Golden Sun

Tour Operators in Zante

Scott T  (17 February 2003)         

i had the greatest time i have ever had i would definetly go back and recomend it to others !!

Sylvia W  (24 November 2002)         

We went in June 2002 and were delayed 12 hours each way and my husband lost a days pay. The insurance wouldn't pay for the delay because Golden Sun knew we would be delayed. It had been going on since May 2002.Golden Sun have not answered my last three letters. Abta has written to them. Still no answer. We need £278 to try to get compensation.Anyone willing to share costs?

Gilllian A  (10 November 2002)         

Golden Sun were professional from start to finish.We travelled from Glasgow and had a 12 hour delay on the return as their was a technical fault with the plane (hardly Golden Suns fault!). We were well fed and looked after. The Alex studios were lovely and the rep Lauren was really helpful. Have booked up already for next year!

Michel G  (17 October 2002)         

I couldn't agree more with Chris's comments. Golden Sun need to be more customer orientated!!! The reps on Zante didn't have a clue or were simply not interested apart from stinging you for more money.

Chris C  (30 September 2002)         

Mavis, the people below (who are a majority it seems) are stating facts as they saw them. I am someone who goes on holiday to enjoy myself - but I like good service. To go on holiday and be fobbed off time after time, to find cases thrown in corridors after the rep had allegedly sorted the rooms till 3am is just not on. Night flights don`t bother me, and like I said below Astraeus were quite reasonable, but the reps seemed flustered when they had to deal with 120 people on a Boeing 737!!!! I`ll tell you what there is a flood of complaints going in to Golden Sun, including people whose wife was 5 months pregnant and had to walk 3 kns to the beach as the accomodation was changed without notice, but above all the reps attitude stunk. One large woman with blonde hair and glasses looked ready to thump someone if they merely asked where the coach was. Repping isn`t just about pub crawls and flogging tours, it`s about customer service. If the customer isn`t happy and they complain and put things on the internet etc about it, people book with other operators and then the reps are out of a job. Simple.

Mavis W  (26 September 2002)         

Right before I type any comments I think you all should know my daughter has Been a Golden Sun Rep on the Island of Zakynthos for the Season, She is by no means miserable, surley or unhappy with her job, God knows why when you lot have been going on holiday with them!!!! My husband and I have been over to Zante and stayed in the Yanna studios that were clean and basic (like all greek resorts) If any of you have ever been away to greece before you will already know it is not SPAIN... you dont get toasters, kettles, shower curtains, bath towels or any of the other things you might have at home!! This is because you are in fact in GREECE not LONDON!! If you go on holiday please except things are different and dont go with impossible expectations. I know Golden Sun have had problems with Transjet but dont you think if the Reps could do anything they would? They hardly wanted to be sat in an airport with a load of screaming people did they??? Since them Golden sun have corrected any problems unfortunately making night flights but lets all remember you could all pay a little extra for a day flight if you wanted too! I think all the reps are fantastic!!

Chris C  (25 September 2002)         

This is the worst travel operator I have ever used. I used them last year and they were OK but this year i`ve heard complaint after complaint. The reps at the airport fobbed us off over a missing envelope, passing the buck and jumping on buses when they`d promised to look into it. We saw none when we were there, and on the last night we paid 20 euros to have a room till we were picked up at 3 am to return to the flat to find the suitcases thrown into the corridors, the drinks removed from the fridge and my case ripped. The reps are a disgrace and DO NOT CARE. I am putting in a claim and advise anyone thinking of travelling with them to be very wary. the flight, Astraeus airlines, was cramped but the food and service were very good.Don`t get me wrong our flats (Derekas) were nice, but a cleaner twice in a week? Thanks but no thanks. never again.

Natalie C  (17 September 2002)         

Dear o dear.... this was terrible - fly with manos anyday!!! It was more to do with our standard of accomodation tho then the rep.... however we had smelly water n she said shes get it sorted n come and check with us to see if it was okay but didnt..... however the flight took off early which is always nice but it was a lil bit of a bumpy landin!

Eamonn H  (13 August 2002)         

Reps could not care less any problems were refered to manager of our accomadation, luckily they were helpful. We got through 2 hours of baggage reclaim onl to have another hours wait for coach to pick us up. reps did not mention that we would not have final night accomadation we found out from other occupants some were caught out on last day. We were picked up for transfer 2.50mins before flight to coincide with another flight and had to sit on pavement for two hours before check in opened at which time they had allowed another queue to jump ahead of us. If you get a bargin holiday under £150 do it if not think again you would get better value elsewhere.

