Customers who bought holidays from an online ‘travel agent’ recommended by friends on Facebook say they’re owed thousands of pounds after it suddenly ceased trading on Sunday.
Clients allege they paid Carolyn Braithwaite for holidays that were never booked by her ‘agency’, Let Us Book It.
Let Us Book It posted a message on its Facebook page on 5 August saying that it had ceased trading and an administrator would be in touch with clients about their bookings.
However, no details for the administrator were provided and none of the clients Travel Gossip has spoken to have been contacted.
When contacted by Travel Gossip, Carolyn declined to name the administrators, but she said ‘three or four’ customers had been refunded and that all other clients would get their money back.
In the message, Let Us Book It said: “We’re reaching out to you today with heavy hearts to share some news – effective from the 5th August at 00:00, Let Us Book It will be permanently discontinuing operations and has gone into administration.
“It’s been a tough road for small and independent agencies these past few years. With the compounding challenge of costs having rapidly increased across all aspects of business, we are unfortunately at a point where it is no longer sustainable for us to continue service.
“Our journey began in 2021 with the mission of bringing around the clock quality service to our guests.
“We have had many wonderful successes and some not so great. But we always fought through.
“Unfortunately we have been unable to continue with all the changes and challenges the travel industry has been facing.
“An administration company have been appointed and will be in contact with clients who have reservations and refunds pending. They have already been in touch with suppliers and all contracts are now cancelled.”
The business appeared to source all of its customers via word-of-mouth or Facebook, where it had about 100 followers. It had no website and it doesn’t appear to have been registered at Companies House. It didn’t have ABTA or ATOL membership and was not part of any homeworking franchise.
All the transactions were done via Facebook Messenger.
Last month, the agency posted a competition on its Facebook page, offering customers a Cunard ‘fam trip’ as a prize to the first two people to book a holiday. It then changed the competition rules, saying it would draw the prize from a list of customers who liked, shared and commented on its Facebook post.
Winner Maria said she was told she would be going on a four-night cruise on Cunard’s Queen Anne, departing from Southampton for Hamburg on 5 January 2025. She said Carolyn encouraged her to pay £300 for a drinks package for two and £120 for parking.
Maria said she was also persuaded to book a second cabin on the cruise for a friend after Carolyn said there was a time-limited promotion, for which Maria’s friend paid more than £1,100. However, she became suspicious when she never received any confirmation for either of the bookings.
“I asked Carolyn many times for confirmation but she came up with every excuse under the sun,” said Maria. “Her dad had died, her son with sick, he was in intensive care with bacterial meningitis. I kept waiting, but she never sent any confirmation, but she did try to sell me other extras such as excursions and spa treatments on board, but by then I was suspicious and refused.”
Cunard told Travel Gossip that it doesn’t have a relationship with Let Us Book It and it confirmed that fam trip places are exclusively for its travel agent partners. When Travel Gossip put this to Carolyn, she said: “How do you know I didn’t book the cabins myself?”
Maria said she started following Let Us Book It on Facebook after they were recommended to her by a friend, who had booked previous holidays with Carolyn.
She first contacted Carolyn to enquire about a Christmas Markets cruise for December, and then spotted the competition for a Cunard ‘fam trip’ on the Facebook page in June.
However, Maria’s friend alerted her to a possible issue with Let Us Book It in July. She’d been offered a ‘free’ weekend break in Portugal in return for booking and paying in full for another holiday, but when she’d arrived in Portugal, the accommodation hadn’t been paid for, she said.
Maria’s friend, who wishes to remain anonymous said: “My friend Emma had used Carolyn for about eight years and she had some great cheap holidays, so when I got to Portugal and she told me to pay for the hotel and she’d pay me back, she was so brilliant at what she does, I believed her, I put £1,300 on my credit card, but I’m still waiting for the money back.”
She said her mum had also paid for holidays with Let Us Book It but hadn’t received any booking confirmation by the time the business shut down. However, she has since been refunded via Paypal, but she says a £1,500 refund Carolyn claims she sent for her ‘free’ holiday to Portugal has never arrived. She says she’s still owed £3,430 for the deposit for a cruise. “Twice she has refunded £1,600 of it and twice [the payment] has failed,” she said.
