Tourism among top areas of consumer complaints in Bulgaria - official

Bulgaria's Commission for Consumer Protection (CCP) received more than 11 000 complaints in 2010 last year, of which between 10 per cent and 15 per cent concerned the quality of tourist services in the country, the regulator's chief secretary, Ivan Bachvarov, said as quoted by news agency BTA.

During the period, complaints related to package tour problems such as disloyal operators started to decrease, he said on the sidelines of a seminar on resolving organised trips disputes.

The largest part of complaints in 2010 concerned tour operators' failure to provide information that has to be made available to tourists before the trip, followed by claims over discrepancies between the information and the service provided.

CCP's customary practice is to mediate meetings between consumers and tour operators when receiving a complaint. In more than 70 per cent of the cases when the operators are found to be the guilty party, they meet customer demands for compensation or discounts, Bachvarov said.

However, in up to 20 per cent of the cases submitted to the CCP, the consumers are the ones lodging complaints without sufficient grounds, the report said.

Admin wrote:

Tourism among top areas of consumer complaints in Bulgaria - official

Bulgaria's Commission for Consumer Protection (CCP) received more than 11 000 complaints in 2010 last year, of which between 10 per cent and 15 per cent concerned the quality of tourist services in the country, the regulator's chief secretary, Ivan Bachvarov, said as quoted by news agency BTA.

During the period, complaints related to package tour problems such as disloyal operators started to decrease, he said on the sidelines of a seminar on resolving organised trips disputes.

The largest part of complaints in 2010 concerned tour operators' failure to provide information that has to be made available to tourists before the trip, followed by claims over discrepancies between the information and the service provided.

CCP's customary practice is to mediate meetings between consumers and tour operators when receiving a complaint. In more than 70 per cent of the cases when the operators are found to be the guilty party, they meet customer demands for compensation or discounts, Bachvarov said.

However, in up to 20 per cent of the cases submitted to the CCP, the consumers are the ones lodging complaints without sufficient grounds, the report said.

Many have said that the tourist services are quite appalling and I believe that is true. I don't believe, however, that the tourists are compensated when they have valid complaints.

I doubt anyone really listens, albena resort has real attitude, poor service and extortionate prices. complaints fall on deaf ears im afraid.

all normal then

1abroad wrote:

all normal then

You know what she's saying here yes its very normal and to be honest I wouldn't know what to do if I received real customer service or a bill I was expecting in Bulgaria

starlite wrote:

I doubt anyone really listens, albena resort has real attitude, poor service and extortionate prices. complaints fall on deaf ears im afraid.

You will find this of interest it looks like some people aren't so fussy as people like you and I


[size=55:3o23ai2f]novinite
Bulgarian Resort Albena Attracted 220 000 Tourists in 2010


One of Bulgaria's leading Black Sea resorts Albena attracted 221 000 tourists in the summer of 2011.

The number of night stays in 2010 grew by 11% year-on-year, while the average occupancy rate of the resort located 30 km north of Varna and 500 km east of Sofia, increased from 76% to 79%.

According to the annual report of Albena about the company's work in 2010, it registered revenues amounting to BGN 77.131 M.

The 2010 profit was BGN 9.337 M. The report for 2010 will be presented to the general assembly of the company on June 26, when the board of directors will propose that the profit should be transferred to the company reserve, and instead of being paid out to the shareholders as dividends.

Albena is the third largest resort complex on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast after Sunny Beach and Golden Sands;
it has about 45 hotels.

I just hate it when someone say to me, we went to Bulgaria on holiday! because I know what is coming next and It is quite embarrassing really Many people tell me they went to Bulgarian on holiday and they had a dreadful time, never again. They tell of how they have been ripped off in taxis, rooms broken into and goods taken, wallets stolen in markets and overcharging on the bill. How unpleasant the hotel staff are and overall how they would never go back. What can one say! Only thing I say is keep out of the resorts, visit the countryside and towns.

Did have one couple who went to the sky resort and they simply loved it there and will be going back again next Feb

i know lots of people who holiday i sozipol and love it. have also heared really good things about bansko so i guess it depends where you go n what your expecting.

if the figures for albena resort are taken from the electronic gate entry, then yes the figures will be high, many visitors including bulgarian day trippers visit albena, that does not mean they stay at the resort. then these figures are misleading. our friends are over at the moment and went to golden sands, in conversation with the hotel owners they have admitted that the english have stopped coming to this resort, the english needs have not been met, the english breadfast not available, continental is for germans and the eastern countries. bulgaria is not meeting the needs of the english tourist, bacon, chips and cheap beer wether you like it or not is what the english want, a mass market is being overlooked, bulgaria needs to meet the needs of a varied consumer but it is not.

starlite wrote:

if the figures for albena resort are taken from the electronic gate entry, then yes the figures will be high, many visitors including bulgarian day trippers visit albena, that does not mean they stay at the resort. then these figures are misleading. our friends are over at the moment and went to golden sands, in conversation with the hotel owners they have admitted that the english have stopped coming to this resort, the english needs have not been met, the english breadfast not available, continental is for germans and the eastern countries. bulgaria is not meeting the needs of the english tourist, bacon, chips and cheap beer wether you like it or not is what the english want, a mass market is being overlooked, bulgaria needs to meet the needs of a varied consumer but it is not.

In my opinion the problem does not all rest with the situation when you get to Bulgaria and their resorts, it's before you get there. I have had three families turn down having a holiday in our villa this year and it has nothing to do with with English breakfast or for that matter anything Bulgarian, it's all to do with the airlines, BA stopped their flights, Bg airways are only flying out of Gatwick to Varna, Balkan Holidays, you never know which airport you might have to land in on returning to the UK, the charter flights are only going to Bourgas and Wizzair have become very expensive, for example some of the flights in August are as much as nearly £400.00 return
Yes I do agree that many things could be done to improve tourism in Bulgaria, but would it make any difference to the number of Brits if they had everything and all was heaven. fantastic and inviting, if it cost you an arm and a leg to get there in the first place
It's not a case of what do we do with them when we get them there, it is how do we get them there in the first place

Lets face it even if the flights were cheaper it wouldn't make that much difference to visitors Bulgaria has a bad name for crime and tourists being ripped off let alone the poor service they receive once they are here, having travelled quite a bit in my time I would put Bulgaria at the bottom when it comes to service and customer care.

Gimp say's:- having travelled quite a bit in my time I would put Bulgaria at the bottom when it comes to service and customer care.

A bold and honourable statement Gimp, seeing you fly the Bulgarian flag. I do agree with you though, it can't get much worse, can it ????????????????

Flag fixed

Gimp wrote:

Flag fixed

I like it, National Flag:
Humour: yes very much so