Pentravel mistake cost us R74000

As someone with limited experience in planning and booking holidays, I re**** on the services of a travel agency. We contacted a travel agency and requested their assistance in arranging a tour for us. Unfortunately, the agency was not helpful, which led to significant financial losses. It was clearly communicated to the agency, Pentravel, that two of the travelers would be departing from South Africa, while another would be travelling from a different country. The agency was asked to create an itinerary that would allow all parties to meet in a third country. Pentravel accepted the request and confirmed that they could facilitate such an arrangement. Once all the necessary information was provided, they compiled a travel plan accordingly. Pentravel informed me (as I was in another country at the time) that I would need to book my own appointment with VFS to apply for my visa, which I did online as advised. Since June and July are peak travel months, no appointments were available in many Schengen countries as early as February. I therefore began looking for alternative appointments in other Schengen regions and eventually found one via Greece. I informed Pentravel of this, and although they mentioned that Greece is strict with visa applications, no further guidance or advice was provided. Given my lack of experience in arranging international travel and the fact that I was paying someone to manage this process on my behalf, I asked what I should do under the circumstances. Although the consultant did attempt to assist, she also admitted that she was unfami**** with how the visa process works from another country—something I found surprising, as such knowledge should fall within the responsibilities of a travel agency. I was unaware that, during the boat trip (which formed part of the planned itinerary), I would be exiting the Schengen area. As a result, I initially did not realise that the documentation provided to me did not adequately justify the need for a multi-entry visa. Consequently, I was granted only a single-entry visa. I checked with Pentravel to confirm whether I should stick to the original itinerary. The consultant advised me not to include the boat trip in my documentation, as it would show that I was departing from Italy rather than from Greece. For this reason, the visa application and supporting documents focused solely on Greece, which once again did not sufficiently support the case for a multi-entry visa. Although I indicated on the visa application form that I required a multi-entry visa, the accompanying documents did not provide enough justification to support that request. I hope this explanation offers a clearer understanding of the situation and the reasons for the misunderstandings that arose. Due to the lack of adequate guidance and support from Pentravel, I was unable to proceed with the planned tour and consequently lost my full payment. Additionally, it appears that Pentravel made use of a secondary travel agency to arrange additional accommodation. It seems Pentravel failed to inform this agency in time that the accommodation should be cancelled. Without our knowledge, the accommodation was booked under a non-refundable policy. Because the cancellation—requested by the travellers—was not processed, the amount could not be recovered. Furthermore, a train journey was booked as transportation between two accommodation locations. This booking should have been cancelled as well, since the seat was later allocated to another passenger. However, no refund was ever issued to the client. Although one of Pentravel’s employees admitted fault, there remains an unwillingness on their part to accept responsibility or to refund the amounts owed.