Do NOT holiday with Thomson (TUI)

michelleking

Booking Ref: 2600/384457 Dreams Vacation Resort – Sharm El Sheikh Room Number: 5217

During our 3rd evening of our holiday (Monday 13/09/13) I and my partner were sitting down to our evening dinner in the restaurant at approximately 19:30. I was queuing at the buffet behind a local Arab lady, when I noticed that the lady had scooped up some beef pie on the serving spoon and had tasted the food on the spoon by licking it and then returned the spoon not on the dish provided but back into the pie where everyone was eating from.


I sought out a member of staff to ask for a clean serving spoon after what I had just witnessed. The person I had asked was the restaurant manager, who kindly changed the spoon over and asked why, so I had explained to him what had transpired. A few moments later he did ask who I had seen use the spoon so he could monitor from afar, so to me this was sorted so me and my partner continued to eat our dinner.


During our meal someone else from the restaurant staff come over to our table and stated that the lady I had pointed had denied tasting the food on the spoon and that I was mistaken. I re-iterated the point that all I wished for was a new spoon as what had happened was unhygienic.

Again, a few moments later we hear some commotion coming over from the other side of the restaurant, a large (tall) local man was shouting and yelling at the 2 members of staff that we had spoken to in Arabic tongue. This disagreement went on for about 10 minutes now with both the large man and the lady I pointed out now shouting and pointing at me across the restaurant floor.

By now, everyone in the place was looking over and whispering between themselves, I was feeling really awkward and embarrassed by all the staring and pointing. While we were finishing our dessert, the Egyptian man stood a few foot away from us staring angrily, making me feel more conscious. We quickly finished our food and I decided I wanted to leave so we were walking out (my partner walking out first) in which the entire family were waiting directly outside the entrance doors still causing commotion. The hotel manager then emerged to advise us to leave via the other exit, which we proceeded to do on the advisement that the other party were looking for a showdown.


Once the family saw we were leaving by another route, they literally ran after us shouting at as again in Arabic. My partner luckily managed to stop one member of the family before she could get to me and attack me. I managed to run to the reception very shocked and shaken up. The hotel security had been summoned to guard us from the family still chasing after us.

Once inside hotel lobby, the hotel manager asked me and my partner to wait upstairs in the sports bar. They made us a drink whilst I calmed down and composed myself and asked us what had happened. I had told him what had transpired and re-iterated that all I asked for was a clean spoon.

His response was both condescending and disappointing, in the fact that he told us that we were mistaken and must've have been lying due to that fact that woman was a lawyer and the Egyptian man was an ex-army officer. They basically said that we experienced a clash of cultures and demanded that we apologise to them face to face as we have insulted them. He also insinuated that they had seen video evidence that nothing that we said had happened at all.

Despite our utter frustration in going over the "incident" again and again and then being called liar was intolerable. So against our judgement we decided to apologise to the couple, during the apology the Egyptian man wouldn't even give us eye contact and was looking at the floor like a naughty child who's been telling tales. To me, this is a lack of respect and in turn insulted me.


After the apology we all stood up to leave when the local man then showed us 3 pictures on his tablet of his wife in the restaurant posing by the buffet. In the photos there were no other holiday makers in the pictures let alone me queuing behind her waiting for food. As the woman was apparently a "lawyer" these pictures showed absolutely nothing and she would've known this.


Both me and my partner looked at each other is disbelief and were about to say something to everyone pointing out the discrepancy in their story when we were hushed up by the hotel staff and the couple were ushered away before we could say anything else. The husband noticed our reaction to his "evidence" and started shouting in Arabic again obviously as we wouldn't just let this lie. They finally managed to calm him down and they all sat down at a table and started to enjoy their drink as if to celebrate a job well done is branding us as liars. So there we were, having to walk past the couple to get to the stairs back down to the main reception/Sailor Bar.

