MyguideIreland.com

I haven't used MyguideIreland, but I have traveled using vouchers before and there were no problems. I've never read that RS says they aren't a good idea, though. I used them for my first trip, but haven't since just because I usually get just as good a price paying cash along the way as I did with vouchers, and the B&B hosts don't have to wait for reimbursement from the office where they send the vouchers. The only thing that we encountered that we didn't know in advance was that in some places, there would be a small charge for getting an en suite room. If all of the rooms are en suite, there is no charge, and not every B&B with a choice charges extra. It wasn't a big deal, it just caught us by surprise. Vouchers can be a great way to prepay for that part of your trip.

Thanks for the reply. I actually just got finished reading Rick Steves' Ireland, and on page 23 he says, "in short, skip them." So, that was my initial concern, the late reimbursment. And I've read some very bad reviews of myguideireland.com, so the combination is worrisome. If anyone else has used this company please let me know. Thanks again Nancy for your reply.

Last May in Ennis, a couple came to the B&B I was staying in and had a voucher. The owner turned them away saying that it took too long for payment and sometimes he didn't get paid at all.

The company I used was Sceptre Tours. Any B&B who is listed in the directory as accepting vouchers has to do so. The couple you mentioned must not have checked first. Many B&Bs decide to take them because voucher-users constitute a large part of off- and shoulder-season customers, and they might not otherwise get business during those times without them.

Just to let you know we booked and paid in full for Oct 2011 and bam we just got this email OMG my wife is very upset to say the least .I guess we will have to make some calls first thing in the AM to see whats going on Dear Guest, It is with sincere regret that we inform you that myguideIreland has ceased trading with immediate effect. The company was recently informed that its key merchant facilities were to be withdrawn. Efforts to secure a new provider and bridging financing in an appropriate timeframe have been unsuccessful. Therefore the directors have taken the decision to cease operations and a liquidator will be appointed in the coming days. We fully appreciate that this will be a very difficult and stressful time for you and we will do everything we can to assist you. If you have a forward booking it should still be held by the supplier however it will need to be paid directly to the supplier. You are also advised to contact your credit card company in relation to payments made to myguideTravel. A liquidator will be appointed to the company in the coming days at which time further information will be provided to you. Further information will be available on www.myguideireland.com The Board of Directors,
myguideTravel Limited

"You are also advised to contact your credit card company in relation to payments made to myguideTravel." I would do exactly what they are inviting and contact your credit card company and get the charges reversed.

we just found out that myguideireland is closing and we just sent money to them by credit card anybody heard of things like this happening what is the best approach

Anne, yes, unfortunately, sometimes companies close. Do as the previous poster suggested - contact your credit card company and have the charges reversed.

Anne, voucher packages can be good deals. A company like Sceptre Tours, which has been around for a long time, can be a good choice. It is unfortunate that MyguideIreland folded, but you shouldn't look at it like you got "suckered". Things happen. They didn't exactly take your money and run. Your credit card company should reverse the charges, since you did not get what you paid for. There are lots of ways to cut costs, but you don't give any idea of how many people you are talking about, or whether that price included airfare (many of the Sceptre packages do). But I wouldn't expect any car rental agencies or B&Bs to give you a discount just because of the MyguideIreland situation. They didn't have anything to do with it.

assume we lose the 4000 dollars and the credit card charges are not reversed and we still want to go to ireland the charges are car rental and rooms is there a cheaper way to do the trip 4000 dollars and 20 days so 200 dollars a day would the rental company and b&b give some kind of a discount to somebody who did not read page 23 and let themselves be suckered into a seemingly easier way to structure a trip
love to the irish

Anne, I would have figured this out with my cc company by now. Is there something else happening with this? Did you pay with a debit credit card and bank is not being helpful? I thought the email was quintessentially Irish with this line: "You are also advised to contact your credit card company in relation to payments made to myguideTravel." I don't see a US company saying that.

