Imagine; the constant smell of sewage, building work, faecal element over the public toilets, the food served is never hot, margarine and butter floating in water, water was served from dispensers not sealed bottles, many guests suffering from diarrhoea and vomitting, when holidaymakers approached the tour operators representative, they were told they could not be assisted, as they had not paid for representative service (!), pharmacists providing injections, doctors offering to sell certificates stating that holidaymakers were ‘fit to fly’ – Welcome to Egypt! Read More

We recently heard from a holidaymaker who had suffered with serious illness on his holiday.  He remains seriously ill.  He was not the only one and he also became aware that other holidaymakers before him had also become ill.  When he returned home he did what most holidaymakers do, he wrote his letter of complaint to the tour operator.  This tour operator has been established for many years and is a member of a trade professional body.  The response the holidaymaker received from the tour operator was less than satisfactory, but not deterred, he continued to pursue a resolution to his holiday complaints through contact with the tour operator and seeking advice from a local law firm.  When this failed, he contacted this organisation and as he had clearly utilised a complaint process, he was offered and accepted a referral for free initial legal advices. Read More

Over the Christmas and New Year period we have been dealing with several group actions of very unhappy holidaymakers.  One such group had been to a hotel in Turkey several weeks previously.  When they arrived at their hotel they found that the conditions did not meet the standards that had been promised in the brochure.  Such complaints included, dimly lit hallways, light switches hanging off the walls, dirty rooms, foul smells, angry staff, the non-delivery of all-inclusive facilities, birds, flies and cockroaches landing/walking/eating the food on the ‘buffet’ and plates, and little in the way of inedible food.  Many people became ill. Read More

Apologies to regular readers of this column; I decided to take a short break, but, we have also been inundated with calls for assistance from angry and sick holidaymakers!  I have been struck by the wide range of holiday complaints; poor hygiene and standards in hotels, unsafe balconies, exposed wiring, sickness demonstrating a very wide range of disease and threats to those who complain!  I was therefore intrigued to read the banner headline in a recent edition of The Times Online (19/10/08) – ‘Thomson bans serial complainers from booking holidays’.  Holidaymakers reading this will not be surprised that such an aggressive approach could be made; many can relate their own experiences across a wide range of tour companies and hotels. Read More

The other day we heard of an outrageous reaction to holidaymakers who reported to their rep that they were ill (there were others apparently ill at the resort).  The reaction from the rep?  The holidaymakers were ordered to leave the resort! Read More

Tonight a young couple are sitting in their hotel room, frightened to go out, scared for their own personal safety.  Why?  They saved hard for a holiday to what they thought was an exotic and luxurious location, only to be faced with many contractual failings in the hotel they were staying in.  Like most holidaymakers, they decided not just to complain, but to try and put right what has gone wrong within their holiday contract.  They also started to accumulate evidence by taking photographs and taking notes, speaking to other holidaymakers, all with the view of using the Package Travel Directive to resolve their claim when they returned home.  So tell me, what was wrong with that? Read More

One of our clients is an elderly man, who suffers with Emphysema, and is partially dependent on Oxygen. He is also dependent on a wheelchair for mobility.  His family, with his consent, decided to to take him to Egypt for that holiday of a lifetime!  Regretably, it will be an experience that he will not forget.  There were many issues connected to this family’s holiday, not least of which was being transferred into a hotel which apears not to be suitable or adapted for the needs of the less able. Read More