SAYNOTO0870.COM - Cresta Holidays

peterofware Newbie Offline Posts: 2	Cresta Holidays Jul 28^th, 2005 at 10:01am Hi, Anyone know a non- 0870 number for Cresta Holidays in Altrincham. They are answer with an auto message and then keep you hanging on for ages - perhaps they make more profit on the phone calls, Cheers, Peter
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bill

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Re: Cresta Holidays
Reply #1 - Jul 28^th, 2005 at 10:11am

http://www.spaa.org/cgi-bin/replace2.pl?webpage=contacts&id=155

0161 385 4009

However, http://web.archive.org/ shows they were using 0870 161 0909 back in 2000 so the above may be out of date.

OTOH, http://www.belgiumtheplaceto.be/index.php?page=tourps/touroperators.php lists 0161 385 4100 - so there may be a pattern there!

And then again http://www.poland.dial.pipex.com/tours_to_list_2004.pdf shows 0161 927 7000 - so perhaps that is not the case.

P.S. Isn't Google wonderful!

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« Last Edit: Jul 28^th, 2005 at 10:37am by bill »

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newbold

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Cresta Holidays
Reply #2 - Nov 1^st, 2006 at 10:36am

Does anyone have a working number for these people (a MyTravel subsidiary) please? The numbers shown on sayno below* are non-functional (see below) and a very thorough search of the net and various other sources has failed completely to find anything but 0870 numbers.

*01992 456200 - Not a working number
*01282 845522 - Not a working number
*01282 846050 - French Life (a competing company - not part of MyTravel)
*01282 846059 - French Life (a competing company - not part of MyTravel)

I found these numbers in my searches, but they don't work either:

0161 385 4030 - Never gets a reply
01706 746464 - MyTravel Press Office

We could all ring the Press Office number and tell them what we think of companies that rip off their customers with 0870s (I've done this) but a working number would be great if anyone has one please. Many thanks.

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bbb_uk

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Re: Cresta Holidays
Reply #3 - Nov 1^st, 2006 at 11:31am

newbold wrote on Nov 1^st, 2006 at 10:36am:

Does anyone have a working number for these people (a MyTravel subsidiary) please? The numbers shown on sayno below* are non-functional (see below) and a very thorough search of the net and various other sources has failed completely to find anything but 0870 numbers.

*01992 456200 - Not a working number
*01282 845522 - Not a working number
*01282 846050 - French Life (a competing company - not part of MyTravel)
*01282 846059 - French Life (a competing company - not part of MyTravel)

Thanks, I've now removed them and added French Life to the database.

Cresta Holidays are part of a much larger group known as BCT Travel Group Ltd

In fact the following are all part of the BCT Travel Group:

Where2, Tradewinds, Swiss Travel Service, Studio Express, Studio, Paris Travel Service, Mytravel, Hotelstogo.co.uk, Hotels to Go, Eurotunnel Motoring Holidays, Eurotunnel Holidays, Eurostar Holidays Direct, Cresta Holidays, Bridge Travel Service, Bridge Sun Collection, Bridge Scandinavia, Bridge France, Bridge City Breaks, Belgian Travel Service, Amsterdam Travel Service, 2Paris, Cresta.

There is a number in the unverified database for Cresta Travel: 0161 385 4479 which has the same format as BCT Travel Group number 0161 385 4030 (which you've tried).

I'd therefore try 0161 385 4479 or nearby numbers and failing that numbers around 0161 385 4030 as they obviously must have number ranges beginning 0161 385 4xxx (from 4030).

Let us know how you get on.

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« Last Edit: Nov 1^st, 2006 at 11:58am by bbb_uk »

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newbold

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Re: Cresta Holidays
Reply #4 - Nov 1^st, 2006 at 4:17pm

Thanks for the help. You're right - you can reach people in the company within the range of numbers you mention. It's a long job, but, for example, 0161 385 4040 was a hit. It's a Human Resources number, but they offered to take my number and call me back when I said I was looking to buy a Paris Travel holiday. I managed the same response earlier today with 01706 236281, which is their emergency number (found on a cached Google page, but now itself replaced with an 0870!). So you can get round the 0870s, but it's a time-consuming process. At least every time you do it, though, it wastes their time and money.

These people are desperate to get all their calls on 0870s aren't they? Could it perhaps be that they're making more money out of these than they are out of selling holidays? I see they issued a not very good trading statement earlier today.

By the way, BCT (which incorporates Cresta, Bridge etc) is a subsidiary company of MyTravel Group plc, which is the ultimate parent.

Thanks to all for the site, which I've been using for what seems like years and has saved me an absolute fortune! I only just registered though.

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« Last Edit: Nov 1^st, 2006 at 4:20pm by newbold »

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newbold

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Re: Cresta Holidays
Reply #5 - Nov 3^rd, 2006 at 5:03pm

Just by way of a follow up, the following number works and takes you through to a line probably reserved for travel agents. If asked nicely, though, they will help you or transfer the call to where it ought to be. This company is paranoid about letting anyone get hold of its geographical numbers, though, and I doubt the number will last that long. Its almost certainly the most consistently profitable part of the business, particularly as they keep you hanging on for ages and then frequently cut you off.

The obsessive use of 0870 numbers says everything you need to know about this company's attitude to its customers - buyer beware.

0161 385 4050

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