First of all, my heart goes out to those of you who made the travel arrangements with myguideireland, and best wishes on getting all your money back, as quickly as possible, with the minimum of any hassles. I was just wondering today(before I happened upon this thread a few minutes ago!) about calling myguideireland's 800 number, and even sent an e-mail asking about them, when I just now looked further on this site and saw the bad news about them. Without this valuable info, I might've made a possibly very costly mistake. Also, it was good to read that Sceptre tours seems OK? as a possibility, and, as I love to travel (but haven't been able to, mainly for financial reasons, do overseas travel for over 20 years) I was not even aware of 'vouchers' In all, this obviously was the right website to go to (I am new to the site and considering a first-time Ireland trip in October--or late next spring--and undoubtably will be reading these invaluable posts, and most likely asking a few questions along the way.) Again, to those caught in the Myguideireland closing, I wish you smooth sailing in everything, and that another option will present itself to you soon, and that you will have the trip of your dreams (not your nightmares!) --sincerely,
Starling in California

We booked with Myguideireland who ceased trading on 6 August 2011, the day before we arrived in Dublin. They took nearly $5000 off of us for what was to be a lifetime trip. I called their help line and they told me that all that was good were 5 B&B vouchers. We contacted the car hire company ( Hertz) who offered the car deal at local rates, that were not cheap, about $2000 for 12 days. Beyond that the hotels and castles refused to honor the negotiated rates and proposed charging full rate. The lovely staff at the Dublin Hilton felt sorry for us and put the trip back together using their contacts. We stayed in a couple of really great 5 star hotels and some lower ones and one dodgy B&B. All in all the trip the Hilton put together was good and they charged nothing for all they did. We put these charges on a Visa debit card so whether we get any money back remains to be seen. However Ireland is all that you would expect, beautiful scenery, history, friendly people, and great music. Our sad story seemed to endear us to the Irish people who offered many kindnesses along the way. I would be interested if any readers have had a similar experience getting their money back from Myguideireland.

What an awful experience! I'm glad you were able to put some of it back together, and I hope you will be successful in retrieving your money from MyguideIreland.com. Good luck!

The B&B's that the Hilton organized for us all accepted the vouchers as they were able to check them on line. I contacted my bank and they credited the myguideireland charge back to me pending investigation. We made a claim and that is all we can do at this time. Interesting though is that myguideireland also operated in the US so we may have some protection. If we don't get a refund this will be a very expensive two weeks in Ireland. I can't say enough good things about the great people at the Dublin Hilton. Thye arranged accomodations at good rates using their contacts and got us a reasonable priced rental car from Budget in downtown Dublin.
We are back in the US only a few days and missing the Guiness and the rain.

I had a trip booked for Sep 20 - Oct 6 with My Guide Ireland. I too received the email and tried calling My Guide Ireland to see how that affected my tripb/c it was paid in full I left several voicemails and no call back. After 2 days of calling, I contacted my credit card to dispute the charges (2 installments of $2700 and $2678) and they credited me back the money, My Guide had 45 days to dispute the reversal. We have rebooked our entire trip ourselves, minus the flights since after checking all reservations made by My Guide I find they were paid in full by My Guide. I now have received notice that one of the 2 installments ($2678) has been recharged based on documentation My Guide provided my credit card company, which I assume is for the airfare. However, the receipts from Delta and Aer Lingus do not equal $2678! I am supposed to receive this documentation in the mail any day now. Then I am to provide any additional information to support my dispute. Art, I'm glad to hear you still enjoyed your trip. After hearing what happened to you, I'm thankful we had time to rebook and hopefully get the disputed charges all sorted out BEFORE we leave. What a mess!!!

Visa sent me a letter saying that the merchant bank had 60 days to respond and the credit has stayed in my account for now. We did use 4 of 5 days of B&B vouchers so I expect we will get charged for them. I booked airfare on my own so that cost was ours. Good luck with your trip- now that I have been to Ireland I would not use a tour provider again and just book my own arrangements.

My friend and I booked through myguidebritain and they contracted with myguideireland. They are telling us myguideireland is out, but that they went ahead and paid everything so we don't need to worry. We already have vouchers for Scotland and Ireland. Any ideas on whether we should be concerned or just go with it? Our trip starts October 25-November 15. I am a little confused about whether we need to contact our credit card company and dispute charges or if, as they say, myguidebritain is going to come through for us. Any ideas??

Jessica, if you booked through myguidebritain and they are covering you, what do you have to dispute? You aren't out anything.... and they won't do anything unless you are.