darlene steed

Review of Lochs and Glens Holidays

Just come back from our 7th Lochs and Glens holid...

Just come back from our 7th Lochs and Glens holiday and have to say this was a bad experience nothing like the previous ones.Have never once complained before so this says I do not complain unnecessarily.Four of us booked together and were allocated the back seat not knowing that a fifth person would be seated in the middle. For 5 average sized adults this is a very tight and uncomfortable position for a 14 hour journey. The coach broke down temporarily 3 times on route and even though it was for a relatively short time sat on the hard shoulder of the motorway with the traffic still passing at 70 mph is not very pleasant. The driver had said he couldn't load the night before the journey because the coach was not back from the previous Scotland trip. Then the toilet was out of order as it had not been replenished with water so could not flush. The driver we had had never done our trip before and did not have any knowledge of Scotland at all. All previous ones have been excellent with lots of information which makes for a much more interesting holiday. The most upsetting and disturbing was a party of about 40 people from a local pub were on board and about 8 of them including the person seated between us began drinking alcohol at about 10.30 and as time went on with the vast amount of alcohol being consumed including Bottles of spirits some were very drunk and the noise and singing just got louder and louder.They were walking around the coach with glasses ,spilling drink, all in all made a very miserable 14 hour journey.When I asked the driver what the policy was about drinking alcohol was told I need to take it up with Lochs and Glens. This I did but the response from the customer service manager was not acceptable.She said because of costs they will always sell the middle seat but would tell the booking department to ensure this was made clear. To the coach breaking down she just said this can happen to any one.The toilet with no water doesn't matter as it is only for emergency use and they stop every 2 -2half hours.The driver without any knowledge,well they have got to be new sometime and they don't advertise a tour guide.Lastly some people like a drink and they do not have a policy about drinking alchol.The hotel and food was good as usual but the response leaves a lot to be desired.I would like to think it is a one off but by the response and some other reviews makes it look as though threy are cutting corners and the start of a slippery slope.I do feel it is not the complaints one gets but the way they are handled that makes the big difference.