As we got downstairs the Thomson Rep Waleed has just returned from an Airport run he asked how we were so I calmly told him what we have just experienced and his first reaction was that had been mistreated and wanted to speak to the hotel management immediately.


So back upstairs we all went, Waleed (Thomson), I, my partner and 2 hotel managers sat back down and again explained what had happened and that we felt the hotel had taken the Egyptian couple's side in the evening’s event. We told them that I had felt insulted and disrespected as the man couldn't even look me or my partner in the eyes. all the hotel reps kept saying was she's a lawyer or he's an ex-army officer, to me this means nothing as my partners family are all in the military.

We discussed the lack of evidence in their photographs as I was no-where to be seen in the background despite being directly behind her in the food queue. The hotel management would not accept this stone cold fact and told us top forget about it. Waleed then stepped in and mentioned that he himself has seen incidents like this on at least 3 separate occasions and even Arabic people who put too much on their plates scrape leftovers back into the buffet food containers (thankfully the kitchen staff saw this and replaced the food tray immediately), this to me is disgusting and exceptionally poor food hygiene and definitely not a "clash of cultures".

To make things worse, after we had apologised we were sent a complementary fruit basket delivered to our door which my partner answered, the hotel rep had 2 baskets on the tray so he asked who's was the other basket, the member of staff mentioned it was for the another couple who had an been in an argument.

Waleed called our room to ask if we wished to dine at one of the a la carte restaurants on the premises so we chose the Asia House establishment.

Later on in the evening we composed ourselves and headed out to the outside bar to now relax after an extremely stressful afternoon, were we were greeted with applause from the other Thomson holiday makers who witnessed the "Spoon Incident" as they all said that we had taken the right course of action and it was totally immoral that the fact we were made to apologise for the Egyptian couple showing poor hygiene and health concerns.


They all said they would've done exactly the same thing. In England if we asked for a new spoon, we would've been given a new spoon and this would've been all sorted. The Hotel management handled the situation it all wrong, this could've been sorted with the minimum of fuss but instead became a laughing stock amongst the European families staying there.

So we are 3 days into our 10 night stay at the Dreams Vacation Resort and all I want to do is go the Airport and fly home 1 week early! I have felt threatened, shocked wasn't able to relax or sleep properly for the rest of our holiday.

Between us we have been to Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt (previous holiday) etc and we have never been accused of offending or disrespecting the different cultures, so to be branded a liar by the hotel is unacceptable, the fact that the hotel management didn't speak to me for the rest of the holiday, they spoke to my partner but not me, all over asking for a clean serving spoon.


Also, I wish to make you aware that the on-site "entertainment was also poor, in the 10 nights we saw 2 evening shows and during the day there were scheduled activities like volleyball, football, water polo etc it was organised as and when the holiday reps could be bothered to. My partner was looking forward to joining in with other people in these activities as he can't just lie down and sunbathe for hours on end.

Although the bar men we spoke with during our stay were great fun, they washed all their glasses with local tap water, which we know isn't suitable for consumption, so we also endured upset stomachs, vomiting and diarrhoea for at least 3 days and even when we got back to the UK we were still ill for almost a week.

I also found a long black hair in my bedding after the housekeeping had cleaned our room; I have long blonde hair so it definitely wasn't mine, which again is evidence of poor hygiene.

We booked this holiday in January/February 2013 having researched many places but we decided to go with Thomson and you are a well-respected organisation and a trusted brand. The Hotel stated it was "Handpicked" and had a 4 Star rating, so we thought this would be a lovely experience for our first holiday abroad in almost 4 years. I understand the hotel was undergoing renovations, but the food hygiene standards really need to be audited, as it's below standards of even a UK burger Van. We had saved hard for this holiday with plenty of hours and extra shifts put in at work for a dream holiday, but in fact this has been the worst holiday experience of my life.