Gary S  (09 August 2002)         

Flew with EXCEL one of the better charter airlines although our tickets gave a flight time almost two hour before the actual scheduled time. Accomodation was fair. As for the rest. Welcome meeting Sorry sales pitch and please donate to reps commision fund. The only reel information that we received was that Golden Sun were not sure when our return flight would be. Our flights were not confirmed to us until 2 days before our return. We, as so many others faces 17 hours without a room, so like many many others we had to pay for our seventh nights stay. Picked up for our return at 4 in the morning for a flight at 8am. we were forced to sit on the pavement outside the airport for an hour. not the most pleasant last holiday memory. Our rep didn't appear to have a clue about custmer service just the company inane smile and a sort it out yourself attitude. Thank God we didn't have a serious problem to sort out. We have written to complain about the service,or lack of it, and oubout being charged for seven nights ang only getting six. I would be interested to hear from anyone who returned on 5th August about the outcome of any letter of complaint...streettps@aol.com

Alex L  (08 August 2002)         

Can't argue with the service overall. For just over £400, we got 2 weeks in a clean hotel, near the beach and nightlife. Flights were a bit ropey, but only because of the Greek airport (hardly Golden Sun's fault) and the small legroom on the plane. Good stuff.

Michel G  (06 August 2002)         

Maybe I have been spoiled in the past with other tour operators but if you want a tour operator that appears to be completely incompetent apart from being able to rip you off as much money as they can then GoldenSun are the kiddies! The reps have obviously not heard of the term of being "customer orientated". At the introductory meeting thay pump full of BS so that any tours you are want are booked through them so that they can gain a commission. After that their attitude is is f**k you jack! We arrived at the hotel at 9.30am on Monday morning and were told that this counted as a night? The result of this was that we had to vacate our rooms on Sunday middday even though our departure flight was not until 7.30am the following day - nearly 19 hours later! Talk about getting stiffed! I'm amazed that scams like this still go on. As for the reps themselves, they are really, really cute! When a number of people wished to make a complaint about the poor accomodation they were staying at, the reps told them that they left the complaint forms with the apartment owners. Is that malicious or moronic? Looking back on this experience I would laugh if it had not been so bad. They will definitely not be getting my business again!

Margaret A  (04 August 2002)         

We were booked in to our hotel from the 14th July to the 29th July, dinner bed and breakfast. Our flight wasn't until 11.55 pm on the 14th July so we missed dinner. We arrived at our hotel at 07.00 am on Monday 15th July and were turfed out of our room before mid-day Sunday 28th and we were not booked in for dinner on that day. Our flight home wasn't until 06.00 am on Monday 29th. We paid for 14 nights and only got 12, we had to pay extra 44 euros for a courtesy room on Sunday 28th, and we are in our 50's and 60's. Disgraceful!! It appears that Golden Sun make a lot of money selling rooms to clients, who then get ejected a day early and have to fork out for a room on their last night which they have already paid for.

Nat   (31 July 2002)         

Hi me and my boyfriend like alan have also had a bad experience with golden sun before we had even set off for the airport. After reading in the paper that there transjet planes which we were meant to be flying with had been grounded due to worries over safety i started to panic. We rang them up about 3 or 4 times to try and find out what was happening and who we would now be flying with,but we were told something different every time. The people on the phjones just do not seem to know what they are talking about. When we eventally got new tickets through our flying times had been changed by 11 hours and it meant we would have a 17 hour wait with no room. I rang up and complained as we had booked direct and 10 mounths in advanced and before we had had perfect flight times. This time i did get put through to a manager who was very good and put us on a different flight with better times (Although we are now flying with a group that i have never of heard of)In the end they did get us what we wanted but it took an awful lot of effort and us contacting them when it should be the other way round. Overall it turned into a bit of a joke

Alan T  (30 July 2002)         

i would just like to add my comments about golden sun before i even go on holiday with them.I have just picked up my tickets,4 days before my holiday commences only to find out that my flight times have changed for the second time.travel arrangements have to be re-arranged for the second time.The times have changed from a sunday evening to 7:30am monday morning which means we will have to be out of our room 17 hours before we leave the hotel.For this they offered us £35 compensation each (which i think is disgusting)and with this money they expect us to pay for the room for the extra night and we probably will not see this money for weeks to come.All this and we have not even got to the airport so who knows what will happen from there.Judging by the other reviews it could be interesting.well i will let you know how it goes wish me luck.