“I believe there are about 43 other people on a Facebook chat all trying to get their money back from her.”
In the message posted to customers on its Facebook page, Let Us Book It said: “We thank you for your support and know that this is as heartbreaking for you as much as it is for us.
“Please we ask you to communicate only with the administration company to ensure refunds are processed in a timely manor [sic] and also to remember we are a family too with children and this has had a major impact on all of us.
“We have built such wonderful relationships and hope that you will understand and continue to be kind.
“Thank you for you support over the past three and a half years.”
The Facebook page has since been removed.
Another former client, Claire, told Travel Gossip that she’d booked a family holiday to Gibraltar via Let Us Book It after the company was recommended to her by a friend. The trip went ahead without a hitch, so she recommended the agent to all her family and friends.
“It was only when my mum went away and the hotel wasn’t paid that we got suspicious,” she said. “She had to pay the hotel herself and never saw her £4,000 again.”
Claire had already booked another family holiday, to Tenerife, with Let Us Book It for this summer. “After lots of requests, even up to two days before we travelled, we still had no information. We had two flights booked on Sunday, but she then closed the business Sunday evening.
“We have had to borrow more money to go away. On top of this, we paid in full for a family holiday to New York for my husband’s 50th.
In total, Claire paid £11,000 to Let Us Book It. She said Carolyn agreed to return £5,700 for the New York trip via Paypal, but Claire said she hasn’t received the refund. She said her bank has refused to refund a £2,500 deposit she transferred to Let Us Book It for her Tenerife holiday.
“We did get an ATOL certificate for Tenerife, but on investigation I understand this was never paid her end. It appears we are not alone, but at the moment, we seem unable to get any money back,” she added.
Carolyn told Travel Gossip all the money owed will be refunded but declined to comment further at this stage.
The post Customers claim they lost holidays after paying thousands to ‘travel agent’ recommended on Facebook appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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Clients allege they paid Carolyn Braithwaite for holidays that were never booked by her ‘agency’, Let Us Book It.
Let Us Book It posted a message on its Facebook page on 5 August saying that it had ceased trading and an administrator would be in touch with clients about their bookings.
However, no details for the administrator were provided and none of the clients Travel Gossip has spoken to have been contacted.
When contacted by Travel Gossip, Carolyn declined to name the administrators, but she said ‘three or four’ customers had been refunded and that all other clients would get their money back.
In the message, Let Us Book It said: “We’re reaching out to you today with heavy hearts to share some news – effective from the 5th August at 00:00, Let Us Book It will be permanently discontinuing operations and has gone into administration.
“It’s been a tough road for small and independent agencies these past few years. With the compounding challenge of costs having rapidly increased across all aspects of business, we are unfortunately at a point where it is no longer sustainable for us to continue service.
“Our journey began in 2021 with the mission of bringing around the clock quality service to our guests.
“We have had many wonderful successes and some not so great. But we always fought through.
“Unfortunately we have been unable to continue with all the changes and challenges the travel industry has been facing.
“An administration company have been appointed and will be in contact with clients who have reservations and refunds pending. They have already been in touch with suppliers and all contracts are now cancelled.”
The business appeared to source all of its customers via word-of-mouth or Facebook, where it had about 100 followers. It had no website and it doesn’t appear to have been registered at Companies House. It didn’t have ABTA or ATOL membership and was not part of any homeworking franchise.
All the transactions were done via Facebook Messenger.
‘Cunard fam trip’ offered as competition prize
Last month, the agency posted a competition on its Facebook page, offering customers a Cunard ‘fam trip’ as a prize to the first two people to book a holiday. It then changed the competition rules, saying it would draw the prize from a list of customers who liked, shared and commented on its Facebook post.
Winner Maria said she was told she would be going on a four-night cruise on Cunard’s Queen Anne, departing from Southampton for Hamburg on 5 January 2025. She said Carolyn encouraged her to pay £300 for a drinks package for two and £120 for parking.
