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Do NOT holiday with Thomson (TUI)

24

Comments

  • totallybored
    totallybored Posts: 1,141 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    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.

    If a giant man was shouting at me, intimidating me and I thought he'd become violent towards me I'd have called the police.
  • 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.

    So how would you have proceeded? Who would you have spoken to?

    It wasn't our friend who was compensated it was a blogger on "engageweb dot co dot uk/blogger-wins-compensation-thomson-for-miss-sold-holiday-883" - over claims that the beer was cheap! He was awarded £595.00 for alcohol, again he wasn't threatened or chased through a hotel.

    We have sent Thomson a much much shorter version of this epic Tale!:) since the 40 minute telephone conversation and still heard nothing, hence this almighty post!
  • balletshoes
    balletshoes Posts: 16,610 Forumite
    So how would you have proceeded? Who would you have spoken to?

    i would have left the immediate vicinity as you did, and the next day i would have asked to speak to the resort manager, with the Thomson rep in attendance. I would have asked for an issues/complaint form, I would have completed it, and I would have given one copy to the resort manager, one to the rep, and I would have kept one myself.

    I absolutely don't deny that you must have felt intimidated during the buffet spoon fiasco, and I would have, the next day, calmly explained to the resort manager that your expectation was that the spoon would be replaced (it was) and that no other guest would have been challenged about it.
  • i would have left the immediate vicinity as you did, and the next day i would have asked to speak to the resort manager, with the Thomson rep in attendance. I would have asked for an issues/complaint form, I would have completed it, and I would have given one copy to the resort manager, one to the rep, and I would have kept one myself.

    I absolutely don't deny that you must have felt intimidated during the buffet spoon fiasco, and I would have, the next day, calmly explained to the resort manager that your expectation was that the spoon would be replaced (it was) and that no other guest would have been challenged about it.

    Of course we did that.
    Even the Hotel Owner was involved but because the Hotel manager believed their version of the events, he also washed his hands of the matter and branded us liars. The Thomson Rep seem more worried about upsetting the Hotel staff than looking after us.
  • balletshoes
    balletshoes Posts: 16,610 Forumite
    Of course we did that.
    Even the Hotel Owner was involved but because the Hotel manager believed their version of the events, he also washed his hands of the matter and branded us liars. The Thomson Rep seem more worried about upsetting the Hotel staff than looking after us.

    i still don't really know what you expect Thomson to do about this? What do you expect them to do?

    It seems to me that the problem is with the management of the hotel - so put your experience (a much-condensed version though) on tripadvisor.
  • budgetflyer
    budgetflyer Posts: 5,949 Forumite
    Lucky (or unlucky) you saw it. If you were 10 feet away, you would be totally unaware. This happens regularly at buffets. Seen similar with jam 15 years ago at breakfast buffet. That is why I dont eat off of self service buffets.
    Yes I know, it can happen anywhere, but normally staff are trained in food hygeine. Some hotel guests can be complete morons.
  • tazzyb
    tazzyb Posts: 325 Forumite
    Thomson cannot be liable for other guest behaviour. Whilst the correct thing to do would have been for a new spoon to be brought out and nothing said to the woman concerned that did not happen however that is not Thompson's fault.

    It is now a case of she said he said. Thompson have no way of knowing what is the truth unless there is a rep report. I think their offer is fair. To be honest they do not have to offer anything. They were contracted to provide flights, accommodation and anything else your package contained.

    Whilst the experience you had was horrible you will not get a higher offer. Thompson will have looked to see if they have any other complaints from the same resort. It takes more then one person complaining for them to stop using a hotel.

    This complaint will just go on and on and never get any where. Email the hotel clearly stating what happened. How offended you are and how you were made to feel. Explain your disappointment and tell them you will be leaving a report on trip advisor. Contact Thompson take the £150 and forget about it.
  • duchy
    duchy Posts: 19,511 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker Xmas Saver!
    So how would you have proceeded? Who would you have spoken to?

    It wasn't our friend who was compensated it was a blogger on "engageweb dot co dot uk/blogger-wins-compensation-thomson-for-miss-sold-holiday-883" - over claims that the beer was cheap! He was awarded £595.00 for alcohol, again he wasn't threatened or chased through a hotel.

    We have sent Thomson a much much shorter version of this epic Tale!:) since the 40 minute telephone conversation and still heard nothing, hence this almighty post!

    I'd suggest a blog post is about as reliable as anything else unverifiable told to you by a stranger. They may have got that much compensation but there will be more to the story than -the beer was a bit expensive (Only the British could claim their holiday was ruined because they couldn't afford to get hammered and expect compensation :rotfl:)

    I'd take the money-it's a fair offer.
    I Would Rather Climb A Mountain Than Crawl Into A Hole

    MSE Florida wedding .....no problem
  • 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?


    Whilst your initital complaint is worthy of pursuing the case further I think lumping in all the other minor details such as the hair in the bedding, poor entertainment etc is simply over-egging the pudding.

    As you rightly say this is really a clash of cultures and in the Middle East the foreigner is always going to come off second best, particularly if you're a woman.That's just the way it is,I'm afraid.

    Like others I'd say take the money and put it down to bad experience - I certainly wouldn't urge people to boycott a holiday company over an isolated incident.
  • duchy
    duchy Posts: 19,511 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker Xmas Saver!
    I do get a bit weary of "I had a problem with my holiday (that was often down to local issues rather than anything the holiday company did) so I'll try and damage their business by telling everyone not to book with them". One incident doesn't make a company like Thomsons bad- just as one fantastic experience doesn't make them wonderful either.

    I don't like the cashier in my local Tescos she never smiles-so I urge everyone to boycott Tescos.
    I Would Rather Climb A Mountain Than Crawl Into A Hole

    MSE Florida wedding .....no problem
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