I feel that my complaint has been handled with no consideration. I have emailed Thomson 10 times since speaking (Customer Service/After Travel Team) and not heard anything back.
Back in Nov 2013 Hannah (Customer Service/After Travel Team) and explained everything again via a lengthy phone call (+40 minutes), in which I got emotional while discussing the events. She offered my £50 then £130 and the final offer was £150, I felt that £150 compensation is insulting and means nothing to Thomson, as we paid £1400 for a holiday with Thomson, which turns out that this, was the worst holiday I have ever experienced and I have holidayed with Thomson many times in the past.
The fact that I was chased outside of the hotel by a local family because the hotel staff didn't handle the situation probably and I feared for my safety or the fact that both me and my partner were terribly ill during and after our holiday, and that I found a long black hair in my clean bedding. It was an apparent 4 star (Handpicked) package holiday that both me and my partner saved hard for.
She then explained that I could take my case to Thomson Legal team but that means I won’t received the £150. I chose that option, unaware that the legal team don't reply to emails or letters. So I am now left with no compensation, no apology and 7 months after my holiday still trying to fight this issue. I have tried emailing and Facebook messages, but now nothing.

What do I do?

k3lvc

michelleking wrote: »

Booking Ref: 2600/384457 Dreams Vacation Resort – Sharm El Sheikh Room Number: 5217

During our 3rd evening of our holiday (Monday 13/09/13) I and my partner were sitting down to our evening dinner in the restaurant at approximately 19:30. I was queuing at the buffet behind a local Arab lady, when I noticed that the lady had scooped up some beef pie on the serving spoon and had tasted the food on the spoon by licking it and then returned the spoon not on the dish provided but back into the pie where everyone was eating from.


I sought out a member of staff to ask for a clean serving spoon after what I had just witnessed. The person I had asked was the restaurant manager, who kindly changed the spoon over and asked why, so I had explained to him what had transpired. A few moments later he did ask who I had seen use the spoon so he could monitor from afar, so to me this was sorted so me and my partner continued to eat our dinner.


During our meal someone else from the restaurant staff come over to our table and stated that the lady I had pointed had denied tasting the food on the spoon and that I was mistaken. I re-iterated the point that all I wished for was a new spoon as what had happened was unhygienic.

Again, a few moments later we hear some commotion coming over from the other side of the restaurant, a large (tall) local man was shouting and yelling at the 2 members of staff that we had spoken to in Arabic tongue. This disagreement went on for about 10 minutes now with both the large man and the lady I pointed out now shouting and pointing at me across the restaurant floor.

By now, everyone in the place was looking over and whispering between themselves, I was feeling really awkward and embarrassed by all the staring and pointing. While we were finishing our dessert, the Egyptian man stood a few foot away from us staring angrily, making me feel more conscious. We quickly finished our food and I decided I wanted to leave so we were walking out (my partner walking out first) in which the entire family were waiting directly outside the entrance doors still causing commotion. The hotel manager then emerged to advise us to leave via the other exit, which we proceeded to do on the advisement that the other party were looking for a showdown.


Once the family saw we were leaving by another route, they literally ran after us shouting at as again in Arabic. My partner luckily managed to stop one member of the family before she could get to me and attack me. I managed to run to the reception very shocked and shaken up. The hotel security had been summoned to guard us from the family still chasing after us.

Once inside hotel lobby, the hotel manager asked me and my partner to wait upstairs in the sports bar. They made us a drink whilst I calmed down and composed myself and asked us what had happened. I had told him what had transpired and re-iterated that all I asked for was a clean spoon.

His response was both condescending and disappointing, in the fact that he told us that we were mistaken and must've have been lying due to that fact that woman was a lawyer and the Egyptian man was an ex-army officer. They basically said that we experienced a clash of cultures and demanded that we apologise to them face to face as we have insulted them. He also insinuated that they had seen video evidence that nothing that we said had happened at all.

Despite our utter frustration in going over the "incident" again and again and then being called liar was intolerable. So against our judgement we decided to apologise to the couple, during the apology the Egyptian man wouldn't even give us eye contact and was looking at the floor like a naughty child who's been telling tales. To me, this is a lack of respect and in turn insulted me.


