Holiday Building Work Claims | The Consumer Detriment 21
HolidayTravelWatch continues to hear from Travel Consumers suffering ‘building work’ detriment in their holiday contracts. A recent call for help came from a Mrs T, she stated:
“I have just come back from a 5 star all inclusive holiday in North Cyprus (HOTEL NAME) which, by the way, was NOT cheap! There was building work going on to the new casino – which we were not informed about by the travel agent. We realised later that they were trying to finish it for a specific night when it opened (20th June). The first Sunday that we were there (15th), a grinder was used until, wait for it, 12.45am! Yes, that’s 12.45 on the MONDAY morning! I rang several times after 10.00pm on the Sunday and the management kept promising me (their words) that it would stop in 10 mins. It didn’t. The work resumed at 7.30am the following morning. I complained and complained to no avail. I could not sit on the balcony EVER as the work went on all day – not even a siesta to allow us some peace. They were even working in the bar area where we were sitting up to 9.30 at night!! When the JCB moved in on the Thursday I was mortified.It carried on all day. Every time I complained I was told that “Yes, it was terrible and I quite agree with you” and that a lot of other people ha d complained. I was offered another room – near the one I was in so no point there then! Or, he said, I could have another room “but it wasn’t a very nice one”!! As I explained to them, I live under a flightpath and the reason I chose this holiday was for the peace and quiet. It totally ruined the whole holiday. What can I do about it please? I can’t seem to get any definitive advice from anywhere on the net”. (E.22.06)
Mrs T has received advice and assistance from the team at HolidayTravelWatch.
Frank Brehany, the Senior Consumer Advocate of HolidayTravelWatch states;
“Building work claims are regularly received by HolidayTravelWatch. Why a tour company or hotelier should expect a holidaymaker to take a holiday amongst building works never fails to surprise me! The Package Travel Directive and Regulations need to be tightened up to ensure that holidaymakers are clearly warned about such significant changes to the quiet enjoyment of their holidays!”
All Holidaymakers affected by any of these issues should contact HolidayTravelWatch for further assistance.
Note to Editors:
Since 2005, HolidayTravelWatch has provided comment on the ever increasing threat to The Package Travel Regulations. This situation has developed partly through the changing style of purchasing holidays, but principally from the Court of Appeal decision as to what they considered constituted a ‘package’.
After considerable debate, the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) has produced a Guidance note, in an attempt to assist with the definition as to what constitutes a ‘package’. Why is this definition important? Simply, if an agent or operator can show that they are simply selling components, then they will escape the regulatory requirements of the Air Tour Operator licence (ATOL) scheme and, the provisions of The Package Travel Regulations. If that is the case, then the hard fought rights to protect the consumer will be lost. The consumer will be unprotected.
We have contributed to the continued debate, submitting our report examining consumer detriment, to the EU Commission and DBERR in October 2007. In that report we highlighted th very real risk that is now faced by the British Travel Consumer, through 160 case studies. We have also provided what we consider to be the solution to the diminution of Travel Consumer rights.
The EU Commission are currently reviewing the Package Travel Directive, but the result of their enquiries, along with their recommendations, is not expected for some time. The reaction to the recent Guidance produced by DBERR, produced a cautious welcome from the Travel Industry, but it does not deal with their principle concern, that being the market operations of the airline industry. They argue, if they are subject to a regulatory regime, then so should the airline industry when they sell holidays on their websites. We have argued that any regulatory regime should apply across the board, not just to one segment of the Travel Industry.
We have predicted, a notion rejected by DBERR, that their Guidance note and the Court of Appeal decision gives a green light to those who want to ‘deregulate’ the package holiday.
HolidayTravelWatch has launched its petition, calling on Government and the EU Commission to protect the rights of Consumers in Holiday Contracts.
Tags: ABTA Code of Conduct, Free Holiday Complaints Letters, Holiday Building Work Claims, holiday complaints
HTW has noted that amongst the submissions to the Committee on Toxicity (COT) it has been suggested that the symptoms highlighted by crew and passengers were akin to the condition of hyperventilation.
HTW has for many years received reports from concerned holiday makers or independent travellers as to the safety of their aircraft, ship or boat, train or road transport.
