Holiday Sickness Claims | The Consumer Detriment 38
HolidayTravelWatch continues to hear from Travel Consumers suffering ’Holiday Sickness’ detriment in their holiday contracts. A recent call for help came from a Mr J1, she stated:
“The next two days were excellent and we looked forward to the rest of the week, It was a bit annoying that the two times we went to the [NAME OF CLUB] we were hassled by the reps from [TOUR OPERATORS TIMESHARE COMPANY] standing at the gate between the two. On the Tuesday at 11pm my son started to vomit and became very weak. We presumed he might have had to much to eat and thought he would get better. On the Wednesday my wife started vomiting and my son had also developed diarrhoea. I reported it to the rep and we filled a form in, he said they would get someone to sterilise the room, my wife was in the room the whole time and no one turned up even after I went to hospital with my son. My wife had the same symptoms as my son but seemed to get better by Friday, my son was so weak by now all he could do was be sick and sleep so I took him to the doctors who sent us to the recommended hospital. My daughter told us there were children being sick in the kids club as well….I was told rather glibly by the rep that there were a lot more cases the week before and after speaking to guests who had been there the previous week they confirmed there had been a lot of sickness. The rep said it was like the virus that hit the cruise boat and had been brought over by someone from the united kingdom. Why were we not warned about this epidemic and the hotel closed to allow for proper cleansing to take place. I have read about holiday parks that get similar outbreaks and are closed for weeks while they clean, I understand this is the start of the busy season but guests health should have come first”. (E.07.07)
Mr J1 has received advice and assistance from the team at HolidayTravelWatch.
Frank Brehany, the Senior Consumer Advocate of HolidayTravelWatch states;
“I am certain that there are many British holidaymakers who could repeat the same experience. Mr J1 highlights the real issue; why do tour companies send holidaymakers into hotels and resorts where there is a clear risk to health & safety? As I see it, Government has no option, they must act now to protect the health of many thousands of British holidaymakers”.
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: Free Complaint Letters, holiday complaints, Holiday Sickness Claims
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.