After the apology we all stood up to leave when the local man then showed us 3 pictures on his tablet of his wife in the restaurant posing by the buffet. In the photos there were no other holiday makers in the pictures let alone me queuing behind her waiting for food. As the woman was apparently a "lawyer" these pictures showed absolutely nothing and she would've known this.


Both me and my partner looked at each other is disbelief and were about to say something to everyone pointing out the discrepancy in their story when we were hushed up by the hotel staff and the couple were ushered away before we could say anything else. The husband noticed our reaction to his "evidence" and started shouting in Arabic again obviously as we wouldn't just let this lie. They finally managed to calm him down and they all sat down at a table and started to enjoy their drink as if to celebrate a job well done is branding us as liars. So there we were, having to walk past the couple to get to the stairs back down to the main reception/Sailor Bar.

As we got downstairs the Thomson Rep Waleed has just returned from an Airport run he asked how we were so I calmly told him what we have just experienced and his first reaction was that had been mistreated and wanted to speak to the hotel management immediately.


So back upstairs we all went, Waleed (Thomson), I, my partner and 2 hotel managers sat back down and again explained what had happened and that we felt the hotel had taken the Egyptian couple's side in the evening’s event. We told them that I had felt insulted and disrespected as the man couldn't even look me or my partner in the eyes. all the hotel reps kept saying was she's a lawyer or he's an ex-army officer, to me this means nothing as my partners family are all in the military.

We discussed the lack of evidence in their photographs as I was no-where to be seen in the background despite being directly behind her in the food queue. The hotel management would not accept this stone cold fact and told us top forget about it. Waleed then stepped in and mentioned that he himself has seen incidents like this on at least 3 separate occasions and even Arabic people who put too much on their plates scrape leftovers back into the buffet food containers (thankfully the kitchen staff saw this and replaced the food tray immediately), this to me is disgusting and exceptionally poor food hygiene and definitely not a "clash of cultures".

To make things worse, after we had apologised we were sent a complementary fruit basket delivered to our door which my partner answered, the hotel rep had 2 baskets on the tray so he asked who's was the other basket, the member of staff mentioned it was for the another couple who had an been in an argument.

Waleed called our room to ask if we wished to dine at one of the a la carte restaurants on the premises so we chose the Asia House establishment.

Later on in the evening we composed ourselves and headed out to the outside bar to now relax after an extremely stressful afternoon, were we were greeted with applause from the other Thomson holiday makers who witnessed the "Spoon Incident" as they all said that we had taken the right course of action and it was totally immoral that the fact we were made to apologise for the Egyptian couple showing poor hygiene and health concerns.


They all said they would've done exactly the same thing. In England if we asked for a new spoon, we would've been given a new spoon and this would've been all sorted. The Hotel management handled the situation it all wrong, this could've been sorted with the minimum of fuss but instead became a laughing stock amongst the European families staying there.

So we are 3 days into our 10 night stay at the Dreams Vacation Resort and all I want to do is go the Airport and fly home 1 week early! I have felt threatened, shocked wasn't able to relax or sleep properly for the rest of our holiday.

Between us we have been to Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt (previous holiday) etc and we have never been accused of offending or disrespecting the different cultures, so to be branded a liar by the hotel is unacceptable, the fact that the hotel management didn't speak to me for the rest of the holiday, they spoke to my partner but not me, all over asking for a clean serving spoon.


Also, I wish to make you aware that the on-site "entertainment was also poor, in the 10 nights we saw 2 evening shows and during the day there were scheduled activities like volleyball, football, water polo etc it was organised as and when the holiday reps could be bothered to. My partner was looking forward to joining in with other people in these activities as he can't just lie down and sunbathe for hours on end.

