Brendan Vacations

Update: Increased from 1 to 2 stars — see addition to comment below.
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I am planning a trip to Ireland and was referred to this company by an upstanding travel agent, so I expected a good experience. I called in mid-​August 2013 and spoke with an agent named Robert Benson, who said he could plan and book a good itinerary for my trip. After our phone conversation, I followed up with an email detailing things I hoped to include in the trip so he could route me accordingly.
After a few days, I hadn’t even gotten a response to my email, so I followed up with a phone call. He said he would have something for me the following Monday.
Monday came and went. At the end of the week, I called again. Robert was busy on another call, so I explained to the woman why I was calling. She said the problem was that the 2014 rates for Ireland weren’t in yet. No problem, I said. I completely understand why that would cause a delay. But when someone says they’ll do something by a given time and can’t, it would be nice to get a brief email letting me know of the delay. She agreed and said she would pass the word along.
I decided to sit back and be patient.
A full month finally passed, and I just called Robert Benson to inquire where things stand, and to my surprise (and horror) — he did not even remember who I was! He had done NO work on my behalf. Seriously, how can anyone run a business this way!
I left a voice mail for his supervisor expressing my disappointment. It will be interesting to see if I hear anything back from her. I don’t expect it, and I wouldn’t use this company now even if she did.
In the meantime, thanks to TripAdvisor, Unilocal and the website for various hotels and B&B’s, I’ve planned a terrific trip for myself for a very reasonable price.
Buyer beware of Brendan Vacations!
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After posting this, I received a very apologetic phone call from Robert’s supervisor. She was horrified at my experience and vowed to help me in any way she could, including having their «top person» handle things for me.
While I do appreciate her doing the right thing, it’s a bit late since I’ve already handled most everything on my own.
But I felt compelled to at least give credit to their management for trying to do the right thing. I always say, things go wrong, it’s how it gets handled that counts. Perhaps someone else might have a better experience.