Travel Brake transferred our tour to Windsor Castle after we learned that Highclere was closed on our travel date. As a buyer, be proactive, check this before purchase—Travel Brake DOES NOT offer refunds; even for tours purchased nearly eight months in advance as was ours. A greater injustice/inflexibility occurred later when they offered conflicting information about Windsor tickets. They instructed us to buy our own tickets (which we did) then gave us a ticket reference number when we arrived at Windsor. We asked the driver about it but she didn't know the answer. Upon returning home, I contacted Travel Brake to let them know we'd duplicated the purchase of tickets based on their instructions and that we'd used our own since the driver was confused (otherwise, the driver was safe and professional). Travel Brake's response was as follows: "As the original service [to Highclere] did not include admission tickets and you chose to use your own tickets rather than the tickets we had purchased and provided, we are unable to offer reimbursement for the tickets you purchased separately. In fact, the unused Windsor Castle tickets purchased by us resulted in a loss on our side, as they were not used during the visit. We apologise for any confusion caused, but no further action is required and the matter is now considered closed." They admit confusion on their part and consequently, we were out £64. We were unimpressed with the inflexibility of this company regarding refunds (especially when the error was theirs); we will not use them again via Viator or any other tour provider and recommend others avoid Travel Brake as well.
Thank you for your review and for your kind comments about your driver. We are pleased to hear that you found the transfer service safe and professional. We were also happy to accommodate a change of sightseeing stop when Highclere Castle became unavailable on your travel date and worked with both you and Viator to arrange Windsor Castle as an alternative. We do, however, feel it is important to clarify the circumstances surrounding the Windsor Castle tickets for future travellers. The original Southampton to London with a Stop at Highclere Castle service does not include attraction admission tickets. As stated in the product description, Highclere Castle tickets must be purchased directly by guests, as we cannot guarantee availability. Following the change to Windsor Castle, you were correctly advised to purchase your own admission tickets. Subsequently, due to an internal administrative error, Windsor Castle tickets were also purchased by us and attached to the booking. This occurred because, on our other sightseeing transfer services featuring Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, or Hampton Court Palace, admission tickets are normally included and arranged by us in advance. Unfortunately, this duplication was not identified before your visit. As you had already purchased your own tickets in accordance with our original instructions, you understandably used those tickets. The tickets purchased by Travel Brake therefore went unused and were paid for entirely by us. We fully acknowledge that this caused confusion and apologise for that. However, there was never an additional charge made by Travel Brake, and the original advice provided regarding ticket purchases was correct for the service booked. We thank you again for travelling with us and wish you all the best in your future travels.