Although the bar men we spoke with during our stay were great fun, they washed all their glasses with local tap water, which we know isn't suitable for consumption, so we also endured upset stomachs, vomiting and diarrhoea for at least 3 days and even when we got back to the UK we were still ill for almost a week.

I also found a long black hair in my bedding after the housekeeping had cleaned our room; I have long blonde hair so it definitely wasn't mine, which again is evidence of poor hygiene.

We booked this holiday in January/February 2013 having researched many places but we decided to go with Thomson and you are a well-respected organisation and a trusted brand. The Hotel stated it was "Handpicked" and had a 4 Star rating, so we thought this would be a lovely experience for our first holiday abroad in almost 4 years. I understand the hotel was undergoing renovations, but the food hygiene standards really need to be audited, as it's below standards of even a UK burger Van. We had saved hard for this holiday with plenty of hours and extra shifts put in at work for a dream holiday, but in fact this has been the worst holiday experience of my life.





I feel that my complaint has been handled with no consideration. I have emailed Thomson three times since speaking (Customer Service/After Travel Team) and not heard anything back.
Back in Nov 2013 Hannah (Customer Service/After Travel Team) and explained everything again via a lengthy phone call (+40 minutes), in which I got emotional while discussing the events. She offered my £50 then £130 and the final offer was £150, I felt that £150 compensation is insulting and means nothing to Thomson, as we paid £1400 for a holiday with Thomson, which turns out that this, was the worst holiday I have ever experienced and I have holidayed with Thomson many times in the past.
The fact that I was chased outside of the hotel by a local family because the hotel staff didn't handle the situation probably and I feared for my safety or the fact that both me and my partner were terribly ill during and after our holiday, and that I found a long black hair in my clean bedding. It was an apparent 4 star (Handpicked) package holiday that both me and my partner saved hard for.
She then explained that I could take my case to Thomson Legal team but that means I won’t received the £150. I chose that option, unaware that the legal team don't reply to emails or letters. So I am now left with no compensation, no apology and 7 months after my holiday still trying to fight this issue. I have tried emailing and Facebook messages, but now nothing.

What do I do?

To start with learn to write in a concise manner outlining the issue and what action you expect - if your letter to the legal team was this length it's probably down at the bottom of the pile until they've a couple of spare hours

KatieDee

What were you expecting in terms of compensation? Did you have a specific amount in mind?

Your original letter to Thompson is very long and quite emotive...it isn't really clear on what you expect them to do. If I've learnt anything from MSE, it's that your original letter should be short and to the point, clearly outlining what you expect from the company.

In regards to the other issues (glasses washed in contaminated water, hair in the bed, bad entertainment) did you bring this up directly with a manager while at the hotel or is this something you only mentioned in the above letter?

DTDfanBoy

michelleking wrote: »

What do I do?

In future you should consider avoiding the sort of hotels that serve pie at the buffet :cool:

balletshoes

i have just waded my way through that saga - and Thomson is to blame for what exactly? You and another guest getting into a showdown over a spoon? You can't blame the travel company for that, sorry, no way.

A cleaner's head hair on your clean sheet when it had been freshly changed a sign of poor hygiene? No its not, its a sign that you have clean sheets.

Poor hygiene in the buffet restaurants? You said yourself that every time you saw something you considered unhygienic the waiters had seen it too and dealt with it.

I'm not familiar with the issue of tap water being used to clean drinking glasses (I thought that was fairly standard everywhere to be honest, including in Tunisia and Turkey) but if you had to get medical treatment for your stomach upset and this is attributable solely to the drinking glasses being washed in tap water, then you may be able to present that as a case for some compensation.

To be frank, none of the rest of it, I feel, can be laid at Thomson's door.

flashnazia

So you expect your glasses to be cleaned with mineral water? And the Arab lady is Thomson's fault? How?
I think you're just after a free holiday. Get over it.

mgdavid

michelleking wrote: »

What do I do?

calm down dear;
next time stand your ground and argue it out, not roll over like a !!!!!cat and apologise.
It would have been more effective to have removed a shoe and thrown it at them.
Or stay at home.