Karen H  (23 July 2002)         

I'm sorry, but I have to agree that Golden Sun were awful. We were kicked out of our apartments 18 hours before our flight. When I approached the rep she was disinterested, and just shrugged her shoulders and showed us the booking conditions. We booked our holdiay one week before departure (and not just to get a cheap deal). Because I booked over the phone, I was not able to see the booking conditions, and by the time they arrived (the day before travel) it was too late to cancel. It should have been pointed out to me beforehand. We ended up shelling out for another room, but it was sickening to have to do this, as we had already paid for 7 nights accomodation and only got 6! The rep at our apartment was surly, unfriendly, and unhelpful right from the outset. She plainly told us that all we could do was leave out luggage unattended in an unlocked outhouse (so much for airport security - "could anyone have tampered with your luggage..."). She then suggested that we went to a bar on the other side of the resort which was open until 3am to wait to be picked up. Although of course, had we have had a drink, we would not be allowed on the plane. She was totally not interested in finding a room for us to shower, even though it was 40deg heat outside. I appreciate that most reps work hard, and have to do long hours and put up with awkward customers. However, every rep we cam across from Golden Sun was miserable as sin, stroppy, and unfriendly. I can only assume that they are merely sick of being had a go at by customers because they work for such a sub-standard company.

Julian H  (05 July 2002)         

The Holiday was fab, but we were let down time & time again by Golden Sun. The rep was only bothered with you if you were spending money with her. We had to leave our room at 10am for a flight leaving at 5am the next day - & was she bothered about getting us a shower/ changing room - was she buggery - Good job the hotel owner cared about his guests! Oh and Astreaus airlines - Forget them too - a total delay on inc & out flights of 17 1/2 hrs. But dont let that put you off - the overall Holiday was great - Just try to pretend Golden Sun dont exist!

Dave H  (03 July 2002)         

This was the first time I had flown with Golden Sun on a Trans Jet airline. We were delayed over 12 hours both ways and treated very badly. Although the resort and the appartments were OK I would never book another holiday with Golden Sun again!!!

Sharon B  (01 July 2002)         

Have been with Airglobe(GoldenSun) before but were not impressed this year! We flew with Tansjet Airways which were very poor, accomodation made up for the terrible airline!

Lindsey A  (25 June 2002)         

We booked through Airglobe holidays which are part of Golden Sun and weren't overly impressed. We flew with Transjet who were awful, but the accomodation was great. The Golden Sun representatives were very average.

Lucy P  (18 October 2001)         

We stayed in Vasso Studios in Laganas. Very high standard. We were well looked after by Mama Vasso,who really takes care of the place. Good overall service from Golden Sun.

Chris C  (30 September 2001)         

First time with them and pretty professional. It would have been nice to have seen a rep - he didn`t seem to have a huge itinerary so a visit would have been nice..... The flats were pleasantly good for the cheap price of the holiday, the plane was a bit grubby with below par food and facilities, but we did get to and from the airport and checked in quickly. As an ex-serviceman I didn`t appreciate the Greek coach driver`s comments about bin Laden being a good man and I complained to the rep rather than argue (or hit!!!) him, she was very apologetic and promised she would have a word. I would definitely use them again - I cannot fault the service for the price we paid overall!

Lorna R  (25 September 2001)         

Our studio was much further from the beach then expected. 30-40 minutes walk but we were told 500m! Also we were on an early morning flight to Glasgow getting picked up at 3.45am but we had to check out of our accomodation at 10.30 am the previous day. This meant moving to another hotel at the opposite end of the resort which spoilt the last day. We also had to pay extra for this and were not told about it until after we arrived.

Sheila P  (24 September 2001)         

Stan - sorry to hear you have had trouble contacting Golden Sun - I have too in the past but have now got an E-mail address for jade@goldensun.co.uk - try this, I think you will get a response. The next edition of their brochure is out at the end of October and you can ask to be put on the Mailing list. We are Golden Sun fans - have not been to Zakynthos with them but have been to Skiathos twice and hope to travel with them again in 2002. Good Luck!

Jennifer J  (12 September 2001)         

BEFORE WE ARRIVED WE HAD NEVER HEARD OF GOLDEN SUN, BUT WE WERE VERY PLEASANTLY SURPRISED. THE STANDARD OF OUR ACCOMMODATION WAS EXCELLENT AND WE HAVE TRAVELLED ALL OVER GREECE. MY HUSBAND WAS ILL AND WE DID REQUIRE THE SERVICES OF OUR REP. OLIVIA WAS FANTASTIC AND VERY EFFICIENT. THANKYOU GOLDEN SUN FOR A GREAT HOLIDAY.

Stan C  (10 September 2001)         

We have used this company once before and been satisfied but 'E ' them as we may we can not get brochures , as a result we were told by an agent that our accommodation was 80 mtrs from the town. try 7min walk to the very edge of town plus a further twenty to the centre plus 15more to the main town beach and 25 mins in another direction to the nearest bit of beach .for two pensioners that is not fun!!

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