect our refund and compensation? 1 star is very generous! Absolutely fuming!!
Julie Bowden
Apr 02,2023Kids ski trip has been cancelled less the 25hrs before they are set to leave kids in tears absolutely disgraceful to cancel because they haven't booked a coach. This was my son's first time abroad and skiing what should have been a fantastic time has turned into misery. This had been booked and payed for 18mths ago and there should be no excuse to not having the coach booked disappointed is an understatement. Not only has this cost us a lot of money we have had to buy all the clothing to go skiing and a passport as this was his first time away. All these kids are so upset it's heartbreaking to see. Shame on you Halsbury travel.
CB
Apr 01,2023Wish there was a way you could give no stars. This company do not deserve even one. Ski trip cancelled with less than 24hours notice. 65 children left confused and upset with no real explanation as to why. And to leave the teachers to explain to all the children the day before travel and the disgruntled parents. Utterly disgraceful. Children, parents and teachers deserve truthful answers. This is NOT good enough
Sam1star
Apr 01,2023I wish I could leave zero stars for this shower… my son and his friends should be on their way to Italy for a much-anticipated ski trip right now. Instead, this useless lot cancelled the trip with less than 24 hours’ notice yesterday. Apparently the coaches weren’t booked. How does a travel company manage not to book a bus?? Incompetent doesn’t begin to cover it. And I’m heartily sick of reading the same excuses cut and pasted into replies to furious parents with children who have been totally let down. Schools thinking of using this company for a trip should save themselves a lot of bother and choose a different firm. This lot are a shambles.
doubting thomas
Apr 01,2023Halsbury Travel Ltd AVOID Many parents and their children would have woken up this morning feeling disappointed, upset and very angry that Halsbury Travel have let down so many children because they failed to book a coach!!! The explanation given by the company that it was an administrative error due to staff sickness may have a very small degree of plausibility when viewed in isolation. However after reading about other schools on Trustpilot, Google Reviews, Facebook (look at the comments under The Archer Academy post) the explanation begins to look less plausible. Looking at the above forums, the schools affected are; St Bernadette’s Catholic Secondary School, Bristol, Chulmleigh School, Devon, Hillview school, Tonbridge, Kent, Chenderit School, Oxfordshire There may be others, but those posting negative reviews have not all mentioned the school involved. So, the explanation given to its customers is; “When doing our final confirmation checks, we discovered that the coach we had booked for your trip had not been confirmed by the supplier. We take full responsibility for this. It was due to a combination of personnel changes internally and suppliers changing their bookings without notifying us”. Plausible excuse for one school, but 4 schools? Parents should be contacting Contact Halsbury Travel | Halsbury Travel Ltd | School Trips to explain the following; - • why did the company not use its own coaches? According to Companies House it has its own subsidiary coach company = HALSBURY TRAVEL (COACHES) LIMITED. Presumably they must have been fully booked due the Easter holidays, so had to subcontract? • However, I am just applying logic here, if it was my coach company that Halsbury Travel had provisionally booked coaches for 4 different schools at separate locations around the country, would you not be chasing Halsbury Travel up to win the contract? I am not implying the coach company is at fault, I am just posing the question whether a coach company would simply ignore such a business opportunity? Doesn’t seem plausible! • Of course, the contract may not have been awarded to a single national coach company, perhaps Halsbury Travel, tried sub-contracting the coaches regionally? But wait, the explanation given was “booking not been confirmed by the supplier & suppliers changing their bookings without notifying us”. Again, perhaps plausible for one company, but are we to believe that 4 different coach companies all changed their booking at the same time. Tad unlucky!!! Compensation, who pays? I am no insurance expert, but I do know that if I miss a flight because I overslept, it is very unlikely my travel insurance covers my own failings. Similarly, whoever Halsbury Travel is insured by, is not going to pay out when Halsbury Travel has admitted publicly on severally forums that the holidays were cancelled due to their own incompetence! So, would the money have to be found from their own profit margins? Let’s not forget that it will not be just parents seeking compensation. Presumably the hotels and ski instructors will also be seeking recompense! If you know the name of the hotel, it might be worth contacting them just to see if the accommodation was booked and paid for! If Halsbury Travel forgot to book a coach, could they have also forgotten to book the hotel? Clearly gross incompetence if they also failed to book accommodation as well as the coach, but good news also, because it means they have customers coach and accommodation money sat in the bank ready to be returned!!! Hopefully Halsbury travel has a healthy bank balance, because 60 pupils x 4 schools x £900 each is £216,000 and that is without factoring in any compensation. Halsbury Travel ownership changed in summer of 2022, and is now owned by HURON BIDCO LIMITED. But fear not, because all 3 companies including HALSBURY TRAVEL LIMITED, HALSBURY TRAVEL (COACHES) LIMITED are all owned by the same 2 directors, Carolyn Halpin-Rose Chief Financial Officer, and Alexander Patrick Williamson. Ultimately the buck stops with these two. And it is these two that customers should be contacting to get a definitive answer.
Joey Tempest
Apr 01,2023If I could do 0 stars I would. The whole process from start to finish was a shambles. We had to chase them constantly and were regularly left in the dark. On the morning of our trip, rather early than a coach turning up as promised, we received two airport transfer vehicles that did not fit our group. After 3.5 hours of trying to organise our own coach to get us there we had to cancel the trip as nothing could be done so last minute. 23 very cold and angry people who will never use Halsbury again.
Annemarie
Apr 01,2023Shame on you letting down 60 kids 24 hrs before travel to Italy. You had 1 job to do. Why? Someone didn’t confirm coaches? Complete ineptitude, heads should roll. These kids missed out on so much over Covid; this just adds insult to injury. Seems this isn’t an isolated case. 100’s of children over the country very disappointed today not to mention parents that are out of pocket due to change of their plans for the week.
James Smith
Apr 01,2023Total Shambles! Cancelling a school trip 24 hours prior to leaving! This happening to several schools at the same time. The story about mis-booking of coaches and changes in personnel doesn't add up. Either something is being hidden or it's total incompetence. Very Sceptical! Is there a cash flow issue and has the Company just taken the money? Interested to see how the Company proposes to refund all these 100's of people. Hope I have to eat my words! Still doesn't make up for the disappointment for the kids.
SKD
May 15,2023My children joined a pre-GCSE Spanish language immersion trip to Granada. The quality and organisation of the trip was at best exceptionally poor. We still await a suitable response and compensation in relation to a host of serious safeguarding complaints including "bumping" 15 years old from their flight (resulting in the loss of the first half day of a 4 day trip) and the complete lack of vetting of host families. Halsbury will not deal with individual parents ("GDPR reasons" apparently), but have also failed to respond to our school's representative with whom they do have a contract. Halsbury provided details of the vetted host families only 3 days before the trip. On arrival, it was clear that our children's hosts were wholly unsuitable and clearly not vetted. Our school's students were hosted in groups of 3 with families that were also hosting other language students (5 students in one case, 6 in another, one of which was over 21 years). Serious safeguarding concerns were raised (including the absence of locks on doors, meals not being provided, hosts being absent, the host (female) entering a boys' bedroom at night; children told to stay out of the host's home until as late as possible) The whole trip was at best a waste of time, time which would have been much better (and more safely) spent with a Spanish tutor at home. I would not allow my children to join a Halsbury Travel organised trip again.