(apparently puddycat with a double S hits the autocensor's sensitive spot, doh!)

PeteDoff

That's life

mick_vandick

I have no doubt that it must have been awful and intimidating but you should have stood your ground and not apologised.
I know it's too late now to say that but if you ever get into a situation like that again, which to be honest is not likely!
Take it to ABTA Arbitration, TUI have had long enough to respond now.
http://abta.com/go-travel/travel-clinic/arbitration-and-mediation
Try emailing their CEO Peter Long peter.long@tuitravel.com
Don't give up but make your email to him less emotive and just state the facts.

michelleking

I understand what you all have said, but in our efforts to sort this out with the hotel had failed. They wouldn't accept anything we told them as the truth. If anything the hotel were more at fault in their dealing of the issue, and this hotel and its staff were recommended by Thomson, hence the package holiday we chose.

The fact that we were shoved out of a side door in plain view of the family in question who then ran after us to confront us by screaming at us, for what telling the staff that a hygiene issue had occurred!

They are the Agent if you like that we had booked with so any issues we would go through them. I felt threatened that's what the issue is all about, threatened in a foreign country. We had no idea when the family would be leaving or if they had just arrived.

We were basically forced to apologise to appease a very smug, arrogant Egyptian national, when we shouldn't have. Its easy for you to say stand your ground, you weren't there and when you have a giant of a man accusing you and shouting at you for everyone to hear and pointing at you is very intimidating. Basically if we hadn't apologised the situation would have escalated in a physical manner.

We paid for the security of having a Thomson Package deal.

Put it this way we know of someone a few years back that complained about the price of drinks in Tunisia (booked with Thomson) and was offered half of his holiday price back as compensation, and to be fair he wasn't chased through a hotel restaurant to the reception entrance.

All we really want is for Thomson to contact us and discuss what happened so we can get all of this across. Rather than be told "tough" this is what you're getting!

balletshoes

michelleking wrote: »

I understand what you all have said, but in our efforts to sort this out with the hotel had failed. They wouldn't accept anything we told them as the truth. If anything the hotel were more at fault in their dealing of the issue, and this hotel and its staff were recommended by Thomson, hence the package holiday we chose.

The fact that we were shoved out of a side door in plain view of the family in question who then ran after us to confront us by screaming at us, for what telling the staff that a hygiene issue had occurred!

They are the Agent if you like that we had booked with so any issues we would go through them. I felt threatened that's what the issue is all about, threatened in a foreign country. We had no idea when the family would be leaving or if they had just arrived.

We were basically forced to apologise to appease a very smug, arrogant Egyptian national, when we shouldn't have. Its easy for you to say stand your ground, you weren't there and when you have a giant of a man accusing you and shouting at you for everyone to hear and pointing at you is very intimidating. Basically if we hadn't apologised the situation would have escalated in a physical manner.

We paid for the security of having a Thomson Package deal.

Put it this way we know of someone a few years back that complained about the price of drinks in Tunisia (booked with Thomson) and was offered half of his holiday price back as compensation, and to be fair he wasn't chased through a hotel restaurant to the reception entrance.

All we really want is for Thomson to contact us and discuss what happened so we can get all of this across. Rather than be told "tough" this is what you're getting!

I get why you apologised - I would have too, in the specific set of circumstances you outlined. I still don't think Thomson are to blame - the hotel may be, I do feel they handled the whole thing badly.

Theres no travel company in the world which can protect a guest against another guest's actions and behaviours.

I really don't believe (and you shouldn't either) that a friend of yours got half his holiday back as compensation because he felt he was being overcharged for drinks!

You said before that you've already had a 40-minute conversation on the phone with Thomson staff, and I take it you sent your original small novel to them too? In their shoes I'd be saying I had absolutely every possible detail you could want to discuss with them, so I'm not surprised they are not inclined to go over it all again.