Maria said she was also persuaded to book a second cabin on the cruise for a friend after Carolyn said there was a time-limited promotion, for which Maria’s friend paid more than £1,100. However, she became suspicious when she never received any confirmation for either of the bookings.
“I asked Carolyn many times for confirmation but she came up with every excuse under the sun,” said Maria. “Her dad had died, her son with sick, he was in intensive care with bacterial meningitis. I kept waiting, but she never sent any confirmation, but she did try to sell me other extras such as excursions and spa treatments on board, but by then I was suspicious and refused.”
Cunard told Travel Gossip that it doesn’t have a relationship with Let Us Book It and it confirmed that fam trip places are exclusively for its travel agent partners. When Travel Gossip put this to Carolyn, she said: “How do you know I didn’t book the cabins myself?”
Clients promised ‘free’ holidays
Maria said she started following Let Us Book It on Facebook after they were recommended to her by a friend, who had booked previous holidays with Carolyn.
She first contacted Carolyn to enquire about a Christmas Markets cruise for December, and then spotted the competition for a Cunard ‘fam trip’ on the Facebook page in June.
However, Maria’s friend alerted her to a possible issue with Let Us Book It in July. She’d been offered a ‘free’ weekend break in Portugal in return for booking and paying in full for another holiday, but when she’d arrived in Portugal, the accommodation hadn’t been paid for, she said.
Maria’s friend, who wishes to remain anonymous said: “My friend Emma had used Carolyn for about eight years and she had some great cheap holidays, so when I got to Portugal and she told me to pay for the hotel and she’d pay me back, she was so brilliant at what she does, I believed her, I put £1,300 on my credit card, but I’m still waiting for the money back.”
She said her mum had also paid for holidays with Let Us Book It but hadn’t received any booking confirmation by the time the business shut down. However, she has since been refunded via Paypal, but she says a £1,500 refund Carolyn claims she sent for her ‘free’ holiday to Portugal has never arrived. She says she’s still owed £3,430 for the deposit for a cruise. “Twice she has refunded £1,600 of it and twice [the payment] has failed,” she said.
“I believe there are about 43 other people on a Facebook chat all trying to get their money back from her.”
Agent asks clients to ‘be kind’
In the message posted to customers on its Facebook page, Let Us Book It said: “We thank you for your support and know that this is as heartbreaking for you as much as it is for us.
“Please we ask you to communicate only with the administration company to ensure refunds are processed in a timely manor [sic] and also to remember we are a family too with children and this has had a major impact on all of us.
“We have built such wonderful relationships and hope that you will understand and continue to be kind.
“Thank you for you support over the past three and a half years.”
The Facebook page has since been removed.
Promised refunds fail to arrive
Another former client, Claire, told Travel Gossip that she’d booked a family holiday to Gibraltar via Let Us Book It after the company was recommended to her by a friend. The trip went ahead without a hitch, so she recommended the agent to all her family and friends.
“It was only when my mum went away and the hotel wasn’t paid that we got suspicious,” she said. “She had to pay the hotel herself and never saw her £4,000 again.”
Claire had already booked another family holiday, to Tenerife, with Let Us Book It for this summer. “After lots of requests, even up to two days before we travelled, we still had no information. We had two flights booked on Sunday, but she then closed the business Sunday evening.
“We have had to borrow more money to go away. On top of this, we paid in full for a family holiday to New York for my husband’s 50th.
In total, Claire paid £11,000 to Let Us Book It. She said Carolyn agreed to return £5,700 for the New York trip via Paypal, but Claire said she hasn’t received the refund. She said her bank has refused to refund a £2,500 deposit she transferred to Let Us Book It for her Tenerife holiday.
“We did get an ATOL certificate for Tenerife, but on investigation I understand this was never paid her end. It appears we are not alone, but at the moment, we seem unable to get any money back,” she added.
Carolyn told Travel Gossip all the money owed will be refunded but declined to comment further at this stage.
The post Customers claim they lost holidays after paying thousands to ‘travel agent’ recommended on Facebook appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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